Korean Job Discussion Forums

[brojamma]

Hey,

I am relatively new (about 2 months) to Korea and am currently working at a hagwon. I am realizing more and more each day that hagwons are more businesses than they are schools and I really am dreading that whole concept.

In short, I am wanting to ask the school if I could work for them until they find another teacher and then switching to a public school. However, it would seem that there is a lot of stuff that would need to happen in order for this switch to take place (i.e. transfer of visa, application, etc.)

I am just wondering if anyone has any information on how to do this and the relative difficulty involved in doing it. Also, are there even openings mid-semester at public schools?

Any and all information is much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read this and help in any way you can.

[winterfall]

If that's why your leaving. You won't like public schools. Hagwons are pretty honest about only caring about money. Public schools are a bit more convoluted. They don't outwardly care about money. Just their ranking which ends up affecting how much money they get. And these rankings are affected by test scores

[sulperman]

I agree with winterfall. If you are picturing public schools as being bastions of pure learning, you will be very disappointed. Public schools are a mess. Hagwons, despite their faults, are almost always better teaching and learning environments than PS.

[brojamma]

Hey, thanks for the heads up on public schools. I think it is still something that I want to try to switch to. It is not that I envision them to be stellar learning environments altogether, but I feel that I could actually get behind the effort of keeping kids in line inside the confines of what I believe a suitable time for them to be at school. I just can't find it within me to be strict at 7:30 at night with 12 year old kids.

In addition to that, with 8 40-50 minute classes a day I just don't feel like I can truly prepare for the classes. I just want to feel like I am teaching and not scrambling just to know what it is I am doing. I think the less classes with a public school would just be a better fit.

Regardless of all that, anyone have any information or experience with switching to a public school. I don't really know where to start other than getting a letter of release for my visa.

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

I'll never understand why people think that public schools are so good. You actually think classes of 40 students, with varying levels, are going to learn? . Plus the crap morning hours, co-teachers(many who are resentful and will shank you when they can) and having to be at the school for 8 hours a day. No thanks.

[cj1976]

The paid vacations used to be one of the major plus points of PS, but a lot of schools are now forcing teachers to 'deskwarm' during the holiday period. If you're lucky a decent PS gig is better than most hagwons. I teach an average of 15-16 classes per week, and the school never asks me to come in during the vacation (except for the mandatory camps). Also, during exam weeks, I'm allowed to leave at lunchtime - or sometimes they say don't bother coming in at all.
Plus, my wages would be too high for most hagwon jobs, and I don't earn a phenomenal amount.
On the other hand, teaching huge classes of mostly unmotivated students of varying English competence is quite challenging. You only get to see them once a week, which makes it extremely difficult to see any progress and it's also hard to build rapport.

[shostahoosier]

I'll never understand why people think hagwons are so good. You actually think classes with spoiled students being forced to study a subject they have no interest in are going to learn? Plus the crap split shifts, 10 measly days of vacation, shady owners (many who will cheat you when they can) and having to teach 30 hours a week. No thanks.

[southernman]

Yeah it's all in the luck of the draw, or if you've been here a while then it's the contacts you've made and the people you know.

I'm currently at a PS where my two senior co-teachers are not the best. In fact, they've both been posted about onine by previous NET's. My other 3 co-teachers though, are all really good to work with. I taught last yaer at three rural PS's and the situation was heaps better.

I've also taught at a Hagwon where I worked much more hours but the students were great.

For me though the better conditions at PS make the difference
-More holidays
-Less teaching hours
-More money if you're qualified and have 2 years experience teaching in Korea
- Lunch provided at a small price
-Even if you have bad co-teachers, you are probably only going to teach with them once a week

[sallymonster]

OP, I have to warn you, if you end up in a PS that's anything like mine, your co-teachers won't want you to do much actual teaching. Rather, they'll want you to edu-tain the students (play games, etc.) all the time.

[wallythewhale]

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

Predictable. I knew when I posted it, one of the public school jockeys would come on here and compare it to a hagwon. Let me enlighten you. Holidays? Don't work those. I'm sure some of the big hagwons work 'em, but I don't. Split-shifts? No, don't work those hours. Afternoon shift and love it. Yeah, I guess you got me on the vacations. The only thing you've got me on. But then again, I don't have to deskwarm, so it makes up for it a bit. Shady owner? Nope, mine is great. No problems with pay, insurance, pension, etc. Teaching 30 hours a week? No, don't do that either. Oh, and you public school people have to spend 2 more hours a day at work than I do. And you have to get your asses out of bed in the early morning(enjoy those winter days). 40 kids in a classroom is nuts. I would take 10-12 spoiled kids over that any day of the week. But to each his own, if you like it, then that's your deal.

[winterfall]

OP if your still seriously interested. The major August hiring for SMOE and GEPIK starts next month (Seoul & Gyeonggi-do). Most if not all of the major recruiters are collecting applications now. For a list of recruiters / advertisements. Scroll up, click "Jobs". Click "Korea Job Board" and you'll see tons of companies saying apply with us. If your applying to the education board and not an individual school. It's doesn't matter what company you choose. The process is the same.

There's 4 major programs:
A. SMOE (Seoul City District) and usually the hardest to get into for lifestyle reasons
B. GEPIK (Gyeonggi-do Program), small bubble surrounding Seoul. The next popular choice as you can commute to Seoul on the weekends
C. EPIK (National Korean Program), basically any school in Korea, can wind up in the rural area or a city
D. Jellong-bukdo (Jellong Province), compared to A & B. Jellong Province is like a much more under developed Gyeonggi-do. It's nice but if your young and in a party binge you might despise the isolation

Be warned, in terms of individual student English level. Seoul is generally the highest , next is gyeonggi-do and there's a very sharp drop off in the national program and Jellong-bukdo

You'll need to do a visa run after you get and sign a new contract. *** And You'll need all of your documents apostilled again (Your local Education office will want their own set for their files) ***

Be warned again, it may not be possible for you to leave on good terms with your hagwon. Hagwons do not like lit when people quit. And you might not be given a letter of release

[shostahoosier]

[cj1976]

To be honest, if it wasn't for the vacations, I'd would happily quit my PS and work in a hagwon. I get frustrated by the actual teaching time in my job, and I think it would be great to work with a class on a more regular basis. However, 5-6 weeks or more a year of paid vacation is hard to give up, unless you want to move to a uni gig.