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Co-Teacher Was Talking About a Meeting

 
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grandpa



Joined: 19 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:13 pm    Post subject: Co-Teacher Was Talking About a Meeting Reply with quote

I'm with GEPIK. My co-teacher mentioned a little while ago that she went to a meeting with other Korean English teachers.

In that meeting this guy from the government said that foreigners were "sharing information" with each other on the internet. That was causing issues about holidays and "desk-warming".

The government guy said that all schools should do the same thing for holidays. That would be keeping foreign English teachers at school for the full day, unless they use their vacation time.

I don't know how much pull this has, but that's what my co-teacher said. I'll find out this winter vacation if I get "home study" or if I'll have to stay the whole day.
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nathanrutledge



Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh

PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wouldn't it be nice if people who had a worse situation would work to improve it instead pulling the rest of us down? Thanks guys!
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Rusty Shackleford



Joined: 08 May 2008

PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nathanrutledge wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if people who had a worse situation would work to improve it instead pulling the rest of us down? Thanks guys!


Yup. Story of the world really.
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ippy



Joined: 25 Aug 2009

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Isnt there a form that korean teachers fill out saying i am at home, but im working on teaching stuff? Why not ask for that, then theres no ambiguity.

Also, people dragging me down owe me nothing, and i owe them nothing in return. We arent all in this together, we all get different contracts and frankly its ludicrous to expect someone on a garbage contract with a garbage school to be happy for someone else whos living the life of riley. Jack did nothing for me when i was planning preparing and teaching 23 classes a week and coming in every day of the vacation while he was in bed, so **** jack! Smile

(of course, now i have it sweet Smile)
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I'm no Picasso



Joined: 28 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sharing information with each other on the internet. How dare we.

(I'm lookin' at you, Dave....)
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Manuel_the_Bandito



Joined: 12 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is why I never share information about what a sweet deal I've got going with my school.
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lifeinkorea



Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nathanrutledge wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if people who had a worse situation would work to improve it instead pulling the rest of us down? Thanks guys!


What does that mean? They should go outside of their school and picket alone? I think the more people we get complaining about desk warming, the sooner the schools will either pay more and get students to teach or let us go home.

I'm no Picasso wrote:
Sharing information with each other on the internet. How dare we.

(I'm lookin' at you, Dave....)


When something is in dispute, my school likes to tell me to talk to other teachers at the school to confirm what they want is ok. I smile back and say I already have teachers I talk to. In addition to that, they sometimes say "Well, it's company's policy" or "rules of the company", to which I reply, "I am happy to abide by the rules and laws of Korea, and I hope the company does the same".
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nomad-ish



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: On the bottom of the food chain

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nathanrutledge wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if people who had a worse situation would work to improve it instead pulling the rest of us down? Thanks guys!


haven't you learnt by now that nothing in korea is uniform across the board and so a good job does not equal good treatment?

i've been in both places; schools that had me desk-warming all winter (one even turned off the frigging heater) and a school that gives me time off if there are no classes that day.

working hard sometimes gets you nowhere very slowly.
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blackjack



Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nomad-ish wrote:
nathanrutledge wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if people who had a worse situation would work to improve it instead pulling the rest of us down? Thanks guys!


haven't you learnt by now that nothing in korea is uniform across the board and so a good job does not equal good treatment?

i've been in both places; schools that had me desk-warming all winter (one even turned off the frigging heater) and a school that gives me time off if there are no classes that day.

working hard sometimes gets you nowhere very slowly.


Don't think it is just korea. I have a couple of teacher friends back in NZ and every school they work at is different, how much non course work they are meant to do (school camps, coaching), how social the other teachers are, how much those focus on different subjects.

I have worked in jobs where if you work harder you get rewarded with more responsibility (no pay or privileges).

The situation we have here is no different than many jobs back home, with the exception of the principal having a lot more power.

I feel for those that have lost "extra" vacation days but you can't really blame those in shitty situations from trying to improve their lot. But it has nothing to do with me, not a PS teacher
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lifeinkorea wrote:
nathanrutledge wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if people who had a worse situation would work to improve it instead pulling the rest of us down? Thanks guys!


What does that mean? They should go outside of their school and picket alone? I think the more people we get complaining about desk warming, the sooner the schools will either pay more and get students to teach or let us go home.

.



Hahahaha! That's a good one.


On the off chance that you are serious...Koreans think that we get a deal that is too sweet already. Public school contracts have been getting worse and worse. To list just one example. When I first came in, they were offering a 2-1 deal for overtime classes. For each hour of OT you taught you could get 2 ADDITIONAL hours of vacation time on top of the vacation. Then they switched it to 1-1 and now it's just 20,000 per hour.

Not enough...well here's more.

Also you could get 14-20 working days. Now it 14-21 CALENDAR days which works out from anywhere to 1-3 days less. Also initially they did not require deposits and now they do (at least for GEPIK).

In addition the fact remains that when people did complain about desk warming, things got worse, not better.

I for one would welcome people not making things even worse then they are now.
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Burndog



Joined: 17 Feb 2008

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that the deal is still pretty decent.

There aren't a lot of workplaces back home where they send you home at lunch time, with full pay. I am lucky that I don't have to desk warm at my school...but if I did...it's not the end of the world is it? It's just going to work.

I remember back when I had a government job back home, and we had no work to do half the day, but we had no internet access and supervisors who would watch us like hawks and go mental if we talked to each other. Made a man want to harm himself (or move to Korea...and you can decide for yourself which is the more sensible option).

In my first year I complained all the time...and things never got any better. Now...I just shut up and nod my head...and they leave me to do my thing. Wink
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NaraLee



Joined: 21 Nov 2009

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i think its cuz puplic servants only get one week... if they're younger and new, that's why two week's sounds like alot.

it's annoying.

but they think their being generous.
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nomad-ish



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: On the bottom of the food chain

PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

blackjack wrote:
nomad-ish wrote:
nathanrutledge wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if people who had a worse situation would work to improve it instead pulling the rest of us down? Thanks guys!


haven't you learnt by now that nothing in korea is uniform across the board and so a good job does not equal good treatment?

i've been in both places; schools that had me desk-warming all winter (one even turned off the frigging heater) and a school that gives me time off if there are no classes that day.

working hard sometimes gets you nowhere very slowly.


Don't think it is just korea. I have a couple of teacher friends back in NZ and every school they work at is different, how much non course work they are meant to do (school camps, coaching), how social the other teachers are, how much those focus on different subjects.

I have worked in jobs where if you work harder you get rewarded with more responsibility (no pay or privileges).

The situation we have here is no different than many jobs back home, with the exception of the principal having a lot more power.

I feel for those that have lost "extra" vacation days but you can't really blame those in shitty situations from trying to improve their lot. But it has nothing to do with me, not a PS teacher


it's definitely not just korea, but back home i didn't notice it quite so much. for example, if the school requires only you to come in each and every day in the winter and sit at a desk.

but i definitely don't think anyone should complain to the higher-ups, because quite frankly we're the ones that signed these contracts, and also because it may mean other people's good situations become worse. there was an issue a year ago where some teachers (not in seoul) complained to their co-teachers and head teachers and mentioned lucky teachers at other schools by name. that was a very dumb move.
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