Among public elementary school teachers, an indicator to screen out schools where they do not want to work, the so-called "volleyball index," is being created on their own. Public school teachers usually work at one school for about five years and then transfer to another, and they want to find out in advance which schools have less nonwork stress.
This indicator is created through voluntary participation by teachers. About 7% of rank-and-file elementary school teachers take part, and about half of elementary schools nationwide are evaluated. It is essentially "big data on schools to avoid" produced directly by teachers. It is called the volleyball index because the ball sport of volleyball plays a key role in determining whether a school is one to avoid. The volleyball index is posted on Indischool, an online community used by elementary school teachers.
◇ "Which school is good to work at" spread by word of mouth, leading to the birth of the volleyball index
Elementary school teachers choose a new school for transfer based on points accumulated according to the grade they homeroomed and their duties at their current school. For example, taking on a sixth-grade homeroom, which carries heavy workload, earns extra points, so each teacher's accumulated score differs. Teachers with higher scores get priority in choosing schools.
Teachers with high scores who think "the past five years were tough" want to go to a school with relatively better working conditions for the next five years. So before choosing a school to transfer to, they sounded out the atmosphere and organizational culture by word of mouth. That led to the creation of the volleyball index.
Ahead of a 2023 transfer, an elementary school teacher, identified as A, found it hard to gauge a school's atmosphere and used Google's survey function to directly collect information from teachers nationwide. Teachers anonymously evaluate the schools where they work.
About 10,000 elementary school teachers took part in last year's volleyball index survey, and information on 3,316 schools was compiled. About 7% of rank-and-file teachers nationwide (149,808) participated, and information was entered for 53% of elementary schools nationwide (6,192).
◇ Last year, 10,000 elementary school teachers took part in the volleyball index survey… 7% of the total
At first it was a simple survey asking "Does the school force teachers to play volleyball?" Elementary school teachers often play volleyball for socializing. Some schools reportedly play volleyball "semi-mandatorily." There are volleyball tournaments only for elementary school teachers. According to research by Seong Byeong-chang, a professor at Busan National University of Education, and Kim Dal-hyo, a professor at Dong-A University, these volleyball tournaments are a tradition at elementary schools, but there are also criticisms that preparing for the competitions burdens teachers.
Among teachers, the perception has spread that "the more a school plays volleyball, the more authoritarian and conservative it is." Conversely, schools where teachers may opt out of volleyball are said to have horizontal relationships among teachers and a culture that ensures autonomy.
After reviewing last year's survey results, this reporter found responses indicating that volleyball or sports participation is "mandatory" at more than 150 elementary schools nationwide.
A teacher in North Gyeongsang Province, identified as Lee, 30, said, "Through the volleyball index, I learned that my preferred school plays volleyball regularly, so I prioritized other schools."
◇ "Level-2 regular teacher ratio," "in-person report to administrators when leaving early" are key indicators
The survey items increased quickly. This year's questionnaire has 50 items, including "Do teachers personally pay for refreshments?" and "Average number of official documents per month."
The indicator teachers consult next after volleyball is the "level-2 regular teacher ratio." After graduating from a national university of education and passing the teacher appointment exam, one becomes a level-2 regular teacher. To be promoted to level 1, at least three to four years of experience are required.
A high level-2 regular teacher ratio is interpreted to mean that experienced teachers are reluctant to work there because of "heavy workload" or "poor working conditions." A teacher identified as B, who worked in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, said, "At newly opened schools or places with heavy workloads, there are almost no high-seniority teachers. Sometimes more than half are level-2 regular teachers."
"Whether in-person reporting to administrators is required when leaving early" is an indicator of how rigid the organizational culture is. Teachers can submit an electronic approval to leave early, but some schools have a practice of requiring direct reports to the principal or vice principal. As of last year, 147 schools required in-person reporting, and among them, 33 also mandated participation in volleyball activities.
◇ Volleyball index creator says "some posts were deleted after user reports"
As the volleyball index drew teachers' attention, controversy also arose. Teacher A, who creates the volleyball index, said in a survey notice posted in Sept. this year, "Last year, some posts were deleted or the account was suspended after reports by some users," and added, "There is also a risk of the account being suspended this year."
Rank-and-file teachers suspect that administrators such as principals and vice principals at some schools requested deletions because of negative evaluations. Indischool, where the volleyball index is posted, is known to automatically delete posts once the number of reports exceeds a certain threshold.