Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kimc0486]

Hey,

I have had offers at a few hogwans and a public school.

I have read really mixed reviews all over the boards, some saying stay away from EPIK and etc...Why is that?

The public school position is through Korean Horizons (Alistair) but its for a govt school but its not Epik...not exactly sure "what" it is, but am told it is not much different from Epik.

I have no experience (educationally or teaching) and am quite nervous about lesson planning.

The public school position seems to have way better perks (less teaching hours, more vacation, settlement allowance, get to keep all of the flight money and my flight will be significantly less, so i'll profit quite a lot).

so Hagwon vs. public...?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!



**Also, I would use the search function as I am sure many of you will suggest, but whenever I search, the search just comes up blank, one word, a sentence, it doesn't matter always comes up blank...does anyone else have this issue?

[ttompatz]

My guess is that you never even tried the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewforum.php?f=7

Getting a Job - Things You Need to Know
Getting a Job -Hagwons, Unis, EPIK & Public Schools
Getting a Job - Korea Vs Japan, Taiwan and China
Getting Organized to Come to Korea
Choosing a Location in Korea
Contracts - Health Insurance, Pension, Severance etc.
Visas


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[kimc0486]

I actually did look through those. The information seems very outdated (7-8 years). So, I thought I would post and ask.

I am also wondering about grading school work and what not, is that a part of hagwon teaching? Or just public? Can people generally plan lessons and correct papers in the 90 min period of planning time?

Just trying to get some advice to make the right decision.

Thanks.

[ttompatz]

try this:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=198807

And to try to answer some of your questions:

In my personal experience, public school teachers don't do a lot of marking (not much to mark in a conversation class) and the Korean teachers usually do the bulk of any grammar work (at least at the elementary level).

In a hagwan you MAY very well be asked to do monthly reports (with comments) for each of your students as well as individual "speaking tests".

This won't happen in a PS.

In a PS you will have LOTS of desk time to do your lesson planning.
In many hakwons you won't have much time but won't be expected to do much more than hit the copy machine either.

My last comment is about the "old" faqs. Some of them are old but nothing much has changed either. When it does, new comments at the end of the thread serve to update it.

Then there are all the other threads that are not sticky that are as current as the most recent post.

Visa rules may change month to month but the differences (and complaints) about and between hagwans and PS's haven't changed in a decade or more (since the late 90's anyway).

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