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Compulsory 'Study' Day for foreign teachers

 
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LindaYee



Joined: 15 Dec 2011
Location: Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:54 am    Post subject: Compulsory 'Study' Day for foreign teachers Reply with quote

I've been told by the owner of my school that I have to attend a 'study day' for 'all' foreign teachers on Wednesday 14th December.
It's in the morning, here in Busan, between 9-12.30.
She says if I don't go she will be fined.
I finish my contract in five weeks and don't particularly want to give up my free morning to attend something I don't really need.
Does anyone know anything about this?
Any light on this would be appreciated.
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Stan Rogers



Joined: 20 Aug 2010

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's the price you pay for......
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YTMND



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I've been told by the owner of my school that I have to attend a 'study day' for 'all' foreign teachers on Wednesday 14th December.


And you were content on this being the full message? I would have waited for an explanation of exactly what "study day" meant so I wouldn't have to quote it out of ignorance.

Why didn't you ask what it was? Confused

Passing the buck onto others to figure this out won't help either of us.

Anyway, let's say it is not a good day and we want to avoid it. Is the job really that bad? You (will have) worked 364 days, and now you want to skimp out? Why not just go, put in your 3.5 hours and be done? I don't see your rationale for fighting such a small amount of time, and at the end of a contract period.

If the school was that good that you never had to put in 3.5 hours before, I'd say you are being rather selfish. If this is one incident in a long list of things the school has done to take advantage of you, then you have allowed it all this time and now you are complaining?

Sorry, I can't see a slant to support not going. Perhaps you can play a sick day card that day, or have you used all of them up? That's how I protest when there is something I genuinely feel is wrong to expect of the teacher.


Last edited by YTMND on Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:35 pm    Post subject: Re: Compulsory 'Study' Day for foreign teachers Reply with quote

LindaYee wrote:
I've been told by the owner of my school that I have to attend a 'study day' for 'all' foreign teachers on Wednesday 14th December.
It's in the morning, here in Busan, between 9-12.30.
She says if I don't go she will be fined.
I finish my contract in five weeks and don't particularly want to give up my free morning to attend something I don't really need.
Does anyone know anything about this?
Any light on this would be appreciated.



These meetings are legally required hogwan teacher training meetings held in many parts of Korea. They are supposed to be nationwide, but some local education offices are not up to handling all of their required duties. They are held at various times of the year in different areas.There are penalties and fines for not attending. Legal E2 teachers who are also legally registered at the local Education Office are required to attend. The meeting is a waste of time, but required.
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andrewchon



Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Location: Back in Oz. Living in ISIS Aust.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What's so bad about meeting new people?
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LindaYee



Joined: 15 Dec 2011
Location: Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ontheway, thanks. I just wanted to know if the day was compulsory, the owner of my school was very vague and didn't have any information to give me on what the day was about or even where it is at this stage.
YTMND - you're a jerk. You always come in 'like the washing' with some put down, negative, attacking comment.
Andrewchon - the meeting people is the best part Smile
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NYC_Gal 2.0



Joined: 10 Dec 2010

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

andrewchon wrote:
What's so bad about meeting new people?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh_I19_mKkU&feature=relmfu

Many of us have lived here for a while, so know where and how to find friends in our areas. If this were for new teachers or optional for veterans, it would make sense. Forcing someone who's been here for several years is stupid.

On a more serious note, though, it's in the morning. That's not during working hours for the majority of hagwon teachers.
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PRagic



Joined: 24 Feb 2006

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks to be more of a half day. And you only have 5 weeks to go. Best advice is to just suck it up and go. You just need to show up and put your brain in neutral for a few hours. Easy enough and you'll have fewer problems dealing with the end of your contract. No biggie.
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chaz47



Joined: 11 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was told about this after they gave me an OK for vacation on that day. I think I am in the definite right by not going. I texted my manager to inform him, that I had HOLIDAY plans outside the city. He never replies in a timely manner though. I highly doubt this will bite me in the ass. However, this is South Korea... so one never knows. I will most certainly be pissed if I am expected to spend any amount of my meager vacation attending that "seminar".
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cincynate



Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Location: Jeju-do, South Korea

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
YTMND - you're a jerk. You always come in 'like the washing' with some put down, negative, attacking comment.


When his information isn't negative and attacking, its usually false and erroneous. Why do you waste everyone's time here?
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YTMND



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!

PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cincynate wrote:
Quote:
YTMND - you're a jerk. You always come in 'like the washing' with some put down, negative, attacking comment.


When his information isn't negative and attacking, its usually false and erroneous. Why do you waste everyone's time here?


Everyone is saying the same thing I am, to go. How can it be negative and false?

Attend this study day. If I typed the same words with another account, would you react the same way? Me thinks not Wink

I don't care about being an online target for your frustrations after work or a way to vent your aggression. I personally don't go on the internet to tell people to go elsewhere or put them down in the sense you and the original poster seem to falsely portray me as. I do go on the internet to set the record straight and stand up for myself. If you don't like it, tough beanies baby.

And always remember, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Not even online or my little dog too!!!
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do you need to attend = no.
Can you be forced to attend = no.
Can you be fined or punished for NOT attending = NO (contrary to labor law).

Will anything happen to you if you don't go = no.

Does the MOE have the authority to make you attend on your own time and at your own expense = NO. (it is actually the hagwon association that arranges for these and they are NOT mandatory, in spite of what your employer may claim).

Your visa won't get canceled. Immigration doesn't care. Get a D10 and change jobs or finish and go home.
Your employer won't get fined and you won't get fired over it.
You won't lose your job, airfare, severance or pension over it.

5 weeks and leaving Korea or changing employers = ignore it.

5 weeks and planning to renew with the same employer then do it just to keep the peace.

.
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LindaYee



Joined: 15 Dec 2011
Location: Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do

PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for all the responses.
I actually told my boss yesterday that I didn't wish to attend, considering I only had five weeks to go and will never teach in South Korea again (though will still be working here).
This is her first hagwon. She is an excellent boss.
I have put in a lot of extra time -unpaid - because I genuinely want to help her and would have gone if it was going to cost her.
She came to me this afternoon after doing some further research and told me that I don't 'have' to go - she won't be fined. There may be a black mark against her school (her words) but she gets given a clean slate at the beginning of the year.
So, happy ending for both of us.
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NYC_Gal 2.0



Joined: 10 Dec 2010

PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 5:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm glad that it worked out. If you were planning on renewing, then yeah, sucking it up and going would make sense. As you're leaving, it really shouldn't affect you or her. The black mark goes away anyway.

Safe travels!
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Who's Your Daddy?



Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I went to this seminar when I lived in Busan. I returned my signed form from the "hosts" to my boss. My co-worker didn't attend, and didn't submit the form. Nothing happened to her, the boss never even mentioned it. I felt that I got no credit for going, that I'd wasted my own time.

And the presentation was 1) How to get an E2 2) Don't do drugs
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