Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack the knife]

And here's a perfect example:

My wife recently "signed on" to teach at Topia, a reputable hogwon in Seoul. Actually, she was not given a contract to sign. She was "told" that she would be getting 10 days of vacation (fair enough), but she was also informed that she would not be receiving severance. The no severance thing has something to do with the fact that Korean teachers at Topia are hired on as "independent contractors" or something of that nature. Right.

Being somewhat new to the hogwon industry, she accepted the position at the word of the boss (you're probably wondering "Where were you this whole time, Mack?" Frankly, I assumed Topia was a respectable, stand-up kind of organization, so I wasn't too worried for her. My foolish mistake, right? )

Anyway, yesterday (she's been working for over a month now) the school informed her that national holidays would count against her vacation days (Ouch!) and they are going to start taking a 10% deposit out of her paycheck each month which, if she should quit before her one year "contract" is completed, would not be remitted (Zoinks!) Needless to say, she'll be looking for a new job soon enough.

[Saxiif]

Yeah, they get it worse than us a lot of the time.
My GF did a week of training for a middleschool hagwon (for no compensation) and taught a day or two then got fired right after that due to some kind of internal backbiting and didn't get a cent.
Her new boss then took most of her first paycheck as a similar kind of anti-quitting deposit and she worked all weekend last weekend and this coming one too. At least she's getting decent money by korean hagwon teacher standards (1.7).

[dutchman]

Sorry to hear it Mack. Was/Is she teaching English or Chinese?

You would think with the enormous number of students they have they could afford to treat their teacher's well. Like you, I thought they were one of the better hagwons. Live and learn.

[just because]

My poor g/f used to do the hagwon job(she also worked at Topia, it was awful).
She got treated like crap but she is a feisty one so one day she laid it down on the boss to back off. He was a bit startled so he left her alone and she never had any more problems, besides the shitty work load.

IMO, Korean teachers need to stand up for themselves and band together, he can't sack all the teachers at the same time(especially at a big hagwon).

[hellofaniceguy]

I'm going to post something that will cause some bad responses... I don't know how to talk using finesse, I just shoot from the hip and I don't care.
All you korean teachers that are not native speakers of the language you are teaching and or have not LIVED in the country for many years of the language you are teaching should not be teaching! Period! Most KT's grammar skills suck! As does the conversation skills. Not all, but the majority. You have no business teaching a language unless you KNOW the culture also. If you don't understand or know the culture, it's impossible to do a good job teaching a language as it all goes hand in hand. Many KT's are teaching the same grammar and conversation mistakes that they make to their students!
Even though I did live in Korea for many many years and speak the language and I am told as well as a Korean, (which I am NOT!) I would never think of teaching Korean.
KT's get shafted because YOU let the schools screw you over. You get shafted because you are not "native language teachers," and parents want or think that a non asian face knows the language better. I have meet a few Koreans who speak English well and do a good job of teaching but the majority that I have meet throughtout Korea do not. And I have meet hundreds and hundreds of KT's.
I don't begrudge KT's for making a living but stand up for yourselves! Get better in your language skills. Practice speaking the language by talking with your co-workers. Quit all the damm knitpicking that I have seen going on in hokwons.
Native speakers should be paid more money than KT's! They same way that you should be paid more money in another country for teaching Korean.
Until you learn to stand up for yourselves, quit being condensending, quit following "Korean style," it won't get better for all teachers. Face it; following Korean style is not helping you one bit. Look at your wages, all the extra work you have to do and all the a$$ kissing and it still gets you dumped on.
I have seen some great KT's get shafted because they let themselves be used. And then they still find themselves without a job a week later!
I said my piece and go ahead and flame me. I don't care.

[just because]

While a little bit harsh i do agree.

Most KT can't teach English, a lot can't even speak english. That is why they can be walked all over.

[Real Reality]

Sorry Mack,

This happens in "good" hagwons and "great" universities.

[kangnamdragon]

One also needs to understand that there are plenty of Korean teachers who can teach English at the level they do. With the high unemployment rate, it is always easy to hire new teachers. I admit, they are not treated well, but that is a part of working as a Korean, not being an English teacher. Working conditions of Korean teachers should not be compared to those of native speakers. They are in a completely different league unless the Korean teacher has a vast amount of experience overseas.

[komtengi]

[Homer]

Actually niceguy,

KT's grammar skills are superior to your average Foreign teacher. This is in my experience anyway.

I think that sometimes a KT combined with a FT can be quite effective.

[rapier]

At my hogwon, the FT's are allowed to leave the office on breaks, and whenever they've finished teaching.
The poor KT's have to stay in the office working, or pretending to work at least, until 9pm every night- wether they have lessons or not.

[mack the knife]

It's no secret that Korean teachers are expected to work longer hours and take on more responsibilities (such as making calls to disgruntled mothers).

In fact, I'm not surprised in the least that a hogwon owner would exercise duplicity with regards to a Korean national. What does surprise me, however, is that the offending school happens to be Topia, which comes highly recommended (by both foreigners and Koreans alike). As Real Reality reminds me, here in my rose-colored glasses, bad sh*t happens to good teachers at good schools all the time.

On the other hand, the buck simply has to stop somewhere (or does it?). When the supposedly "top notch" schools start getting frequently blacklisted (btw, if my wife quits I'll happily post the school location), it's a sure sign that the state of affairs has gone from bad to intolerable.

There is an acute explanation for this state of affairs. Many middle and high school hogwons have recently closed their doors because of new, inexpensive (or free) programs offered by the media and public schools, so there exists a glut of Korean teachers in the market at the moment, all scratching and clawing for work. The mediocre economy hasn't helped the hogwon situation, either. My wife's boss has frequently "reminded" the Korean teachers of this fact. These thinly veiled threats serve to "enslave" the teachers (sound familiar???).

Unfortunately, as NiceGuy so eloquently reminds us, there will always be some sucker out there who will just lie down and accept their lot. The same egregious conditions have been handed down to all the teachers at my wife's school, so it will be intersting to see if, through some form of solidarity, they can overcome this trial.

[JaphieR]

Is this TOPIA in Junggedong, Nowongu, Seoul? I have an interview with them later today. There is no way I would go without a contract. Looks like she is paying them severance.

[crazylemongirl]

sorry to hear that mac. I agree with hell of a nice guy that conditions aren't going to improve for korean teachers until more of them start kicking up a fuss about working conditions.

[TheUrbanMyth]