Korean Job Discussion Forums

Zyzyfer · Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2003 3:26 pm Post subject:

mokpochica: You're teaching middle school kids, right? Do you teach them at a middle school, or a hakwon? Because I think the trend in middle schools is to divide the classes by gender. This greatly affects their attitude in hakwon teaching...if you take a student fresh from elementary level hakwon studies whom you've been teaching for some time, and stick them in a class full of middle school kids, they really stand out.

Moreover, in my middle school classes, the 1st year(7th grade?) students are all rambuncious, while the higher level students become more conservative.

keguri · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Jacksonville, FL

itchy · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Busan

keguri · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Jacksonville, FL

Everyone "perceives" the world, Itchy, and they perceive it in different ways. And when I say "the world," I mean that person's world. Have you ever argued with someone about whether something was more green or more blue? Have you ever thought a woman was beautiful when another person didn't agree? You said you don't "perceive," rather you "see" what's happening. So, if you see a man throwing away a box of baseball cards, and you happen to collect baseball cards, do you see him throwing away trash or treasure? Because he probably sees them as trash. No one person's way of perceiving is right or wrong. Just different. Having respect for the way others perceive the world, and keeping in mind that that person may have had some experiences in life that you've never had and therefore cannot begin to understand, is integral to avoiding misunderstandings and making erroneous judgements about others, while *not* respecting others' differing perceptions is why we have things like wars.

Sometimes, some people find that they are in a less advantageous situation than other people simply because of their gender (not just women, but men too!), their race, their religion, their handicaps, their height, their weight, their age... to suggest otherwise just isn't realistic. In an ideal world, humans would be judged and given opportunities based solely on their abilities. But as I'm sure you would agree, this is not an ideal world.

You seem like a reasonably intelligent person, Itchy, and as such I'm sure you would like to retract your statement that women are never at a disadvantage in this world solely based on the fact that they are female, since logically speaking, X is rarely true for 100% of any given group of people (Y), with the chances of X being true for 100% of Y decreasing in proportion to the increase in the number of people in Y. If you don't want to take my word for it and wish to conduct some research on the matter, you might start by asking a Korean woman to light up a cigarette on the streets of Seoul and see what she says. Or take a trip to any number of Middle Eastern countries and ask a woman how she wears her hair when she goes out alone on a Saturday night.

itchy · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Busan

itchy · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Busan

keguri · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Jacksonville, FL

itchy · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Busan

mokpochica · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Hey Zyzyfer--
I teach at a real middle school (or actually a junior high), not a hagwon. None of the classes are separated by gender at my school. I think that is true in the case of many co-ed schools in Korea now.

Zyzyfer · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2003 5:53 pm Post subject:

My school must be behind the times then! Oy...

VanIslander · Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2004 9:48 am Post subject:

When I started at this hagwon late in 2002, the foreign teacher before me said that the boys are easy to teach but the girls can be difficult. I just nodded because I had no idea what I was in for.

Then I started and was surprised to find just the opposite: the girls paid attention, sat in their seats, did the work, participated in review games, had a good attitude, etc. whereas some of the boys were trouble. At least eight of the top ten hardest students to get to learn anything have been boys, perhaps nine.

I think it's my teaching style. the previous teacher was loosy goosy, which probably appealed to the unruly boys. My approach is structured and demanding and with nobody coasting. The girls have responded well to it and the boys who didn't, adapted or left (at least three boys, probably five or six have left over the last two years, because of my unwillingness to let them sit there and doodle or distract others - they were harped into working. Not a single girl required so much urging and a repeatedly insistent tone).

Nowadays nobody's hard to teach to. But one can see that some of the boys walk around like they are little kings who think they should be the rulers rather than the rule followers. But they all have come to recognize that the classroom is my castle.

peemil · Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Location: Koowoompa

Don't let them be boy girl divided. They are only going to talk and play with their friends. Make the seating pattern girl boy girl boy.

Works a treat.

If they aren't in their correct seats when class begins I just punish them with writing. They hate it at first and you have to punish them a few times but eventually they stop caring.

In fact, one class that I did it in years ago I put a these two next to each other... What happens a few months ago. I get informed that they are now BF and GF. Wonderful...

tommynomad · Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Location: on the move

itchy wrote:

"A classroom atmosphere is dictatorial. You have a dictator(teacher) and students (who must do what the dictator says)"

Wow. I mean, I disagree with a lot of what you said, Itchy, but this takes the cake. Did you go exclusively to military schools? I've been a teacher/mentor/coach for 21 years in 6-odd countries, and I have NEVER seen this dynamic work. Come to think of it, I've never seen this dynamic.

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists,
Not so good when people obey and acclaim him.
Worse when they despise him. Of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: "we did it ourselves."
--Lao-tse (who knew a thing or three about leadership)