Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Julius]

Anything that you can't really get used to about the K ESL system?



-The sheer amount of effort required to bring, and keep korean students to order
-The way the foreign teacher is expected to be at the bottom of the totem pole
-The way parents believe whatever their kids tell them rather than trust the teacher
- The almost total inability to get time off when you (rather than they) want it
-The way many schools pander to the parents every whim, no matter how impractical
-Hakwons that never inform the parents of just how terribly their kids behave
-The students who see your talking as a signal to start talking.
-Students who tap their pens or various items while you are teaching.
-Students who start putting their backpacks on 20 minutes before the end of class
-Unpopular students who resort to misbehaving as a way to gain respect
- Students who are so appallingly badly-behaved but never leave the school
- Students who want to go to the bathroom 2 minutes after class has begun
-The obsession with blonde american females as english teachers
-Hogwon bosses who remove all your disciplinary options, then complain that you "can't control your students"
-The way students instantly opt for americanisms over standard international english
-The fact that the only way to get time off when you actually want it is to quit your job
-The deliberately vague, ambiguous wording of contracts
-The way you are expected to "prove" you're really sick by coming in to be inspected on a sick day
-The total lack of planning for staff illness, ensuring they are always caught off guard with nobody to cover
-The zero-discipline approach of many hogwons
-The way schools pander to the whims and dictates of parents..who are in any case never satisfied
-The tendency of Public school co-teachers to undermine your authority
-The fickle and wildly fluctuating adulation of Korean co-workers
-The co-teacher view that FT's are not good enough, while copying all your ideas and teaching style
-The way it takes an eternity to get workplace improvements implemented
-The hello chorus from groups of schoolchildren
-The way appartment managers or hogwon directors think it is their right to enter your appartment
- The tolerance of awful behavior by wonjangnims just to keep students
-The crazy confusion around E2 regulations
-The regular shifting the goalposts of E2 regulations, causing massive inconveniences
-The way the same documents are demanded again and again
-The way one is regularly forced to quit jobs because of worsening conditions
-The expectation that you wear smart clothes to the hogwon everyday, only for them to be ruined by grubby pawprints and pen marks
-The fact that getting Korean teenagers to study english is akin to dragging a horse through a hedge backwards
-Hogwon bosses who tell you "No games" then complain "your classes are not fun"
-The default suspicion of FT's and requirement to keep proving their credentials

[lemak]

Hey where's the rest of your list? That thing is legendary.

[some waygug-in]

If you don't like it, go home. I did.

[Skippy]

Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.

You covered some of my aggravating ones, too.

[Ibsen]

Definitely agree with a good portion of the list... and I've only been here a few months >.>

[laynamarya]

I don't really think all of these are unique to the K ESL system. Some of them are fairly universal unmotivated student issues (pen tapping, frequent trips to the 'bathroom,' clinging to laziness and misbehaving in order to gain popularity and avoid work, etc.). These problems can be fixed with teacher training or experience, and a little bit of consistency.

And there's another group of problems that are just private school problems. I taught at a private hs in the US for several years, and teachers were frustrated by many of the same issues that plague hagwon teachers: refusing to expel students who dearly deserved it, constant pandering to parents, cash flow problems, having to prove sickness, etc. Not that teachers can do much to solve those sorts of issues, but they are not just Korean issues.

Now the systematic issues, there you are spot-on. The ridiculousness surrounding visa laws, the nature of contracts and the way it is so easy to get fired and screwed out of benefits, the management style, the lack of consistent curricula, the lack of training, the lack of respect for experience, and the shallow appearance-based discrimination...those are the things that make teaching here so difficult, and so hard to fix the other two groups of problems.

But in any case, I sure do enjoy your lists, Julius.

[Wiltern]

[CentralCali]

Heaven forbid someone care enough to improve a situation that affects not only him but others. First step in improvement is identifying the problems.

[tanklor1]

[Squire]

I don't like that English is meant to be fun. Are maths, science and Korean meant to be fun? I feel like this is one of the root causes of bad behaviour in English classes- the assumption that the kids are meant to be having a great time.

[byrddogs]

[luckylady]

[edwardcatflap]

[NQ]

[zombiedog]

It's frustrating for sure. That frustration you feel IS Korea's culture.