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Smithington
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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 Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 6:52 pm Post subject: Incompetent Korean co-teachers. |
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I've taught in the public school system for some years now, and I've met some truly incompetent and clueless co-teachers. Not all, of course, but far too many. They teach students errors that I have to later correct. They labor over points and phrases long after the students have learned the lesson, thereby wasting precious time that could be used for developing on the theme. They speak far, far too much Korean during class time. They follow the text like slaves and spend way too much time on games with zero educational value. They sometimes try to marginalize the foreign teacher in the classroom, or insist that they be the 'lead teacher' even though their grasp of English is little better than the students'. The amount of time spent repeating the same stuff from the book is especially absurd. The text should just be the foundation on which you build the structure that is competent English. But some teachers seem to frown on anything being taught that is not directly from the text. It's absurd.
Until we can get Korean teachers out of the English classroom, Korean kids will continue ranking at the bottom of English competency tests. But their pride will never allow this. In fact the trend is, as we all know, away from having native speakers in the classroom. But Koreans teaching English to Koreans is, and likely will always be, a recipe for failure.  |
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Lucas
Joined: 11 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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| They follow the text like slaves and spend way too much time on games with zero educational value. They sometimes try to marginalize the foreign teacher in the classroom, or insist that they be the 'lead teacher' even though their grasp of English is little better than the students' |
That’s probably because they are not at ease with you, they can feel you looking down at them waiting for them to make a mistake and justify your existence.
I make my co-teachers feel good about themselves (no matter how low their English ability is) 'I have their back' so to speak.
Try building a relationship with them instead of whining here  |
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Smithington
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Lucas wrote: |
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| They follow the text like slaves and spend way too much time on games with zero educational value. They sometimes try to marginalize the foreign teacher in the classroom, or insist that they be the 'lead teacher' even though their grasp of English is little better than the students' |
That’s probably because they are not at ease with you, they can feel you looking down at them waiting for them to make a mistake and justify your existence. |
Analysis fail. |
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Lucas
Joined: 11 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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Lucas wrote:
Quote:
They follow the text like slaves and spend way too much time on games with zero educational value. They sometimes try to marginalize the foreign teacher in the classroom, or insist that they be the 'lead teacher' even though their grasp of English is little better than the students'
That’s probably because they are not at ease with you, they can feel you looking down at them waiting for them to make a mistake and justify your existence.
Analysis fail. |
Ok.
Are you an easy person to speak to though?
Classic one liners, such as 'analysis fail,' suggests to me that you aren't...
If you want to take a scientific approach to this issue, look at the NUMBER of CT's you've had and the number of issues you've had, it seems the common denominator is you.
In my experience, (minus the oldest teachers) KET’s English abilities have improved a lot in the last few years. |
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Janny
Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Location: all over the place
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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Agree with OP 100%. Some do make an effort, but most do not.
I think the biggest problem is their inability to say "I'm not sure" or "I don't know". Basically, a resistance to learning altogether that holds things stagnant in this country. It's all about memorizing and recalling facts. There needs to be more lateral and critical thinking in all areas.
I bet the tragedy of Sewol may have been less extreme if there was more proactive thinking / behavior in Korea. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Lucas wrote: |
That’s probably because they are not at ease with you, they can feel you looking down at them waiting for them to make a mistake and justify your existence.
I make my co-teachers feel good about themselves (no matter how low their English ability is) 'I have their back' so to speak.
Try building a relationship with them instead of whining here |
Like you, I've had pretty good luck with my Korean co-workers, but don't think that should blind us to the reality that there are plenty of teachers in the Korean school system with whom it would be problematic for any foreign to work.
He's also right that the textbooks are largely horrible. They're so fixated on having a set pattern to the lessons that they shove the most ridiculous and pedagogically ineffective of activities into lessons just so the lesson headings can remain the same. Sure, I can change those activites into better ones myself, but if I have to do that too often, why use the book at all? |
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Lucas
Joined: 11 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Sure, I can change those activites into better ones myself, but if I have to do that too often, why use the book at all? |
Because then the book companies get their money! |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Lucas wrote: |
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| Sure, I can change those activites into better ones myself, but if I have to do that too often, why use the book at all? |
Because then the book companies get their money! |
It's certainly true that a lot of the educational budget revolves around transfering taxpayer funds to particular companies or organizations. Everytime we get an English budget and talk over what we should get, there's always a ridiculously limited number of potential options. It's clearly corrupt, and because it's corrupt, the few companies that are priviledged enough to suckle at the government teat in this fashion often do a terrible job, their products frequently breaking, crashing, or never working in the first place. Our most useful things tend to be purchased using camp budgets, since there's effectively no limits on how we use those. |
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Scorpion
Joined: 15 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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Like public schools themselves, the co-teachers you get can be hit or miss. Within a single school you can have as many as five or six co-teachers. And if you work at more than one school that number obviously rises. That right there is a lot of different personalities and teaching styles, and attitudes toward the role of foreigners in the classroom (and Korea itself), that we have to adjust to. They on the other hand only have to adjust to one co-teacher, namely us. In my experience some Korean co-teachers have been good, others utterly useless. Some have been helpful and friendly, while others have borderline hostile and resentful of a foreigner having any authority in their classroom whatsoever. Some have been back-stabbers and gossips. Some have barely concealed their dislike for foreigners.
One problem is when you have a poorly crafted book with an incompetent, or uncooperative, co-teacher. Two weeks ago I was teaching my grade four class with a co-teacher. One of the phrases was "Is it fun?" "Yes, it's very fun." I pointed out to the co-teacher that this is poor English. No native speaker would say that. I told her it should read "a lot of fun". She said we should teach what's in the book. So over and over again she labored the phrase, "It's very fun". At some point they will have to unlearn this stupid phrase.
Everything the OP listed I can relate to. Some co-teachers can be a piece of work. |
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nicwr2002
Joined: 17 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:54 pm Post subject: Re: Incompetent Korean co-teachers. |
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| Smithington wrote: |
I've taught in the public school system for some years now, and I've met some truly incompetent and clueless co-teachers. Not all, of course, but far too many. They teach students errors that I have to later correct. They labor over points and phrases long after the students have learned the lesson, thereby wasting precious time that could be used for developing on the theme. They speak far, far too much Korean during class time. They follow the text like slaves and spend way too much time on games with zero educational value. They sometimes try to marginalize the foreign teacher in the classroom, or insist that they be the 'lead teacher' even though their grasp of English is little better than the students'. The amount of time spent repeating the same stuff from the book is especially absurd. The text should just be the foundation on which you build the structure that is competent English. But some teachers seem to frown on anything being taught that is not directly from the text. It's absurd.
Until we can get Korean teachers out of the English classroom, Korean kids will continue ranking at the bottom of English competency tests. But their pride will never allow this. In fact the trend is, as we all know, away from having native speakers in the classroom. But Koreans teaching English to Koreans is, and likely will always be, a recipe for failure. |
One thing you have to understand is that Korean students aren't learning English to speak fluently later in life. They are learning to pass a test that has a strict structure that they have to follow in order to get the correct answers. They explain everything in Korean because the test is explained in Korean as well. |
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Okie from Muskogee
Joined: 30 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:28 am Post subject: |
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| A friend of mine who was an older retired guy and worked at a PS for well over six years told me to let the master Korean teacher run the entire show while you enjoy your R&R. He is absolutely right. |
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Stain
Joined: 08 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:49 am Post subject: Re: Incompetent Korean co-teachers. |
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| nicwr2002 wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
I've taught in the public school system for some years now, and I've met some truly incompetent and clueless co-teachers. Not all, of course, but far too many. They teach students errors that I have to later correct. They labor over points and phrases long after the students have learned the lesson, thereby wasting precious time that could be used for developing on the theme. They speak far, far too much Korean during class time. They follow the text like slaves and spend way too much time on games with zero educational value. They sometimes try to marginalize the foreign teacher in the classroom, or insist that they be the 'lead teacher' even though their grasp of English is little better than the students'. The amount of time spent repeating the same stuff from the book is especially absurd. The text should just be the foundation on which you build the structure that is competent English. But some teachers seem to frown on anything being taught that is not directly from the text. It's absurd.
Until we can get Korean teachers out of the English classroom, Korean kids will continue ranking at the bottom of English competency tests. But their pride will never allow this. In fact the trend is, as we all know, away from having native speakers in the classroom. But Koreans teaching English to Koreans is, and likely will always be, a recipe for failure. |
One thing you have to understand is that Korean students aren't learning English to speak fluently later in life. They are learning to pass a test that has a strict structure that they have to follow in order to get the correct answers. They explain everything in Korean because the test is explained in Korean as well. |
This is the conclusion you have to come to in order to stay sane here. I've often thought that native speakers are a hindrance to English education in Korea because it all comes down to the exams.
Our input strays from the textbooks; therefore, it is counter productive. And what's worse is the rote memorization style of learning, if I can call it learning. When trying to teach high school students to make sentences using the target grammar points in their actual school textbook, I sensed a lack of interest. When I asked them why, they said it doesn't matter because they will just memorize every single sentence in the lessons that will be on their test. I threw my arms up. |
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happiness
Joined: 04 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Lucas wrote: |
| Quote: |
| They follow the text like slaves and spend way too much time on games with zero educational value. They sometimes try to marginalize the foreign teacher in the classroom, or insist that they be the 'lead teacher' even though their grasp of English is little better than the students' |
That’s probably because they are not at ease with you, they can feel you looking down at them waiting for them to make a mistake and justify your existence.
I make my co-teachers feel good about themselves (no matter how low their English ability is) 'I have their back' so to speak.
Try building a relationship with them instead of whining here |
thats right.
thats the key to human relationships of all kinds.
the kids know their teachers arent perfect, but you got to make them comfortable with you.
IMO too many NETS pop in for a year or two, dont really make an effort (and in some cases, why would they) and then pop out. Decent social skills are cross cultural. |
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Okie from Muskogee
Joined: 30 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| happiness wrote: |
IMO too many NETS pop in for a year or two, dont really make an effort (and in some cases, why would they) and then pop out. Decent social skills are cross cultural. |
I agree. IMO too many co-teachers pop in for a year or two, dont really make an effort (and in some cases, why would they) and then pop out. Decent social skills are cross cultural.  |
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Scorpion
Joined: 15 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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Did you people even read the OP's post? What has this 'social skills' nonsense got to do with any of these points made by the OP?
1. They teach students errors that I have to later correct.
2. They labor over points and phrases long after the students have learned the lesson, thereby wasting precious time that could be used for developing on the theme.
3. They speak far, far too much Korean during class time.
4. They follow the text like slaves and spend way too much time on games with zero educational value.
5. Some teachers seem to frown on anything being taught that is not directly from the text. .
6. Their English isn't much better than that of their students'.
You conveniently chose to overlook those points and focus on "relationships". Yet no mention of the Korean co-teacher's need to have social skills too. I've had about thirty co-teachers over the years. Not all of them had social skills, or wanted a foreigner in their class. Whatever my social skills might be, they aren't going to work with everyone. But that's not even the topic of this thread. The topic is about "incompetent" co-teachers. Paul teacher from Boston can have all the social skills in the world; it still ain't going to make Jin hee teacher competent at teaching the Englishee. Nor is it going to alter any of the six points listed above.
Stay focused people. |
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