National University, has denied allegations that she habitually used violence while teaching over the past 10 years. Posted on 02/18/2011 9:29:11 AM PST by LibWhacker
Kim In-hye, a popular soprano and a professor at Seoul National University, has denied allegations that she habitually used violence while teaching over the past 10 years.
The denial came several days after the prestigious school announced that it is investigating Kim following complaints from students.
Professor Kim told the DongA Ilbo Wednesday that she ``was taught in the same way she taught her own students and she did not think it was bad.’’
The investigation began when one of Kim’s pupils filed a complaint this month to the school authorities, saying that the professor would slap them in the face during class.
Other complaints included her throwing key chains and a mirror at her students, throwing flowers after a performance because the students didn’t applaud loud enough and forcing them to buy tickets for her concerts.
Kim did not deny that she hit her students, but explained that she did not consider it as physical violence.
``I do tend to have a temper and I might have hit students in the stomach and back harder than other professors so I do think some students may have thought it was a bit overboard,’’ she said, saying that sometimes professors hit or push students in the back when teaching phonics and sometimes push their heads during voice training.
``Vocal music cannot be taught only using words, and so this is a very obvious method,’’ she said.
On the incident where she threw flowers and a mirror at her students, the professor said that the facts were distorted, adding that she may have thrown them but it was to keep her students in line.
Kim also denied accusations that she made her students buy tickets for her show. ``My performances were always sold out. There is no reason for me to force my students to purchase tickets,’’ she said.
Kim graduated from SNU and continued to study at Juilliard School. She recently started to gain popularity as she appeared on the popular TV entertainment show ``Star King’’ on SBS.
With the news of the assaults against her pupils, Kim is drawing severe criticism from netizens. Some bloggers and tweeters are demanding she stop appearing on the popular TV program.
The professor filed a complaint to SNU through her lawyer that the school rushed investigations without summoning the professor involved. The daily also reported that she is planning to take legal action against those who exposed negative information about her, without confirming the truth.
Please, hit me.
/johnny
A soprano with an overactive ego? Say it isn’t so!
It should be; everyone should hit a liberal professor. :-)
Ruh-roh! Not guilty.
My old ballet teacher used one of those schoolroom wooden pointers:
“Your arm is overextended!” Whack!
“You’re sitting on your hips!” Whack!
“You’re sickling your ankles!” Whack!
Just enough of a whack to emphasize which body part was incorrect. Never did a bit of harm and I never heard of anyone (or her parents) with a real complaint.
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