70% of elementary school teachers fear parent complaints, survey finds

A large share of elementary school teachers in South Korea say they struggle in their relationships with parents, according to a new survey.

The Korean Educational Development Institute last month released findings from its school education surveys on the state of public education, conducted separately in 2023 and 2024 with elementary and middle school teachers nationwide, education officials said Sunday.

The 2023 survey, carried out from September through November of that year, drew responses from 5,578 teachers at 297 elementary schools across the country. The 2024 survey, conducted over the same months, covered 6,779 teachers at 292 middle schools nationwide.

Among elementary school teachers, 68.9 percent said they worry about parent complaints or reports filed against them — with 40.7 percent answering "strongly agree" and 28.2 percent "agree."

Nearly half — 49.4 percent — said they feel helpless in their relationships with parents, with 28.3 percent saying "strongly agree" and 21.1 percent "agree."

In addition, 53.4 percent said they feel emotional pressure in dealing with parents, and 51.6 percent said conflicts with parents frequently have a negative effect on their work.

The survey also found that difficulties in handling parents do not ease significantly as teachers gain experience.

The share of teachers who said they worry about parent complaints or reports was 78.0 percent among those with five or fewer years of experience, 77.3 percent among those with six to 10 years, and 72.6 percent among those with 11 to 15 years — showing little variation across career stages.

Feelings of helplessness in parent relations were actually more common among teachers with six to 10 years of experience (58.1 percent) and those with 11 to 15 years (56.0 percent) than among those with five or fewer years (51.7 percent).

"This suggests that difficulties in dealing with parents are not a problem confined to early-career teachers who lack experience or are still adjusting — they are challenges shared across teachers at various career stages," said Geum Jong-ye, a research fellow at the Korean Educational Development Institute.

Geum added that difficulties in dealing with parents may affect elementary school teachers' job satisfaction, and said support measures that teachers can feel in practice need to be continuously strengthened.

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