To those of you who are teaching here, and given to shooting your mouth off, let this be a lesson…
Something funny happened this semester in one of my classes. A student was complaining about one of her first foreign teachers, who taught her English while she was in middle or high school. (I can’t remember which.) This foreign teacher said some things that, at least as the student recounted them, were pretty ignorant and obviously not wise things for a Western adult to say to a Korean kid.
The funny thing that that the student ended her rant with, “I even remember my teacher’s name. I’ll never forget it!” Then she said the person’s name. The full name.
There was a short silence, during which I giggled a little. Someone asked me why, and I fessed up: “I think I know that person.” The student was shocked to hear that this person was still in Korea, and still teaching, and felt sick at the thought. “_____ shouldn’t be a teacher,” the student said. “Teachers like that shouldn’t be saying those things to students, still, even now.”
And yes, I do know this person. And yes, this person still in Korea. I’ve met the person a few times. So have some of you, my dear readers. The person is a pretty well-known member of the Korean blogosphere, in fact. Amusingly.
It’s not my place to repeat the story, but I will say this: teachers impact people deeply, and sometimes in ways they never imagine. It behooves us to think before we say whatever pops into our heads…