By Kim Se-jeong



A court ruled on Sunday that a decision by Ewha Womans University to end a contract with a professor who mocked students about their grammar mistakes on her Facebook was legitimate.



The professor from South Africa filed a petition with the Appeal Commission for Teachers after the university decided not to renew a contract with her, citing the comments she made about her students. The commission ordered the university to re-consider its decision, but the university refused this, and took the case to the court.



The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of Ewha.



"Making fun of students for their mistakes is not appropriate behavior for a teacher," said Judge Kim Kyung-ran. "Online messages that she left (on Facebook) sounded insulting and frivolous. These made me wonder about her qualifications as an educator."



The judge also said the teacher's behavior might have hurt the students' feelings and could have had negative impact on the school's reputation.



The professor, whose identity was not disclosed, started teaching English at the university in March 2012.



In 2013, the teacher posted "I can't help but laugh" on her Facebook page along with a copy of a piece of writing by one of her students that contained errors. She continued to post mistakes along with derogatory opinions about them. Her Facebook friends also left derogatory comments.



In February, the school notified her that her contract would not be renewed, prompting her to file a complaint to the Appeal Commission for Teachers.



According to the school, the teacher violated the code of conduct multiple times.



At one point, she left for an overseas trip without notifying the school president and her students in the middle of the semester. She also criticized the elderly in Korea on her Facebook page for their opinionated views about dogs and cats. She also asked her friends to teach her to swear in Korean.



skim@ktimes.co.kr



