Korean Job Discussion Forums

SuperFly · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Location: In the doghouse

Hire responsible people, based on reccomendations from friends.

Pay in Greenbacks. [$2200 per month]

House them individually.

Pay for the teachers escape/recharge trips to Ko Phan Gan on Full moon party.

Pay bonuses for X-mas. Pay all other normal severance etc. gain a good reputation among the teachers.

Teachers lounge. I believe it is a good morale booster to have a well equipped and comfortable teachers lounge.

Occasional paid dinners at Nashville and Reggae Pub.

10 kids per class with Korean teachers aid (Part timers from uni will work)

For adults there would be only film conversation classes. Split up the classes so each teacher would have an equal amount of kids and adult classes.

I've always dreamed about teaching film. Watch portions of a movie and discuss....argh! So many good movies to watch and talk about.... Smile

Most of all I would offer my employees peace of mind.

Always have a substitute ready to go so my people can have a sick day when they really need it. [This won't be advertised.]

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

I would just leave teachers alone and let them teach. If parents complain, I would try and deteremine the validity of the complaint. If it was just the standard, my kids haven't covered enough pages this week, then I would have someone explain to them that "faster" is not "better", especially when it comes to learning English.

I would have a discipline policy where if a student is disrupting the class, they get sent to the office and I would phone their parents on the spot.
No exceptions. No books? Phone the parents.
3 offenses and they would have to leave.

By the way, I've heard there are places like this in Korea. Not many, but they exist. The parents pay about double to send their kids to these places because they know their kids can't fool around.

I would make sure that their were ample teachers resources, especially enough copies of the textbook and tapes so that EVERY teacher could have a copy. I would make sure that tape players were good quality and functional, with enough volume to be heard in a large classroom.

And did I mention whiteboards? Every classroom must have a decent sized whiteboard. (4 X 4 feet) And a decent, steady supply of markers.

I would try and offer help and advice to teachers who are not doing well, not try and ridicule them into "doing better". Instead of trying to lay blame, I would have meetings where everyone is free to make suggestions on how we can do things better.

I would never, Never, NEVER, bloody< $%^&*ing NEVER, (did I mention NEVER?) allow parents to move students around to higher levels than they are ready for.
This is probably the most troublesome thing that parents can do to a good teacher.

I would have beginner levels for older students as well. Just because they are older doesn't mean they know more.

Anyway, that's what I would do.

I know it's just a dream, but if you're going to dream.......... Cool

prairieboy · Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Location: The batcave.

Homer, thanks for pointing that out to me. I know what the score is but the topic of the post was "what would you change if you owned a hagwon"...right?

That's all I pointed out. The things that I would change if I owned a hagwon.

Cheers

coolsage · Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2003 7:21 pm Post subject:

If I were the King of my very own hagwon (which is never going to happen), I would raise the bar and raise the salaries. Hire only 'real' teachers. That hasn't been tried here yet. It might fill a niche market for the authentic . And it just might turn out to be another license to print money.

Homer · Guest

No worries Prairieboy...which "prairie" are you from man?

prairieboy · Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Location: The batcave.

The prairie in Saskatchewan.

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

Holy cow! Another stubble jumper. Very Happy

Cheers

Rand Al Thor · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Locked in an epic struggle

It's me and the_beaver as partners. For the most part Beaver has nailed everything that we would do.

Yes we would work our teachers hard and have high expectations as well. But we would also be rewarding them beyond what you would get at any hogwan and even some universities.

Single housing of an adequate size with washer/dryer, a/c, TV.
Korean Language classes paid for by us and mandatory - the best teachers are ones who have or are currently studying language.
Vacation 2 weeks 4 times a year or we might do 1 week twice a year & 3 weeks twice a year.

You own classroom that you can decorate how you see fit with a your own computer in the classroom that you may use on your free time.

Our program would be very educationally sound with rules that are enforced. We would not pander to the mentality of I think I am level 4 so I am even if you can not say hello.

Beaver mentioned using published material, but that would be a temporary thing. Right now both of us are probably going to be involved in materials development at our respective universities so this experience will be invaluable when it comes to launching the hagwon.

RaL

matthewwoodford · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Location: Location, location, location.

I would milk it for all the money it's worth. Twisted Evil

Rand Al Thor · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Locked in an epic struggle

Homer · Guest

Rand,

What about quality education? Is that part of your investment plan or will you just do like the some of those less then reputable hagwon owners do? Rolling Eyes

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Homer · Guest

Beaver, that sounds interesting...if for real might be interested in joining up... Very Happy

Circus Monkey · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: In my coconut tree

Scott in HK · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 6:10 am Post subject:

beaver and rand....

i would pass along one more suggestion....if you plan on breaking down your different levels into skill areas....where someone might be a 10 in oral but a 4 in writing...and of course i suggest that you do....it would be a good idea to find teacher(s) who are skilled in teaching reading and writing...

i am doing my masters in language and literacy focusing on esl/efl (i am concentrating a lot of my work on emergent literac as i plan to open an immersion kindergarten but have done three papers on literacy in middle school students)...and the one thing that has been mentioned is how teachers tend to focus on the teaching of language and miss the teaching of reading and writing....teachers assume that learners will bring their knowledge over from their L1...but in many cases they don't or have never really been taught reading/writing strategies in their L1....this is especially true for metacognitive reading strategies...

this is true for learners of all ages...i had to do a project on reading strategies and used my wife as student...she was amazed at how her reading improved in just a few short weeks...