u/LLattus

I have been a teacher for 10 years in Korea and have dedicated the last 2 years to trying to clean things up and improve quality of life for all teachers here. I believe we can have another golden age of ESL in Korea. I do believe things can improve (even though they've been on a steady decline for 20 years). I put my money where my mouth is--I even went so far as to report my previous academy for intentionally underreporting salary and pension contributions of all the teachers, and reporting abuse and misuse of CCTV and private recording to police, which was akin to swatting the hornet's nest. I have stuck up for my fellow teachers and will continue to do so.

I've created initiatives, launched two different services to try to help tackle various pain points in the industry, and continue to brainstorm new ways to fix what's broken. The truth is that it's hard to find support from teachers like me who are willing to tackle the problem. Sadly, most of the subreddits and Facebook groups related to teaching in Korea or ESL jobs in Korea are moderated by recruiters or people on power trips concerned about "self-promotion" (even though nothing is monetized or for-profit), are employers/recruiters and have no incentive to support change, or just act hostile over off-topic elements like whether something sounds like AI slop or not (ugh). It's not about money, there is no money involved. My posts are either withheld by the moderators or struck down for "self-promotion" (why I'm not going to publicly state the name of any of the sites/services I've been working on). As a teacher who has been part of this community, I am trying to bring change from the inside, to clean the house I live in. I want to find people who actually care to fix what's broken.

I genuinely wonder if there are teachers out there who want to help make a positive change in our community or if I'm wasting my time after 2 years?

So, I'm at a loss. All I can say is that if you:

1. want to hear my initiatives I've launched,
2. have ideas of your own,
3. have skills or talents to contribute (e.g. software development, marketing, event organization, asset creation, etc),
4. want to have a dialogue about it over voice chat (Discord, or in-person),
5. would be willing to share your stories and experiences just over chat or via interview for a series I'm putting together, can be on camera or off (change needs awareness first).
6. just want to connect to support or chat about it

Please DM me. This has to end.

I do. I'm looking for people who feel the same, or at least want to try to fix what's broken.
Tldr; if you want to do something about it, message me directly here on Reddit or on Discord.

Some teachers come to stay for just a year, some don't even make it that long. Others fall in love with this country and wish it could be a "forever home", where instead of an ESL job that only deserves your bare minimum, you can have a proper ESL career where you enjoy teaching, feel good in your work environment, and actually develop into the best teacher you can be. If you've ever counted the days left on your contract, or felt anxious when it comes time to look for your next job (Russian roulette, anyone?), then I'm talking to you.

Whether you're looking for a job in the near future or just want to help create a future network where teachers can exercise their leverage and have agency instead of just "wishing things were better" or complaining, please reach out or join the free job site created by teachers in Korea, for teachers, because a larger teacher network will encourage participation. I wrote a full article explaining my initiative here, which I'd love for you to read. I think most people who read it will relate to it, and hopefully many of you will help join the cause.

It's not the only solution, it's not a magic fix, but it's a good start. Some of you may have your own ideas, your own requests, your own skills and talents to contribute to this project or others. Reach out.

I'm continuing to build solutions for teachers (and academies), so we can have the kind of industry we all want: careers we can grow in, work we're passionate about, service we're proud of, and most of all an environment of well-being.

I also built an editor to help with your corrections. I'm still developing and improving it, and it has come a long way so I encourage you to check that out too if you are feeling burdened by your workload or want to give better feedback to your students in a fraction of the time, whether you are at an academy or working as a freelance tutor.

The goal is on actually making a difference in the lives of the teachers in our community and improving quality of life, not profit (everything is free). So once again, if you feel you have something to contribute (be it skills, ideas, or simply support), message me here or on Discord and hopefully I'll see you around! If you are passionate, talented at, or interested in:

- marketing
- asset creation (images, video, outreach campaigns)
- event coordination/management
- software development
- want to share your story and thoughts as a teacher in Korea (we're starting a YouTube series for it) and want to be interviewed (on/off camera are ok).

REACH OUT! :)

- Matt