Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cdninkorea]

My girlfriend, a Korean, has recently started working at a public middle school as an ESL/EFL teacher, and she's having a horrible time of it. Hearing her stories reminds me of the frustrations I had when I worked at a public elementary school three years ago. Even though no one of authority will read this or listen to us, I thought it would be an enlightening thought experiment to start a thread about how to fix public school English education; as educators, I'm sure we can come up with some good ideas.

Here's my perspective. Please feel free to add to it or tell me what you disagree with:
1. Get better textbook resources. When I worked at an elementary school, the textbook series was terrible, and it's the book for the whole country. I once met a woman who helped develop that line of books- her English was good and she was passionate about education, but passion can't make up for lack of ability. When I told her about all the mistakes there were in the book, she told me that they had native speakers look them over for mistakes and they didn't find any. My question: how much were they paid? I'm guessing not much. Making a decent series of textbooks costs money. Spend it.

2. Use human resources efficiently. My girlfriend speaks English very well, but because she's the newest teacher at her school, her classes are the lowest level. The head teacher, whose English is apparently not very good, teaches the highest level students. This is not an effective use of resources; the teacher with the best English should teach the students with the best English.

3. Attract well-qualified native teachers. I worked at a public school in my first year in Korea, and I didn't know what I was doing. I worked hard and learned on the job, but I could do a much better job now than I did then. But they were paying 1.75 million won per month- at that salary, few excellent teachers are going to apply. Apparently the Hong Kong public school programme is very competitive, and they get good teachers because they compensate them for it. I don't know, but I do know that few great candidates are going to work for so little, especially when there's deskwarming over vacation. Oh, and about that: give native teachers vacation equivalent to what they'd get in their home countries and to the Korean teachers.

4. Be organized and communicate. This happened at my school and does happen at my girlfriend's school: things change all the time, and with no warning. I realize this is a cultural thing, but if a class is going to be changed, give teachers enough notice to plan a lesson for it- ten minutes before the class starts isn't enough time.

That's all I can think of for now.

[The Gipkik]

Let me add to your list:
1. Hold students accountable. Grade them.
2. Have tests that reflect what they are learning--and that means speaking tests. I do anyways, but it should be mandated.
3. Students should have more than one 40 minute lesson per week (elementary). That is ridiculous.
4. Treat EFL in public schools with more gravity. Too many Korean teachers think of the English classes as second-tier, so students come late, classes are canceled at the last minute....
5. Give NEST's more autonomy. Have them involved in student evaluation, individual assessment, parents and teachers meetings...
6. Pay them better.

[blackjack]

I think that English should be compulsory in Elementary, but middle and high school it should be an elective and it should be graded (do they have electives here? I remember choosing to take Japanese, science and Tech drawing at high school). We had people in my high school going from never speaking Japanese to semi-fluent in 5 years (high school is 5 years in NZ)

As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water...

Class size needs to be halved and a decent curriculum needs to be developed for high school.

Classes need to be held a minimum of three times a week (I know PS HS teachers that see students once a fortnight)

Pay/reimbursement needs to be more flexible so better teachers can be attracted (okay this one is a little selfish)

[lostintranslation100]

[cruisemonkey]

The problem is the Ks don't see it as 'broken'... and... 'if' it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

[kimchi_pizza]

A much more realistic, practical and informative thread would be:


How to Adjust to Korean Public School English Education in Korea. Changing public schools? Forgetaboutit....

[lifeinkorea]

Any school (hagwon or public) can improve easily by building from the previous year. I am surprised each time (now in my 4th) I go to a new school, they simply give you a blank slate to work with. Were there no previous books used? No homework? etc..

Yes, but they were shipped out, Korean style, with the previous teacher. I could be teaching better lessons now, but instead I have to build a curriculum first and get stuff prepared I already had at my other school. This eats up 3 months of the year they are hiring me. It's in the best interest of the school to have this stuff lined up before a new teacher comes.

[cruisemonkey]

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

1. Make it a subject like any other (especially at HS)

That's it.

To do so however they'd have to employ more than one NET per school which makes things immediately messy as the government is trying to limit the perception of preferential funding and treatment across provinces and districts. So, it all just ends up being a fairly pointless, piecemeal approach with the mere appearance of improving overall English proficiency.

[T-dot]

These things do happen at some academic High Schools ( I dont work at a FLHS not an IHS)

Students can choose English studies (Language) in their second year.
Students are graded on their speaking skills (presentations etc..)
Schools are given a group of texts, then pick one. We are not stuck with a book chosen by the MOE.
English speaking is an official subject (grammar is a separate subject)
There are more than 1 NET at a school (3 in my case).

The problem is that most schools CHOOSE not to put an emphasis on English education. Schools that make the effort to make it a priority; can.

We all know the education systems isnt built on equality. This is just another way for them to separate the weak schools(students) from the strong.

I think the topic should be How to level the playing field in English Education at Korean Public Schools.

Some of the problems also lay on the teacher. Some of the NET's Ive worked with invest very little into the job and students. They cant wait to clock out when the bell rings. I sacrifice a lot of my time and energy (unpaid) to do what I can to improve the system at my school and for my students. It is a choice I made and I have no regrets.

[Joe666]

T-dot wrote:

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

There was some attempt to give presentation skills the semblance of being graded over 1 month at the low-performing academic HS in Bundang I was at.

However, grades were 100%, 95%, 90% and 60%(didn't present).

I graded seperately but the above is what they went with.

I also managed to get lessons brought up to 2 classes per week, rather than 1.

Senior students though I never saw. Not even to ask me to help them with their English Speaking competitions or overseas University applications.(They seemed to prefer having a set-up with the KTs, and I'm sure the KTs preferred that)

[lostintranslation100]

[shocking]

1: Stop recruiting unqualified and inexperienced NET'S. Make a recognized teaching certificate like the CELTA or Trinity CERT TESOL mandatory. Online qualifications are a joke and do not prepare you adequately enough for this job. I'm sorry if that sounds elitist but there are some people here who give ESL a bad name and it really irritates me.

2: Give the teachers already here a support network. A monthly workshop in each district would be a good idea. All the other schools I've worked at during my ESL career have done this ( not in Korea ) and it's a really good way to develop as a teacher.

3: Peer observation - We should have the chance of observing each other and giving feedback. I like being observed and having my lessons picked to pieces. It keeps me on my toes and stops me from stagnating.

4: Start using a recognized exam syllabus such as Cambridge ESOL or Trinity Spoken English. The majority of schools do this in Europe and it produces students who by the age of 18 can speak and write English to a good standard. It also gives the teacher a fixed target to aim for which is so helpful for long term lesson planning.

5: Use a textbook like English File, Clockwise, Cutting Edge etc etc. The listening exercises in my books make me cringe and if I hear " Hi Minho how are you today?" in that stupid voice one more time I'll scream.

[T-dot]