Korean Job Discussion Forums

[calicoe]

Have any of you been evaluated by your students in elementary and/or middle school, high school? Today one of my co-teachers handed out an evaluation form in Korean to the students, and when I asked her if it was an evaluation form she said yes.

I then asked, "of me?", and she says, "yes, but of the EPIK program, too - see there are two sides."

I've never been told of this, and have never heard of student evaluations of their teacher younger than HS. Has anyone else heard of it?

[Fox]

[Clockout]

I suspect the student evaluations are just to gain an understanding of how the students are responding the the program. I doubt the evaluations have much influence in the grand scheme of things.

I think it is fair to have students write evaluations as long as they are taken with a grain of salt. If the students are writing anonymously and without any influence from teachers/classmates then there might be some valuable information in them.

[Manuel_the_Bandito]

If it's about you specifically they're probably trying to gather up evidence they can use to show someone why you shouldn't be renewed. That's the only circumstance under which evaluations from children are used, for anyone, Korean or foreigner, in public schools. They may 'lose' or 'misplace' some of the good evaluations before the envelope is sealed.

[calicoe]

That's exactly my suspicion as well, especially since my principal seems to like me, and I've had good demo classes. I have had the sneaking suspicion that there are a few snakes in the grass over the last few weeks.

However, a few other teachers have told me they've had the same thing.

[Big Mac]

My school gave the students an evaluation paper when it was time for my renewal. They actually asked the students "do you think Big Mac's contract should be renewed?" I was told that their answer would play a big part in determining my fate.

Luckily the large majority said "yes."

I still didn't like the fact that a bunch of Grade 3 students had control over my employment though. I guarantee no Korean would be subject to that.

[calicoe]

Yes, and my renewal is coming up. Big surprise - I'm not staying here anyway. But, I find the fact of being evaluated by grade school children to be very humilating. It is not right. There are many kids who like me at this school, but there are also phases when you have to pull some of them in line. I have just gone through one of those phases, and they are going to base more than one year of good, solid employment on the evaluation of PS middle school kids?

To top it off, no one told me, and all of a sudden, the Ko-teacher who is always late, is suddenly in class before me at the front with the microphone in her had, giving them a little speech. WTF???

I have known something was afoot anyway, for the past couple of weeks. I do my job as well as I can for my own self-respect at this point, and for my good students.

But, they can kiss it. I am in the process of getting a book published, and you should've seen the Ko-teacher's faces when I mentioned it in excitment. They looked like they were smiling through frozen faces, lol.

[Big Mac]

You're right, it is humiliating.

But it seems to me that public schools love to humiliate their English teachers.

Sometimes I feel like I am considered to be a piece of unwanted garbage. I do a good job, but they just don't want a foreigner in their school. It is impossible to overcome that.

[ldh2222]

[I'm no Picasso]

[waseige1]

I know in Busan that the student evaluation is part of the city wide teaching competition.

I say with certainty that EVERY EPIK teacher in Busan is evaluated by the students and that it is part of the score in the contest.

[Demophobe]

[DosEquisXX]

It seems very unprofessional to use the opinions of children to determine the employment status of a teacher. If this is the way they go about things, perhaps you are better off leaving for another school. I know I wouldn't want to work with an administration incapable of making its own employment decisions without the input of students. I would also be put off by the lack of respect shown by sending out these forms.

[LizMarsh242]

I don't think it's that unusual. I remember doing teacher evaluations in elementary school even. I know those evaluations were taken into consideration for teachers. In my high school, that's how we got rid of our very bad latin teacher. (I model all of my teaching after his. Whatever he did, I won't do). He was a new teacher (actually had taught in Thailand before in 1998) and we were 3d year students who had all been great students with the old teacher who retired.

[JBomb]

Yeah mine got to evaluate me for my open classes. Luckily they all think I am the coolest.