Korean Job Discussion Forums

[captain kirk]

My Kcoteacher is multi-faceted. She, last month, had chronic fatigue syndrome put her into the hosptital for three days of IV and bedrest. This month she's gungho and wound up tight as a drum about a 'lesson plan contest' (pub elem). I didn't think anything of it until finding out today that this 'lesson plan contest' has mysteriously become a 'lesson demo' contest with the 'finals' coming up next week. And she wrote me into her lesson.

How the hell did that happen?

I can't figure out whether she's ambitious, has an obsessive compulsive disorder, or is simply 'dilligent'. I like her alot. So last week she was fretting with the lesson plan and wrote that up and delivered it to the county Education office. She won and made it to the 'finals'.

Today (and all week) she has been viewing and re-viewing this lesson plan, for an English lesson, on her computer. This apparently means a lot to her. I asked what does she win? A certificate, she said. Not interesting, how about an MP3. Nope, certificate. This means something to a Korean teacher moving up the public school system career ladder. There's no such contest for foreign English teachers so I can't get interested in what she's doing.

Until today when I found out I'm written into her 'lesson plan' which has become a 'class demo'. The county Education supervisor will be there, principal and vice-principal.

My 'part' is only four minutes of her forty minute (normal class length) demo class. It's the 'listen and repeat' section of the class (she's following the textbook). I appear, say sentences and the students repeat. I do this for four minutes. Then I can leave, she says.

I say there's no way I'm doing that. Why? Has she ever seen me do 'listen and repeat' style teaching with the kids? That's Korean style. What she wants me to do makes me look like a zombie and the kids no better. What am I, a walking tape recorder? She says why did you come her to Korea if you won't do this? Why don't you go back to your home country? I say to her don't you ever say that to me again, it's rude. And ask who's idea is it that I'm supposed to do this 'part'? Hers? Who's? She says 'everybody'. I say 'everybody who?'. If I walk up to any teacher in the school and talk to them about this are they going to know what I'm talking about? She says 'I don't want to tell you' (who's idea it is I participate in this demo).

Weird Pepsi!

Throw in that she's totally worked up/pumped up about this contest and winning it. I say to her that this contest has nothing to do with teaching students, it's just a demo. It's all about HER. Her ambition and desire to win this contest. Since it's all about her, her bag, then why does she need me? Back to, she says, 'everybody' thinks it's a good idea (I participate).
Apparently the contest is being held at our school and the contestants are from other schools, as well. If she wins then our school looks good. And if I participate then this is supposed to better her chances.

Hey, I NEVER teach in a 'listen and repeat' style. I loathe that shit. It's proven that such a method does not work. I left that behind a long time ago.

The thing that pisses me off, and I said this to her, is that the Superintendant of the County Educ Dept, a very big bug, will be there. Along with our school's Principal and Vice-principal. I'm going to look like a frigging dork walking in there to do 'listen and repeat' for 4 minutes, then walking out again. The amazing talking white guy walking dictionary imported from some big white country. I do a superfine, stimulating job teaching that is nowhere near what they're wanting me to do. I've got pretty much complete freedom to teach as I wish all the time but have been slotted into this demo to do jackshit in front of some important people.

In our discussions, rather heated, the Kcoteacher said that my role is to 'help' her, and why won't I help her. Bla bla other FT and bla bla other school always helps his Kcoteacher.

Bloody hell. What a crock. Anyone else 'written in' to look like a dork during a lesson demo? Or am I the only dork? I said I wouldn't do it but that was when I didn't know WTF was going on. It looks like this is some communal rah rah and I've simply been left out of the loop in the planning stage. My co-teacher has always been letting me do as I see fit 'off camera'. But appearances and face-time dictate I be given a minor role at the ball.

The hilarious thing is the Korean system of teaching is dull and uninteresting. I've seen a 'by the book' demo class done before and the response from the kids is cowering, shy, flat.

Fark it all anyway.

[Otherside]

[crusher_of_heads]

Reciprocate her respect.


"Everybody" is just as insipid as the Korean Culture nonsense.


Don't do it. Tell her to arrange a meeting with "everybody" so you can tell everybody the answer is no.

[captain kirk]

Weeeeelllllllll, if you look at it in terms of 'doing a friend a favour'. But I take pride in my work. This is not a realistic depiction at all of how I teach.
The purpose of this demo is to further her reputation. She is taking pride in her work but I can't take pride in the role she's given me to play. I said to her a twenty year old who has been teaching for five minutes could do this 'listen and repeat' shit. It's all about HER. It's vain, self-centered, egoism behind the ambition. She took on the challenge, this year (three months ago) to be a co-teacher in the English program with the first FT the school has had (me).

Sure I like her but this is a big witholding of information. I wasn't informed this 'lesson plan contest' was leading up to a 'lesson demo contest' that I would be participating in. All is sensed from her is NERVES.

I said I wouldn't do it but I think I'm going to have to do it. It's a represent event and I'm suddenly a part of something that represents our school in a battle against other schools. I'll have to walk up front, do the 'listen and repeat' bit for four minutes, then walk out of the room. But the 'appearances' at this face-time display will indicate that the foreign teacher is just a walking, talking proper accent dispenser for a good four minutes, then bye bye. Thank you numbnuts foreigner teacher.

I get paid Level One on the payscale.

Talk about going with the flow. I don't think my Kcoteacher is deliberately trying to steal the show or make me look like a dork. It's just her off on a bandwagon doing it by herself. She does get a bizarre look on her face from time to time, like an owl looking out of a tunnel. It's hard to describe but she looks like, then, her real self is a real mess of noodles. Bon appetit!

[Dome Vans]

I'm gonna have to sympathise with you here CK.

I teach at an elementary school once a week out in a village that has 500 people. Very very small. I also teach at two middle schools in the surrounding area. I've been told by the senior supervisors and supervisors that I'm held in very high regard by my schools and the Office of Education. Which I'm very pleased about. I work hard and I love my job and I have an excellent relationship with my fellow teachers.

I write all my own lesson plans and teach all my own lessons usually 97/3 ratio me/co-teacher. Which is fine by me.

Today my co-teacher who I work with in sixth grade elementary told me that WE'D be chosen for a huge open lesson involving all the elementary principals, VPs, supervisors and senior supervisors in a few weeks. She said it was probably my fault because 'You're so good' (to use her words). So she said that she needs to come up with a lesson plan and I get to do the repeating bit. WTF! She was all stressed about it. Her lessons involve awful dialogue and clapping, and she never actually teaches she just does a bit of translation when I'm teaching.

SO I think it's fairly similar to you. A kind of vanity thing on her part. If they want to come and see me teach then why is she wanting to score points and work her way up the ladder, when I in reality do all the teaching normally. Strange. I don't get big-headed, but I love my teaching and to receive recognition is so nice for me. I also believe in team work and a bit of conversation to settle ideas but now it feels that she'll go ahead with her idea, and I'll be the repeating robot.

But why should it be like this? I told her I can do a fantastic lesson for both of us and it doesn't involve her having a heart attack doing it. Her lesson idea involved "What does your father do? What does your mother do?" "Oh, she's a teacher or he's a policeman" Holy crap! I was teaching them dialogue today about buying clothes. They're a smart class, why have a showpiece of rubbish like that.

Strange, but I suppose you've got to get used to it!

[captain kirk]

[Rteacher]

I had to act as an assistant to my Korean (woman) co-teacher at a demo class a couple years ago, and in Gyeonggi-do that directive apparently came from the top (but was short-lived...)

After griping about it (since I'm a natural bossy type) I decided to act in a supporting role and do the best I could to make the class (basically on clothes/accessories vocabulary) better by bringing in some interesting "realia" (eg: suits, shorts, garment bag...) and pronouncing each word carefully (while adding a couple jokes...)

Unlike other demos I had done, all the pressure was on the Korean teacher, and the Ministry people liked both our efforts. My co-teacher said she really appreciated my helping her get through it.

It seems that your co-teacher is more ambitious to show that Korean teachers can take the lead and eventually phase out native-English teachers - and that would probably be welcomed by most education officials - though their seminar speakers assert that Korean teachers need to learn creative methods from us (while we're still here...)

[captain kirk]

It would seem so. I've got some strong views about the effectiveness of Korean public school curriculum/repeat after me mindless method so she must be getting a chuckle about the turned table/irony of this 'punishment'. It's not surprising that a big show like this should be patriotic and nearly anti-foreigner as well.

It's ten days away and If I have to participate, as I'm pretty sure is the case, then we can discuss it, deal a bit, there's still time. Sort of volunteer now the shock has worn off. I genuinely like her and it's mutual but I think she's just so high-strung there's only one person who can do all her worrying for her (herself). I'd have to pry the lesson plan from her tense death-grip to modify it.

Another thing is she's very pretty (especially with that extra-molded hyper make-upped look, very dazed 1950-ish and stunnerful) which will tend to swing an all-male jury and she knows it. So all the sweet nothingness of her by the book lesson will be like heavenly sphincter music, I mean harp music. Then I can lumber in and give some reality to the proceedings, all eyesore and who let this guy in?

My strengths are humour and joking around and, like you Rteacher, maybe I can work some of that in. Seems I missed the audition though. The thing about a society that works on appearances is that it's all so superficial. As an ugly fat fark I feel misunderstood.

[DongtanTony]

captain kirk...

really...listen and repeat has no educational value??

Bloom's taxonomy differs with your opinion.

Language acquisition theories differ with your opinion...in terms of sound identification, mimicking and simple comprehension/understanding...you probably learn the Korean language through similar methods.

You're putting up a stink over five minutes of your life....really???? Especially for someone...that you claim...you get along with????

And by the way...chants and songs can be powerful learning tools...I'm sure that you may even remember one or two from your own elementary school days.

My point is...what is it exactly about these five minutes of your day that threatens you so much??? Do you honestly believe that you'll be laid off...fired...or be given the perception of being obsolete because of one little contest???

Your personal opinions about the school's curriculum aside...I've known plenty of public schools in "the west" that use outdated texts in a number of content classes...you really have to ask yourself, what do you lose by agreeing to this lesson???

From where I'm sitting...the answer is not a whole lot...and if your co-teacher does win her contest...or at least she perceives her lesson to have been a success...you may catch a break or a personal favor down the road.

It just seems like an awful lot of resistance to a fairly minor issue.

[captain kirk]

Yeah, you're right. I can see this demo going swimmingly and this is obviously very important to her. I've just put up a big objection to it because, surprise, everything's so last minute in Korea. And there's the hierarchy. Up doesn't inform down. I resent being down and uninformed but, you're right, this isn't a big deal. I won't get fired or discredited for doing four minutes of pfiffle. Everyone's been pithed. Pithing each other is a national sport.

And yes there are crap textbooks back home and the repetitive method isn't so bad, after all, in MODERATION.

The brass will just think it's great there's a foreign teacher to pop by and my haven't times changed and look, he likes Korea, he must because he has been here so long. I just had to vent because she has been carrying on with this project for two weeks already and at no stage was I informed I'd be involved. Suddenly it's something I MUST do(I'm sorry but at this point you have no choice kind of thing). I think she didn't want to tell me because I'd want to do half of the class at least. But I still think it's crap and stealthily done, giving me the role of a fool.

I've been bucking the 'assistant' role from the start, just to be able to breathe. I've got my space after three months of this bucking. Now suddenly I'm acting in a play that makes me an assistant nobody. I can't give up and relax and accept being an 'assistant'. Otherwise I'll feel like there's nothing to do. Where are you from? What's your home country? You are an 'assistant' teacher. I think of work as where I exert competence and authority, not where I lose ground in The Gong Show because I am foreign.

Two year degree holders are being invited over (TALK program). My Kcoteacher is on vain parade lesson demo drama overkill mode. It will help her career. I must help her career and act like a dope. Anyone watching would say, 'just goes to show you FTs are overpaid; anybody could do that'. And they'd be right but it's just the appearances. That are so very important, and manipulated, here in Korea. You see on TV a drama where the foreigner acts like a real git. That's staged. The foreigner is paid to do that. Same thing.

Mountain out of a molehill? Microcosm out of a molehill!

[Smee]

Eh, I can see your point. At my schools the Korean teachers never come to class, so if they ever suggested doing a "coteaching" plan like that we'd have some problems. It sucks that there's no real method for evaluating and ranking foreign teachers. We have "levels" but that's determined by expereince and pay. The Korean teachers have countless opportunities for professional development and for demo classes, but those don't exist for NS teachers. Granted, the KTs arguably have more at stake, but I think a higher-caliber level of NS teachers would emerge if we were actuallly evauluated and given opportunities to show our skills. Regardless, it'd take a huge set for any of my "coteachers" to write me into a "coteaching" plan where I did 4 minutes of listen / repeat.

I have more to say on the topic, but I'll hold my tongue for now. I don't understand why coteaching has to be so . . . dysfunctional.

[captain kirk]

[Dome Vans]

[cruisemonkey]

[captain kirk]