Korean Job Discussion Forums

[canuk2]

Real teacher with a BA And a BEd. Finding my boss and supervisor really appreciate the training as they listen to advice, take it and even implement it.

Have done a couple training session and been paid several bonuses.

The down side is that I am now working the longest days of all the foriegn teachers and I am now in the process of developing activity books to go with the the plays they want to teach in a special class. Fortunatly I am being paid extra for the activity books.

Definately have worked harder here in Korea in eight months than teaching in Canada or England for full school years.

Can't wait to go home and find a teaching job in Canada. Wish me luck.

[William Beckerson]

I'm gonna be honest:

I'm here for the cash.

And because, when I went home and took a good look at Nova Scotia, I realized just how much better being a assclown to a bunch of snot nosed kids is.

I'm not a real teacher, but I'm a hell of a lot better than some of the Uno/Bingo/Hangman teaching jerks out there. And I do think I teach well enough for someone who dosent consider this a job he desires.

J-Lo's bodypaint guy... Now that's my desired job.

[jsmac]

I got hired by a university directly from Canada with no prior EFL or Korea experience, but two years of other (university) teaching experience. Nobody helped me get in.

So I would consider myself a real teacher in the sense that I have experience, I take teaching seriously, and I will probably do some kind of teaching for the rest of my life. But I am not a "certified" teacher, and my experience isn't in EFL -- I was a university lecturer before coming to Korea. Now that I'm a university conversation teacher here I have figured out that a) yes, I enjoy it here, I have a great employer, and I will have a great time this year, but b) I am clearly NOT here on this planet to teach English to disinterested and unmotivated Korean freshmen.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming the kids: it's not their fault that the (government makes the) university make them take several hours a week of a language they aren't interested in learning and have virtually no opportunities to use outside of class (as far as I know there are all of 4 English-speaking Koreans in the town where I live). If it was me I wouldn't care much either. Certainly, whenever I have students who show me that they are in fact interested in learning English I do anything I can to assist them. But as much as I enjoy my life here, I don't feel that I am really "teaching" anyone the way I used to, and as such I will most probably NOT pursue EFL teaching.

I also agree re: privates. I feel I get paid very well and I'd rather have the time to enjoy myself while I'm here than work all the time. You can't buy your life back for 50K an hour! It would be nice, though, to have some students who were motivated enough to fork out time & money for English lessons...

[gajackson1]

Derrek ~

Some of what you said I agree with, but some of it I don't.

First off, I am happy to grant you that for some, having the paper doesn't make a difference - they just aren't very good teachers, or well matched to the jobs over here.

And, there are some who just seem to be natural teachers, and the lack of papers doesn't seem to hurt them.

However, In my experience, Koreans show a LOT of respect for 'real' teachers (the certified kind). They do know the difference, and differentiate between them. Most of that comes from a combination of culture and Confucian ideals.

I don't think a person has to go around shouting that they are a certified teacher (in some cases, actually I imagine it is a rather bad idea!), but they can let people know by the work they do, the ideas they contribute, and the learning of their students.

Just my opinions,

G.

[Derrek]

Not to rip on people too much... was kind of in a pissy mood when I posted that above....

I know there are a lot of good teachers here who are indeed teachers, but there are also a lot of good teachers here that don't have a degree in teaching. I'm not claiming to be one of them, but I get tired of reading the self-righteous posts of a few on here.

"I'm a REAL English teacher!"

Uhhh..... ok!

[Ody]

i voted "other" a few days ago but didn't post. i needed more time to think about my answer to this meaningful question.

I may not be a real teacher since i did not study education. yet, i am compelled to label myself as real anyway. i am rather serious minded and generally tend to regard the things I do as �real�.

life is now, there is no time left for rehearsals.

further, i believe studying fine art fortified the "real teacher" aspect of my personality. you see, a crucial part of studio studies is the critique. this is when the students post their work and go around the room commenting on it. it�s an exercise designed to give students the ability to develop as objective a point of view as is possible in regarding their work. on graduation day, what I received with that lambskin, 1. the conviction that i have something to contribute, 2. the ability to think critically, and 3. the ability to think objectively, are three qualities that every great teacher and mentor i have ever had possess.

real or not, i hope i �m good.

[rapier]

Wow, looking at the poll it seems that the real teachers are in the majority. Strange, considering that most of the ones i've met aren't qualified. I have the CELTA qualification, supposedly the most recognised ESL cert. in the world. I slaved away 7 months to save up for the course before I came out here, only to find that many teachers don't have any TeFl qualifications and an irrelevant degree. At least mine is in English. Now i realise that the only requirements in korea are to have a degree (open university course in pottery, fine!!), look european (racially speaking- blond hair and blue eyes preferred), and preferably be American (thus speaking the most slang - filled, deviant strain of English in the english- speaking world). Ah well, Korea's always been all about appearances now, hasn't it...

[Scott Sommers]

It's strange how the term 'real teacher' has come to be defined in EFL. A 'real teacher' can be someone who took a class for a month and learned some tricks to get through a few classes that have very particular structure. A 'real teacher' can be someone who has no conception of what learning is, how one learns, or what kind of teaching facilitates learning, but has become 'real' because they 'prepare' -- whatever preparation is for such people. A 'real' teacher may have no special knowledge of their subject (or at least none more than you could learn in a one-month certificate), but because they 'care' about the learning of their students they are 'real teachers'.

Is this what you meant when you were in high school or university? It's funny how one's definition changes when it serves your interests.

[Derrek]

Yet another poster proves my point.

[Scott Sommers]

I'm not sure what point it is that I proved. I assume that your comment is supposed to be a sleer about my post. Am I wrong? I can't really figure out why you would do this because I agree with everything you've posted.

I never said anything about how I view myself or for that matter if I even teach English.

Straighten me out here. Tell me a little more about what your thinking.

[Derrek]

I'm not sure I'm qualified to explain it in terms anyone else would understand.



Maybe I should leave that for the "real teachers"?
*just having fun on a boring Sunday*

[crazylemongirl]

Alright I know this debate has probably been done to death but I can't resist putting my in my 20 won.

First up Qualifcations don't always make real teachers. Back in New Zealand new teachers are required to have either a BEd (usually 3 years) or a Bachelors degree and a 1year Diploma in Teaching (usually 4 years). Just about everyone who has an E2 visa will require a similar level of qualifications in order to enter teaching. So to follow through the arguement that qualification=real teacher you would think that after all that training that there would be no 'unreal' teachers back home.

Well quess what there are. There are heaps of teachers that are so burnt out that they should leave/take a break ASAP yet they linger on because they can't/won't get out of teaching. There are also people that should never have been let into teacher training let alone into a classroom that are there (they are often there because of the 'cruisy hours' and 'long holidays'). These people waste the kid's time and talent while wasting taxpayers money on their salaries. Yet there are unqualified people in the education system that are excellent teachers.

The problem is of course, that with a centralised employment system (at least in New Zealand) all teachers are treated the same. It's impossible to fire the bad ones unless they do something illegal and the only way to earn more money once they hit the top of the pay scale is take on management roles (which often takes good teachers out of the classroom).

However for problems of this system it does weed out a number of people who are teaching in hagwons in Korea that would probably not be in our home countries. Showing up drunk/hungover or not at all is probably going to attract the attention of someone in an english speaking country school. Likewise playing bingo/hangman isn't going to do well with the paper pushers either.

The fact is that the hagwons (and for that matter the 'real teachers') are entering into a lottery when it comes to matching people with places. Some hagwons deserve the unreal teachers they get, yet some places (not to mention the kids and their fee paying parents) really are getting ripped off. The problem is of course that schools are happy to hire people sight unseen, which attracts people in search of easy money and cheap liqour.

Yet I'm certain that there are many teachers in Korea who are not in the words of W.B Yeats merely filling (or sometimes not putting anything in) an empty pail, but they are lighting a fire.

Sweet as,
CLG

[gajackson1]

Scott ~

Welcome to the board. We actually get a lot of questions flying about Taiwan/Taipei; I hope you stick around & keep an eye out for those, as well.

Let's see - 2 clips from Encarta:

[Blue Flower]

Hallelujah Crazylemongirl!!! You have hit the nail on the head. The most important thing I learned whilst doing the post-grad teaching diploma - is that there is no one definition for what a teacher is. Every potential teacher has a different bent on education - i.e. knowledge based, fun based, socialisation based, parent based.... etc, etc, etc,.On my course there were 3 people who I thought should have never been allowed to complete the course, and in fact 2 of them were denied graduation. But what is scary, is that in NZ, you can still teach even if you fail your teaching diploma - one guy did a presentation on date rape (when we were supposed to be looking at a mental disorder...) which offended every female in the room, half the males, and completely disgusted the lecturer, thank god he failed, but the scary thing is he is still able to teach, but will just get paid heaps less money. There are ways around the system.

Getting back on to the argument of paper vs. skill, I think that there are some people who are born teachers, who have a gift to teach others, and there are others who should never even consider it. The "paper" doesn't make those natural teachers worse - it makes them even better than they were originally, the difference between being a good teacher, and an excellent teacher. I think my teaching diploma was the best thing I have ever done. It taught me so much more than just teaching.

I guess if it comes down to it, a real teacher is someone who actually cares about thier students - academically or emotionally, and a fake teacher is only in it for the money. thats my 2 cents worth

[William Beckerson]