Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mark7]

I recently signed for a public school gig not too long ago, and I'm coming over in a week. I'm excited and all that, and I was given my assignment recently. My recruiter told me that I will be placed at "Yeonsu High School" in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon.

So, I figured, "not bad, I'm going to a high school, it'll be alright."

So, I tried finding, perhaps, the school's website and try to get an exact location of where it will be and get some idea of what it looks like. One funny thing was that I found the school's site for its English program, and I clicked on the photo gallery for one of their English camps. The students were all boys.

The site doesn't say "Yeonsu Boys High School," and I guess they all do not necessarily differentiate them in their name settings, but my question is that are some still high schools gender-segregated? Because, one of my Korean friends told me today that it could get kind of rough for me teaching all boys, especially the freshmen kids. I'm not going to let it bother me, but it would help if I knew what kind of situation I'm getting into, any advice appreciated. Thanks.

If you want to see the site, it's: http://yeonsu.gilc.or.kr/.

[Kimchieluver]

Yes, many of the schools are segregated after elementary. It's not a bad thing either if you ask me. I have never taught at a boys' high school, but I have friends that have. It's not that bad and the bonus is they are not too shy when it comes to speaking English (generally).

Think positive and go with what interests them. At my all boys' middle school, I kick the ball around with them sometimes during lunch. I give candy to teams that participate. Be firm in your discipline, but be gentle and fair.

I would take an all boy's school over a co-ed school any day.

[Mark7]

Yeah, I figure that it won't be as bad as my Korean friend said. Thanks for the encouragement. At first, my friends were teasing me about it, like it might be a little difficult to get across to them, but one of my friends was like, "Hey man, you can coach their basketball team, and take them to the state finals."

One of my other friends was like, "You can teach them ebonics, and teach them the difference between "that is correct," and "fo shizzle my nizzle."

So, I see your point, and I will go to Korea with an open mind and ready to tackle the new challenges ahead, and I can see how an all-boys class won't be as bad, you can definitely use more sports-based examples with them.

[rothkowitz]

All boys?

I teach at a co-ed HS,and it's usually the boys that are a bigger pain.Not interesting just stupid.Like walking past me and saying F-You and when I confront them they just say "sorry".

Ugh.

You'll need to sit-down with your school and have a serious talk about how you're going to go about not just teaching,but containing should it come to that.

On the other hand,my all boys middle school weren't so bad.

[poet13]

I'm at an all boys middle school. Boys rule.

[bluelake]

When I first came to Korea, twenty-three years ago, I taught at a boys' high school. Segregation of the sexes was pretty much the rule back then.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Girls schools usually have ''Girls' somewhere in the name but boys schools tend not to. What's more important than the gender is what kind of HS it is. If it's an academic school with all university-tracked students your biggest problem will immaturity and drowsiness. If it's a technical high school plan to be an English 'activities' teacher, not a real language teacher.

[crazylemongirl]

boys are relatively easy. Once you've worked out who's top dog, you are either going to have a year of heaven or hell.