STRESS(FUL) POSITIONSUNDERSTANDING CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN KOREAN SCHOOLSBy Katrin Marquez, Fulbright ETA ‘14-’16

MY ETA BACKGROUNDKUKJE HIGH SCHOOL, F’14-S’15• Segregated co-ed private high

school• Mixed level classes• Many older teachers and some

inexperienced teachers, few mid-career teachers

• Many male teachers

CHIPYOUNG MIDDLE, CURRENT• Integrated co-ed public middle

school• Leveled classes• Many mid-career teachers, very few

older teachers• Primarily female teachers

AGENDA & GOALS• To better understand how the wide-spread

use of corporal punishment came to be• To gain a basic understanding of the

current policies and debates concerning corporal punishment in Korea

• To troubleshoot problems faced by ETAs related to corporal punishment

History of CP in ROK

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BRIEF HISTORY • 10th Century—Korea adopted Tang Dynasty China’s

Confucianism-based education system • 20th Century—Japanese colonization leads to

extremely brutal CP for those interested in Korean culture

• Post WWII—Korea adopts “American” education system emphasizing meritocratic completion, class sizes explode

• Mid 90s—Direct corporal punishment is outlawed, leading to increased misbehavior; ban is widely ignored

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BRIEF HISTORY CONTINUED

• Summer 2010—Oh Jang Pung goes viral leading to widespread outrage

• Fall 2010—Seoul and Gyeonggi Province issue controversial blanket bans on all corporal punishment

• Fall 2010—Under pressure from various groups the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology alter the bans to allow indirect corporal punishment

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CORPORAL PUNISHMENT TODAY

According to a 2011 study by a 동의대 professor, 94.6% of interviewed Korean high school students had experienced corporal punishment of varying types.

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Types of Corporal Punishment Experiences

Shouted at Spanked Struck on Cheel Punched

TWO TYPES Korean law differentiates between two types of corporal punishment:• Direct corporal punishment—any type of hitting, whether with an

instrument or not• Indirect corporal punishment—all other methods of inflicting punitive

bodily pain or stress on students—i.e. holding stress positions, exercise, etc.

Direct corporal punishment has been illegal since the mid 90s, but the law is rarely enforced. Indirect corporal punishment is more controversial.

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VIEWPOINTSTRADITIONALISTS

• Those that support the continued use of corporal punishment and other regulations on student behavior

• Argue for teachers’ rights, usually teachers

PROGRESSIVES

• Concerned not only with banning both forms of corporal punishment with increasing students’ rights

• Seek comprehensive change to education policies

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TEACHERS SUPPORT CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

• Korean Federation of Teachers Associations is one of the main supporters of corporal punishment:

“In Korea we have about ten more students in a class on average than other OECD nations [.] We need effective guidance methods to protect the educational rights of the students. If we had about twenty students in one classroom it would be much easier to control the class and to approach and educate each student individually. So if the government or the provincial educational offices really want to ban all corporal punishment, they should spend money on employing enough teachers to reach the classroom numbers of the rest of the OECD[.]”-KFTA international coordinator Un-soo Jung

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TEACHERS SUPPORT CORPORAL PUNISHMENT CONTINUED

Two main reasons for support:(1) excessively large class sizes and (2) pressure to cover large amounts of material for

testing purposes in limited time

According to a 2011 survey of student teachers, more than 60% opposed a ban on corporal punishment and those preparing to be secondary school teachers were more strongly opposed to a ban than those preparing to be primary school teachers.

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NO ALL TEACHERS AGREE WITH CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

“Corporal punishment should be banned, and it is illegal in Korea. However, some of my co-teachers say that corporal punishment has educational effect somehow. Some teachers may recognize corporal punishment as a penalty or consider stopping the bad attitude is a top priority.”“When I was a student, I had no chance to make my opinion to say corporal punishment is absurd, or too much to use as a way of discipline. At that time, people usually thought if a student get corporal punishment, he/she deserves it. Of course, there were side-effects that corporal punishment had brought in, negative image, prejudice on teachers.”

--Jeon Sol, English teacher at Kukje High School

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OBSERVATIONS BASED ON MY EXPERIENCES

• Generational attitudes—older teachers are quicker to use corporal punishment and use harsher forms; pressure on younger teachers to use corporal punishment

• Gendered attitudes—male teacher are also more likely to use harsher methods

• Gendered expectations—teachers are more likely to be harsher on male students

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SCENARIO 1You co-teach your most misbehaved class with a very inexperienced teacher that has almost no training in discipline. An older teacher that loves English and has that same period free usually sits in on class and will oftentimes start disciplining students without your consent. The younger coteacher has complained that he is losing respect among students. The students also complain about the older teacher. One day the class is especially rowdy and the older teacher makes ten boys hold plank positions in the back of the class. You are mad because you have explained to the older coteacher that corporal punishment is not allowed in your class. You had also promised your students never punishmen them using corporal punishment.What do you do?

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SCENARIO 2You are an elementary school ETA. You know one of your coteachers is particularly harsh with punishments. One day, a class is being particularly rowdy and the coteacher approaches one of the students. The student doesn’t seem to be responding to the teacher and she becomes increasingly frustrated. After a few minutes the teacher punches the student in the stomach hard enough that the student falls back.What do you do?

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SCENARIO 3You are teaching a class of students whose homeroom teacher is known as the “man with the long stick.” You’ve noticed that when other teachers try to discipline the students, the teachers threaten to “tell the homeroom teacher” or make them do 100 squats. The students seem scared of their homeroom teachers, but don’t seem to take any other punishments seriously. You are struggling to discipline this class, but are concerned about what punishment they might receive from their homeroom teacher.

What do you do?

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