Korean Job Discussion Forums

[falco]

Had to post this coz I am curious if other PS teachers are as fed up with their jobs as I am.

I've had this position as foreign English teacher at my Elementary PS for almost nine months and for the first six months or so I thought I wouldnt rock the boat or cause trouble but lately its been really starting to wind me up and I just have to let off some steam.

My main problem is boredom! My co-teachers are control freaks. They insist on still trying to direct the class even when I'm trying to lead it. Any spontaneity or enthusiasm is suppressed every time.

For example I teach the 5th & 6th grades every second week together with one of my co-teachers. So he teaches those grades for a total of 2 hours and 40 minutes every two weeks, 1 hour and 20 minutes of which is with me. Out of the 1 hour and twenty minutes I'm supposed to be leading the class I get a grand total of twenty minutes to 'do my own thing' which even then he still tries to direct. My other co-teacher is little better.

I'll just add here that I have considerable experience teaching here in Korea. Four years teaching at the same hagwon before starting here so I am no newbee just starting to learn the ropes.

Anyway just felt like a good whine. Parts of this job are good ie. its stable, less teaching hours than hagwons, no worries about tax, insurance etc getting paid on time. But the sheer tediousness of this job is beginning to get me down.

- falco.

[kat2]

It is tedious, and kind of silly that it requires that much prep time with nothing to do. I am in basically the same situatio nas you. However, for me its OK, not ideal, but fine. I have no stress about my pay, legality, etc. I get home at a nice time. It fits my needs. I'm not a career teacher though. I jsut do it for the lifestyle, and for this place in my life, its great. Maybe if you got a hobby, you could fill your time better. I do a lot of knitting, reading, listening to NPR, and watching TV (www.tv-links.co.uk) at work. Good luck!

[falco]

Thanks for the words of support man. Dunno why but just lately this has really begun to get me down.

I guess part of my problem is I really miss being able to do things %100 (or almost) the way I want to like I was able to do in my old hagwon. Sometimes I really wish I was back there. I used to teach at one of those rarest of rare things....a good hagwon.

The aloofness of many of the Korean teachers here bothers me sometimes too. Would it really hurt some of them to say say hello or to even nod when you meet 'em in the morning. Of course foreign teachers have this kinda problem in hagwons too but here it just seems more pronounced.

- falco.

[mikowee]

I have a different problem with my high school job. I have several co-teachers at my school and all with the exception of one don't want to do any work. They just sit at the back of the class and bark out translations when kids are confused. Doesn't bother me too much though.

What does bother me is that I have 15 classes a week that I run the same lesson for. After the first two or three classes, I've pretty much seen and heard all the different possible reactions from the students. Near the end of the week, I can barely pretend to be interested in class. On the plus side, there's not much preparation involved.

[kat2]

Yeah, I really miss "really" teaching too. One thing to consider is to volunteer (think brownie points) to do an after school class for students. I teach winter and summer vacation classes for 4 or 5 weeks, and I love it. (It wasn't exactly volunteer though...). Anyway, its the only chance I get to have no co-teacher. You have to be at school anyway, might as well have something to do. If you decide to do it, I would open it up to a very limited number (maybe 15) per class. You could divide it by grade or something. Could be a nice way to fill your time, earn brownie points (to be cashed in on vacation at a later date), and get some real teaching in, not to mention educate some kids!

[sobriquet]

I'd enjoy it more if my teaching time were in blocks, so I don't start to relax/fall asleep at my desk during breaks.

[nautilus]

I have days when I don't feel like teaching much, so i let them take over while i browse the net.

Other days I'm really up for teaching and they take a back seat.

i see your point about them suppressing enthusiasm and spontaneity. Even a game is supposed to be a serious exercise to them.

Still, they have their uses.

Main thing is to try and have a good and open understanding with your co teacher. If you don't get along, it will be a year of misery!! So make sure to have a positive connection sparked from day 1.

[khyber]

I haven't taught a class yet. In fact, I'd wager I've only talked to the students for about 15 minutes in total (in about 19 classes so far).

I find it unacceptable but I moved into a new school and am missing a lot of necessities and I have no interest in getting my sheet together until they have got their shit together.

It also appears that my coteacher is making a REAL effort to control all of her classes. The EXACT opposite of what it was at my last school where I was preparing and teaching EVERY lesson. After a few months (when I realized...."oh...CO-teaching), I had a very polite conversation with them and they agreed that the classroom environment (and the planning) will even out; it did and it was great!

I hope I can convince her to let me take on a bit more responsibilities. But I'm definitely going ot wait a little while; til this woman has figured out what she needs to figure out.

[goodsounz]

OP, I was just about to start a similar thread! For me it is boredom because I am teaching the same lesson 17 times. However, this is just my second week so I am nowhere near you. I have started online korean lessons and have a novel at my side as well as starting to put my lessons on Powerpoint so I don't need to use chalk - I HATE CHALK (but it is much easier to throw and not as painful as markers when they hit kids-I was hit by chalk many times when I was a primary school kid!) I have decided that work only takes up about 90 hours of my month so there are a lot more things I can do in between classes to make my boredom go away.

[mehamrick]

Sorry a little off topic.. but where did you find online Korean classes at?

[hubba bubba]

I would have asnwered you sooner, but I've been asleep at my desk for the last two hours.

[goodsounz]

I thought I would bump this up again cos I'm bored. I am so bored I have posted more posts in the last 3 days than I have in my last 6 years! I'm so bored I look forward to the next topic being brought up so I can comment on it!

Just wondering if anyone else in Busan is in the same boat? If you are, would you guys want to meet up once or twice a month? We could have dinner and if lucky maybe have the education board spring for us and we could call it a "meeting" or something official.

[awalk2remember]

[crazy_arcade]

Here's the problem:

You're not supposed to be doing your own thing and your co-teacher isn't supposed to be doing his/her own thing.

The very essence of co-teaching is that both teachers can be utilized in class for the benefit of students. So classes should be planned cooperatively and ideas shared.

SMOE/GEPIK etc. really need to setup some meetings for co-teachers and run them through about what exactly co-teaching is and what their expectations are.

[butlerian]