Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zutronius]

I'm going to register for a TESOL course in Toronto and part of the registration process includes deciding if I want to teach kids, teens or adults. I could do either of the three I think, though kids might be a little hard to keep interested in the language (I think). I was wondering what you teachers in Korea had for input. What age group do you prefer to teach and why?

[Ya-ta Boy]

In my opinion, it's a matter of your own personality. Which age do you relate best to? For me, it's adults first, then high school, then middle school, then kids. Some people have a knack for working with kids. I don't. I simply don't enjoy being around them, in school or out. So I work with adults. Many experienced teachers consider middle school the most difficult age to work with, but others prefer that age and work miracles. It's really a matter of personal preference.

Each age level has its unique set of problems, benefits and rewards. It's your personality that determines with set of problems you will handle most easily and which rewards will be most gratifying.

[bacasper]

I thought I liked kids - until I tried teaching them! I'm talking about, yes, middle school here. I relate well to them outside the classroom but inside, I was just not the disciplinarian to handle more than forty 12- and 13-year-olds.

While kids can be fun, it is just a lot easier to teach adults, I find.

[bosintang]

Everyone's different, but I'd say as a general rule, most people would prefer adults, which is why jobs teaching adults tend to pay a little less and have crappier hours.

Personally my favourite age bracket for teaching EFL is 10-14 year olds, but that's also the age group I have the most experience with. I think if I was teaching a different subject (say math or economics or something), I would be more likely to prefer older students, but I think as far as EFL is concerned, as the students get older, the EFL teacher has a less inspirational role, and instead a more mechanical role in the students learning. At least that's how I see it.

[spliff]

Hagwan = Adults

PS = elementary

[thegadfly]

I am a certified (!) high school teacher in the US, and though in America I liked 10th grade the best, in Korea, I was surprised to discover I really really like teaching 3rd grade elementary school students -- with 4th grade a close second. I find classroom management very challenging, but 3rd and 4th grade students learn for the sheer joy of learning -- I don't have to try to "make it fun" for them, I just pretty much have to point them in a direction and try not to get in their way as they absorb it.

The reason I like 3rd grade most is that the first semester of the class is TERRIBLE -- the kids barely seem to know English is occurring in the room, let alone knowing which way to look, what to do, or how to respond. Half of them have a finger a knuckle-or-two deep in an orifice, and class feels more like "milling about" than "guided practice." Then, somewhere around mid-year, the students spontaneously develop the ability to follow along with what is going on -- they hit the next developmental stage -- and they turn into super-students. In 3rd grade second semester and all of 4th grade, I expect 100% of the students to come in with completed homework, and the excuses of leaving it at home are honest, substantiated by tears and parents knocking on the door mid-class to hand in the assignments.

Third and fourth graders are earnest, keen to learn, sincere, innocent, and terribly terribly inquisitive. They are too young to know that asking questions is not standard in Korean classrooms (although I hear that a less Confucian, more Socratic model is being followed in Korean schools nowadays), so they ask a lot. They really don't need games to make learning fun -- in my class, learning something new (which is pretty much the whole class in grade 3 -- it is ALL new to them) is more than enough to keep them engaged and enthusiastic.

I was not very happy about having to teach little ones at my hakwon, but I have learned that I actually like the younger ones best. The third graders I like most of all, because at the end of the year, the progress is so distinct, nearly stunning, and all involved feel like a lot has been accomplished. Honestly, some of my 4th graders who were also my 3rd graders feel a little disappointed, since they remember learning so much the year before, they feel like they haven't learned as much -- steep learning curve, diminishing returns, quantitative vs. qualitative assessment and all that....

[Draz]

Interesting thread. I've been planning on looking for an elementary position because I like being around kids of that age over here. I like being around other adults (of course), and my English is definitely good enough for more advanced technical questions but... I don't want to teach in the evenings.

[Alyallen]

I like to teach kids. I've never tried to teach high school students or adults. For me, it's a matter of my temperament. My patience correlates to the age of the student. The younger they are, the more patient and understanding I am.

I've occasionally helped out older students and they responded well but I've been very reluctant to see how correct or incorrect my theory is in the classroom.

[pkang0202]

I like teaching kids. Especially 3rd and 4th graders. They try and have fun with everything.

As soon as the bell rings, all my kids jump up from their chairs and run towards me hold my arms and legs saying "No, don't go teacher!". The kids are all innocent. My 6th graders will always grumble and say things under their breath. They just think they are too cool for school. I can't imagine what middle schoolers are like when you try and make them DO actual work.

[faster]

[ghost]

I am doing a one month placement at a rural elementary school about half an hour drive from Pyeongtaek city. Most of the students are from farming or working class families. Some of my students turn up for school on a tractor driven by 'aboji' - it is pretty funny to see.....these are unsophisticated kids, who are appreciative of everything.

I teach grades 1-6, and enjoy the grade 3 class the most. They are young enough to be keen, spontaneous, super friendly and innocent, but old enough to have the brain power to grasp things, which the younger grades might have trouble with.

This is a great placement, but I think I am lucky, because it is a tiny school - just 70 students, with grades 1-6 having just 12-16 students per class (compared with 35-40 in regular urban schools).

When I taught in Ontario and Quebec, even 3rd graders in Canada could be a handful - spiteful, mean and nasty. But here, they are so fresh and innocent and affectionate in comparison. They are so polite as well. And you feel appreciated here - at least at this school. I am a certified Canadian teacher of ESL and French, in Ontario and Quebec, but ended up stressing out in Canada. Over here - it is like a walk in the park in comparison. The expectations are so much lower, and the general atmosphere in the classroom is so much better.

When I went to play soccer with the grades 1-3 after lunch, everyone was so appreciative. It is heart warming. The kids love me, and this is what makes teaching enjoyable. You get up and enjoy going to 'work.' In Canada, I would spend sleepless nights knowing that the next day I had to face certain troublemakers in class - and they were always the same ones.....and if you punish kids in Canada, the parents are down on you like a ton of bricks, not like in Korea, where the co teacher will say two words and the kid will understand.

I tell myself this placement is a lucky placement and that others are probably not so lucky, but it has certainly changed my opinion of Korea, for the better. Good schools and students exist here, but it can be a matter of luck in finding them.

As they have never had a foreign teacher before here, everyone is super kind and friendly.

I guess I am just lucky, but the experience has made me consider teaching in a public school, even though it might mean a pay cut. My regular job training teachers at a college in Korea has not been as pleasant or fulfilling as this gig.....and it is strange, because I basically thought I would never want to enter an Elementary school classroom again. Proves that gigs can change depending on the location and the people.

Ghost in Korea

[jajdude]

I've got a class with four grade 3 and one grade 2. They are very high level, doing a grade 5 American text and reading Harry Potter. Their speaking ability is great. One kid in particular has better English, I believe, than many native speakers his age, except maybe for slang and idioms. He can write too. Strangely though, even though I like this age group, this class can be a pain because they are so hyper. They argue a lot. Even though they rarely use Korean, they are not so easy to manage. I know, only five kids, really advanced, but they have so much energy and rambunctiousness. I think I need some good songs for them to enjoy in class. I was surprised they liked a Woody Guthrie song (This Land is Your Land) on the tape for the generally otherwise boring textbook. Keen bunch, sometimes seems unnecessary to keep cramming more English in their skulls, as I'm sure they can learn a lot on their own. I think they can watch some programs and read books on their own.

[crusher_of_heads]

middles school.

You cannot leally go long there

[nautilus]

Elementary kids.


To be honest I always enjoyed messing with the kids at the hogwon. teaching kids keeps you young in this miserable country. The elementary school was better in the sense that more serious teaching got done.

middle schoolers are too unresponsive for me. its tough to teach a class of hormonal teenagers more interested in vying for the attentions of the prettiest girl.

Adults can be good but are all round too fussy and easy to offend at the end of the day.

With kids, u don't have to take things too seriously.

[Hopelessly Human]