Korean Job Discussion Forums

[NYC_Gal]

[Summer Wine]

Yeah it will be interesting as well for me, to see what happens.

I found out that of the 2 teachers they had prior to me, neither stayed more than one year.

I haven't exactly felt the love either since I began, so I am not expecting to get asked to renew, but I guess I will wait and see.

Plus I found out, that I will only know when I reach the 2 month mark before the end of the contract. It doesn't leave a lot of time to seek new work and you don't really want to start going through the process to leave if they end up asking you to stay.

I am planning on taking a holiday if they don't ask me to renew. Looking elsewhere. Korea is no longer as cost effective as it once was.

[TexasChicken]

I worked for GEPIK 2 years ago, and was begged repeatedly to re-sign, despite having a terrible relationship with my handler. The principal absolutely loved me until I went to the labor board to collect on all the afterschool classes they tried to cheat me out of. After that no more offers to re-sign. I was the first teacher in 3 years to actually finish a contract with my school in Haengshin-dong, Ilsan. I really feel bad for next person to be dumped into that hell hole.

Ultimately the process is bull corn if the Principal and VP like you. Pour your soju and you'll get renewed. The question is do you really want to work for the Public school system again?

[TheUrbanMyth]

[ATM SPIDERTAO]

it's true, i was evaluated twice already. one time, my manager let me know and in my contract extension in october, my manager didn't let me know. i think he knew i'd probably pass. like unless someone has it out for you and conspires to fire you, or it's well known that you're not an effective english teacher, they won't hire you


oh, and during the meeting, i do believe your co-teacher gives a little speech. so the people who don't know you will hear her speech and my principal said "because my co-teacher likes you and thinks you're a good choice, i will go along with this"

i'm a chinese-canadian so i don't win points for looking like i can speak english and my degree is in biology. the dudes applying in 2009 were like english majors with TESOLS and crap and had already clocked years teaching. and some were pretty good looking dudes. but my co-teacher, who actually DOESN"T EVEN LIKE ME THAT MUCH, just went along with my request. man, i was pretty lucky

there was some crap too, one of the gepik teachers in another school tried to get me fired and had HER co-teacher who worked in a middle school, i was elementary, to call MY co-teacher and confronted my co-teacher about me

it was mostly 2 points

1. i was accused of having a relationship with a teacher at school by this crazy girl. she just said "this guy is having a relationship with a teacher at your school. i dont' know who but he is." they harsh like did a little interrogation of who i could be dating and man that really upset me.
2. i called the other native teacher "fat" (she was a girl).

man, i was pretty paranoid. but my co-teacher backed me up, we had a great first 6 months together but stopped being so close afterwards, but kinda just stopped having great unity

anyway, that little SPEECH your co-teacher gives you during the time will make you or break you


some stuff my co-teacher said about me

1. i get along VERY well with the kids and am ridiculously popular (although most foreigners are)
2. i took an effort to learn korean. it shows that i value korean culture and customs and dont' think i'm high and mighty. it also allows me to better understand their problems when learning english
3. i don't drink. some english teachers use korea as an excuse to party. saying i've never been late or drunk for class etc etc. i just personally dont' like drinking with other workers who are so much older than me. it's weird. so i just told my school i dont' drink haha. turned out pretty well for me in this case




anyway, the teachers who DIDN"T know me were swayed by this and voted "Yes" i'm assuming

but if your co-teacher decides to REAM YOU and go

1. the native teacher isn't well liked or respected by the students
2. the native teacher doesn't put any effort into teaching
3. the native teacher doesn't want to learn korean and thinks of this as just a temporary job because he can't find anything better back home
4. the native teacher works to supply his drinking habits on his day off. i fear he may be a negative role model for the students


i'm pretty sure things wouldn't work out that well


anyway, after we parted ways, i saw my old co-teacher a few times and my only memories were fond ones of her. we actually DID get along well and in retrospect, in my first year of teaching, i was utterly TERRIBLE. terrible lessons and unrealistically high expectations of the children's level of english. she actually molded me into a great teacher haha. my new co-teacher doesn't have to do a thing. she actually gets bored sometimes but she's a lot older and has a ton of other stuff to take care off like the after school programs and she really appreciates the time off. we get along SO WELL. and i know it wouldn't have been possible without my first, really strict co-teacher.

[ATM SPIDERTAO]

[quote="TheUrbanMyth"][quote="shostahoosier"]I was told that this is how it works too last year before I was renewed.

Of course I'm pretty sure that it always comes down to whether the Principal/VP/Head teacher likes you. I'm sure they have veto power.[/quote]


This. I know for a fact that a former co-teacher didn't like me (possibly because she felt threatened by my English ability. See, she used to be the go-to person if the other teachers/VP/Principal needed something to be proof-read in English or checked. Once I arrived, I became the go-to.)

Anyway she voted against my renewal, but the principal overruled her.
I know this because I overheard two other teachers who also work at my school discussing it. Apparently she was the only one to vote against it.[/quote]

dude that's NUTS

can you imagine that???

i'm so glad your principal likes you hahaha

i was loved by my VP before i made the mistake of saying his better looking, younger friend was better looking than him

what a dumb mistake. they were just joking. i shoulda just said "i dunno!" or "you're better!" but i told the truth and the guy like laughed it off but it just wasn't the same after that =/

i'm a dude btw hahahaha they were clearly joking and yet i got serious on them

my old principal who is now retired absolutely loved me tho. he bought the whole administrative team a 50,000won box of apples for Christmas and I was the ONLY teacher who also got a box. it was supposed to be a huge deal. i was like brand new so i didn't get how big that actually was. i wish he was still my principal. my new principal is alright but nothing special really. old one also looked a LOT like my grandfather. sometimes it brings a tear to my eye on how kind everyone has been to me here in korea

[Otherside]

OP, in my case, I only had an evaluation by my 2 co-teachers.

If you only have 1 co-teacher/handler, she may be saying "all the teachers" so it doesn't look like she gave you the boot.

At the end of the day, whether you get offered a renewal comes down to 2 things.

1. How much does the Principal/VP like you. (complaints from parents, refusing to participate in school events after hours, nickel and diming, etc will all count against you).

2. How much do your handlers/co-teachers like you. Obviously, depending on their seniority and the amount of weight they carry, will determine how much say they have in your renewal. In my case, my handler/co-teacher was the head teacher and had been at the school for 4 years, so basically my fate was in her hands.

[shcforward]

Yeah, the evaluation form is standard. Most typically, your main co-teacher and your vice-principal will fill it out. However, exactly how it is filled out probably changes in each regional office of education and then again in each school.

For the most part, these evaluations are a formality. But, if you do happen to be unlucky enough to have someone doing it who has a personal grudge against you, it is really bad luck because they can screw you over.

[Junior]