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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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 Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 6:26 pm Post subject: weighing between an adult hagwon and public schools |
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so i have an offer from a well-known adult hagwon (i'll leave it at that) that wants me to start very soon and at the same time i'm applying to a public school.
i've taught kids at a hagwon before. even with just 5-10 kids in a class, i was terrible at it. i know i'm much better with adults. it was in japan, but they were all fairly satisfied i thought.
my main concern is job security. are public school positions really as secure and "recession proof" as the job ads say? i don't want to start work for a hagwon and get laid off or something weird like what i read about with english channel.
yes, i know about split shifts, lower pay, etc...i'm just really bad with kids. don't have the energy and i don't care. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Some of them actually offer much higher pay than PSs. A public school isn't going to run out of money half-way through your contract, though this doesn't happen that often with major hagwon chains. |
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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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the base salary (after considering housing and such) seems to come out the same...but actual teaching hours are much higher at the adult hagwon and i'd imagine a ps teacher might sometimes make more with OT classes...but money isn't my main issue.
my fear is just that adult english education seems like a massive luxury expense and i don't want to be in the position where students start quitting and the finger's pointed at me...
but i also don't want to be in the position where someone is telling me some kids who i see once a week for an hour aren't showing enough progress. i have no idea what teaching kids in a PS is like, but i hated hagwons in both korea and japan. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| reactionary wrote: |
the base salary (after considering housing and such) seems to come out the same...but actual teaching hours are much higher at the adult hagwon and i'd imagine a ps teacher might sometimes make more with OT classes...but money isn't my main issue.
my fear is just that adult english education seems like a massive luxury expense and i don't want to be in the position where students start quitting and the finger's pointed at me...
but i also don't want to be in the position where someone is telling me some kids who i see once a week for an hour aren't showing enough progress. i have no idea what teaching kids in a PS is like, but i hated hagwons in both korea and japan. |
I generally love teaching secondary school kids at PS (though I do get the odd quiet and dead class like I had first block today - post mid-term blues, perhaps). I find it very different from hagwon, though I was at a very crappy hagwon.
With adult students I think it's largely about how you connect with them. Ultimately a TOIEC score might be the most important thing, but people liking you seems to be a more important criterion than performance in Korea on the whole. |
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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I've never taught a full on TOEIC prep class, even if I've had individual students who were interested in it. I'm not sure how I'd fare in a test prep course.
It's funny you mention you work well with the secondary students. If I could guarantee placement at a high school, rather than elementary, this decision would probably be a bit easier for me. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| reactionary wrote: |
Yeah, I've never taught a full on TOEIC prep class, even if I've had individual students who were interested in it. I'm not sure how I'd fare in a test prep course.
It's funny you mention you work well with the secondary students. If I could guarantee placement at a high school, rather than elementary, this decision would probably be a bit easier for me. |
You can usually request between elementary and secondary, but since there are more FT positions at MS than HS it's harder to request between those two. |
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sarbonn
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
Location: Michigan
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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| If I had the option right now, I'd have taken a public school. Dealing with a hagwon that was fine but then fell on hard times is a nightmare. |
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vonnegutjr
Joined: 24 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Go for the adult hagwon. They want to learn (usually) and if you�re confident in teaching adults, teach adults. The "recession proof" tag from all of the recruiters is a ploy to hook foreigners. They are pumping the fear into you. Anything to rope you in. I remember reading one recruitment headline that said, "Don't worry, the exchange rate will get better!" Anyway (and personally), with the flood of recruiters and management issues, EPIK sucks! |
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alphakennyone
Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Location: city heights
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| Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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do you teach adults, sarbonn?
what i can glean from reading a couple of your posts is a mom'n'pop (and im guessing kiddy) hagwon is going under. that is nothing new and has been happening long before this economic crisis.
it happened to me in 2006. management changed, things got worse before htey got better. |
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