The Difficulties of Opening New Private International School in Daegu, Korea (according to ChatCPT)

A few weeks back, I wrote a blog post about the difficulties of opening new school in Daegu, Korea. It focused on the specific challenges we were facing in doing it, but I was curious to see what ChatGPT thought the difficulties would be. Overall, ChatGPT was right on the money, but I feel that it is because new schools face similar problems everywhere, so it was easy for the AI to "answer" the question. Here is the answer it provided:

Opening a new private international school in Daegu, South Korea can present various difficulties that need to be overcome to ensure success. Some of the significant challenges are:

Competition: Daegu is a competitive market for international private schools, with many established institutions offering similar programs and services. New schools need to differentiate themselves to attract students and also compete with online education options. (This was interesting, because there aren't actually many international schools in Daegu. I'm very interested in how this part of the answer come out. I'm guessing ChatGPT was working of a general source of information about opening international schools in general and it applied it to Daegu without checking to see if that was the case locally. As this technology evolves over time, it will be able to give specific information from a location.)

Cultural differences: South Korea has a unique culture, language, and educational system that can be challenging for those unfamiliar with the country. Schools must understand and be inclusive of these cultural differences to build a supportive community.

Regulatory compliance: International private schools in South Korea must comply with a complex set of regulations and standards at the national and local levels, including obtaining necessary licenses, permits, and certifications, and meeting student safety, curriculum, and teacher qualifications standards.

Staffing: Recruiting and retaining qualified staff is crucial, but can be challenging as the pool of qualified international educators may be limited and competition for top talent is fierce. Schools must offer competitive compensation and benefits and have a supportive workplace culture.

Marketing and enrollment: Marketing and enrollment are major challenges for any new school, and schools must effectively communicate their unique value proposition, build a strong reputation, and align their programs with changing demands and expectations.

Infrastructure and facilities: Developing necessary infrastructure and facilities can be costly, especially in a city like Daegu with high real estate prices, and schools must consider the long-term maintenance and operational costs.

Curriculum and program development: Developing a quality curriculum and educational program is critical and schools must adapt to changing needs and expectations of students.

IT infrastructure and technology: Schools need robust IT infrastructure and technology to support operations and meet the needs of students and staff, which can be a significant challenge for new schools.

Financing: Obtaining sufficient financing to cover the costs of opening a new school can be difficult, especially in a competitive market like Daegu. Schools may need to secure loans, grants, or partnerships with investors to secure funding.

These are some of the difficulties that a new private international school in Daegu may face. Overcoming these challenges requires careful planning, effective communication, and a commitment to providing high-quality education.

20 Conversations in 2020 from Be a Better Ally: Conversation #1 Personal Biases

Conversation #1: When do we let our own personal biases or our own experiences with heterosexism hold us back from engaging in conversations about LGBTQ+ issues?

I have worked in private, international schools for the vast majority of my career. It is a system, where at the end of the day, there is a customer. I've never been told outright -- "Don't talk about that because it makes the parents who pay us uncomfortable," but there have been plenty of times where it was clear to me that was the subtle message. So when does heterosexism get in the way of me engaging in deeper conversations about LGBTQ+ issues? I have to sadly admit that -- it is always.

I wish it wasn't true, but it is true and to deny it would be a lie. I often worry in the back of my mind, will I get fired for this? Private schools don't have unions and our contracts usually have clauses that make it pretty easy to dismiss us for any reason the school sees fit. And even if you aren't dismissed in the middle of the year, the school doesn't have to offer another contract. They don't need to supply a reason why. That power isn't often abused, but "often" isn't never. I feel like I've been very lucky and worked in schools where the Board and/or administrations were trying to make things better for everyone.

I've worked with teachers who were openly gay and they were supported (sometimes due to pressure from other teachers and community members). I've had students who were openly gay and they were supported (although to say they were completely accepted by everyone or that it was an easy life for them would be untrue). I don't always stay silent; I have had moments where I defended someone or discussed why being LGBTQ+ shouldn't be judged... But have I done it often enough? Have I really pushed back whenever I saw injustice? I feel sad to admit that I have avoided discussions because I knew it would be a safer option for my career, but I have done it. I'm a product of social pressure, but that doesn't justify my silence.

So what now? Where do I go from here? How can I be a better ally? Resolutions are often so hollow and shallow and dry up and blow away like fall leaves in the coming winter. Committing to support my friends who are LGBTQ+ is easy, but how do I support people who are LGBTQ+ in general? How do I step outside the comfort zone of heterosexual security and push not only when it is easy or convenient, but every time, everywhere? I need to step up and take the advice I gave a colleague long ago, "If that is the reason you get fired, do you really want to work with those people?" The answer is within me, I just need to stop being scared of "what if" and do the right thing.

The Laptops are coming!

Thanks to Title 1 money that the Saipan Public School System (PSS) generously shares with the private schools, all of our students from grades 7-12 have laptop computers. This is a great example of public and private schools partnering to make education better for all students. We should drop the idea that public and private schools are competing with each other, because they aren't and shouldn't. The idea is to share the resources and share the improved learning, not hoard it. PSS has a large amount of resources, but because of government regulations and the large size, it is difficult for them to implement change quickly. Private schools, because of their smaller size, can implement innovation and change quickly and share their success and failure with PSS. Then when PSS wants to move in a direction, they can with confidence after seeing what worked in the private schools on the island. I want to thank Herman Guerrero, Chairperson of the PSS School Board, for his support of the private schools. I would also like to thank Tim Thornburgh, who is in charge of the Federal Grants program, for his continued support as well.

Make One Thing Better Each Day

Being an educational leader can be an overwhelming experience. Your time is rarely your own and the demands on the little time you have are quite staggering; especially when you are the only administrator in the school. Parents have questions and concerns, students have questions and concerns, the faculty have requests, questions, and concerns, and the staff does as well. All eyes are on you and they are all looking for some guidance and leadership.

Even though I'm new to the demands of the job, I think I have found a novel approach; or at least the approach is novel to me and that is worth something to my personal professional growth. The idea is very simply -- make one thing better each day. That's it. That's all. But that is a lot. Make one thing better each day. Improve something each day, even something small. Because if you make one thing better, even if everything else around you went horribly wrong, you can always look at the one thing and feel like something improved today. Tackling one problem that is outside of the regular job to make the school better each day builds momentum. People begin to notice the changes; they come up with ideas and ask to make their own changes; and little by little, day by day, you transform the culture.

During the weekend, Aysem and I came to campus with a group of students to clean up some areas of the school that were in desperate need of attention. Our Yoga and Art teacher, Kim Peterson, also came in to work on her room. The Yoga and Art Studio is our former secondary library, but many old items were still left in there and had been for years. Many, many old textbooks were gathered there for no reason; along with some old reading books that were simply in boxes and unsorted. Dozens of old trophies were also part of the mess. Working with the students, we moved all the old books and removed some old shelves. Now we have a Yoga/Art Studio. It still needs work, but we made headway. Something improved, something got better.

Kim has some great ideas for making the yoga program bigger. On the weekend, she asked me about allowing some of the mothers to have a morning yoga class. The room is available and the mom's like the connivence of dropping off their children and then getting a yoga session in on top of it. How cool is that service? Not my idea, but a great idea. I told her to go for it. Little by little, day by day, you transform the culture.

The elementary team noticed that Amie McRoberts has a great love for art. She inspires her G5 students with interesting projects. Currently, we don't have a K-12 Art teacher, but the elementary students love and want to have art. The team came up with the idea of covering Amie's class once a day, so she can cycle through the elementary classes teaching art. Now everybody gets art once a week. Things are better, there has been improvement. Not my idea, but great idea. I stood back and allowed the team to do it. Little by little, day by day, you transform the culture.