Korean Job Discussion Forums

[withnail]

This post is for all newbie hagwon teachers out there.

I have worked in both adult and kids hagwons and I have looked back over my experiences and made a list of the causes of conflict I�ve had. Perhaps if I'd read a post like this I might have been a lot more chilled out in my first year in a kids hagwon.

If I'd known then, what I know now, I reckon there would have been fewer issues. My conclusion is that we are just window dressing for the parents. Not much of what we do matters to hagwon bosses so long as we smile, are punctual and don't make waves. I also find bosses mostly just stubbornly ignorant rather than malicious.

You really have to lose your ego and lower your sense of academic integrity - basically act obsequiously like a Korean employee because that's how you'll be treated no matter your experience/qualifications. Just being a good foreign teacher won't exempt you from the confucian chain of command!

Even assuming that the manager is a reasonably decent person and pays on time and doesn't expect you to work when you haven't agreed to, there can still be problems:

1. They will not tell you about:

a: new arrivals - the first you'll know about it is when you walk into the class.
b: students who have been levelled up into your class
c: students levelled up out of your class/students who quit.
d: students expecting to walk in half way through a lesson.

Case A/C can down a lesson plan if you are not careful or don�t have a plan B.
Case B also, especially when the kid is not the right level and was levelled up into your class for political reasons and not on merit. (i.e. Parent's desire)
Case C often means you are wasting time correcting assignments of the quitter. This irritates all the more if you weren't up to date with the marking and you were correcting 3 or 4 pieces of work only to find out they�ve gone.
I once forbade a case D from entering 35 mins into a 50 min lesson and all hell broke loose!

Also they don't consult you on level ups. That is for the Korean teachers/the boss - the first indicator among many that our input is not important to them...

These things really irritated me! I just couldn't understand that they couldn't even slip me a post-it note before ruining my plan for the class. They told me they just didn't have the time but these changes were almost all known about long before the fact. I complained about this and soon wished I hadn�t�.Basically you don't complain but rather politely query...

2. If you have a moan about something to a foreigner colleague, watch out! The walls have ears and you could find out that sweet little Korean teacher who is working silently in the corner of the teachers� room will relay everything to the boss.

3. Innovative lesson planning can often cop flak from parents. Better to stick to what�s always been done as much as you can. Some students are grilled by their control-freak moms when they get home about what they did in your class and will complain to the boss about that video clip you showed. Remember, moms run hagwons�Ideally what makes them happy is the sight of the teacher standing at the whiteboard in orthodox pose, lecturing and demanding choral rep.

4. There�s a high turnover of Korean English teachers in hagwons. You�re boss will want to keep these girls happy before you. Keep your eye on the schedules. In hagwons a schedule can stay the same for a long time so if you get scheduled for 4 or 5 hours straight every day without a break your only chance to do something about it is as soon as you�re given it. A close look at the schedule often reveals your need for a rest was the last thing to be considered.

5. Think long and hard about questioning/complaining about anything and ask yourself how much it really matters and when you do, be so charming/almost apologetic about it. You�re being watched. A profile is being built on you. Smile as much as possible or they�ll conclude quickly you�re "difficult". Give a dog a bad name...

6. I was an EFL teacher for a long time before coming to Korea, mostly in schools with real academic integrity. In the beginning I really wanted to help my school improve but it was impossible! Their way is their way and you can't fight it. Try to just keep it interesting for yourself and your students and enjoy life in Korea! You are not going to be a pioneer of the communicative approach here and you have to live with that! I guess they'll change in their own sweet time...

Hope this helps...It may sound a bit defeatist but its better than walking around all misunderstood with a martyr complex!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

So basically lose your dignity and professionalism and all will be well in your world. Sorry, but the things you mention above are why I'll never work for a hagwon again.

[Summer Wine]

But he is correct. I wish too that I had understood those truths before I worked in a Hagwon, though I will never do it again.

[withnail]

yu bum suk - great name!

of course i don't mean lose that. this is just a way to get by when you're in there until you can get out to a better job. i just think the path of least resistance is wiser until you get that better job

[withnail]

IMHO - I think from what everyone's said, taking a job with a hagwon or public school is rather a crapshoot and the best you can do is to speak honestly to a current or even departing teacher. That said, the nature of a hagwon is certainly to please parents.

[Draz]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Bread]

I feel the loss of dignity and professionalism most strongly in the US when I deliver pizzas because I can't get a real job

[withnail]

Just don't understand why they think it's too much trouble to tell you about new arrivals/quitters etc. Anyone know? Is it a cultural thing? Don't they realise how disruptive it is?

[Draz]

[withnail]

any more thoughts?

[cdninkorea]

[withnail]

This was Richard E Grant in the cult classic movie "Withnail and I"
Very funny film! But as you can see, I like to change avatars from time to time..the truth is out there...

[talltony4]

Awesome stuff, Withnail. You just wrote the post of the year I reckon.

Knowing all this would have saved me a heap of stress in my first year.

[chemdah]