Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Whistleblower]

So I started a new job teaching some middle and high school students this January for some extra cash and am only working part-time. Personally, I believe the classes are going well. The students are hard working, study well and are semi-active during class.

I ensure all my classes are fully prepared before I start them by arriving 30 minutes early and have been teaching at this school for only 3 days and then received the first bit of feedback; "the students think you are too quiet and not that active in class".

Having had some cheap fizzy beer with the owner of the school and other Korean staff (I must add at this point that the school is a very Korean atmosphere with all the staff, apart from me, being Korean. They adopt Korean teaching methods and lecture to students but not really allow students to learn) this was the topic for tonite.

Having taught in Korea for 3 years, I pretty much know what is expected of me. My first day teaching, they told me that I had to teach them speaking (as it was a speaking class) and thus I decided to adopt the approach of allowing students to speak 90% and me 10%. Unfortunately, as I don't have a crystal ball and not being told of the entire curriculum, this came back to haunt me.

Eventually the manager of the school told me that I had to be "more active and a comedian". "Try to tell jokes and be funny in class" were his words and I laughed during the cheap beer and chicken and said that it was my teaching method to allow students to talk so that I could correct them. Unfortunately, as his major isn't English Linguistics nor Language Acquisition I don't think he understood my method of teaching nor my speaking.

Ohh~ well only 16 days left of classes to earn the cash that enticed me to work for this Crapwon ... umm I mean Hagwon.

[Scotticus]

Honestly, that's kind of what you get for working at a hagwon. Most hagwons think filling out worksheets and lecturing is going to improve a student's ability to speak a language. Disregard the fact that research overwhelming supports a method in which students study new material and then use it in order to practice and reinforce what was just learned.

[IAMAROBOT]

Dance, Bojangles, dance!

[Whistleblower]

[aka Dave]

[Jandar]

Director: I want you to be a comedian be funny in class.
Teacher: What do you mean funny?
Director: It's funny, you know. make a good story, that's funny, you're a funny guy.
[laughs]
Teacher: Funny! what do you mean, you mean the way I talk? What?
Director: It's just, you know. You're just funny, it's... funny, the way you tell the story and everything.
Teacher: [it becomes quiet] Funny how? What's funny about it?
Student: Teacher no, You got it all wrong.
Teacher: Oh, oh. He's a big boy, he knows what he said. What did ya say? Funny how?
Director: Jus...
Teacher: What?
Directorl: Just... ya know... you're funny.
Teacher: You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little f*ked up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to f*kin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?
Director: Just... you know, how you tell the story, what?
Teacher: No, no, I don't know, you said it. How do I know? You said I'm funny. How the f*k am I funny, what the f*k is so funny about me? Tell me, tell me what's funny!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099685/quotes

[kiknkorea]

What have we got here, a f*#@g comedian: Joker Teacher.

[Whistleblower]

Today was even worse and it is my 4th day. Jesus the first thing the director mention when I started was this:

Director: "I give all teachers autonomy to teach how they want".
Me: "Umm ... okay, that's good. Thanks.


Fastforward to my last class. First he walks in to the class to ask the students straight away about the class:

Director (to students in Korean): "How was the class".
Students (in Korean): "Yeah, it was cool".
Director: "Could you hear the audio on the tape?"
Students: "Yeah! It was okay".
Director: "What do you think of the teacher?"
Students: "He is a bit quiet but alright".

Later, he walks me to the door when I am leaving to provide some really useful feedback.

Director (to me): "You need to speak up more in class. Some student complained."
Me: "Right."
Director: "You know the students need to hear you".
Me: "The students need to be quiet so that they can hear what I say. I don't want to lose my voice".
Director: "I am sorry but please speak more loud".

I walked away not really bothering about it and said my goodbye for tonite. After a few minutes, the director made me so annoyed with his double standards (you can teach how you like/you must follow my rules) so I decided to send him a text message:

"Please don't worry about the classes (using tape, etc). This causes stress and worry when I teach and if you want to advise me on teaching you can observe my class. However, I prefer to hear what I do right and wrong when you give me feedback. It is more constructive but felt you are trying to find faults in my teaching today. Please respect my teaching method. It has taken me three years to perfect."

So far no reply. I guess he is trying to get it translated from the other Korean English teachers. Hopefully the director will stop hassling me about little things that occur in class (be more fun/speak louder/etc) and let me teach. I think I shall stop working here and find other private classes. Seems so much hassle. I have an F2 and can jump the class when I feel I want to.

Finally, I have rules when it comes to classes and one is don't advise me on a class I have taught if you haven't been in the bloody room to observe. Sometimes I feel that some people have no clue when it comes to providing suitable and constructive feedback to teachers (especially from a few number of Koreans including this director). I have provided feedback to teachers and completed an intensive CELTA course so I used to critical feedback if it is relevant and useful.




Korea, the land of negative feedback.

[ThingsComeAround]

Korean people don't know what they want.

If your students are learning well and they can communicate better now than when they started, then I applaud your efforts and encourage you to continue.

Coming from a crapwon myself, I know what you are talking about. The most idiotic self-loathing teachers somehow capture the management's heart (and none of the student's respect) while those that ask for realistic solutions to feedback (ie: myself) are burned.

Should let me run an English-language school and humiliate these morons the real way: by being successful!

[tefain]

[Whistleblower]

I might walk out today but I shall play it by ear. I am only really there to get the students more confident to speaking with a foreigner. They were really shy when I first met them but now they don't really hesitate when they talk to me. I also had to get their habit of speaking Korean curbed and this proved successful.

The only way I was able to do this was allow students the chance to speak English and when they need to speak Korean they would have to come up to the board and press the Korean button (drawn on the whiteboard) and then speak. However, as students were in front of the class and shy at losing face, this proved a popular tactic to reduce their Korean in class.

Having only taught there for 4 days, the students have made some progress but they still have difficulty communicating. I not really there to listen to some balding Korean tell me how I should teach when he doesn't bother come to observe and respects his students more than his teachers.