Korean Job Discussion Forums

[B of NC]

Hi,

This isn't so much directly about recontracting as it is just staying another year.
Background:
I teach at a Public Elementary School somewhere in the middl of the country. The kids aer great and I love every moment I get to spend with them. I've had the pleasure of 9 months with them so far and want to come back. Before I arrived here with EPIK I had no teaching expirence and was not afraid to let my co-teacher know that in the beginning. With this knowledge she was with me in the classroom for the first 6 weeks (only 11 classes I had 2 schools). After that she was basically AWOL from the classroom during my time with the kids. Needless to say it was a train wreck and most of my calls for help were met with her handing me a book or telling me some little thing that never worked for me.

Well I take my vacation in Feb. and everything has changed, now she wants me to write lesson plans, something I never did for this school,(I wrote plans for the other school and most weeks they matched up but those kids were much lower level than these kids). So basically before we start this new semester she drops this line on me "I have to be in the classroom with you because you failed last semester" It took everything I had to not sceram at her that I failed because she failed and I asked and asked and asked and begged for her to be there but she was alway too busy with other things to be in class with me you know co-teachnig, and I know ESID but the nerve to accuse me of outright failure when she in my mind at least shoulders some of the blame shook me. It was disturbing cause I thought she's different, she studied in England her English is great and hell she even admires Japanese ways of thinking on somethings. Long story short we had some classes where I made plans and led and she wasn't happy so she has basically stripped me of lesson planning duties for now. I'm at my wits end with this woman.

Basically at my 9 month mark here and despite all these things I'd like to come back for the kids, I know my province hasn't started asking about recontracting yet, is there anyone out there with expierence or advice about asking before hand? Is it frowned upon? I imagine I would have to ask 5-10 times even if it's not. But I just want to know where we stand at this point. Has anyone else been not resigned by their school but allowed to move to another school ni Province or even County?

[salgichawa]

[MalFSU1]

I had a fall out with two co-teachers at about the nine month mark, though unlike yours it wasn't because of my teaching. I won't get into what happened, but like you I was concerned about being renewed for the next year. I spoke to my liason at the provincial office and told her how much I love teaching and don't want one situation to cause me to not get renewed...what she basically told me was that even if your school gives you a bad review the provincial office makes the final decision. I think if they are more aware of what's going on, that you are really trying your best, and the co-teacher shirked on her responsibilities it will help when it comes to the time for them to decide whether you can teach the next year or not.

Some people may say to not go over the co-teachers head and talk to the provincial office, but really it sounds like you've been trying to make things work with her to no avail. It's your career(or at least employment) you are concerned with. Just keep saying how much you love the students and how much you love teaching to everyone who will listen, and I think you will be okay!

[Fishead soup]

You didn't fail. You were always expected to have a co-teacher with you.
It sounds like your co-teacher is bitter that she/he actually has to do the job they were assigned.

[ThingsComeAround]

[thegadfly]

B of NC,

You realize that crap rolls downhill, right? You mention in your post that your co-teacher should "shoulder some of the blame." You know, she probably does -- in fact, her shoulders are probably where almost all of the official blame resides. If someone comes down on you, it is probably because someone higher up came down on THAT person....don't worry -- your co-teacher most likely has been chewed out in many ways over this "failure," and so she deals with it by chewing YOU out....

I am not supporting or condoning this -- she is clearly wrong, the MAJORITY of the fault is hers, since she left you alone with the students when you clearly didn't want that and weren't able to handle it...but do not imagine that she is getting off free and clear -- I would bet a donut that she has had the hammer drop on her, which is why she is dropping it on you....

She might be angry because her "easy" class, where she could slip out and do something else just became a class where she actually has to work -- lots of folks get ticked off when their self-styled "perks" get taken away -- just listen to all the folks that get upset that they can not surf or use facebook on school computers. You are not wrong, and she is taking her frustration out on you, which is unfair and unprofessional...but ultimately, her frustration probably does not carry much weight in the hiring/firing process.

...because of this, I would advise you to be patient and not to panic about re-contracting. Even if there WERE or even ARE some problems, if you work to fix them, you may be the "devil they know." I'd wait another month before hinting/asking, and I would talk directly to your boss, rather than through co-teachers....

Good luck!

[PatrickGHBusan]

You are right on target gadfly.

OP, read what Gadfly posted as it is the best response you have gotten.

It is pretty certain your co-teacher already got a lot more pressure and blame than you just received. She is afterall, the real full time Teacher here and as such is ultimately responsible for what happens in the class.

Also consider that she may have assumed you could handle a class by yourself as you were hired as an Assistant Teacher. I have some Korean friends who are Teachers in High Schools and Elementary Schools and they work with Assistant Teachers as well. They have stories that are pretty interesting concerning the foreign teachers they work with. You may be surprised that many of them assume that the foreign teachers that are assigned to their schools are competent trained educators. That leads to many missunderstandings and often frustrations when the foreign teacher shows up and has zero training or experience!

Some Korean Teachers find out they will be working with a foreign teacher only days before it happens. Again, this leads to frustration. Anyone who has had to plan a school year filled with lesson plans and educational objectives knows that having to work with an often inexperienced assistant teacher can be challenging.

This of course is not the Foreign Teachers fault but you need to consider her side of things as well.

One of my wifes' friends works in a High School in Seoul. That school hires foreign assitant teachers. She has been a full time teacher for 10 years, studied abroad and is basically a dedicated educator. The first foreign teacher she was partnered with was a 23 year old guy from the US West Coast. He had a BA in Anthropology and no experience as a Teacher (normal). What happened was that she tried to help him learn the ropes only to be told her way was wrong. Next she decided to try another approach and involve the foreign teacher in lesson planning with her. Again, your approach is wrong.

The first few co-teaching classes were rocky because he did not know what he was doing and she was getting used to working with him. He eneded up having his own classes after a few months when the principal told her to let the foreign teacher handle the class so she could work on a special test preparation class (extra duties for her). When the foreign teacher fell flat on his face and became a walking disaster in class, she was blamed. This guy never heard about her situation because she did not tell him (as opposed to the OPs co-teacher). He stayed for the year, going from incompetent to offensive in class....she got increasing pressure from the principal to get better results.

Clearly the principal should have talked with the foreign teacher but thats not how it worked in that school. So lets be careful about surface judgements....

[shcforward]

Some great posts later on in this thread.

You can be absolutely sure that she got yelled at pretty bad because of your classes.

You are right that she shouldn't have left you alone - probably ever. But still, even though you aren't an "experienced teacher" you said you've been there for something like 9 months. Unless it is an extremely bad school, you can probably figure out lots of the tricks in 6 months if you try.

Here's my advice:

Start taking responsibility for your classes. Your goal should be that you can run a class well without any support from a co-teacher. It isn't rocket science, just little tricks. You really don't need any background or training in education to be able to do this - after all you've probably spent the last 15 years of your life in some kind of school.

If the lady makes your current school situation unbearable, simply go to a different school after your contract ends. Sure, you like your students a lot, but there are good students everywhere. You can get a fresh start, using the skills you have learned in the first year so that you don't get as much gruff.

Finally, as someone else suggested, get specific advice about what you are doing wrong. There might be something you are doing that you never even realized was hurting the class.

But yeah, the way I see it you can either blame your situation or you can fix it. It's a lot easier to blame the system and your un-supportive co-teacher, but that kind of thinking won't get you very far in life.

[sojusucks]

[AsiaESLbound]