Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nakron]

Hello all,

I recently got a job offer from this place, and I'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of it. An internet search turned up nothing.

Changyoung Technical High School... it's based in Changnyeong, so it might be better spelled "Changnyeong Technical High School"...

Any help would be appreciated.

[jvalmer]

Just curious, have you ever taught in a technical school before?

They can be good, but usually bad. Generally the larger the city the worse the technical school is (student behavior wise). Although sometimes small city technical schools aren't too bad, aside from stopping students from smoking on campus.

[nakron]

Personally I have no formal/professional teaching experience... just some tutoring jobs and some informal/volunteer experience at things like Sunday Schools and such... so no, I have never taught at a technical school.

Would you say that the attitude of the students would be the biggest problem in such a school? And why would a smaller city's technical school be somehow better than a larger city's? I'm a little confused.

[jvalmer]

[Modernist]

I would advise being VERY VERY cautious about working in a technical high school. Teaching EFL in HS anywhere in Korea [except Foreign Language HSs] is difficult enough due to the enormous pressure on students with tests and cramming, leading to exhaustion and frequent sleeping in your classes [which are perceived to be disposable since the material is not generally tested]. The saving grace at a normal academic HS is the handful of kids in your classes that DO care and ARE engaged and are willing to participate. At this level students need to be using the words, doing activities and group work and not just sitting there staring at you talking and a PPT for 50 minutes. If they refuse to engage or speak, your classes will quickly become intolerable.

As jvalmer says, technical [and commercial, industrial, agricultural, etc] schools have basically remedial students. In other words, these places are where the kids at MS who don't care about studying or tests or school in general end up by default. In Korea, any kid who puts in the work in MS will never end up at a THS, whether they're smart or not. A decent number of kids at THSs have learning disabilities and/or major behavioral problems too.

As an MS teacher myself, at a school with more than its fair share of students who don't care, I can tell you that of my lowest-level kids, the subject that they care LEAST about is English. They have been forced to study it for 7 years using dull and pointless textbooks, they suck at it, they know this, they have internalized the notion that they can't 'do English.' Their motivation is zero. They are just waiting for it to be over.

What helps me deal with it is that even my low classes have some kids who are bad at English but not everything. They want to improve and decent materials and teaching can get them engaged, sometimes. In a THS you will have almost no students like this.

I have a friend teaching at an AgHS in a mid-sized city. She HATES it. She has no control over behavior, no respect from the students, no ability to make them focus on the material. It's not because she's a bad teacher, but because NO ONE at her school cares if the students learn or not. They are just there because the law says they have to be somewhere. The Korean teachers at THSs are just like jvalmer says, marking time and earning hardship credit with their local POE until they can get a better posting. They don't help or support FTs because they don't think it's worth the effort.

[jvalmer]

http://www.cths.hs.kr/
Not sure if this is your school, it's in Gyeongnam province.
If you navigate the pages the have the name of the NET there. If I were you I'd try to get in contact with the guy, if you can, and get a preview of what's it like.

Advantage, looks like small school (177 students total), so you might be in luck and the teachers may keep a tight ship. But take the above warning and be mentally prepared for the worst.

[nathanrutledge]

I did a tour of duty at a tech high school. Yes, it's a tour of duty!

Two schools of thought on this subject:

Tech schools suck. The kids don't care. The teachers don't care. They will sleep, fight, smoke, and generally abuse you until you kill them, yourself, or both.

This can be accurate. If you are gung-ho about teaching, then yes, it's not the place for you.

ON THE OTHER HAND

Tech schools are awesome. The kids don't care. They aren't stressed about school work, or about grades, or about anything. They can be some of the most relaxed students, which is great. The teachers don't care. You can do whatever you'd like in your class without fear of a meddling coworker.

Really, it's all in how you approach it. Lot of my students were from broken homes - abusive parents, divorced parents, a couple of kids who lived in orphanages; it was rough. But, if you see them as people, and realize that they have their own hopes and ambitions and goals, it can be a great place.

But have no illusions. Korean schools are NOT what you see on tv, or hear about. The regular schools are loud, rough, full of energy, and then class starts. Then they sleep, they ignore you, they don't care. Technical schools are much more extreme. IF you approach it with the attitude of "let me teach them something that they WILL use, let them have a good experience with English" then you'll do alright.

[nakron]

Hello all,

Thank you for all your comments, they have been most informative! Normally I try to research the schools myself but with nothing to find this time it was really good to learn more about technical schools in general... at least so I can avoid them.

This school seemed to have something off about it from the beginning... for example, the recruiter didn't tell me the name of the school until I specifically asked. Just a case of a dodgy recruiter, I guess.

Plus, yesterday I found out that the contract they're using for their teachers is actually EPIK's contract... literally. It even says it's for "The English Progam in Korea: EPIK" up in the title, and references that I will be working for the "government," although the recruiter has assured me this is a private school!

So there is no way in hell I am working there.

Oh well. Win some, lose some.

Thanks again.

[nathanrutledge]

FYI

There are no "private" schools in Korea like there are in the west. All schools here receive government funding. A "private"school here just means that they can be a bit more selective on their students and curriculum, and they have a bit less oversight. They are still related to the government.

Plenty of PS jobs are handled in plenty of ways. You could be hired by the Provincial office, you could be hired directly by the school, you could be paid by the national government, the city government, or by the school directly.

Don't write it off based on the fact that it's private. In fact, private might actually be better. See, there are really no more "technical" high schools in Korea. They have all changed their names to things like "digital, mechanical, agricultural, etc..." to get away from the stigma. My last school was a technical school, but it was called "digital" and my students, while being rough, WERE studying in 1 of 4 majors - robotics, biotech, multimedia, and networking.

As I said, private schools have more leeway in recruiting students, so a private tech school that has its act together could be a really cool place - better selection of students who are probably not college bound and a lot more relaxed. MUCH better than bottom of the barrel tech kids OR top of the pile college bound studytrons who have no life outside of tests.

Long story short, don't write it off because of the private aspect.