SeungSil Yang et al.
(Korean Educational Development Institute)
A need to create teaching positions with flexible hours has been raised in order to provide broader opportunity for learners to select their own courses of study and in order to enable teachers to focus on educational activities as they can prevent a career break caused by childcare, nursing, and educational training.
However, a negative view has been widespread because this particular education policy has been pursued from an economic viewpoint as part of the administration’s key project that aims at 70% employment.
Under these circumstances, this study attempts to present policy recommendations for the trial operation and stabilization of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours in order to enhance positive effects and minimize possible concerns.
Given the circumstances in which concerns and objections caused by the lack of understanding about the policy to create part-time teaching positions with flexible
hours are growing, a survey which is typically used as a method in this type of research has not been used based on the decision that it is more reasonable to conduct the survey after the trial operation of the policy. Instead, this study adopted a qualitative method consisting of focus group interviews which effectively collect various opinions of educational stakeholders. Additionally, an expert council, a roundtable, and a policy forum have been held.
The teaching profession is considered typical “human corporation”, where students can mature personally based on the profound bond built between teachers and students by maintaining continuous and in-depth relationship. Accordingly, those who object to the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours argue that it will be difficult to build a meaningful bond between students and teachers. Some believe that the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours will help teachers to be more engaged in teaching and enhance their jobs’ efficiency because of increased satisfaction outside their jobs. Two sides exist to the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours.
Teachers form a unique organization that requires high level of independence with their own territory and expertise, yet with an equally strong connection that requires cooperation and participation in taking care of common administrative affairs.
There have been demands for change to the teachers’ organization which mainly operates with full-time teachers. Among such demands are changes in perspectives on curriculum, flexibility and stability in hiring and transferring teachers and expansion of schools’ functions. Changes in perspectives on curriculum have been reflected in terms of the expansion of unit curriculum and strengthened students’
right to choose their own courses of study, so that schools and students can respond to a knowledge and information based society where the cycle of knowledge change gets shorter and shorter. In order to proactively respond to current changes and
overcome the limitation of present full-time teacher-centered personnel management, a new approach from the perspective of complementary personnel management for full-time teaching staff can help to satisfy the effectiveness and stability of personnel management. Moreover, in addition to the traditional functions of schools, considering how secondary functions of schools are expanding, such as the operation of after-school care and education programs, healthcare, providing guidance for maladjusted students, and taking care of dormitory communities, the need for teaching staff to carry out new roles and responsibilities will increase.
This study examined the cases in United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, and Australia where having part-time teachers with flexible hours is a common practice.
In United Kingdom, teachers who work flexible hours are divided into two categories. The teachers who were as teachers with flexible hours hired in the first place and teachers whose positions got changed into part-time positions with flexible hours from full-time positions due to childbirth, childcare, and further study. In United Kingdom, there is no particular requirement in changing their status from full-time positions to the part-time positions with flexible hours, and there is legal protection against any possible discrimination toward the part-time teaching positions with flexible hours. In addition, there is a pro rata principle which ensures fair wages.
In Germany, part-time teaching positions with flexible hours follow the regulations for part-time government employees set by each state. Usually, it is allowed when teachers have children who are younger than 18 years old and when they have family or relatives that need to be taken care of. In 1998, part-time positions for experienced teachers were introduced, and those who are over 55 years old can apply.
In Netherlands, there are no regulations at the national level that govern part-time teaching positions with flexible hours and they are managed within the discretion of principals and boards of directors. In 1993, Social Partner Agreement prohibited any
possible discrimination between full-time and part-time teachers.
In Australia, part-time teaching positions with flexible hours are divided into permanent part-time positions and temporary part-time positions up to three years. The workload for part-time teachers with flexible hours is about 40 percent of that of full-time teachers. Part-time teachers can teach both regular or specialized subjects and after three years of teaching, they can transfer to other part-time positions or full-time positions.
Based on the examined cases of other countries, some of the policy suggestions and recommendations for the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours in Korea were made. First, a social consensus regarding the policy should be preceded before the implementation of the part-time teaching positions with flexible hours. Second, laws and regulations that protect the status and job security of part-time teachers with flexible hours should be established. Third, a policy for the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours that is suitable for Korean society should be introduced because the hiring process of teachers and job preferences in Korea are different from the practices of other countries.
Unlike other countries where the higher percentage of part-time positions exists, those who hold part-time positions in the workforce face prejudice in Korea. Due to the full-time position-centered labor market, part-time positions are not as popular. Presently, more part-time workforce is being created in the private sector than the public sector. The operation of part-time positions with flexible hours within the public and private sectors offers this study some useful insight. First, mutual understanding and agreement about the newly created part-time positions among full-time teachers should be preceded before implementing the part-time teaching positions with flexible hours. Second, more demands are expected because this new policy helps to prevent a career break for female teachers. Third, plans to stop part-time teachers from lowering administrative and educational efficiency
should be put in place so that they can work closely with their full-time counterparts. Fourth, the flexible management of personnel should be exercised as the positions that become available due to the move to part-time teaching positions should be filled with full-time or temporary teachers depending on the circumstances of each school. Fifthly, the central government’s ministries and the public sector which initiate the creation of part-time positions with flexible hours should systematically improve the ways in which personnel management is administered including managing duties, wage, and retirement funds and proactively publicize excellent cases. Sixth, the quality trial operation of the policy is more important than ever in order to stop lowering the quality of education that might be caused by the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours.
In order to estimate possible demands for part-time teaching positions from full-time teachers, statistical data related to teachers’ leave of absence and retirement were analyzed. The reasons for teachers’ taking leaves of absence are illness, military service, childcare, nursing, spouse, further study, and so on. When examining the reasons for leaves of absence from 2005 to 2013, the most common reason has been childcare and it is on the rise. The reason for childcare on the rise is the increasing importance of childcare in life. However, there are many teachers who cannot take a leave of absence for childcare due to the problems of less compensation and adjusting after getting back to work. The reasons for teachers’
retirement are illness, death, reaching retirement age, disciplinary action, and change of occupation and voluntary retirement has been on the rise since 2007.
The reasons for the rising tendency of voluntary retirement are increasing difficulty to guide students due to the downfall of teachers’ authority, increased workload, and reform on government employees’ pensions, and the failure to cultivate the environment where qualified teachers enhance their passion and morale.
In order to forecast whether the demands for leaves of absence and retirement would move to the part-time teaching positions with flexible hours, extensive interviews with teachers on the job were conducted about whether they would intend to transit to part-time teaching positions with flexible hours. Teachers who are considering taking a leave of absence for childcare responded positively because they believed that they could spend more time with their children to establish emotional stability and closeness as they are still financially relieved. Teachers who are considering voluntary retirement also responded positively because they continue to work as teachers even though they still think that they have downgraded authority as teachers and that they would still have trouble guiding the students. In addition, some teachers responded positively so that they could utilize flexible hours for their medical needs, such as seeing a doctor on a regular basis. Part-time teaching positions with flexible hours can serve as an alternative which could help more experienced teachers take part in mentoring newly hired teachers.
Based on the findings from the interviews, the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours suggests as following. First, the distribution of workload and fairness in terms of pensions and teachers’ experience should be thoroughly verified. Secondly, changes and rationalization of the execution of administrative affairs should be made in order to smoothly implement the policy of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours. Third, the organization of teachers can be vitalized through the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours if experienced teachers can pass their knowledge about teaching to new teachers and are provided with an opportunity to prepare for retirement.
In order to analyze the perception and needs of educational stakeholders about the part-time teaching positions with flexible hours, students, parents, teachers, pre-service teachers, education policy experts, professors who work for colleges of education, and government employees in charge were interviewed. The questions
were divided into common questions and individual questions. According to the findings of the focus group interviews, there was a more significant difference among individuals than among groups and they presented overall negative opinions about the policy. In terms of actually implementing the policy, more focus on teachers’ benefits and interests was apparently present.
Based on the findings, this study identified some disputed issues at hand regarding the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours.
First, a balanced and comprehensive approach between economic and educational perspectives should be introduced because educational policies cannot be implemented in vacuum. Second, in the process of the trial operation, more suitable areas for part-time positions should be identified through combining many types of different tasks. Third, considering the introduction of new subjects and the operation of small curricular management, flexible responses toward teachers’
professional development and learners’ needs should be encouraged. Fourth, through changing how teachers work and actively discussing reforms on school administration and teachers’ responsibilities in administrative affairs, newly renovated ways of cooperating and specializing among teachers should be devised.
Fifth, a close examination of existing regulations regarding current leaves of absence and voluntary retirement should be done in order to prevent any unfairness that could be caused by the implementation of part-time teaching positions with flexible hours. Sixth, teachers’ voluntary participation based on their own life plans should be encouraged so that the policy enhances individual satisfaction. Seventh, carefully detailed plans that are suitable for 1.5 income household economy should be made. Eighth, the management of part-time teachers with flexible hours should be operated on a limited number based so that it alleviates the difficulty of personnel management and encourages the policy to take root in schools with the assistance of regional education offices.
The policy recommendations based on the findings of this study are as follows.
The definition of “part-time teachers with flexible hours” refers to teachers who are government employees, who have the same qualifications and status as full time teachers, who can choose to work two or three days a week as full time teachers (16-24 hours, 40% to 60% appointment), who are in charge of students’
educational activities, counseling, supervising students, and so on, depending on specific circumstances of each school.
Full-time teachers can participate in part-time teaching positions with flexible hours due to childcare, nursing, further study, transition to retirement and full-time teachers who have 5 years left into retirement can also change as part-time teachers with flexible hours. The selection process and procedures are as follows;
(1) application (2) review of school personnel advising committee and school management committee (3) principal’s recommendation to regional education office (3) review of personnel advising committee in the regional education office, and recommendation to metropolitan or provincial education offices (5) appointment by the superintendent of education. Newly appointed part-time teachers should work for one year and they can reapply up to 5 years. In addition, while it is guaranteed that they can come back as full-time teachers, it is contingent on the operation of curriculum and the personnel management. However, the reinstatement as full-time teachers should be done as soon as such positions become available. While the complementary personnel could be filled with temporary contract-based teachers, it can be replaced with full-time teachers, depending on their duties, teaching subjects, and the remaining time period. The part-time teachers will perform the same tasks as full-time teachers, but they are exempted from participating in various administrative and educational committees and being in charge of homerooms. In order to ensure the long-term stability of part-time teachers with flexible hours, taking charge of homerooms could be permitted on a trial basis.
It is necessary to try on various working hours depending on school’s specific educational needs and circumstances, even though the policy is originally intended for 2-3 days of full-time working hours. Additionally, part-time teachers with flexible hours are prohibited from holding other jobs as full-time teachers are. The reasons for changing into part-time teaching positions should be strictly examined and evaluated and they should be subject to disciplinary actions if they were found in violation of the regulations. Par-time teachers with flexible hours should not be discriminated on any other conditions but their specific use of working hours compared to full-time teachers.
[부록 1]
시간선택제 교사제도에 대한 정책이해당사자의 인식과 요구 분석 질문지
[부록 2]
교육공무원 임용령 임부개정령안 입법 예고