Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kurtz]

Am I alone in thinking that co-teaching on paper looks good, but in reality it can be a nightmare?

From my experiences this year it seems that Korean English teachers (in an elemenatry school at least) hold a grudge with the foreigner due to

1) foreigner doesn't have to work on Saturday
2) the class is noisier with the foreigner so the KT has to do more work controlling the students
3) KT may have been teaching alone for 20 years and now has to share the class

another factor is that if there is no harmony, it simply doesn't work.

OK I'll come clean, I HATE my co-teacher. We seem to be allergic to each other even though I've done my best to be nice. She has a massive chip on her shoulder and I have given up trying to be nice with her. I've been in Korea for 18 months and I've never had to work in such a bitch.

Is it taboo in Korea to make any sort of comparisons? For example, I made an off hand comment about another Korean English teacher's ability in front of my co-worker and she didn't speak to me for three days as she said I never praise her English ability.

Lastly, I mentioned my intention of trying a high school next year as the students know a lot more English than elementary kids and that resulted in another three days of silence as she said "I know my English is very low, and you want to go to a high school because the teachers speak better English than me" .......

So my questions are is co-teaching a good idea and do you like your co-worker?

[fromtheuk]

Welcome to reality. I have written many threads on this topic, I was initially condemned for doing so, but my rants have now been more than confirmed by threads like yours.

I have felt hatred towards my co-teachers. I am currently doing ok with my current co-teacher. We've reached an understanding, we talk when the job demands it and keep our distance at all other times. It seems to work too.

You've got to try and understand what they want, and do that without kissing up. It's all about compromise. I think you may find your co-teacher has a limited understanding of English. So, when you think you've communicated something clearly, they have totally misunderstood what you've said, and have interpreted it incorrectly and negatively.

That's their fault not yours. I'd advise you to ask an excessive amount of questions, to really find out what they want from you.

Trying to understand what they mean requires many questions. All the best. I empathize. They can be nasty scumbags though. Bad mouthing you with their colleagues, can be pretty awful sometimes.

[tob55]

It is true that a bad co-teacher can be the worst of the worst, but the opposite is true when you find good co-teachers. I have been in education for more than 29 years and I have spent better than 50% of that time in co-teacher situations both here and in the USA. The past 3 1/2 years of my 4 years in Korea have been quite good overall. Sure the co-teachers were not the best in some cases, but for the most part you have to develop a working rapport between you and the co-teacher. Most people fail to do co-teaching adequately because they don't know what co-teaching truly is or how it should be managed between each participant in the classroom.

Not jumping on anyone, but I have to say you must be extremely flexible and be willing to accept responsibility for managing, even when your counterpart is unwilling to.

[reimund]

[Kurtz]

I heard I'm not alone in this. A friend says his co-teacher sits down with his thumb up his a#%e while the kids go mad, then gets asked later from the Korean why didn't he control the class.

I was a little biased in my OP, I didn't mention the other guy I work with who is passive and good natured and seems not to mind at all working with me even though he did fire up once when the two ganged up on me saying I always go when the bell rings (then later asking me why I am staying back when I had lots of work to do).

I'm not a Korea basher, generally I like living here but so far working with Koreans is tough and I find the women especially hard. I'm just trying to find out if it's just me or many other people face to same problems.

Working with young students, a translator is a must as is a crowd controller but if the Korean doesn't do his/her job it's a damn nightmare of an occupation.

[Kurtz]

I'll respond to posts 2 and 3. That's sound advice, but I have been VERY flexible but I've innocently been saying things I've done on my weekend, and due to her ignorance and lack of ability to gain the meaning from a story and not just translate what I said into her language, she has formed a negative opinion.

I'm back at school with 7 days to do nothing much so I'll give a prime example.

I told a story about going hiking. On the way down an ajumma spotted me and started a conversation. I was happy enough chatting to her for a while. At a set of lights, a group of typically moronic looking foreigners started giving me smirks and smarta@$e looks as though I am having some sort of relationship with this woman. Point of the story was the attitude of the Westerners.
Upon telling this story to my co-worker, she went very very dark and ignored me for the rest of the day. She later made an outburst saying I think I'm so superior because I can speak English and not to make fun of Koreans who are only interested in meeting foreigners......like WTF!!

Example B. It was late in the day, I was on my way out with a heavy bag and my co-worker asked me to do something. I let my bag drop maybe 3 inches where it made a slight noise, then walked off quickly to do my task.
Next day I'm accused of throwing my bag on the floor and storming off in a bad temper.....

Being flexible is aout of the question in this case. Maybe it's an extreme case but I can't handle it. She doesn't want to stand next to me in class, rather at the back of the class away from me.

I saw an open class where the foreigner and the Korean worked in perfect harmony and I was green with envy, that's not going to happen this year at least.

[tob55]

Just a reminder, I am not trying to bash anyone with my comments. I understand fully how utterly discouraging it can be when you are teamed with someone who doesn't have a clue. I was just pointing out some of the things people often over look. If you have some specific questions for me I'll be happy to address them in this thread in a constructive way so others can benefit from the conversation. Simply ask your questions in a numeric form and I will post quotations and replies for each. Hopefully we can create a useful thread for the whole process that could be used as a resource for others too. Just an idea, but I am up for it if anyone needs the advice.

[agoodmouse]

A co-teacher is not needed.

[Kurtz]

Hello Tob! someone with a helpful disposition, such a rarity on here.

Well I think my female co-worker (let's call her Kim) is a basket case but she only throws confusion into the mix.


I have two co-teachers and I alternate each week

One week, I'm a human tape recorder. The male CT does everything and I just pop in and say a sentence here and there. At the end of the week I feel like I've done absolutely nothing and don't deserve a pay cheque that week. He seems not to want any imput from me even though I do ask.

The following week, I have to do everything which isn't a hell of a lot as I follow what's in the book plus some of my own ideas but Kim doesn't help when the students don't understand me which is often as their ability is low plus 3rd and 4th graders are very young. So where is the co-teaching part of it?

My problem is that I'm employed to teach English. I'm far from perfect and I need to improve but I'm a hell of a lot better than the locals who in their defence are made to teach English for at least a year in elementary schools. Because of this, I should be speaking as much as possible, and if a problem arises, the Korean teacher must translate which is what I call co-teaching.

So far I've found co-teaching very hard. I'm either doing nothing, or getting no help due to cultural and personality differences.

I didn't start this thread to whinge per se (even though I've vented) but to see if other people have had similar problems as what I'm experiencing.

1. who should lead the class?
2. what to do if your co-teacher wants to do nothing? a co-teacher is a must with young students
3. what is the best foreigner to Korean speaking % in class?
4. Is this whole foreign teacher in public schools an utter farce? (due to unworkable relationships)

[tob55]

Thanks Kurtz,

Good questions and each one has numerous answers, but I'll try to cover them as simply as I can.

[agoodmouse]

Why should there need to be two teachers in a class? Two teachers complicates the situation. Frankly, if a coteacher needs to translate for you because you can't demonstrate and show the meaning of a word in a Socratic way, then one should do some reading about proper language teaching. Giving them the answer, via yourself or a Korean co-teacher who translates (which then it ends up being a Korean English class), isn't the way to go. That's what co-teaching does in the worst case scenario.

In the best case scenario, your co-teacher is not there. In the second best case scenario, your co-teacher is there and speaking English and making sure students are continually speaking in English and that she/he herself isn't creating too much TTT (teacher talking time). Students' speaking time is the most important goal.

However, I don't see how, unless you've got perfect condition regarding your co-teachers' pronunciation skills and commitment to speaking solely in English (rather than taking the easy way out by telling them the answer rather than showing them what the language means without Korean words), a co-teacher in the room can help.

Native French teacher in the classroom at my high school in America would've been awesome. Add a non-native French teacher to the same classroom with the native himself/herself and you've got confusion on your hands. The attention is being split between two teachers. This is why I believe a Korean co-teacher in the classroom is relatively useless.

[Kurtz]

I'm sure there are many people with a lot of experience and better training than me and can drop in TTT etc., but without a Korean teacher in the room my life would be hell.

Life without a co-teacher

Scenario 1. 3rd graders. Young, full of energy, sometimes violent with the odd bully
me "sit down!" to the bully
bully "no, stand up!"
where he proceeds to run around the class while the others start getting rowdy and all my yelling and banging just excites them all the more....yes, no co -teacher needed....

Scenario 2. A Down Syndrome kid starts yelling and screaming whilst a group of 5 boys gather around him and prod and speak to him in Korean where he starts screaming in a fit of rage and crying his eyes out....yes, no co-teacher needed......

Scenario 3. Using the textbook I was given, after playing the CD a number of questions regarding the dialogue was to be discussed, the most basic questions (in the form of a sentence) met with utter silence.....yes, no co-teacher needed....

This is not about giving them the answer, it's about understanding the question in the first place.

As mentioned, I'm sure my menthod is not the best but if you can't control the class, how can you teach? also, for very low level students, it's impossible for them to learn without understanding what is being said. Try explaining a game in English they have never played, I doubt it's not all due to my teaching method they don't get it.

Back to my questions. Kim doesn't want to do anything in my class. In the past I've asked her to help more with explanations where upon she accused me of wanting to take a rest and to do nothing.
The male teacher wants to do everything his way so even though he's a nice guy, he is very inflexible, as I find many Koreans are at work.

[tob55]

agoodmouse,

Thanks for the comments

[Draz]

[Easter Clark]

Good stuff, tob55. I firmly believe there shouldn't be a co-teacher present in an ESL situation, but in EFL, it can be very useful. In a perfect world, you will see your students every day and they will be able to understand basic classroom instructions in English. Who wants to use TPR as a means of implementing discipline? A typical scenario without a co-teacher:

T: Why aren't you working?

S: 왜?

T: Is this too difficult?

S: 쉬러요!

T: ???

Students: (laughing)

or...

T: Everybody listen. (miming hand to ear)

Students: (ignoring teacher blabbering away)

T: Quiet!

Students: (laughing at angry foreigner)

Granted, an experienced teacher may not encounter these problems (especially if they can employ "the look"), but to say co-teachers are unnecessary is a bit of a stretch (and reeks of arrogance), imho.