Korean Job Discussion Forums

sparklingkorea · Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Location: Ulsan, Korea

Okay, today I found out that I have to start grading about 50 essays a week. This is on top of the prep time which I need for my classes, but my hagwon is saying that "working" vs. "teaching" hours in my contract are different. I'm supposed to be there at 2 and leave at 9. This includes an approxmiate one hour per day for prep. If I have to grade all these essays, I'll have to come in earlier every day. But they're saying I'm not to be paid for this time. Is this standard? Would like your advice and stories. Thanks.

nomad-ish

crsandus · Joined: 05 Oct 2004

Assuming your hagwon is like others I've heard about where the lowest grade given to a student is a B+, why fret? Just do a binary grading scale, A or B. Read the paper once, if it makes sense or is funny, A. If it sucks, B. Voila!

cbclark4 · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: Masan

If you can find a better job take it.

Sadebugo1 · Joined: 11 May 2003

Another trick of the trade, these hagwon owners get together and prepare notes on how to manipulate provisions of the contract. It's an ongoing battle.

Sadebugo
Djibouti, Horn of Africa
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

Mi Yum mi · Joined: 28 Jan 2008

I have to grade about 30 uni essays a week. That takes a while, but it's part of a composition class. At a hagwon? Fuk no. Tell him to pay you or he can mark them. Don't work for free. Koreans do it, but they are salarymen. They usually don't get OT. What's the point of there being OT in your contract if your dumbass cheap boss isn't going to use it.

If OT is 30K or less. Tell him to take a flying fuk.

ms.catbc · Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Location: Ilsan

it's called being a teacher. There is never enough paid prep time in order to get the job done no matter where you are teaching.

PeterDragon · Joined: 15 Feb 2007

My solution when my hagwon made me do mountains of bull###t paper marking was to mark the papers virtually randomly without really looking them over, spending less than a minute on each paper. My other solution was to quit after 3 months.

Honestly I WOULD recommend quitting and getting whatever public school job you can, simply because things in the public sector are so much better.

but failing that, these are your 2 best options:

1) Refuse

2) Do a totally half-a**ed job as quickly as possible. If your boss or a parent complains, explain to your boss that you didn't have time to grade all those papers properly without going into overtime, but you did the best you could in sub-overtime hours. tell him you don't WANT to press him for overtime, because you know it's expensive, but if he INSISTS, you'll put in some extra time at the overtime rate so you can scrutinize the papers to his satisfaction.

God, I'm never working hagwon again.

sparklingkorea · Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Location: Ulsan, Korea

Thanks for the replies. I'm not quitting. This is the best job I've had in Korea, and the benefits (like a three-bedroom apartment alone) far outweigh the disadvantages.

PGF · Joined: 27 Nov 2006

sparkling, this was my first battle at my first hagwon. I always referred to the contract which stated that I must teach up to 30 hours per week and that I must devote one hour per day to lesson planning, paper marking, etc.

When my director handed me 50 papers to mark, I smiled, and put them to the side. When ever he asked about them I always said that I was too busy marking my own class's papers and that i would eventually get to his class's papers. One day, I threw them in the circular file. He forgot about them and gave me more which I promptly threw away. Luckily, there was a young FT working with me who liked to be abused. He would actually get jealous if I received papers to mark and he did not...... ahhh, I love the dumb, sometimes.... thanks bob cummins- you were great at keeping BS busy work off my desk.....

anyway, do what your contract says. Politely tell them that if you are to mark papers everyday for someone else's class that you will be unable to prep and mark for your own classes. Either way, do ONE hour of prep or marking per day, no exception. Any more than that is not in your contract and you should be receiving additioanl pay ( if you want to do it) for work outside of your contract....

good luck

Billy Pilgrim · Joined: 08 Sep 2004

Lekker · Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Location: Seoul

Don't even check them. Just draw smily or frowny faces on them.

DongtanTony · Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Location: Bundang

Sadebugo1 · Joined: 11 May 2003

Yes, public school teachers in the US definitely have more work, but being able to identify a worse situation does not pardon the OP's current situation. The conditions you described are why so many 'teaching fellows' ads are being put up on this very website offering alternative certification programs for non-certified college grads. Not enough people want to work in the public school system anymore.

But ultimately, the OPs contract specifies a certain number of work hours per week and s/he is simply holding the employer to the terms of the contract or trying to at least.

Sadebugo
Djibouti, Horn of Africa
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/