Job Discussion Forums

[dgl]

Hey,

Does anyone have any thoughts, comments or advice on the following?

In May this year I applied to teach English in South Korea through EPIK starting this September. I was offered a contract but, due to financial reasons, I was unable to commit to this; consequently, I have now deferred my EPIK application with a view to reapplying for the February 2010 program.

I didn�t know much about teaching English abroad when I applied and so I made sure to do lots of research on it, including reading through the posts on esl cafe. During this time I�ve become more aware of the different options available, both within South Korea and different countries, particularly Japan. Despite having deferred my application with EPIK I am under no obligation to reapply; I�m therefore considering these different options.

As a result of my research I know that, at least in Asia, I�m interested in teaching in either South Korea or Japan. I�m drawn to and discouraged by elements of teaching in both Hagwons/Eikaiwas and public schools; the pros and cons for me are listed below.

Hagwons/Eikaiwas :
A) Pros
- Smaller class sizes and the opportunity to teach individuals on a one-to-one basis.
- The opportunity to teach both younger and older children as well as adults.

B) Cons
- I�m not really comfortable with the idea of �education as a business�.
- Related to this, I�m not interested in the potential sales role of some jobs.
- The potential for not so favourable working patterns: working until late at night and/or not having consecutive days off.

Public Schools
A) Pros
- I�d feel I�d be contributing something more worthwhile through being able to interact with a wider range of students, particularly those students whose parents cannot afford private lessons.
- The opportunity to become involved with the wider school community, such as sport events, after school activities and school trips.

B) Cons
- Potentially I might be working with large class sizes: I�d feel I�d be less able to make an impact than if I were to work with students in smaller class sizes or on a one-to-one basis. The potential for this seems to be lower in rural communities.
- Potentially I might only be teaching one age range.

Ideally I�d like to teach both younger and older, less wealthy students in small groups or on a one-to-basis in traditional public school hours. Back to feasible ideas though, I�ve come across the prospect of teaching in Universities. However, although I have a Masters degree, I don�t have any teaching experience, which seems to be a requirement for these roles?

Cheers

[Glenski]

[dgl]

Cheers for the reply Glenski

[Ryu Hayabusa]

About class sizes in public schools, expect to be teaching at least 20 students with more than 30 students per class to be the norm. In rural areas with very small schools you might have smaller classes. I teach at a number of different schools and in some classes I have as many as 30 students. In smaller schools I have as few as seven students in some grades. Another ALT in the same town has a school with only about 25 students in it--and that's grades 1-6! His grade 5 class has two students and there are two Japanese teachers in there with him! Those lucky kids have three teachers for English class!

[dgl]