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decolyon
Joined: 24 Jul 2010
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 Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:06 pm Post subject: Coworker Issues |
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Perhaps I'm just ranting here or could be looking for advice. But I have to get it off my chest.
I've been working with this other foreigner for a few months now and honestly, I've never been around a more smug, self-centered, selfish, and an undeniable a*hole in my entire life.
He is in no position of authority other than he's been at the school longer than the rest of the foreign and Korean staff, including the current manager. He isn't a head teacher or anything of the sort (our boss confided in me that I actually get paid more than he does.) But, I think he just can't help himself, he has to stick his face in everyone else's business every chance he gets. Not a day goes by when he doesn't feel the need to tell another teacher what they are doing wrong and how he would do it better. It's not like he does this in a constructive way either, his tone is completely "how you're doing this is wrong and you should do it this way." I just want to get in his face about it some days and say "hey, just because you've been at this place longer than everyone else, doesn't mean some of us here don't have more experience teaching than you do."
It appears he takes his work very seriously. And that's great. I'm glad to see a teacher put his students first..... but it's a kindergarten. We're all basically glorified babysitters. But if you were to ask him about it, it's like we're all teaching astrophysics to the next generation of astronauts. For Pete's sake, so the kids color a picture of a princess for 15 mins rather than color a picture of a snake in their science book for 15 mins. I doubt very seriously my class is going to walk away dumber than yours for it. And to that point, it's not like you're teaching these amazingly fluent 5 year olds. Your kids know a handful more English words than the other kids. You didn't teach them that. It's not like they're at that level because of your superior teaching skills.
I also get that being a Christian is really important to you. I don't see how chain smoking and drinking yourself stupid every weekend, and marathon banging your gf out of wedlock coincides with this religion you profess to being some great follower of, but you know, to each his own. Religion doesn't work for me, that's great if it works for you. But it's wrong for you to constantly interject your faith onto your students when many of their parents are Buddhists, Catholics, and Atheists. How much more selfish could you be to not respect the choices of their families and to force feed them your version of fairy tales.
And if you are ever to approach this douche about any of the douchy things he does on a day-to-day basis, he simply shrugs it off and chalks it up to you somehow being jealous of him and the greatness he's accomplished. Oh wow, congratulations man. You've been teaching at a kindergarten for 3 years. You speak Korean horribly. I know in your mind you think you're as fluent as a native speaker, but you're not. The Korean teachers talk about you behind your back about how shitty your pronunciation is and how rude it is for you to think you can speak their language as well as they speak it.
But I could live with all the other stuff if he'd just stop telling people how to do their jobs. There's something that just pinches a nerve with me about that. In terms of workplace etiquette, nothing is more rude that while in front of other coworkers telling another how you think they're doing their jobs incorrectly. Every single time he does that it pushes me one step closer to the edge. I don't know if I'm just going to storm out and quit one day or snap and break a chair over his head. It'd be one thing if he was some kind of shining example of how to be a teacher, but I've seen him come to work maybe 5 times on time in the last 6 months. He is, like clockwork, 20 mins late every single day. And I won't even bring up the time he missed half a day of work because he was too hung over and our boss had to go wake his ass up and make him come in. Jeeze, what a guy. Nothing is going to make me happier than the last day of my contract and I never have to look at this guy again in my life. I will move on to bigger and better things, but this guy will continue to be the king in his own mind, of the second rate little kindergarten in the middle of nowhere. What a sad little life he has. |
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RMNC
Joined: 21 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Jokingly tell him to stop telling people how to do their jobs. It will solve the problem and he won't be offended. |
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Tbizz
Joined: 15 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 12:10 am Post subject: |
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I don't have any other foreign teachers where I teach so I can't really relate but one native teacher kinda gets under my skin so I kinda know how it feels.
But just be like, "listen..everyone has their own teaching style. you do yours and ill do mine." if that doesnt work tell him to ef off |
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tanklor1
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 2:27 am Post subject: Re: Coworker Issues |
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| decolyon wrote: |
Perhaps I'm just ranting here or could be looking for advice. But I have to get it off my chest.
I've been working with this other foreigner for a few months now and honestly, I've never been around a more smug, self-centered, selfish, and an undeniable a*hole in my entire life.
He is in no position of authority other than he's been at the school longer than the rest of the foreign and Korean staff, including the current manager. He isn't a head teacher or anything of the sort (our boss confided in me that I actually get paid more than he does.) But, I think he just can't help himself, he has to stick his face in everyone else's business every chance he gets. Not a day goes by when he doesn't feel the need to tell another teacher what they are doing wrong and how he would do it better. It's not like he does this in a constructive way either, his tone is completely "how you're doing this is wrong and you should do it this way." I just want to get in his face about it some days and say "hey, just because you've been at this place longer than everyone else, doesn't mean some of us here don't have more experience teaching than you do."
It appears he takes his work very seriously. And that's great. I'm glad to see a teacher put his students first..... but it's a kindergarten. We're all basically glorified babysitters. But if you were to ask him about it, it's like we're all teaching astrophysics to the next generation of astronauts. For Pete's sake, so the kids color a picture of a princess for 15 mins rather than color a picture of a snake in their science book for 15 mins. I doubt very seriously my class is going to walk away dumber than yours for it. And to that point, it's not like you're teaching these amazingly fluent 5 year olds. Your kids know a handful more English words than the other kids. You didn't teach them that. It's not like they're at that level because of your superior teaching skills.
I also get that being a Christian is really important to you. I don't see how chain smoking and drinking yourself stupid every weekend, and marathon banging your gf out of wedlock coincides with this religion you profess to being some great follower of, but you know, to each his own. Religion doesn't work for me, that's great if it works for you. But it's wrong for you to constantly interject your faith onto your students when many of their parents are Buddhists, Catholics, and Atheists. How much more selfish could you be to not respect the choices of their families and to force feed them your version of fairy tales.
And if you are ever to approach this douche about any of the douchy things he does on a day-to-day basis, he simply shrugs it off and chalks it up to you somehow being jealous of him and the greatness he's accomplished. Oh wow, congratulations man. You've been teaching at a kindergarten for 3 years. You speak Korean horribly. I know in your mind you think you're as fluent as a native speaker, but you're not. The Korean teachers talk about you behind your back about how shitty your pronunciation is and how rude it is for you to think you can speak their language as well as they speak it.
But I could live with all the other stuff if he'd just stop telling people how to do their jobs. There's something that just pinches a nerve with me about that. In terms of workplace etiquette, nothing is more rude that while in front of other coworkers telling another how you think they're doing their jobs incorrectly. Every single time he does that it pushes me one step closer to the edge. I don't know if I'm just going to storm out and quit one day or snap and break a chair over his head. It'd be one thing if he was some kind of shining example of how to be a teacher, but I've seen him come to work maybe 5 times on time in the last 6 months. He is, like clockwork, 20 mins late every single day. And I won't even bring up the time he missed half a day of work because he was too hung over and our boss had to go wake his ass up and make him come in. Jeeze, what a guy. Nothing is going to make me happier than the last day of my contract and I never have to look at this guy again in my life. I will move on to bigger and better things, but this guy will continue to be the king in his own mind, of the second rate little kindergarten in the middle of nowhere. What a sad little life he has. |
Hmmm, I think I like the cut of this guy's jibb to be honest. As a self-admitting a-hole myself. It irritates me to no end when I see a newbie come in and do the job wrong or even worse come here with a different goal other than teaching.
("Well, I wanted to travel." as a reason for coming here almost always make me want to get up and slap the person.)
I would rather have a person who takes their job too seriously than someone who wants to "...move onto to bigger and better things."
Just sayin'... |
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decolyon
Joined: 24 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 4:08 am Post subject: Re: Coworker Issues |
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Hmmm, I think I like the cut of this guy's jibb to be honest. As a self-admitting a-hole myself. It irritates me to no end when I see a newbie come in and do the job wrong or even worse come here with a different goal other than teaching.
("Well, I wanted to travel." as a reason for coming here almost always make me want to get up and slap the person.)
I would rather have a person who takes their job too seriously than someone who wants to "...move onto to bigger and better things."
Just sayin'... |
Did you skip over the part about him not being the best example of a teacher in the first place? What makes it so annoying is that he thinks he is some awesome teacher, but in reality he shows up late, drunk, or hungover and uses his class to force feed religion down their throats.
I've had head teachers (and this guys isn't a head teacher, he's just been there longer - and still makes less than myself) that were great examples of what teachers should be here. I have taken their advice and even emulated the parts of their method I've seen work. It's one thing to be the example and then attempt to correct others. It's another to think you're an example and try to force your method on others.
I hate preachers. I can't stand preachiness in people, even the ones that live by what they preach. But hose that preach about what to do and they themselves don't even live up to their own standards they wish to push on others... god, these people I despise.
And I question your own motives sir. I doubt very seriously that you're here to teach. If you wanted to be a teacher, you'd be in your own country. Or if you were abroad, you'd be in university. Hagwon and kindergarten teachers are not here to be teachers. I'm sure if given the chance to do other work, many of them would go for it. Most of us aren't fooled by the system. We know we're just English monkeys and that very very very few of the students we teach (or their parents) take what happens in our class seriously. We are here for image. Since there is no real motivation to learn English other than the social credibility that comes with saying you can speak some English, there is no real credibility in what many of us do. Students don't bow to us or give us the same level of respect they do their actual teachers. There's a reason for that. We aren't really teachers. |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 4:18 am Post subject: |
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| Students bow to me. |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 4:34 am Post subject: |
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One of the few benefits of the tighter job market is the gradually weeding out of social retards only employable here....
If your boss doesn't like don't be susprised if his contract isn't renewed. |
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tanklor1
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 4:55 am Post subject: Re: Coworker Issues |
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| decolyon wrote: |
| Quote: |
Hmmm, I think I like the cut of this guy's jibb to be honest. As a self-admitting a-hole myself. It irritates me to no end when I see a newbie come in and do the job wrong or even worse come here with a different goal other than teaching.
("Well, I wanted to travel." as a reason for coming here almost always make me want to get up and slap the person.)
I would rather have a person who takes their job too seriously than someone who wants to "...move onto to bigger and better things."
Just sayin'... |
Did you skip over the part about him not being the best example of a teacher in the first place? What makes it so annoying is that he thinks he is some awesome teacher, but in reality he shows up late, drunk, or hungover and uses his class to force feed religion down their throats.
I've had head teachers (and this guys isn't a head teacher, he's just been there longer - and still makes less than myself) that were great examples of what teachers should be here. I have taken their advice and even emulated the parts of their method I've seen work. It's one thing to be the example and then attempt to correct others. It's another to think you're an example and try to force your method on others.
I hate preachers. I can't stand preachiness in people, even the ones that live by what they preach. But hose that preach about what to do and they themselves don't even live up to their own standards they wish to push on others... god, these people I despise.
And I question your own motives sir. I doubt very seriously that you're here to teach. If you wanted to be a teacher, you'd be in your own country. Or if you were abroad, you'd be in university. Hagwon and kindergarten teachers are not here to be teachers. I'm sure if given the chance to do other work, many of them would go for it. Most of us aren't fooled by the system. We know we're just English monkeys and that very very very few of the students we teach (or their parents) take what happens in our class seriously. We are here for image. Since there is no real motivation to learn English other than the social credibility that comes with saying you can speak some English, there is no real credibility in what many of us do. Students don't bow to us or give us the same level of respect they do their actual teachers. There's a reason for that. We aren't really teachers. |
I'm not going to argue your reasoning because I'm not going to change your mind. But I don't see myself doing anything besides teaching for the next decade or so and I've never given any real thought of doing anything else.
But I always take offense to people who say that we're just here as English Monkeys.
ANY TEACHER CAN BE CONSIDERED A MONKEY!
Any teacher in any discipline in any school in any country. That still doesn't change the label that you have been given. Your kids still call you teacher and your expected to act as if you are even if you don't consider yourself to be one.
I fear that we are on two different ends of the spectrum on this issue and that's fine. I really don't care what you see your job as; I'm going to get up tomorrow and do my thing and so are you.
As for your problem. I'd still be rather working with a stuck up know-it-all who has been here untold number of years than a newbie fresh off the plane fumbling with chopsticks. |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 5:32 am Post subject: Re: Coworker Issues |
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| decolyon wrote: |
| The Korean teachers talk about you behind your back about how shitty your pronunciation is and how rude it is for you to think you can speak their language as well as they speak it.. |
Nothing is ever good enough for Koreans though, as regards speaking their language.
You can have practised a sentence 10,000 times, they will still take great delight in finding fault with your pronunciation and correcting you. Even if nothings wrong. |
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bliss
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Location: Gyeonggi
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 6:15 am Post subject: Re: Coworker Issues |
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| decolyon wrote: |
Perhaps I'm just ranting here or could be looking for advice. But I have to get it off my chest.
I've been working with this other foreigner for a few months now and honestly, I've never been around a more smug, self-centered, selfish, and an undeniable a*hole in my entire life.
He is in no position of authority other than he's been at the school longer than the rest of the foreign and Korean staff, including the current manager. He isn't a head teacher or anything of the sort (our boss confided in me that I actually get paid more than he does.) But, I think he just can't help himself, he has to stick his face in everyone else's business every chance he gets. Not a day goes by when he doesn't feel the need to tell another teacher what they are doing wrong and how he would do it better. It's not like he does this in a constructive way either, his tone is completely "how you're doing this is wrong and you should do it this way." I just want to get in his face about it some days and say "hey, just because you've been at this place longer than everyone else, doesn't mean some of us here don't have more experience teaching than you do."
It appears he takes his work very seriously. And that's great. I'm glad to see a teacher put his students first..... but it's a kindergarten. We're all basically glorified babysitters. But if you were to ask him about it, it's like we're all teaching astrophysics to the next generation of astronauts. For Pete's sake, so the kids color a picture of a princess for 15 mins rather than color a picture of a snake in their science book for 15 mins. I doubt very seriously my class is going to walk away dumber than yours for it. And to that point, it's not like you're teaching these amazingly fluent 5 year olds. Your kids know a handful more English words than the other kids. You didn't teach them that. It's not like they're at that level because of your superior teaching skills.
I also get that being a Christian is really important to you. I don't see how chain smoking and drinking yourself stupid every weekend, and marathon banging your gf out of wedlock coincides with this religion you profess to being some great follower of, but you know, to each his own. Religion doesn't work for me, that's great if it works for you. But it's wrong for you to constantly interject your faith onto your students when many of their parents are Buddhists, Catholics, and Atheists. How much more selfish could you be to not respect the choices of their families and to force feed them your version of fairy tales.
And if you are ever to approach this douche about any of the douchy things he does on a day-to-day basis, he simply shrugs it off and chalks it up to you somehow being jealous of him and the greatness he's accomplished. Oh wow, congratulations man. You've been teaching at a kindergarten for 3 years. You speak Korean horribly. I know in your mind you think you're as fluent as a native speaker, but you're not. The Korean teachers talk about you behind your back about how shitty your pronunciation is and how rude it is for you to think you can speak their language as well as they speak it.
But I could live with all the other stuff if he'd just stop telling people how to do their jobs. There's something that just pinches a nerve with me about that. In terms of workplace etiquette, nothing is more rude that while in front of other coworkers telling another how you think they're doing their jobs incorrectly. Every single time he does that it pushes me one step closer to the edge. I don't know if I'm just going to storm out and quit one day or snap and break a chair over his head. It'd be one thing if he was some kind of shining example of how to be a teacher, but I've seen him come to work maybe 5 times on time in the last 6 months. He is, like clockwork, 20 mins late every single day. And I won't even bring up the time he missed half a day of work because he was too hung over and our boss had to go wake his ass up and make him come in. Jeeze, what a guy. Nothing is going to make me happier than the last day of my contract and I never have to look at this guy again in my life. I will move on to bigger and better things, but this guy will continue to be the king in his own mind, of the second rate little kindergarten in the middle of nowhere. What a sad little life he has. |
Are you my coworker?? |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 8:30 am Post subject: Re: Coworker Issues |
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| decolyon wrote: |
| Quote: |
Hmmm, I think I like the cut of this guy's jibb to be honest. As a self-admitting a-hole myself. It irritates me to no end when I see a newbie come in and do the job wrong or even worse come here with a different goal other than teaching.
("Well, I wanted to travel." as a reason for coming here almost always make me want to get up and slap the person.)
I would rather have a person who takes their job too seriously than someone who wants to "...move onto to bigger and better things."
Just sayin'... |
Did you skip over the part about him not being the best example of a teacher in the first place? What makes it so annoying is that he thinks he is some awesome teacher, but in reality he shows up late, drunk, or hungover and uses his class to force feed religion down their throats.
I've had head teachers (and this guys isn't a head teacher, he's just been there longer - and still makes less than myself) that were great examples of what teachers should be here. I have taken their advice and even emulated the parts of their method I've seen work. It's one thing to be the example and then attempt to correct others. It's another to think you're an example and try to force your method on others.
I hate preachers. I can't stand preachiness in people, even the ones that live by what they preach. But hose that preach about what to do and they themselves don't even live up to their own standards they wish to push on others... god, these people I despise.
And I question your own motives sir. I doubt very seriously that you're here to teach. If you wanted to be a teacher, you'd be in your own country. Or if you were abroad, you'd be in university. Hagwon and kindergarten teachers are not here to be teachers. I'm sure if given the chance to do other work, many of them would go for it. Most of us aren't fooled by the system. We know we're just English monkeys and that very very very few of the students we teach (or their parents) take what happens in our class seriously. We are here for image. Since there is no real motivation to learn English other than the social credibility that comes with saying you can speak some English, there is no real credibility in what many of us do. Students don't bow to us or give us the same level of respect they do their actual teachers. There's a reason for that. We aren't really teachers. |
No, YOU aren't really a teacher....
You were fine, responding to someone you thought hadn't read carefully, then you just HAD to add that last paragraph where you painted yourself out to be a judgmental arsehole, and spout this bunch of tripe.
The funny thing is, the only people you GET onto your side with that BS are the crap teachers -- you alienate and anger the folks that take pride in their work and take their jobs as teachers seriously -- you know, the folks that know what they are doing, and are successful here? The folks whose advice it might be in your best interest to garner and listen to?
Naw, you'd rather label yourself an "English monkey" and fling poo at others.... |
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Catfisher
Joined: 10 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:14 am Post subject: |
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| Hey decolyon, by any chance is this teacher a fat Canadian with long reddish brown hair and a moustache/goatee combo? |
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3DR
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| lol this thread could turn interesting. |
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chellovek
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Sounds like another typical western arse. Man I hate foreigners here so much sometimes. |
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