Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dulouz]

I got one of those non hakwan positions where I am imbedded into a public school. Its much better than the institute - so far.

I still work for a hakwan director and he manages to make life difficult but the hours at the public school are pretty fun. I teach in a poor area and the moms say thank you and the kids ask for autographs.

Then I spend the afternoons in the school at the public school hakwan. That's just like the academy with the attitude and snottiness and the Stupid Kids 1,2,3 & 4 book.

[Paddycakes]

Only thing that sucks about public schools is that you're required to be on-site even when you're not teaching.

I teach 4 forty minute classes a day (a total of 160 minutes).

I am, however, required to be at school from 8:30am to 5pm.

It's boring as hell just sitting here all day (I'm the only foreigner). Even on days when there is no class (exams), we're still required to sit here.

They should change the advert for public school jobs to: GET PAID TO SURF THE INTERNET!

[caniff]

I work at a public high school, but the people that actually fund my presence is the parent's association. Whatever, as long as it shows up on time. I teach 3 50 minute classes a day for 4 days, and 1 day with 4 classes.

I agree that it can be boring during downtime, but my school actually has a sleeping room with beds and sofas for teachers to crash on. This is beautiful on those days after you partied a little too long the night before. Other than that, it's surfing the net or going for a walk, running errands, etc.

I'd much rather be bored than going crazy teaching rugrats for 8 classes a day. Been there, done that - I've earned my bones, I guess.........

[flutieflakes]

i've been in public schools for over a year and a half now.............i pretty much come and go as i please...............siestas home during lunch to walk the dog, get a quick game of madden 2204 on the ps2 in whatever........teachers tell ne when exam and special days are......i dont show up and they have no problem with that.............i simply tell them that i am not going to sit there and do nothing............they have never had a problem with that........................teachers' training classes are supposed to end at 5.........mine finish at 4 (as agreed upon by the teachers and i), and i leave then.......on thursdays and fridays i teach at other schools in the area..........i find out what time my first class is and show up 15 minutes beforehand (usually start at 10)............i am done never later that 3 on thursday and friday in these schools and proceed to go home after finishing..........nobody has ever said anything to me and i will continue coming and going as i please............every 4th friday is a hoiliday for me as there are no other school to go to..........who said epik sucks????????????????????

[tomato]

Hello, Dulouz, Paddycakes, Caniff, and Flutie Flakes!

And thank you for your contributions!
I have two questions:

How did you find these jobs?
I want to work in the public schools because I want to be the only adult in the workplace who knows English.
The only opportunities I've heard of are in EPIK, and I don't want to join a big happy family of foreign teachers. Nor do I want to follow a rigid curriculum set by someone else. Nor do I want to share a classroom with a Korean teacher who translates everything I say.

How well do the kids behave?
It scares me to think of managing a whole room full of kids. The class load which I manage in a �п� is about my limit.

[rapier]

I'm also interested in answers toTomatoe's questions. After nearly 2 years of hakwon madness, frustration and apathy, I'm ready to make the transition to a well- disciplined and high paying public school. i think I will have earned my stripes- having 2 yrs exp., and a CELTA.

[Alias]

I will also add this question - What is the pay like? Accomodations?

[schwa]

More & more public schools are hiring independently, its a growing trend. Some advertise here, some through recruiters. EPIK aint all bad (my gig) & you dont have to go through central hiring -- inquiries to provincial education offices (contact information on the epik website) might well turn up immediate openings.

You'll likely be the only foreigner on staff & if youre up for that its cool. Even if youre with epik that likely means you only meet your provincial colleagues 4 or 5 times a year -- youre largely on your own. If a school is actively seeking a native speaker chances are they'll treat you decently. Affiliated with epik or not, most public schools seem to offer much the same contract. 3 levels depending on quals & experience, the top quite lucrative. If they want to keep you around, extras come your way & it can be one of the better-paying jobs around. I get about 6 weeks vacation.

Big classes, yeah. A better reputed school in a larger city, your kids will be quite well-behaved. Smaller city (like mine) more of a mixed bag -- you gotta be a bit confident & theatrical to keep it productive. Small town or vocational school, you'd have to have drive & low expectations, but even there the kids will have some innocence & receptivity. You'll probably have a Korean co-teacher in the room but the kids will still take every advantage if you dont show control.

What you teach & how is most probably up to you entirely (those office hours can come in useful.) Ask & there might be a budget to order reference materials too.

Housing. Check it out. If you dont like whats on offer ask for something better. A crummy home is a serious downer & worth rejecting a job. If youve got the scratch for a down payment, choose your own & the contract will likely pick up 300k or so of monthly rent. That can get you some seriously nice digs in a lot of communities.

A subtle but substantial perk when you work in the school system is increased esteem when you explain to a Korean acquaintance (or future in-laws!) what you do. Considerably more cachet than a hakwon teacher.

[crazylemongirl]

I got my public school job through a contact and I am paid by the city government, the programme is not part of EPIK. At the moment there have been no problems with payment and the only problem was that instead of being in single housing I am sharing at the moment although it will be rectified later. The apartment is nice and big and I have huge TV, microwave etc,

As for the teaching, carry a big stick. I will never use mine to hit a student but it comes in handy for pointing at people or things and to slam over the desk if they try and sleep in my class. you also need to be very charasmatic and loud as a crowd of 40 is tough even for experienced teachers. The korean co-teachers presence does help in classroom management sometimes they duck away or read a book at the back of class. I have no problem with that.

Downside is being on site for so long. Yesterday I spent an hour in a teachers' meeting that was conducted in korean, I don't have any idea what went on but usually glean the important bits from one of my korean teachers. I also miss my kindy kids and the fact that with so many kids in a class, you really don't get a chance to bond with the kids.

So after nearly a month here I would say that the public school jobs are a lot better than hogwon jobs.

[dulouz]

I got my job by accident. I went to a recruiter, she sent me a position that was other than English, math specifically. My director is shady/quick thinking and he got into the trend of selling hakwan services to public schools early. How did we get he deal?

******I AM A KOREAN SUCK UP**********************

I am a white male with a nice haircut, I wear a suit everyday and I have an American accent. He took me out for sales presentations, I bowed and said a few things in Korean and then a few days later we got the new teaching digs and I got a bonus. I feel awkward saying I am the best and that I earned everything but my casual colleages are not being requested and those lack of requests are not bringing in new sales.

I can't recommend my place of employment, the post will be banned for advertising but we still have problems that are very irritating.

Teaching in the public schools means that you have an environment of dicsipline and learning. That is the plus. The bad news is that we have the pain of hakwan in the afternoons so it balances out and then the admin side is messed up so over all, my place of employment is negative. PM me if you want to know more.

To make my point again...yes there is a difference between teaching in public schools and hakwons. Hakwons are places to screw off and the teacher(s) is/are jesters or at least someone you don't have to respect. Your suspicions are valid.

[crazylemongirl]

actually I second the advice about clothes. While you may see many korean teachers in jeans or causual stuff, you have to be a lot better dressed than you would at the average kiddie hogwon. Also my advice to any women doing the public teaching thing would be to find some nice conservative stuff that isn't very tight fitting, and has a reasonably high neckline and below the knee hemline. Esp. if you are teaching boys! Being called russian teacher, isn't a great way to gain credibilty.

[Len8]

Correct about clothes. I was in the EPIK programe a while back, and loved it. Anyway I remember a meeting we all had, and hearing the remark from a co teacher about how the boys at her middle school would run out after class and stand down the stairs as she walked out. Didn't take her to long to realise that they were doing it to look up her dress.

[adventureman]

..

[Gollum]

[fidel]

I am in my second year working in High Schools and have a few things to share.
My firstt school was ok, I had a couple months of vacation time, classes were continually cancelled and life was cruising. The accomodation was a large brand new villa with all the mod-cons, and the pay was ok. The downside was it was a technical school and as such the students were 'freakin morons'. Sorry that may sound a bit harsh to some but it's the truth. It probably isn't the kids fault they seem to be the ones that fall through the education 'gap' as it were. They were also ill-disciplined, rude, sometimes threatening and usually pissed me off. Sorry I'm stereotyping, however there were enough bad apples in every class to make your life harder. Needless to say I have moved on to greener pastures. I now have a position at one of the top schools in Korea and life is so much better. I teach 4 50 minute classes a day between 8-4. My class size averages twenty-one as English conversation is an elective subject.
The students are dedicated, pleasant, intelligent and eager to learn. Their English ability is already excellent (well most of them anyways). I get at least three months vacation plus another month during exam weeks. Catered, buffet lunch is provided free of charge and the quality is restaurant standard (well even better). I am a full member of the Foreign languages department (they also teach German, Japanese and Chinese).
I'm the only foreigner here but they have over a dozen Korean English teachers who are fluent, and a pleasure to talk to. I don't have a partner teacher and am fully in charge of my class.