Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bassexpander]

In my next podcast, I will be interviewing a "head teacher" who has been employed with a hagwon for several years, and manages several other teachers.

This individual came to my attention via PM, and I thought it might make an interesting 2nd podcast. I, however, have never worked in a job situation where there was a foreign "head teacher" who was over me. Many of you out there likely have, so I'd really appreciate it if you could provide me with some good questions to ask him. What would you like to hear?

Also, this individual is a recent father, and his wife is also a foreigner. Can you imagine that -- she gave birth to a baby in a foreign country! Sounds scary! Please feel free to provide any questions along those lines, as well!

Thanks for helping me make my first podcast such a success!

[jadarite]

I apologize if this comes off as a rant, but there is a question lurking within.

I have worked at a few schools in Japan and 2 in Korea. I have been teaching for almost 5 years, and there is one thing I don't like which is the same in both countries.

With the smaller schools, I get to know the students more and work with the owner of the school to create a school environment amicable for students and teachers.

With larger schools, there is a tier system in place and teachers are treated more like servants. So, when you want to get things done, your suggestions are "considered" by some counsel of Korean staff rather than acted upon from the owner's discretion.

One question from this would be, what can a head teacher do to ensure teachers are given a proper classroom with a set curriculum, along with material?

Schools seem to be oblivious to white lined paper and dictionaries. They don't seem to know the process of getting a working pencil sharpener in each classroom.

Also, as a side question, I am currently in a relationship with a Korean woman. We have discussed marriage, children, work, where we will live, etc...

What kind of future does an ESL teacher have in Korea? Is it better to pack up and go back to our home country, or is there a path we "1 year contract" teachers can go which will ensure our future?

[bassexpander]

Thanks for the response. I wish you would expand more on the "servant" thing, as I could glean some good questions from it. Feel free to talk about your experiences or the experiences of your friends!

As to work after marriage, you can try to get a job back home. If it's teaching, you'll need certification wherever it is you're teaching, if you plan to make much money at it (just assuming -- I haven't looked into it). If that's the US, for example, every state has its own requirements, although many are similar. You have to find out specifically what track you need to take to get those. Often that means going back and getting a BA in education of some sort and working up from there.

As far as living in Korea for a long time, I think there are a few options open to you:

1. Try to better your credentials (not knowing what they are) & experience and work up to a uni job with better hours and maybe slightly better pay.

2. Set up a school in your own home. I think many F-2's end up doing this. The ins/outs of that can be found in the "private teaching" sticky in this forum.

3. Get into a non-teaching job offered by your government/embassy, the US military, or a company. This can be considerably difficult.


People doing option 2 probably make between 3.0 and 5.0 per month, on average (just a guess).

[Hanson]

Hey bass,

Nice job on the first podcast, although having not dealt with recruiters in about 8 years, the topic was outside of my scope of interest.

For the head teacher, I would ask about the difficulties in dealing with western teachers and Korean bosses. I was a coordinating teacher at my last gig and the difficulty for me was being the middleman between Korean higher ups and western teachers. I saw myself as working on behalf of the teachers, in the interest of the teachers, while smoothing out issues, a lot of them cultural in nature.

My Korean Director at the time was fairly understanding, but the people above the Director (Deans) were unmovable, stubborn and uncaring about the issues teachers wanted changed. This made for a delicate balancing act for me.

Another issue would be dealing with unrealistic foreign newbies. Some of these newbies come over here expecting it to be like Kansas (or Regina, or Brisbane, or Sussex...), which can cause a lot of tension in the office.

How much influence do you have over curriculum?
Could you give us examples of typical complaints from parents?
How much do parent complaints affect the day-to-day operations of the school/hagwon?
What common problems can westerners avoid?
How understanding is/are the Korean hagwon owner(s) when dealing with teacher dissatisfaction?
What cultural issues (between Korean employers and western teachers) are the most difficult to resolve? What's the best way to resolve them?
Do the owners of the hagwon put profit ahead of education?
How much of the head teacher position involves mediation?

[bassexpander]

Great stuff, hanson!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I'd have quite a number of questions:

- What do you think the parents really want? How does this change as their children get older? How do you deal with different parents having different goals and expectations for their children, when their kids are in the same class.
- How selective are you able to be in hiring teachers? What traits and experience does your ideal teacher have?
- How does your boss' view of an ideal teacher differ from yours?
- How long does the average pupil stay at your hogwon?
- How does your hagwon deal with students who continually disrupt other students from learning or refuse to put in any effort? Are such decisions made on an academic or business basis?
- What kinds of problems or complaints do you most commonly hear from foreign teachers? From Korean teahcers?
- What differences do you note between experienced and inexperienced teachers (be they foreign or Korean)?
- What future difference do you see in hagwon teaching in Korea?

And that's just a start! Respond to this when you're awake and I'll give you a call today.

[bassexpander]

Thanks YBS! Keep 'em coming!

[jadarite]

[bassexpander]

I think this top will prove more interesting that I expected, because I'm sure there are some good stories about crazy teachers. Working in Korea, and all of the culture differences/language barriers we encounter every day really have a way of causing people to say/do some odd things. I bet my next interviewee has some dooseys!

[Whistleblower]

The questions I would ask would be:

1. How do you feel at the same time trying to accommodate the wishes of both the teachers and the senior management?
2. Are there any senior management in your school who are non Korean?
3. Do you sometimes feel stuck between a rock and a hard place when teachers complain about the Korean senior management? How do you deal with both parties?
4. What would you recommend teachers do if they wish to develop professionally?
5. How did you get promoted to your current position?
6. How long did it take you to become a head teacher?
7. What qualifications are required for a head teacher?
8. How does a head teacher deal with communication difficulties between teachers and senior Korean management?
9. Where would you like to be in 5 years time?
10. How long have you been in Korea?
11. Do you sometimes push for a better work/life balance for teachers, for example longer holidays, better pay, etc? If so, how do you go about negotiating this?
12. What is the biggest change in your school since you became a head teacher?
13. What is the biggest reason teachers leave your school?
14. Are head teachers rewarded for their hard work, diplomacy with teachers, etc at your school?
15. Would you recommend your job to another teacher who is being considered for head teacher by management? Why or why not?

Just some questions that I have thought of. Take your pick.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[bassexpander]

Thanks guys!

I'm interviewing this gentleman tomorrow afternoon, and may have a podcast up as early as tomorrow evening! I also should have it approved by I-tunes soon, so that will be good-to-go as well. Not sure how many days it take I-tunes, but we'll see.

[Hanson]

[bassexpander]