Korean Job Discussion Forums

[oldtactics]

It depends on the person, of course. In my experience, a year at public school was enough to know that I never want to do it again - if you were feeling useless at a hagwon, it'll be worse at a PS, especially if you're in a city. I taught 800 students a week last year and it seemed like the students liked me but I guarantee that an hour a week isn't enough time to teach anything, even to the interested students.

I also didn't have a textbook or any sort of direction from administration - I made all my lesson plans. I preferred that at at the time, but in hindsight, I think it would have been a more successful year if I'd had some support or at least feedback.


Your mileage may vary, of course, but I'd recommend a hagwon or a small-town college if you can find one.

[Malislamusrex]

PS can be awesome for the first 1-2 years.

My school said... it's your job and left me to it.

you can do what you want, find out what works and what doesn't, you get your own office, if you're lucky 3 weeks of only teaching 1 hour in summer and 3 weeks off.

I'm bored of typing good things now, but it's a gamble, on average PS is better, but some are awesome.... some are not.

[young_clinton]

If you were in Korea, you might try to look for a good Hogwan job; but since you're not, why take the risk only to finding out your boss is a shyster?

[smeggysmeg]

The focus of my questions was really more toward the classroom environment.

Classroom/behavior management were the things that would stress me out. Those aside, the experience would have been great.

I guess my question is whether the burden of classroom management is larger or smaller in a public school.

[itiswhatitis]

You will enjoy a hagwon much more than a public school.

From my experience, at a hagwon you are considered to be an actual teacher whearas at a public school you are considered more of a clown/white monkey. At the hagwons the Korean children are extremely respectful and they bow to you as they come in and as they leave.

I've done both and I can tell you that I never have discipline problems at the hagwon. At the public school the control of the classroom all depends on the Korean teacher (average elementary class size in a public school is between 35-40 UNLESS you're at a rural school in the middle of nowhere). With such large classes discipline is often a problem at public schools.

Time for a realith check:

How many Korean teachers do you think actually want a foreign teacher in their classroom? I mean really, stop and think about it. A very small minority of them do, and the minority of them that do want you only want you so that they can use you to practice/improve their own English. They may beg you to meet with them on their own time to study English and they will not pay you for it (maybe in Kimchi). If you refuse to meet with them then they have the power to make you life miserable. DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS UNCOMMON AND THAT IT WON'T HAPPEN TO YOU.

Speaking of which.....

My co-teacher at the public school (I now work in a hagwon) used to complain that now that she has a foreign teacher that she has no choice but to know the correct answers to questions from her students about English. I was shocked that she admitted this to me and I considered complaining about it but I didn't after I realized how vulnerable I was (she could have made my life miserable or even got me fired). This kind of BS would never be tolerated in a hagwon. You think this is uncommon? THINK AGAIN!!!


Kids in Korea have little respect for foreign teachers in a public school setting. They view you as being a clown. Kids in Korea know the difference between a white person/foreigner who is a diplomat, MBA or Engineer and one who is a dime a dozen English teacher. The reason you get more respect in a hagwon is because in a hagwon you are viewed as a teacher but in a public school you are viewed as a spoiled clown who does no real work (even though this is not the case).

My experience is that public school teachers get the least amount of respect in Seoul (as compared to other parts of Korea). This is probably because many of the white people/foreigners in Seoul are in fact diplomats, MBA's and engineers (trust me...a 10 year old Korean knows the difference and will become very clear to you).

My advice: keep away from public schools in Korea at all costs (especially those in Seoul). Korea is a great place to live so long as you don't work in a public school.

[smeggysmeg]

What you describe as your experience at a public school fits my exact experience at a hagwon.

We were nothing but entertainers/spectacles, put on stages and made to sing songs whenever possible.


It makes me think your public school experience was atypical, or otherwise all Korean schools/academies, both public and private, have the same attitudes and it's simply luck of the draw.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[World Traveler]

I called it a few threads back. I said troll or recruiter.

(And there ARE recruiters in disguise posting on this board.)

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Modernist]