Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajuma]

One of the main problems with coming to teach in Korea for the first time, is that most people don't know HOW to teach, how to control a class, how to prepare lessons, etc.

My Korean teacher friend and I have been batting this idea around for a while now and I thought I'd ask: would this fly?

Our idea is this: Set up a school for teaching new teachers how to teach. It could be a 1 or 2 day thing, paid for by the sponsoring school. We would teach classroom management skills, how to teach everyone from K-adults (together, we've got more than 16 years experience), what to expect from employers, an intro to Korean culture, how to survive in Korea....in short, everything "newbies" need to know.

The question is: Do you think that hagwons would pay for this kind of service?

[Eazy_E]

I think some of the serious, professional hagwons would go for it. But unfortunately, there are too many that are only concerned with putting a white face in front of the kiddies for the mothers' satisfaction. From a newbie teacher's point of view however, it's a great idea.

[Demophobe]

Well, many have a TESL, which is supposed to cover some of the topics you listed. I think the problem would be that the hagwons are generally fairly cheap, and may well overlook your service as it wouldn't be accredited or professionally recognized. I think that to a Korean, such a service may seem frivolous for a variety of reasons, one of which (and the most probable) Eazy_E stated.

As far as an introduction to Korea and all of the things you mentioned that are outside of a TESL, while beneficial, they aren't important to the hagwon. If one hasn't a TESL, I still think the idea may have a hard time flying. It just doesn't seem essential, IMHO.

I think a better question may be, do you think that some foreigners would pay for a quick training/intro to Korea course shortly after arriving, perhaps on a day off? I dunno...I would have gone for it when I first arrived. Kind of like a welcome wagon service. It could lead to some private Korean language classes or something, depending on how keen the foreigners are.

Sorry to rain on a great idea...I think it really is a novel and useful idea, but I think it would be a hard sell to those who are notoriously cheap folks, namely the hagwon owners. Getting a foreigner is kind of pricey as it is...plane ticket, apartment, visa, recruiter...a lot of fees...this may just seem like an additional wasteful expense.

[manlyboy]

[/quote]One of the main problems with coming to teach in Korea for the first time, is that most people don't know HOW to teach, how to control a class, how to prepare lessons, etc.

My Korean teacher friend and I have been batting this idea around for a while now and I thought I'd ask: would this fly?

Our idea is this: Set up a school for teaching new teachers how to teach. It could be a 1 or 2 day thing, paid for by the sponsoring school. We would teach classroom management skills, how to teach everyone from K-adults (together, we've got more than 16 years experience), what to expect from employers, an intro to Korean culture, how to survive in Korea....in short, everything "newbies" need to know.

The question is: Do you think that hagwons would pay for this kind of service?

[manlyboy]

Note to self: Messing up the quotation renders your opinions ineffective.

[peppermint]

I'm not sure it would work as a hagwon thing, but maybe as a consultant who came on site for a day, and was willing to work into their schedule.

[Ryst Helmut]

The amount of corners (financially speaking) hakwons already cut, I doubt they'd foot the bill for such a prep course, especially if the instructors (no matter 30 years experience) are lacking in letters.

I heard that one chain, maybe Wonderland, had/has such a prep course, but all their instructors have MAs in TESOL or what-not....can't recall exactly, the meeting was in Korean, I was on my Nth beer, and several years ago.

Also, I really don't think a few days would do much.

What exactly would you cover that a newbie couldn't glean from Dave's, fellow teachers, cluture books, and/or a CELTA/TESL/blar blar certificate?

You'd also need to know that what you teach is sound. What I mean is, would you teach that students should not use Korean-English dictionaries in class? At my university, where several of the teachers had many years of teaching experience, they had English-English dictionaries (only allowed, I think...maybe a 'ban' on Korean-English dictionaries...whatever, I digress). However, there are several published, peer reviewed, empirical studies that prove that bi-lingual dictionaries are as good as, and often are better than, English-English dictionaries for ESL/EFL students.

I know what you posed was not exactly geared to this type of instruction, but I'm not sure where you'd draw the line in your curriculum, as well as problems in pedagogy, so I used this as just as an example.

However, try, you never know!

Just make sure you don't work illegally, I wouldn't!



!shoosh

Ryst

[Ryst Helmut]

[Cymro]

Nothing can prepare you for the reality of teaching in a hagwon.

[Toby]

[captain kirk]

Sounds all right. The big franchises, like Hess in Taiwan, bring over a shipload of foreigners just after college lets out and give a huge seminar on teaching that lasts a couple of days and there are refresher get togethers after that every couple of months which are compulsory. But from what I've noticed the big franchised schools here have teachers coming and going at odd times.
I've seen some pathetic franchise training seminars. I mean just awful. It depended on who was presenting. In some of them the Korean teachers stole the show, with the foreign teachers bored brainless.
Some of them were a hoot, usually the boatload of teachers just arrived ones, like Hess in Taiwan. The best activities were when we were asked to simulate a class with some fellows as 'students' and a national and native teacher up 'teaching them'. In one group's 'skit' the 'kids' charicatured wild kids and, at one point, a 'teacher' had a kid hanging on his leg like a koala hugging a tree while another 'kid' tried to dong-chim him. It was like Saturday Night Live.
Marcel Marceau could give a good class for teachers, and L.A S.W.A.T.

[paul]

I think the idea of setting up a course for teachers is good, because most of the TESOL type courses have you present your lesson plans in ideal conditions to your peers. And even if you do get some practical exp., it's normally nothing like how it really is.

If you could set it up so that in three, 8-hour days, a new teacher could get a real taste of what it's like to teach in a Korean hogwan, then you would be a millionaire.

Definetly do it independent of the hogwans, or they will start to control your school too!