"There Is a Problem with the Term 'Gyogwon' Itself," Critics Point Out
Writer Heo Ji-woong expressed condolences for a teacher who took their own life at an elementary school in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and shared his personal views.
On the 20th, Heo Ji-woong wrote on his Instagram, "The life of a young teacher has come to a permanent stop in the classroom they taught," and "Above all, the location is the most heartbreaking," adding, "They must have thought that if it wasn’t there, it would be treated as a personal matter or buried."
Heo also shared his thoughts on the term 'gyogwon' (teacher's authority). He said, "It is wrong to say that teachers' rights have declined because students' human rights have risen," and "There is a problem with the term 'gyogwon' itself," adding, "If reclaiming someone’s human rights threatened another’s, then it was not truly a matter of human rights from the start."
He further stated, "The term 'gyogwon' assumes that students' rights and teachers' rights exist separately in the classroom and cannot coexist, but human rights are not a game of territorial conquest where one tries to enjoy more than the other," and "If past violence and injustices faced by students in educational settings were forcibly normalized, then we should have also considered strict tools to regulate those precariously suppressed by bad customs through principles and procedures."
Heo Ji-woong concluded, "No doubt, political and factional disputes blaming each other will continue," and "I will stand on the side that comes forward with the will and results to solve the problem rather than blaming others."
Earlier, on the morning of the 18th, a female teacher in her 20s, identified as A, was found dead inside Seocho-gu Seo-i Elementary School. Suspicions arose in the education community and online forums that A, a new teacher, was burdened with school violence duties and troubled by complaints from parents.
However, on the 20th, Seo-i Elementary School Principal Kwon Seon-tae stated in a press release, "The deceased’s assigned duties were not related to school violence but involved managing NEIS (National Education Information System) permissions, which she had requested," adding, "There were no school violence reports in her class this year, and she never visited the education support office regarding school violence."
The Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations issued a statement saying, "We take the current situation seriously as not just a tragic infringement of one teacher’s authority but as a collapse of the entire public education system," and urged, "The relevant authorities must thoroughly investigate the facts and promptly reveal the truth."
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