Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mrsquirrel]

When I first started out at this English teaching milarky, I was thrown into a classroom with 12 disgruntled middle schoolers, a text book and a teachers book. I was told to teach.

I would say I was crap. I only knew how I had been taught by teachers back home and had to use that style to teach.

Looking back now after going on training courses and seminars I realise that I have learned a lot more over the years and I am still thankfully learning today. It never stops etc etc.

I wonder about these masses of fresh meat that come over here to work straight out of uni or their travels. Do they actually do a good job? Do the students learn more or do they just get to look at something a bit different for an hour a day?

I find the whole idea of people saying "I've never taught before and I'm going to start in two weeks" fascinating. Can you imagine finding out that your teachers in your home country were just some fresh graduates who had decided on a whim to teach you.

Do they make a difference or is it only the seasoned teachers that do?

[butlerian]

[bosintang]

A teacher without experience would be more effective in a hagwon, because even if they aren't the most experienced educator in the world, at least in small groups the students would at least have the opportunity to have authentic input/output with a native speaker. The larger and less frequent the classes, the less structured the curriculum and resources, the more this breaks down and the teacher needs to be more in control of what they're doing.

Are most teachers in Korea effective? I kind of agree with butlerian. Some are, some aren't. I can't guess on what line most fall, but guessing, I would say most teachers in Korea are not worth their salaries (experienced or not), and it's the fault of poor management. If people answer jobs that advertise "no experience necessary" and "save money and travel", well, what kind of people do you expect to answer those ads? And if you let teachers be perpetual slackers, never update their skills, or never be accountable for their lessons, why do you expect that they will do it themselves?

[Jizzo T. Clown]

My coteacher and I were talking about this earlier today. He said that he didn't understand how so many native speakers were natural teachers! He also didn't understand how a Philosophy major could teach English.

I would say that the majority of people coming over fresh out of college really don't know what they're doing. If their students are lucky, the "teacher" will have read up on some basics or at the very least have some understanding of what it takes to learn another language.

When I started teaching (nearly five years ago) I was lucky enough to get some training. Luckily for most newbies, most teachers' guides spell everything out. "Do this here, check understanding there, brainstorm this topic," etc.

So I would say that going through the motions doesn't really mean you're teaching, that is unless there is learning going on. "Entertainment" doesn't count.

[bosintang]

Personally, I think it's crazy that public schools hire people with no teaching experience and no experience living in Korea. What's even crazier is that they are perfectly happy with a high turnover. Not only is it more expensive, but they are perpetually training new teachers and going through the "Oh! You use chopstick so well!" phase.

I couldn't imagine myself when I first started doing this job. However, I don't really know what other public school teachers are doing, so I really don't know how they fare.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I've seen quite a successiion of mostly newbies go through my district's English 'camp' and have observed a number of them at work, as well as the material they come up with. Some are clueless idiots and some manage surprisingly well. By far the worst teacher they have has three years' previous experience. One of the better ones, from all I could observe and hear from my students, was a 22-year-old backpacker who had never had a real job before.

Training and experience can definitely augment natural skill but no amount of training and experience will help out someone who's just not cut for it.

[colonel sanders]

I have found that my elementary schools just want me to dance around like an english speaking monkey than actually give them something worthwhile. They tell me it is more about exposure. For some of my students, I am the first, "real live" foreigner they have ever seen.

Frankly, I would be a little dissapointed if I had a masters or phd and had to teach kids "I like apples." The qualified teachers get teaching jobs back home while the english majors don't get any jobs.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Yu_Bum_suk--

If someone is not "cut out for it," why would they continue to teach after three years?

And by the worst teacher vs. best teacher, do you mean in terms of classroom management, or entertainment value, or whether or not the students are practising the language?

It seems that many people's ideal English teacher is one who keeps the students entertained through song and dance. Granted younger people (fresh grads) may be more inclined to do these things, but are they teaching??

[bosintang]

[bosintang]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[bosintang]

[mrsquirrel]

There must be an equation for measuring against time away from home country against the increase in eccentricity of a person

[Jizzo T. Clown]

And this line of work (generally speaking) tends to draw drifters and alcoholics who don't really like being held accountable for their actions / mistakes.

So I guess the question of whether or not learning is taking place is secondary to the questions of how much soju one can drink, how many countries you've visited while in Korea, or how much won one can spend on a night out.

[spliff]