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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 3:40 am Post subject: A Hogwon Owner's Perspective |
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Blogger gives a hagwon boss’ perspective
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Running a school is physically, mentally and even emotionally a harrowing business.
With constant pressure from policymakers, teachers and pundits amid cutthroat competition and stifling costs, private English academies are hard enough to run as it is.
One foreign hagwon owner in Korea, who goes by “TheBoss,” says it is compounded by the fact that few outsiders attempt to understand Korea’s English education system before they condemn it.
His blog, Wangjangnim’s perspective ― a play on the Korean words “wangja,” prince, and “wonjangnim,” director ― attempts to shed light on a side of the hagwon business English speakers rarely hear about: the pressures of being the boss.
“I am trying to be a voice not heard in the ESL community. My somewhat unique perspective as a foreigner in Korea, having opened a hagwon and having had a real taste of the difficulties in running a hagwon might bring the two ‘opposites’ closer together,” he told The Korea Herald in an email interview, requesting anonymity.
“It also helps me to take a step back and force myself to take a wider point of view. Tunnel vision is easy to get into, but difficult to get out of.”
With five years of experience running his all-ages school based outside of Seoul, TheBoss ― who said he has an MBA but no formal teaching experience prior to opening his hagwon ― writes extensively about the challenges of running a small business that he has poured his life savings into.
One recurring challenge is finding quality employees who will do more than the bare minimum, who are looking to make a long-term difference versus those seeking the highest bidder, and who will help improve the quality and image of his school.
“Searching for good teachers is like searching for decent-sized carp in an overfished lake,” he quips in one entry. “It is in there somewhere, but catching it might take more energy and time than you have.”
He tries to explain the hagwon owner’s side when things go wrong between teacher and school: One bad teacher can make a school lose an entire class of students in a matter of weeks, and it is better to cut him loose as soon as possible than to sink more money on him.
This mentality can perhaps be seen as ruthless, but he challenges readers to see it from the boss’ side.
“Most small hagwon owners have a vested interest in the success of their endeavor, and therefore are more likely to make the necessary personal sacrifices to make a good class great,” he writes. “When you hire teachers, their motivations are slightly different. It’s a job.”
He says hagwon owners, especially of small schools, must be assertive in the fiercely competitive market, where he claims his rivals have spread rumors that his school is facing closure and even stuck nails into the tires of his school bus.
A successful school’s biggest defense, he says, is finding its niche. Now he markets his anti-textbook teaching philosophy that education should cater to students’ individual needs.
“Business is about efficiency and effectiveness. I have found any standard curriculum to be severely lacking in either,” he said. “Education is not a mass consumption industry, it works with individuals. Therefore, to be able to be effective and efficient, you need to adapt the curriculum to the individual.”
A learner of English as a foreign language himself ― he is from a European country where English is not the native tongue ― he believes that it is more effective to teach English as a practical skill rather than an academic principle, just as a student driver does not need to know how to put a car together in order to drive it.
He has found that while Korean parents may often respect his brevity, it’s difficult to keep the rest convinced that they can still find quality education outside of franchised schools.
“Some (parents) do understand my teaching philosophy and do understand how it positively impacts their children ― not only language-wise, but in a sense of true education, that their minds are being opened to see a bigger world,” he said. “The only problem is, most Koreans don’t understand that part of education, which makes it difficult to sell my product. I don’t only teach English, I teach them how to think in English.”
His blog and business are both works in progress: He neither claims that they have reached their full potential, nor that he knows all the answers. He says it took him two years to break even, and he is still working toward achieving new goals.
“I understand why so many people start a school. ... I understand their desperation in trying to provide for their family. I understand the cutthroat attitudes of school owners,” he said. “I understand the insecurities Koreans face every single day. I did not understand those things five years ago.
“In these five years I have been chiseling on my concepts of education and adapting them to the ‘Korean situation.’ It is still a hard sell.”
While he attempts in his school to bring a fresh perspective to education, he repeatedly stresses the importance of not imposing Western perspectives on a non-Western environment.
“I see the desperation and frustrations of many Koreans trying to fit their culture into a global world, and with it the global frustrations with Korea to try and make sense of it all,” he said. “We have to let Koreans decide how they want to take part in this global world. We cannot impose Western standards, because all I see is that the worst of Western standards get emulated first.”
See Wangjangnim’s perspective at wangjangnim.com. |
Always interesting to see the other side of things. |
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maximmm
Joined: 01 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 4:08 am Post subject: |
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'One foreign hagwon owner in Korea, who goes by “TheBoss,” says it is compounded by the fact that few outsiders attempt to understand Korea’s English education system before they condemn it. '
That's quite funny - I wonder if his school is horribly run, hence his offensive defense?
Fact is, most education systems have good and bad points to them. It is foolish to condemn any education system, but to analyze and criticize the current Korean education system is as healthy as is analyzing and criticizing the current American education system. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 4:20 am Post subject: |
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He posts on here... why don't you ask him?
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 4:50 am Post subject: |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
He posts on here... why don't you ask him?
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Yeah, I'm never sure on how ppl will respond to being "outed". Figured he could respond here if he wanted to field any questions.
As far as I know though, there are a few school owners that post on this board. |
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Paddycakes
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 5:10 am Post subject: |
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Okay, I'm going to out the guy... his name is Bruce Springsteen, aka "The Boss".
Seriously, you should never call yourself "The Boss"... it's one step away from being one of those sh*t heads who refers to themselves in the 3rd person... |
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Savant
Joined: 25 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 5:11 am Post subject: |
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Hagwon teacher's are often called Edutainers but who can amalgamate the words Business and Education to describe what Hagwons really are?
Hagwon's who talk about finding a niche in the market are no different from fried chicken franchises who look at different ways to sell you fried chicken (coated in rice, honey, spring onions etc) but at the end of the day it's still fried chicken. Hagwon education niches are all gimmicky but packaged differently. |
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Paddycakes
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 5:14 am Post subject: |
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| Savant wrote: |
| Hagwon's who talk about finding a niche in the market are no different from fried chicken franchises who look at different ways to sell you fried chicken (coated in rice, honey, spring onions etc) but at the end of the day it's still fried chicken. |
Hey, that's racist. |
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coralreefer_1
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 5:32 am Post subject: |
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| Savant wrote: |
Hagwon teacher's are often called Edutainers but who can amalgamate the words Business and Education to describe what Hagwons really are?
Hagwon's who talk about finding a niche in the market are no different from fried chicken franchises who look at different ways to sell you fried chicken (coated in rice, honey, spring onions etc) but at the end of the day it's still fried chicken. Hagwon education niches are all gimmicky but packaged differently. |
Interesting considering ANY product on the market fits the same description, and yet...there are plenty of success stories. Ice cream is ice cream, but there is a BIG difference between Häagen-Dazs and that 500won crap on a stick...and yet both are ice cream, and both do well in their niche. The examples are endless.
Can this guys niche be successful? Hard to say, but he has lasted 5 years and has at least somewhat earned a reputation in his area. That alone (being in business for 5 years as a start up foreigner in this country, in THAT industry) is praiseworthy in my book. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 5:51 am Post subject: |
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That was a very interesting post Captain.
It is interesting to see the other side of things on here. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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Threequalseven
Joined: 08 May 2012
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 9:28 am Post subject: |
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| Gotta at least give the guy props for teaching students on an individual level. It's one thing to dedicate yourself to something like running a business, it's another thing to ensure the service you're offering actually has merit and isn't just a money maker. It seems the majority of Korean businessmen simply use the same cookie-cutter business plan that's been done a thousand times before and emulate that, whether it's a hagwon, coffee shop, restaurant, soju hof, Paris Baguette, etc. Hopefully more folks break out of their shell and understand the value in offering something unique and unconventional. |
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meangradin
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Gotta at least give the guy props for teaching students on an individual level. It's one thing to dedicate yourself to something like running a business, it's another thing to ensure the service you're offering actually has merit and isn't just a money maker. |
Don't fool yourself - boutique schools like this usually charge a mint, as they ARE in business, just like everyone else |
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GoldMember
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:32 am Post subject: |
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| As a business too competitive and a declining market. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 6:01 am Post subject: |
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He's been up and running for five years. It sounds like he's doing OK.
Unless he's hiring certified teachers or providing some kind of training, it seems a bit of a low blow to blame (some of) his (former) employees. But that's what happens when the suits are in charge. Check out George Clooney's latest diatribe against the hedge fund manager who's trying to influence Sony pictures. |
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transmogrifier
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 6:08 am Post subject: |
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| atwood wrote: |
He's been up and running for five years. It sounds like he's doing OK.
Unless he's hiring certified teachers or providing some kind of training, it seems a bit of a low blow to blame (some of) his (former) employees. But that's what happens when the suits are in charge. Check out George Clooney's latest diatribe against the hedge fund manager who's trying to influence Sony pictures. |
I work with an American guy whose (Korean) wife owns a hogwan, and he's involved in the hiring process for foreign teachers. He has several stories about how crap some of the teachers have been. I've told him he should interview better, but there are plenty of crap teachers out there to go with the crap owners. |
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