It’s time to move forward.

I do think we need a organization that assists teachers; in fact, I’d be open to sitting in on that future discussion and offering up some ideas. Let’s get the seven or eight or twenty of us interested in moving forward and have a roundtable sort of meeting. Not in a bar, not in a coffeehouse, but a rather sterile, business room of sorts.

To clarify, I’m not talking about shaking ATEK up, using their contacts, or changing ATEK into something else. I’m talking about a completely new organization, because the name ATEK has become irreversibly tainted, and needs to be retired.

I’d also like to point out that this a big endeavor. At the very least you’d need a few people ready to spend at least a few weeks setting things up, working closely to keep things integrated, and then a larger team to canvass the online and offline worlds to spread the word.

What should this new teachers organization look like?

1. Keep it simple – both the website and the message. A simple-to-navigate website can still have any number of features – a bulletin board, updating on-the-fly, etc. As for the message, it needs to be clear which things can be dealt with via information (links or content on a website), via humans (basic life in Korea type questions), and via professional humans (referrals to lawyers, psychologists, police officers, etc.).
2. Cultivate contacts and respect their knowledge. People like Michelle Farnsworth, a manager at Shinhan Bank, already actively answers questions about banking. The folks over at AFEK have decades of combined knowledge in most every aspect of life and culture in Korea – more than a few over there seem happy to help out.
3. The question of the goal – where KOTESOL’s is succinctly written as “To promote scholarship, disseminate information, and facilitate cross-cultural understanding among persons concerned with the teaching and learning of English in Korea.”. While AFEK‘s website doesn’t appear to have a mission statement in so many words, the organization’s purpose seems clear enough from their main page – networking, sharing information, and jobs (for the F-visa holders). What should the goals be? Information, assistance, referrals, bringing the disparate pieces of the puzzle together, responding to the Anti-English Spectrum crowd, etc.?
4. Make it easy for members to contact officials, officials to contact officials, and members to contact other members – without needing to give away personal information. Bulletin board software allows for fairly open communication, while requiring registration to ask questions.
5. How much information does this organization need to collect about its members? E-mail addresses and names are givens, while a picture of some proof that you’re living in Korea as well. Why collect more than that?
6. Roboseyo’s suggestion of a flowchart to help with legal problems is excellent. Original research like that comes from more than one person, of course, but could easily be offered for anyone to use under a Creative Commons license. Other flowcharts might include the basic process for getting a job,
7. Expectations of members might include passing on or updating information – any ideas on a good incentive? Both 10 Magazine and AFEK feature a points-based system, but I’d love to see those points good for something in the real world – a free beer somewhere (courtesy of a sponsor), or a party where the only ones invited are the contributors.
8. With permission, use knowledgeable outside sources and link generously. There are far more sources of information out there now than there ever was before.
9. Create a hotline – a single number for people to call when they need help. It might be worth contacting the Before Babel Brigade to see how their system is set up – by calling one number, you’re connected with a volunteer who’s agreed to be available during that time.
10. Promote, network, repeat. Print up some business cards and flyers – basic ones with the organization’s name and website – and get to work distributing them once things are set up. Aim to meet expats before they have problems, pin or tape them up on the bulletin boards in the real world, yadda yadda yadda.
11. Facebook and Twitter are perfect places to promote the success stories – large and small. Details like people’s names and cities are easily kept anonymous.
12. I personally am picturing a tight, lean, organization that coordinates and assists people online. An offline component might be the part that raises the money that funds things – the same way any number of organizations fund their endeavors.

I’d like to go on record by saying I’d like to be part of this conversation – and in it’s foundation. At the same time, there’s no way in hell I could do this alone.

Some questions for the founders of this thing to answer:

1. Is there any room for the well-meaning ATEK volunteers who had little/no control over the shenanigans?
2. Should the organization focus on being non-profit, or is there a possibility of turning out help on a for-profit basis?
3. What the heck do we call it? Any combination of the letters A, T, E, and K seems either inappropriate or too closely related. If it’s bound to be an information source or aggregator, let’s pick a name to show that off. A few names that are currently available: kaggregator (Korea + aggregator), k411.net, and waygook.info.

© Chris Backe – 2011
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