Despite its many inherent problems, Korea has (or had) two beautiful customs. One is “respecting elders” and the other “respecting teachers.” Unfortunately, the former no longer seems to exist and the latter seems to be on the verge of extinction.

In the subway, for example, elderly people are hopelessly pushed over by aggressive, impertinent young people who seem to despise old people. At school, teachers are often verbally insulted or sometimes even physically assaulted by their students. Alas, South Korea no longer seems to be a Confucian society that respects elders and teachers.

There may be a host of reasons for such a regrettable social phenomenon. First of all, our education system, driven by obsession with the college entrance exam, has largely failed to produce decent human beings with common sense. Secondly, radical socialists in our society have dismantled and disrupted the necessary social order and decorum under the excuse of abolishing hierarchy and class consciousness.

These reformers preach that everybody is equal. Of course, men are equal in human dignity and value. Unfortunately, men can never be equal in class or economic status, unless they live in a communist country. Even in communist countries, however, hierarchy and class consciousness exist, and the gap between the privileged and the underprivileged is vast.

Another reason is that our society has lost decency and humanity in the whirlpool of rapid industrialization.

Luckily, we still have Teacher’s Day which falls on May 15. Last week, my former students, who are now senior professors at various universities, invited me to a luncheon to celebrate the occasion.

Surely, this is a rare custom which cannot be found in many other countries. Needless to say, I was pleased and grateful for my former students’ warm hospitality. Nevertheless, I was equally embarrassed by their courteous invitation because I was not sure I had been a good teacher who deserved such a favor.

When the movie “To Sir, with Love” was released in 1967, my generation was deeply moved by the touching story of an affectionate, dedicated teacher and his rambunctious students from London’s East End.

Sidney Poitier’s portrayal of an esteemed teacher and mentor who tries very hard to steer his wayward students in the right direction was riveting and mesmerizing. At that time, we had quite a few respectable teachers like him in Korea as well.

Today, however, such admirable teachers are few and far between. Unfortunately, Korean teachers nowadays seem to be divided into two different camps.

One camp is made up of frustrated teachers who do not bother to care about the future of their students, who spend more time and energy on attending hagwon and fall asleep in class at school. The other camp is made up of ideologically charged political teachers who devote themselves to converting their students into anti-Americanists and anti-capitalists. Students will not respect such types of teachers.

An ideal, admirable teacher must have three distinctive qualities. First, he should be neutral in politics and value judgment. Whether he is a capitalist or a Marxist, a teacher should never try to impose his political ideology on his students. He should present both the merits and shortcomings of capitalism and Marxism, and then let his students come to a conclusion.

No teacher has the right to constrict the infinite possibilities and the still amorphous, tender minds of the younger generation. Teachers are not demagogues. Those who try to convert their students into ultra-nationalists in this age of globalization should take responsibility for their grave mistakes.

Secondly, a good teacher is someone who discovers the strong points and merits of each student in his class and encourages them accordingly. Then every student can be the teacher’s pet.

Every student has his or her own unique strengths and talents. And a good teacher should be able to recognize these and help maximize their potential. Each student deserves recognition in his or her own way. Therefore, achievement awards should be given in English, math, music, science and art. In addition, a truly gifted student is not necessarily someone who has achieved the highest scores in all subjects.

Thirdly, a good teacher is someone who shows his students the best way, the right way or the shortcut, even though he himself took the wrong path or wandered around and detoured.

He should allow his students to have a vision for the future, instead of urging them to retreat into the past with grudges; he should teach them how to live with others peacefully as global citizens and how to make a better world, instead of teaching them to antagonize other people and other countries.

Every year on Teacher’s Day, I am embarrassed and ashamed of myself as a teacher. Teachers should assume the responsibility, at least partially, for the disheartening social phenomena described above. And I know I cannot be immune from criticism either. Do we really deserve a note of gratitude from our students and former students, beginning with “To Sir, with Love”? I often wonder.

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. ― Ed.