Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rok_the-boat]

My first teaching job was in Japan in 1989 and I had none of the 'necessary' qualifications. I had to teach 20 different classes of 50 students a week = 1000 of them! I was the only foreign teacher in the school. I had absolutely no experience and what I taught probably had lasting real effect.

However, 15 years later with a bunch of qualifications under my belt, I am not sure that, in the same situatuion, I wouldn't do what I did in exactly the same way. The sheer impossibility of the situation limits what you can do and achieve.

And at the interview they said ... 'Team teaching.' Then, on my first day, after the homeroom teacher introduced me, he promptly disappeared ...

[pecan]

Mac Knife,

Thank you for explaining what some did not know about GEPIK.

Exposure to foreigners and exposure to English is simple enough.

Let us see how complicated some can make it.

Nut

[crazylemongirl]

[CanadaCommando]

[Demophobe]

...

[mack the knife]

CanadaCommando,

I didn't meet anyone at the GEPIK seminar (and I met a ton of people) who was going to be the only (primary) English teacher. Do you know anyone personally who is the ONLY teacher of English at any school? Everyone I've talked to and every school I know of has Korean teachers who are perfectly capable of teaching book English which will be utilized later to get into universities.

So what's the point? You can't tell me that you know of a school where the only English taught is by a native speaker. Nope. Not buyin' it. So, again, the job of native English speakers is not to provide primary English instruction. It's to supplement Korean English instruction, at best. At worst, it's to be an "edutainer", as another poster pointed out.

[Demophobe]

[peppermint]

I'm not the only one, but might as well be. I don't have co-teachers, and while the grade five and six students get an hour of English with me and an hour with their homeroom teacher each week, the homeroom teachers have essentially refused to work together with me on anything curriculum related. I teach one chapter, they teach the next. It's highly ineffective and I tried to point that out, but oh well.

This is how it is for most of the elementary school teachers outside of the GEPIK program and why there's so many complaints. Realize how easy you've got it and appreciate it.

[Zyzyfer]

I don't know much about this GEPIK stuff, but if I were to wind up teaching in another public middle/high school, I'd buy a couple of TOEFL books, copy the shit out of them, and do TOEFL prep.

[mack the knife]

Demophobe,

Teaching English in public schools (taught by a Korean, naturally) is a government mandate for all 3rd graders and above and was implemented a few years back. So, if no teachers at your school are teaching English, report your school. It's working outside of the system.

[peppermint]

I've heard that kind of advice from new GEPIK employees a few times already, andI'm floored that you're all so naive.

How often are things done precisely by the book here d'you think?
How often do you really think govt cares when people bend the rules?
How much sympathy will there be for the waygook whistleblower on any level?

What your advice amounts to is a good way to get yourself fired.

[jaderedux]

I think alot of you are missing the point. I have been in the public schools now for 3 years.

All elementary schools have English class a couple of times a week. Now days they have English with an native speaker. It is not that the students no longer have English class with their Korean teacher it is just that they now have one English class with a native speaker.

Approximately 3 years ago the 7th curriculm was introduced. It is supposed to be more student center and facilitative. I know this because I used do some minor work for Kyeonggi-do Educational office. Interviewing English teachers was the most telling. One of the things that came through when asking these young men and women questions is the philosophy changes in some of the educational system.

Now whether these are implemented, well that is a different story. I am lucky as the teachers I work with tell me about the training they have and I have met some and talked extensively with teachers at Pyongtek that train Korean-English teachers and this is the trend.

While many of the points that the OP made are valid. There is a mandated change in the philosophy. Now like morals it is hard to legislate philosophy.

I the three years I have been here I don't know of a single school elementary or otherwise that has the Native speaker as the SOLE teacher of the English language.

Jade

[Demophobe]

@ Mack: Why would I report the school? I am not complaining one bit! I am more than happy to do this job, and honestly, I don't want or feel I need a Korean cohort to teach the cirricullum.

@ Jade: I am the only English teacher in my school now. They recieve no other instruction from any other teacher. I teach all English classes and report my daily lessons to the vice principal, following the guidelines for Korean teachers. You mention the "changing philosophy", but fail to outline what it is. "student-centered and facilitative" is not a philosophy, but a rough sketch of one. Please post more on this idea....flesh it out for us. For all your post wants to say, I just can't see much in it.

Now, do I feel qualified for this job? Yes. Do I feel I am in any way short-changing my student's education? No. Have I considered all of the possible implications of flying solo? Yes. Carefully.

I am no self-inflated, know-it-all. I have however, spent a considerable amount of time preparing for this type of situation, and can say without guilt or fear that I can do it well. I will make mistakes, but I do have the fortune of being married to an elementary school teacher with 11 years under her belt, a network of teachers to consult, and a plethora of books specifically on the subject of Korean elementary education.

The OP has some valid points in certain situations, but not all. If I have slipped under the radar in this situation, then that is to my advantage (and I have every intention of it being to my student's advantage as well), and it will make me a better teacher. Again, I am fully aware of the possible dangers inherent with this situation, as I didn't major in education.

This situation is heaven for me, and I intend to be a great teacher. I care for my kids immensely and would happily surrender control and assume a lesser role if I thought I would be any sort of detriment to their futures.

The OP has some truth, some troll and a whole lotta pigeon-holing.

[mack the knife]

Demophobe,

Nah. Can't buy it. After 5 years of living in Korea I've never once talked to a student or teacher who attended a school where no English was taught. And I've talked to approximately 6,572,000 teachers and students.

Peppermint,

Rule 1: Things are only done precisely by the book when it benefits one or both parties.

Rule 2: The government cares a whole heck of a lot if you bend the rules...IF YOU'RE CAUGHT.

Rule 3: Whistleblowers will most likely receive neither thanks nor praise for whislteblowing. Which is precisely why examples 1 and 2 are essentially mute points. Don't ask don't tell. That's how it works here on the peninsula, and frankly, I'm not advocating otherwise. In a wholesome, eggs and bacon world, however, reporting a wayward school would be a GOOD thing, yes??

[Demophobe]