Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stevemcgarrett]

For those of you with EFL teaching experience in BOTH Korean and Japanese high schools, are there any big differences between the students, learning environments, curricula, administration, or testing?

Really interested in knowing your take on this.

Thanks in advance.

[stevemcgarrett]

No one? Hmmm....

[soju pizza]

MODS! Make this a sticky!

[cangel]

I spent 3 years at a high academic high school in Japan and I now teach at a private international (all Korean at this time) high school in Korea. I would say there are no major differences between Japanese and Korean high schools. High schools in Japan, like Korea, are separated by ability. A prospective student must take a test to enter high school. Class sizes are huge, 35-40. The Japanese school's curriculum, like Korea, particularly in the final year, is entirely designed around the college entrance exam-basically 1-year test prep. If you have any specific questions, ask.

[stevemcgarrett]

cangel:

Thanks for the insights. (A bit off topic but just for contrast, the typical Chinese h.s. class has 45 to 65 students. Wonder if it changes the dynamics of interaction between teacher and students).

Anyway, I'll PM you.

Oh, and thanks for another look at John Candy's smile. Really miss that guy. Few have said this after his passing (and few do where comics are concerned) but from what I've read he was also a class act off the set.

[cangel]

Be it Japan, Korea, or China, class size is largely irrelevant. Contrary to logic, and the majority of scholarly research, Asia tends to be teacher-centered as opposed to our western-style, student-centered approach. If all you're doing in giving a lecture does it really matter if you have 40 or 400?

[stevemcgarrett]

No, not really but I've met many (re: hundreds) of East Asian teachers of EFL that would rather not lecture or drill but feel restricted in what they can do not only by the exam system but the classroom dynamics. It's much more difficult to monitor a larger number of small groups, especially to keep them on task and the materials required and the opportunities for discoure are also limited.

[crazy_arcade]

In Japan, student levels are actually lower than in Korea.
My friend taught in Yokohama. They had a system setup whereby
foreign teachers rotated around to different schools.
Apparently some of the Japanese technical students make Korean technical high schools look like bliss on Earth. We're talking teachers that are scared to come out of the staffroom bad.

Girls wear very short skirts. Another friend of mine said he had a school principal who enacted a rule about skirt length...it had to be above a certain length......

[crusher_of_heads]

[stevemcgarrett]

crazyarcade contributed:

[crazy_arcade]

[Tiger Beer]