Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nicam]

I have two schools, one is in the boonies in a large village with a lot of businesses and things, and the other is REALLY in the boonies in a poor town with nothing but a Kosa Mart and farm land.

The students in the MORE rural school (they are both totally rural though, really) are 100x better. They are just so much more innocent and kind. Working there is like a dream. Funny thing is the schools are only 10 minutes apart from each other, but it's like night and day. I suppose it could be the size factor as well since the more rural school has much smaller classes and half the students, but the difference is just so vast, and I can't quite put my finger on why.

Has anyone taught both rural and urban here? I'm starting to think that when I move to a big city next contract it will be harder to connect with the kids.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Individual institutional culture counts for a lot. I've heard teachers saying two schools in the same town can really vary sometimes based on their experiences.

That said I teach in a fairly small town and the kids do seem kinder than in large cities, on average. Of course there are always exceptions. There also seem to be a lot more really slow kids out in the sticks.

[michaelambling]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[nicam]

Wow, I would think uni kids would actually want to learn since it's their dime, or their parents' dime rather, and they're adults. Honestly, who misbehaves during class in college (out of class is a different story, of course)??? It's not like they have to be there, so why bother showing up to d*@# around when you can just stay home and do that?

And "individual institutional culture" is a great concept, one that I suppose makes all the difference. I think my better school runs a tighter ship and doesn't let the kids get away with misbehaving, or talking during class, etc. All of the teachers are amazing, young, open-minded, cool individuals who are in their prime and seem to seek out cutting edge instructional material and constantly look to better themselves as teachers. I actually look forward to going to work on the days I teach there. My other school is cool too, but it's just not as on the ball.

[IAMAROBOT]

I find that I miss the kids from my old schools. They seemed to be more laid-back and relaxed than the kids at my new schools. I think it's because rural kids aren't so high strung having to attend multiple hagwons after school. Also, they really can't get away with much if the class sizes are much smaller and it was easier to build a rapport with rural kids because I saw them so much not only in class, but around town.

[Ilsanman]

I found the rich kids were sometimes better behaved, but they had a bit of a chip on their shoulders.

The kids in Incheon are borderline retarded.

Rural? No idea really.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

It's hard to generalize... but I tend to like the country kids, as they don't seem so high on themselves. Also, I have a lot more patience for someone who is having problems at home than some horrible brat who gets everything he/she wants but still wants more. Believe it or not, I've also found country kids to be less racist and more willing to treat you as an equal... who would have thought?

[Morgen]

I wouldn't take rurality as a guarnator. The students at my old country school generally weren't that interested in English, or school in general. It was a fairly economically depressed area and in Korea it's hard to recover academically when circumstances are already stacked against you, meaning many students seem to give up early (just to speak from my own experience). I used to read stories about how rural kids were so much better behaved, and I thought that if that was really true, city schools must really be hell.

My current school would probably be considered rural by Seoul teachers' standards (in a city of about 75,000 on the eastern coast) and the students are adorable. They're really well-behaved, afraid of me when I get annoyed, and generally enthusiastic about English. They also don't have much self-consciousness about roleplays, songs and games that I think would be more of an issue in Seoul.

[agoodmouse]

[michaelambling]