Korean Job Discussion Forums

[WasabiJang]

This is a review of ICEV that I am doing for new teachers who think an English village might be an interesting place to work. I'm also doing this review because I feel ICEV has gotten a bit of a bad reputation. I'm not denying those other reviewers grievances, but I wanted to give the school a fair shake since I just finished working there last year. I will go over pros and cons of the school and why I liked it. I think this is a good program for both teachers and students for a number of reasons. I will not get into personal experiences or everyday life at the school, but there are definitely some things you should be aware of before applying.

It is an English village, and it is not:

There is a main program that runs from Monday to Friday where roughly 250 kids come to sleep over and play fun games in English. THIS is the English village/camp that you are probably thinking of. It goes from 9-6 with roughly 8 classes and an hour break. Some teachers will do night shifts for a 12-9.

Additionally there is a Saturday program which functions like an after school hagwon. There are 3 programs. One for kindergarten and the other two for elementary English education. These also run generally from 9-6 although the kindergarten may get out sooner.

Some teachers work only at the village. but MOST teachers are responsible for one of these Saturday classes. Which means you get one day off during the week. My Saturday program allowed me to have sunday monday off which I agreed upon before signing. Others get friday off, and some work 6 days with overtime. This is something you should definitely talk about before taking the job. A lot of this stuff is negotiable. If you want to only work at the village itself that is definitely possible, although I personally enjoyed my Saturday program and many teachers like that system.

Now that you know what the school is actually about let’s do some pros and cons that I think every teacher should be aware of before making a decision. Btw a lot of this stuff is subject to change so I may be speaking about things that have been changed since last year.
Pros:
1) Excellent pay schedule – you will always get paid on time. People who’ve worked at hagwons know what I mean.

2) Good sick days and vacations – teachers who want to travel will like working here. We got off for all the traditional days and a bonus 5 days. Also, we got off during non-holidays which were ideal for travel. Everybody else in Korea pretty much is off the same couple of weeks and the travel can get expensive during those weeks. You also get 5 sick days.

3) It’s a large school with over 40 teachers – some people won’t be about this, but for new teachers or teachers who want to meet people from all over the world ICEV is ideal. I made some of my best friends at this school.

4) Overtime and comp time – There are lots of opportunities to work extra for time and a half. You can really make a lot of money. Or if you’re like me you can get comp time and take off extra to travel more.

5) You can leave! – yes hagwons are known to torture people who try to leave early in their contract, sometimes they even blackmail them or refuse to sign letters of release. If you are really unhappy at ICEV you will definitely be able to get your LOR and probably even a recommendation, barring some serious offense.

6) The managers – While I was there the teachers and managers there were incredibly kind and helpful. If you ever have a complaint there will always be people who you can talk to and try to work it out.

7) Large flavor of teaching experiences – the village is high energy, activity-based teaching. It can be physically demanding but it can help new teachers find their voice and professional teachers find something new. During camps you’ll have the opportunity to teach students from Russia and other Asian countries as well which is fun. The Saturday programs have their own merit too. I personally worked for the EDIBLE program where I had my own students and classroom to prepare classes for. It’s not too demanding since it’s only once a week but it gave me a personal relationship with my students and more of a typical classroom experience. You will get a decent amount of prep time too.

Ok, now the juicy party.

Cons:
1) Saturdays working – like I said, not every teacher works on Saturdays, but you probably will. If you feel like you NEED your Saturdays, then I can’t recommend this job. However, most of the teachers there, myself included didn’t mind the Saturdays so long as they got to choose another day off. And many of them really enjoyed those classes, particularly in my program. For Edible 2nd-6th they do their own overnight camp. You would have to work one Sunday per month. It’s a chill day for both teachers and kids but the 6 days in a row can be tiresome. It is considered overtime though.

2) Camps – the schedule at ICEV is generally crazy and confusing. During the summer everything goes bonkers, but its usually good overtime.

3) The location – it is in the middle of nowhere Incheon. You won’t notice it while you work, but during the cold months it’s a bit of a pain to get to. The area is being slowly developed so I imagine that it will be much busier in a couple years’ time.

4) The coffee – seriously, make your own coffee.

5) Holidays – You will get off for chuseok as most schools do. However you won’t get your summer vacation while your friends at other schools might. You also might have to work on Christmas. But you’ll get vacation days to make up for it.

6) Housing – This is the big one. And in the essence of fairness I have to admit that this is why a lot of teachers leave the school. There have been a lot of changes to the housing problem for the teachers at ICEV but it was still a big problem while I was there. 75% of the teachers live in a dormitory about a half mile away from the school. The dormitory itself is not entirely uncomfortable. You get your own small bedroom and bathroom. But you do have to share a rather nasty kitchen and the laundry room with roughly 20 other people. Also, the bus drivers who work at the school get to use your kitchen (What?) Additionally, this dorm is far away from Seoul or downtown Incheon and it’s about a 15 minute walk to the nearest convenience store, which can be tough in winter. It’s noisy, a bit damp, but it does have a ping pong table downstairs for what it’s worth.

Now, you have the opportunity to move out of this dormitory after a few months. The school rents about 7-10 of these very nice apartments in Gyesan. They are spacious, comfortable, and in a very dense area with lots of amenities. The only problem is that there is a waiting list to get into one of these apartments. As leaving teachers end their contract a current teacher is awarded this apartment. And depending on where you are in the order or who resigns you might be waiting up to 9 months for one. I waited 8 months. It’s a really terrible policy and I hope they do away with it. As the area develops they might rent apartments locally which would be much better than the dorms. But definitely inquire about this issue before you take the job.

Here is my review of ICEV. In my opinion, the pros far outweigh the cons. For a lot of teachers the school will be a great fit so don’t get hung up on what you hear online. (except for my review). Based on what I’ve heard and experienced it’s better than most hagwons.

[Keeper]

It sounds remarkably like an English village that I worked at. Just to be perfectly clear. It was NOT Incheon English Village. I have seen posts on this board by a teacher trainer for the village proclaiming what a wonderful place it is to teach. I imagine for some it was great. If you knew people and could "game the system".

The classes were 50 minutes long and then there was a 10 minute (unpaid) break. It was rough as you "teach" the same thing again and again and again and again. I believe it was like 7 classes a day???. (Could that be right?) Fridays were at one time half-days. Nice. This changed as time wore on as the Korean admin. demanded the "teachers" engage in meaningless workshops every other week. If you wanted to speak at the workshops you would of course get preferential treatment.

Some "teachers" would jostle with others to get out of work. They would do things not listed in the contract while the rest of the teachers filled in for their class times. It was a lot like being in high school where there were many cliques. Of course favoritism was rapant. Some knew of programs before others and were able to sit all day long in the office while others "taught" mostly uninterested kids. The idea was to have fun with English not really to teach.

We also had to do occasional activities at night. It started off easy. It began as once every other month. Then the favored teachers were excused from the night activities. That's when it eventually became once every other week for myself and a handful of other teachers.

The night activities had there own special place in this hell aka village. My schedule began with a 7:30AM bus and finished with a trip back to my apt. at 9:30PM. I was somewhat lucky I did not live at the school. Afterall, the walk home from the bus was only 10 minutes long.Funny how that worked. Every morning teachers who slept in the dorms at the village would be woken at 6:30AM by a good morning song for the students. This song continued to be played on the weekends.

Added bonus for living outside of the village: If you had any overnight guests they had to be pre-approved by the school.

The village was like a belt that was nice when it first was worn but then was cinched up tighter and tighter. The average quit rate was 10 percent. The creativity used for their excuses was very amusing. They all had the common trait of doing a runner right after getting paid. There is so much more I could add that I've managed to put out of my head until now but I'll leave that for another time.

Maybe you could answer some questions. If it was in your post and I missed it then my apologies.

Do any teachers have to work nights from time to time?
What is the schedule like? How long are classes and how many do you teach a day?
Has work there gotten easier over time or harder? Have you been asked to do more and more each day?
You say you left after a year, why?
Do you pick what you want to teach or is that done for you by someone else? How much freedom to choose do you have when teaching a class?
Do all teachers work the same amount or are some treated differently (get out of teaching) by doing things in an office?
How many times do you teach the same subject in a day/week/year?
You lasted a year I believe. What is the average length of time for teachers/admin who work at the village(not Korean admin)?
Are you ever waken in the morning by the students while sleeping in the dorms?
Roughly speaking, what percentage of teachers do not complete their contract?
Have you taught anywhere besides the English village? I am curious how you compare the conditions to other places.