Korean Job Discussion Forums

WoBW · Joined: 07 Dec 2007 Location: HBC

Well I've been at this private elementary school for a few months now, and I feel like I'm being persecuted.

About a month into my contract, my supervisor came into my room and told me that the students complained that my lessons were too boring. Fair enough, I was making them study all the time, no games. So I started doing some study in each class, then a game or maybe a video. Problem solved, right? Wrong.

This where we get to the real BS. A couple of months later, when I thought everything was okay, I was summoned to a meeting with the VP and my supervisor. Apparently a kid was sobbing his heart out to his homeroom teacher because I made him sit at the front away from his friends. LIE - I let them sit where they want, except when they are causing trouble. Then I move them to the front for that lesson only, next lesson starts with a clean slate. Anyway, this particular kid isn't a trouble maker so I've never told him where to sit. WTF? (Why do they have to sit with their friends anyway. It's an English class, not a social gathering. And my room is small, only 12 desks)

It gets better. They then accused me of eating a hamburger in class Shocked

. That is so absurd it would be funny if they weren't threatening to fire me for it (among the other BS).

Next I was accused of using bad language in class. LIE. I've been teaching long enough to have developed a sort of automatic filter for the words I use. I NEVER use inappropriate language in class.

They then went on to say students were upset about some videos I showed them. WTF? The only videos I show are those related to the topic in the book, or as a treat in the last ten minutes a bit of Mr Bean. Many of the topics are about animals, so I show a video about the animals. My supervisor specifically mentioned a picture of a lizard. OH FOR CHRIST SAKE. I showed them a picture of an iguana, that's REALLY upsetting. Me and another foreign teacher who teaches the same grades share videos. We show the same stuff. How come HIS students haven't gone crying to their homeroom teacher? The other day my supervisor asked me if I was still showing 'those sort of videos.' WHAT FUCKING SORT OF VIDEOS? I don't show anything until I've checked it first to make sure it contains nothing innappropriate for kids. I am very conservative about this, too.

Next, I was accused of doing nothing for a whole class while I was punishing two students at the back. WHAT? It takes one minute to get a couple of kids standing at the back facing the wall, then I resume the lesson.

A couple of days ago the 'using bad words' one came up again. *sigh*. Also apparently now I'm not doing anything to discipline trouble makers. For FUCKS sake - see the above paragraph.

Anyway, apparently this is my last chance I'm skating on thin ice. BUT ALL OF THE COMPLAINTS ARE NOT TRUE. The hamburger thing alone is a good example of that.

I am so stressed out I can't sleep, can't eat. Some of you will say, just quit, leave. Boy, I wish I could, but sadly this is a case of me needing them as much if not more than they need me. I don't have much money in the bank, because I did a bit of travel in the winter and paid the deposit on my apartment.

I will lose that deposit if I get fired, because I won't be able to afford to stay in the apartment and I'll have to move out only 3-4 months into a 12 month contract. I can't just get another job, because I don't have my CRC. I was holding off on getting that because my contract runs to Feb next year and I know about the '6 month rule'. So I was waiting till August to get the ball rolling on that. It'll take months to do it from Korea if I try to do it now. The money I have won't sustain me that long. Basically I'll have to leave Korea. But where to. Going back to the UK with what little money I have would be very dodgy. Unless I could get a job immediately, I'd be fucked. I have no family there, and I've lost contact with friends as I've been away so many years. I'd be on my own.

This is driving me nuts because it's all so ridiculous and NOT TRUE. I might get fired because of LIES. Why are they doing this to me?

So questions:

1. Do you think I'll really get fired, or is my supervisor just crazy and giving me shit for the hell of it? Will it be too hard to get a new teacher to replace me? This school offers a good salary, but you have to find your own accomodation.

2. Is there a place where I can go with little money and get fixed up in a job almost immediately? I'm thinking China.

Get ready for a thread on the buy/sell/trade forum. If it happens I'll have a lot of stuff to sell. Oh, and anyone looking for a 3 bedroom apartment in HBC?

This just sucks, and it's all quite bizarre. I feel fucking sick with stress right now as I'm typing this.

Edit: I teach alone, so there is no adult in the room to vouch for me. This is all coming from the students, who seem to like me. Confused

Korea Shafting!

Ramen · Joined: 15 Apr 2008

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

Cracker006 · Joined: 11 Feb 2008

If they don't like you, it doesn't matter if the sunshines out of your arse, you walk on water, and are the only maker of the English Fluency Pill...

You will be fired.

Hank the Iconoclast · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Location: Busan

Another strike against hagwons. This bs just doesn't happen in public schools.

WoBW · Joined: 07 Dec 2007 Location: HBC

It isn't hagwon. It's a privately owned public school.

Mr. Pink · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: China

When reading stories like this it makes me glad I have an F series visa.

Too many power trippers in the public school system.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

This is a growing problem, and I've now heard of similar stories from two different teachers.

Consider yourself lucky. The other one was accused of "touching" one of the kids inappropriately. Even his friends aren't sure what to really think of that one. The school is a Kids Herald school, and they can't even keep Korean teachers. I've heard that in the past year, they've changed the entire staff over several times. If Koreans leave a job that fast -- that's saying something.

Seems like schools are adopting such tactics to get rid of teachers they don't like and/or hopefully avoid paying severance or the extra months pay, etc., for firing them. The other guy was in his final few months, and the lawyer for his court appearance cost him 7 million won (and he was never paid for his final month of work) plus probably another 2 million his father spent to fly here and help. He barely escaped prison, and had to plead that he, "must have accidentally touched" the girl inappropriately in order to escape jail and get deported.

As someone who worked in a privately-owned public school, even though I got along just fine, I can still see this happening to the OP. Privately-owned schools like that are fraught with nepotism. They probably sat down at a family meal and concocted this way to get rid of you because they didn't like your teaching or something. That, or it was taught to them at an area association meeting. An important point, though, is that they are doing this for a reason: they don't like you and/or your teaching. You should learn what they don't like and work on that problem if you continue to stay in Korea. It could be your teaching, don't kiss their butt enough, or that you skipped some important meeting -- it could even be that you don't shower once a week and dress like a pig -- hard to know!

I suspect we will be seeing more of this sort of thing in the future.

My advice to the OP is that you find another job. Beg your boss for a letter of release and offer to help them find a new teacher. Maybe they'll help you move on to another school. I'd say your life at this school is about to end, one way or another. If you feel like your teaching may truly be bad, and you want to keep teaching, then consider a TEFL/TESL course with on-the-job training. Something like the CELTA or Trinity might do you some real good, although they are freakin' expensive to do (2.5 million or so).

Don't feel bad. I sucked as a teacher my first year, and had to learn my way out of it. Since then, I've worked my way up to a uni job. You can improve.

Fresh Prince · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: The glorious nation of Korea

mountainous · Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Location: Los Angeles

Hank the Iconoclast · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Location: Busan

esglumac · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:55 pm Post subject:

Screw this!!!! Surprised

I know your in a bad situation, but they are abusing you b-c they have the power to do it... Surprised

WTH?????????????!!!!!!! I tell you what for as much as they hate the Japanese, they could sure learn a think or two from that society.

esglumac · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:55 pm Post subject:

Screw this!!!! Surprised

I know your in a bad situation, but they are abusing you b-c they have the power to do it... Surprised

WTH?????????????!!!!!!! I tell you what for as much as they hate the Japanese, they could sure learn a thing or two from that society.

esglumac · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:55 pm Post subject:

Screw this!!!! Surprised

I know your in a bad situation, but they are abusing you b-c they have the power to do it... Surprised

WTH?????????????!!!!!!! I tell you what for as much as they hate the Japanese, they could sure learn a thing or two from that society.

Fishead soup · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Location: Korea

Try to get a team teaching job with a public school. When I mean team teaching I mean a school that will actually provide you with a bilingual co-teacher that will assist you teaching.

There are a lot of schools that claim to be co-teaching but in reality you might just co-teach less than half of the time. Some schools only co-teach for Open Lesson purposes.

90% of the problems you mentioned would have been eleminated by having a co-teacher.