<목욜정모> September 24th, 2009. Thursday meeting's topic

[뺑끼(운영자)]

How to Make the Better Teamwork

I believe most of students have the experience in working by groups. It is quite natural for us to do teamwork because there could be limitation solving the entire problem by oneself. That is why many professors emphasize the import!ance of teamwork and often suggest students to do the assignment by group-making. But still many students are not familiar with doing teamwork and do not try to get along well with the team members. Rather, they do it by themselves. Doing team work does not seem to be easy because of the difficulties in coping with various characters of the group members. However, it is essential for us to do work as a team not only for the result we would perform, but also for the improvement of our interpersonal skills we would need in the future.

What is the teamwork? In this topic, teamwork is not a term which means abstract atmosphere that is really required for smooth group working. Then, is the team work just one way for many people to solve some problems expecting synergy effect?

First of all, we should make the boundary of the concept, ‘teamwork’, in this article. Actually, the definition of the teamwork is too wide to cover in this short writing. For example, someone who wants to know more about teamwork, they should study organizational behavior, psychology, sociology, and some practical methods such as communication, authority, leadership, reward system and so on. So in this article, we will just consider familiar cases of the teamwork we usually do in our school days.

There are several things which I think it is import!ant to consider while doing teamwork. First, each member should take each role and its responsibilities. Not only setting hierarchy system by dividing members into a leader and followers, but also assigning fair amount of work to each person is import!ant. In addition, the leader should equally distribute works and encourage or awake members’ to do their best to make a best performance. Second, the team should set the distinctive purpose of the meeting to solve the problems together. The goal should be realistic but not too easy to achieve. Third, it is import!ant not to make any free-rider during the teamwork. When one free rider occurs, other members will feel unpleasant compensating for his/her vacancy.

There is no answer how to make the perfect teamwork. However, there could be a satisfaction if you dealt with both personal relationships and subjects of team project successfully. Creating the good atmosphere for great teamwork is difficult but know-how for harmonious teamwork would help the team to achieve dominant position in competitions. So it will be required more and more from now on. Now, it is your turn to think about the teamwork you have experienced before.

<Questions>

1. What kind of difficulties do you face when you are doing a group project?

2. Which type of team is more effective on working together? Group member having similar characteristics or all having different styles. Why don’t you think of another type of ideal group?

3. What kind of position do you prefer in a team work? Usually, what is your style? Are you a leader, follower, free rider or somebody else?

4. In what situation do you think teamwork will be more efficient than individual work?

5. Generally, leader of a group get most power. How much power is the leader permitted? Let's talk about lerder's power

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Is Racism Serious Here?

By Bryan Kay

Staff Reporter,  090915

When Indian man Bonojit Hussain recently claimed victory in a racial abuse case at a Seoul court, it again brought into the spotlight the uncomfortable subject of racism in Korea.

Many claim the lid has been unscrewed on a rampant problem, but another body of opinion says that racism here is no worse than in any other country.

But with an anti-racism bill pending in the National Assembly and the head of the Korea Immigration Service admitting this week that racism is a grave problem confronting the nation, it is becoming ever clearer the matter is one stoking genuine concern.

In a bid to shed further light on the subject, The Korea Times was in Itaewon over the weekend to ask foreigners if they believed racism is a genuine issue here.

For Canadian English teacher Patrick Diplock, the answer to the racism question is a little more complex than a simple "yes" or "no."

He says it doesn't occur here in a uniform manner, but rather is generational.

"I have been the victim of numerous threats, assaults and stalking," he said.

Referring to his experiences as a teacher, Diplock continued, "My students are not of a racist mind-set or prejudiced, but they could act in what is perceived as a discriminatory way as a result of parental influence.

"Limits are placed on children, as they will choose not to associate with foreigners in an effort not to cause disunion in the family."

But he believes some behavior may be misinterpreted, pointing to the strict hierarchical structure in the military that sees some look down on those who they see as inferior, including foreigners.

Bangladeshi man Khaled Rahman, a student here, says he has experienced no incidents of racism during his six months in Korea.

"Koreans are very polite, kind and always courteous. Racism has not been obvious to me."

Ugandan student Chris Bridge agrees. He says Koreans are not racist, but believes problems do arise when foreigners are not able to speak English ― a characteristic he believes locals expect of foreign nationals.

An Ethiopian man, who asked to remain anonymous, reckons there is an element of prejudice here. "To an extent, Korea is a racist society," he said. "I have had slurs and funny looks.

"Some Koreans try to fit you into their social fabric, not accepting you for who you are."

He suggested this was perhaps due to a historical lack of exposure to other cultures. But he added that he has also experienced the "welcoming and embracing" side of Koreans toward foreigners.

Alphonso, a South African English teacher in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, who has been in Korea for five months, believes racism is more preval‎ent outside urban areas.

He said, "In rural areas there is more racism, maybe because of less direct contact with foreigners."

But he continued, "It is not normal racism… it is not about your skin color, but about if you are Korean or not."

Alphonso believes the problem is one among the nation's youth. "Older people are nice and very friendly," he added, explaining that he thinks wisdom comes with age. "In five to 10 years, racism will be gone; Korea will be totally different."

Senegalese man Diouf Serigne, who came here in 2005 and works on the American military base, says any racism in Korea is more a problem of institutions than people.

He gave the example of non-Koreans born in Korea not being issued with passports.

He said, "Without a Korean father, they will not recognize you as a citizen," claiming such individuals are "citizens of this land and should have the same rights… including the right to leave, which they are being denied."

Muneer Ahmad, who is from the disputed region of Kashmir on the Indian sub-continent and runs an Islamic book center in Itaewon, says Korea has no more of a problem than any other country. "Korea is not racist ― it is not right to judge an entire country.

"There are some bad people here, but every country has the same problem. Racism is all over the world.

"There are all types of people in Korea, and racists are certainly not the majority.

"Every nation has people who are proud, and pride is a form of ignorance and arrogance, out of which racism is born.

"Knowledge is the answer. If you have a proper understanding of justice then you cannot be racist.

"Korea is not an enlightened country, so they can have a tendency to look down on you if you are not born here."

A female Canadian English teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, believes there is a lot of misunderstanding in Korean society.

She said many of the issues can be put down to ignorance, a lack of acceptance and even fear ― all of which she has encountered.

One-year resident Mark Rogers, an English businessman, was among the naysayers. He said, "(Korea) is not a racist society.

The only unpleasant thing I have noticed is bad behavior by youths. Koreans are the most welcoming people in the world. Many places are much more racist than Korea."

Rogers reckons many issues may simply be put down to the language barrier. "Sometimes, if you cannot speak Korean, they can seem as if they are being isolating, which may appear discriminatory, but it is not intended as such."

community@koreatimes.co.kr

<Questions>

1. Do you think racism is here?

2. Do you think the difference of skin color is racism? Do you agree with that?

3. When do you feel that’s racism, explain the situation.

4. To be honest, do you have racism?

5. Which countries’ racism is the worst?

6. When did you go abroad, did you experience racism?

[Gunner]

오늘은 내가 일번 ? ㅋㅋ 숫자놀이 첨 해보네 ^^

[뺑끼(운영자)]

난 2등 ㅎㅎ

[Mark]

숫자놀이~~3빠~