Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jwilks]

If a school won't put me in contact with a current or former teacher should I immediately be suspicious of that school?

I just had an interview with a school and the interviewer (the director of the school) seemed shocked that I would even ask such a question.

[Summer Wine]

I would be hesitant about what it says about the school.

It could be that the teacher has just left and you are a rush job and so they arent available.

It could mean that the teacher is losing thier job and hasn't been told yet, so you chatting to them is out.

It could mean that the teacher will be too honest and the school doesn't want that.

Though if I had been able to speak to my schools previous teacher it may have meant that I wouldn't have taken the job.

It also may have allowed me to understand the school better than I did when I did take the job.

No discussion with a current or former teacher in that school would raise alarm bells for me personally, but thats just me.

[SteveSteve]

Although your situation sounds a bit suspicious, being in touch with a current or former teacher is not necessarily a good thing. Had some friends at a Wonderland who were supervised and monitored while talking to prospective teachers over the phone. In my experience, I corresponded with a teacher for a long time over e-mail, and it turned out to be one of the worst jobs ever.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

It could just mean that he's never been in that situation before/never heard someone ask that before, and is interpreting it as a sign of mistrust. On the other hand, if he was a real professional experienced at dealing with foreigners, he would know that it isn't unreasonable.

I don't think it's a reason to write the whole job off as terrible, but on the other hand if he doesn't come around and doesn't let you speak to anyone, then I'm sure that you could do better... because he might have something to hide.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

[Troglodyte]

Milk, you've hit upon a very important point that many teachers often don't consider.

A review from a current teacher is nice, but I wouldn't recommend basing your decision on it. They might be able to give you some basic information like class size, what books the school uses, how many teachers work there, etc, but you really don't know how honest they'll be about the important stuff like the boss' personality, work conditions, accommodation conditions, etc. With current teachers, you have no idea whether they are being pressured into helping to lure in a new sucker. e.g. "If we don't find a new teacher by the time that you leave, we won't pay you your severance pay." It happens.

The person that you really need to get in touch with is a FORMER teacher, preferably a couple of them. You best bet would probably be one who's been gone from the school for at least 3 months, but not much more than a year. After 3 months the person should have received all payment and benefits from the school. They'll also know by then if the school did indeed pay into pension, and if the boss tried making problems for them at their next place of employment. More than a year and it's hard to tell if the school will be in the same financial situation (which can make a world of difference).

[SCAshley]

Is it a public or private school? I've heard it's very common for you not to get the contact info for teachers from public school. I work at a PS and googled the name of my school and luckily the girl I was replacing had a blog about her time here and it popped up in the search. I got in contact with her and got the lowdown on my school (she had to leave suddenly bc she got really sick, which sounds like a line from a school but more legit coming from the actual person). Anyway, I would try googling as much as you know about the school and see what comes up. Good luck!