Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Canucksaram]

Anybody know about Topia Education Zone? It's a chain of hagwons and a friend of mine is considering taking a job there. Has anyone on the board heard good or bad about them?

Kind Regards,

Canucksaram

[Demophobe]

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[sistersarah]

i knew some people who worked at topia....they said it was ok....lots of work, but better organized that most hogwans....only bad thing i heard was that they made them stay in the hogwan even when they weren't teaching....like, if they had a 2 hour break, they just couldnt' leave; had to look busy

[polonius]

I have been working for Topia, the one close to Nowon Station for the past 2 years and am going into my third, and in that time we have had over 20 teachers finish their contract, 5 that are about to finish, 6 renew either at our branch or another, 1 asking to renew, 2 fired, 1 pull a runner back to the states (he was in some legal problems, stealing scooters)

There may be a heavy work load, but the syllabi and curriculum are already established and are thouroughly detailed in Teachers' Guides. Yes there are burnt out students, but can you show me a Korean child over the age of 10 who isn't, with the demands their parents place on them. Yes, there are microphones and cameras in the classroom, but have you never seen a grocery store shopping center or a workplace in North America that does the same. It demands accountability.

Is Topia perfect, no. Find me a working environment that is.

Canucksaram, if you want some contact information of people that are working at Topia, or have worked at Topia, I would be more than glad to pass that information your way. Please don't rely on 2nd hand gossip or hearsay.

[Demophobe]

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[just because]

I know of 3 Topias and they all are not good to work for.

It seems they do screw their workers around a bit as they have standard contracts nationwide(or so I'm lead to believe).
The staying at working while not working seems to be one.

[polonius]

You know of 3 Topias and they are all bad to work for, why? How about a reason why, and not rely on your call sign to argue for you. Just because. Put some substance behind your words. I mean, is your reason that they are bad because they have a standard contract. Yeah, that is a reason not to work for the company . Or is it because they ask their teachers to come in for an 8 hour day, and actually work during that time. Spares in your schedule do not equate to free time. I hear this argument far to many times, and it generally comes from people who are lazy, like to improvise their lessons, and bottom line do not understand the concept of teaching. Teaching is being prepared for the transfer of knowledge, and if you think that you are a perfect teacher, and need not improve yourself or your lessons, you are subject to ignorance.

[Canucksaram]

The Topia contract my friend showed me had a clause in it regarding the recruiter's fee. The clause stated that the teacher was responsible for paying back the recruitment fee (on a pro-rated basis) if they quit at any time, for any reason, and that sent up a warning flag.

I don't trust blacklists, but when I read about microphones and cameras in Topia classrooms (seems like excessive surveillance, to me), another warning flag went up.

These clauses from the topia contract shown to me are, to put it mildly, not good:

1. The Employee will have to share his/her apartment for up to 15 days a maximum of 1 time with a new incoming teacher. (This makes me wonder how financially sound Topia schools are. If they can't put up a new teacher in a budget hotel or yeogwan, then why are they even hiring him? Share my private home with a stranger? Not a chance.)

2. In the event the Employee enacts this Paragraph by terminating or giving notice of termination, the Employee shall reimburse the Employer as liquidated damages all expenses incurred in anticipation of the Employment of Employee which include airfare, and the recruiting fee on a pro-rated basis. (Why should a teacher that decides to quit pay the recruitment fee? Because the employer is too lazy or ill-informed to hire somebody without using a recruiter? Most--not all, but most--recruiters do precious little to earn their fee and are too often guilty of misrepresenting things to prospective teachers, and thus are widely distrusted.)

I know that I certainly wouldn't sign such an employment contract. Would any of you?

[just because]

[manlyboy]

I worked at a Topia for a year. I stuck it out for two reasons - My co-workers were really great, and I liked my apartment.
Not to villify all Topias, but here's a few "first-hand" reasons to be cautious based on my experience at one of them.

*Micro-management - Teachers are monitored and scrutinized at all times. As if cameras and microphones weren't enough, you had superiors observing in the class, and constantly looking in through the window. Never at any point, no matter how well I was doing, did I feel like my head was not on the chopping block. I had superiors looking over my shoulder while making lesson plans, and asking me to explain where I got my supplementaries from, and why I was straying from their scripted curriculum.
*Non-contractual "obligations" - Forced to switch bank accounts under threat of dismissal. Forced to teach standing for 6 hours straight under threat of dismissal. Incremental pay deductions for being any more than one minute late.
*Contractual obligations - A Micro-teaching presentation in front of your colleagues. They are given evaluation forms and are actively encouraged to criticize you. You are deducted two days pay for taking one day off sick .You must come in two hours before the start of classes (or pay will be docked). You cannot leave until the scheduled finish of the final class, even if you don't have a class to teach (I saw someone fired for that).

I could go on, but you get the general idea. I've posted about bad hagwon experiences before on this site. Almost every one of them was something I experienced at Topia.

[Canucksaram]

Hi, Manlyboy. Your experiences at a Topia school only confirm my doubts.

I freely grant that one cannot say all Topia schools are bad to work at.

The contract clauses I quoted and your descriptions of the micro-management of staffers speak suggest a pervasive disregard for staffers on the part Topia "brand" schools.

Perhaps certain Topia franchises have been burnt by former "teachers" and are enacting a policy of preemptice prejudice. Quite unsurprising, given the history and legacy of corruption and malfeasance in Korean business, particluarly the hagwon business.

All in all, it's safe to say that Topia belongs down on the list of schools to sign with. A gamble, at best, with a poor payout even if one does come up with a "7" or "11."