Korean Job Discussion Forums

3DR · Joined: 24 May 2009

Hi all.

I'm finishing up my first year teaching at a middle school in Suwon (GEPIK) as well and I wanted to get opinions on teaching elementary school in the public school system.

I want to come back for another year and I thought about switching to elementary school just because on an overall scale, the young ones seem to be more eager to learn (of course not ALL).

I know in middle school I basically led the class the whole time, with the co-teacher translating if need be. Is it the same in elementary, or is it more 50/50?

lifeinkorea · Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: somewhere in China

Depends on the school you go to. I didn't do the normal GEPIK job. I worked at an English village. My co-teacher and I worked together with 30+ students in each class.

We were allowed to teach from whatever books we chose, and we had to create role-play dialogues for students. A normal GEPIK class has textbooks written in Korean, so I imagine you have to work with your Korean teacher as well. They have a set curriculum, so it's harder to do your own stuff I think.

I feel I was lucky with the school I worked at. It may not be the case with all schools. I suggest you talk directly with the head English teacher and find out exactly what they want. They will be the one in charge of you. Your co-teacher will most likely be there with you, so the head English teacher in that case won't talk directly with you. However, they may not hire your co-teacher until they have decided on hiring you. So, you need to talk to the head English teacher first.

If you don't get along with the head English teacher, you won't have a good time at the school. Think about this before signing the contract.

shostahoosier · Joined: 14 Apr 2009

it really depends on how your school lets you teach...but if they make you follow the curriculum...its already written out for you.

All of the grades have books and lessons plans for each chapter so thats all doe for you.

I havent taught older students (middle or up) but in regards to younger students...I've heard they can be much easier to motivate when it comes to participating in lesson activities. The down side is that they can have a lot of energy and can get a little unruly at times if you dont focus their attention.

You also cant cut them or feed them nails.