Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Grotto]

I was sitting here thinking to myself and what went through my mind is:
When I first arrive at a new school/hogwan whatever, I try to get programs going that I know will stimulate learning and help the students. After a couple of months of doing all the work trying to get these ideas up and running, with absolutely no assistance from the schools or staff, I find I just shrug and say the hell with it.

Some of the ideas are simple and relatively easy to get going...story time..works with all ages..you just choose a story that is at their level. Read a page a day and have a Korean teacher read the translation. Works especially well with Korean folk tales as the students are familiar with the material and have a better understanding. If you have an video system in the school you can even tape it earlier in the week and broadcast it whenever. Just audio system...tape it and broadcast it.

But after being told yah yah yah and not getting any support I find myself going okay no problem you just want me to show up and do my job okay..... After about 6 months I have basically stopped trying. I dont see the point of wasting my time for no results.

I have found this to be one of the most frustrating things personally about teaching in Korea. General malaise of the staff and the administration.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Maybe this should be on the job discussion forum ... anyways, I can certainly see your point. We've recently replaced 3/4 of our Korean staff so I'll see how supportive the new teachers are. The main problem with our system is that it's so repetative that if I'm bored sick of it I can only imagine how the kids feel. What's more annoying to me is when I try to do some extra work to make a lesson interesting - say, coming up with some photo-cards to do a scenario - and the kids are all disappointed because we're going to do something educational to supplement the lesson instead of throwing a ball around. I really can't get where some of these kids get their expectations of why they're at hogwan; do they think they're parents are paying so much money so that they can play pig in the middle or stumble around a dark room with a blindfold? And I'm not just talking very young kids - some teenagers are actually worse this way.

[peemil]

I gave up ages ago... I just count days till I leave.

[mindmetoo]

Many of us do come with very high minded aspirations. "They're all little eager students yearning to unlock the mystery of English!" It's amazing how quickly you chuck your dreams. It takes about 3 classes to go from "How do I open their minds to a big, huge, wonderful, amazing world!" to "how do I get them to shut their pie holes for five *beep* ing minutes!"

[crazylemongirl]

I get a little bit of that. This year for club activity class I wanted to do an english culture class. I thought it would be something that I would actually be able to give students something special. We could do a couple of field trips and celebrate some holidays.

Instead the school stuck me in the drama class again. I felt like it was a bit of a slap in the face. Not many foreign teachers teach club class as they are on a saturday and here was I offering to do one and they basically ignored it.

Their lose.

[Summer Wine]

I hope this goes to the topic as a reply. It is the first time that I have done this. But on the note of how long, It takes a shorter time than I think it will and yet I keep on trying. But yes, we come to the schools with hopes and dreams of what we can accomplish, only after being told "ah teacher, I forgot my homework or teacher, I don't know where it is" to wonder why I am constantly trying to improve something, that doesn't seem to be want to be fixed.

And if you try to input a new idea or method, either I have been yelled at by the Boss at the worst case to gently being called aside and being told I don't understand what you are doing with them at the best case. But all in all, why aren't they repeating you and just acting like Parrots.

[canuckistan]

While it can get discouraging when you try to plan cool stuff that extends out of the classroom or requires support from the admin, the classroom is still your castle and the place to make an impact. Classrooms in Korea are notoriously bare and bland, so are too many just-add-teacher canned Esl learning programs. They're boring, the kids hate them after a while, then you get behaviour problems. There's so much more a teacher can do and turn it into an English lesson at the same time (having fun in the process!).
I decorate the classroom with all kinds of stuff, looks just like a classroom back home; mobiles of hanging verbs and dangling interrogatives, the idiom of the week spot, posters, maps; fun/educative to look at. The kids like it, there's always something new each week. I once brought in a microscope and a few bugs/spiders to look at...they were awed, kids are more curious than cats! We studied the story of Arachne and her weaving and how she was turned into a spider by Athena as an extension to that lesson. Learning opportunities everywhere, just have to think out of the box?

The point to all of this being that it's easy to want to give up. At a certain point in all my contracts, I give up listening to the admin and their silly last-minute changes/micro-management and just do my thing. That might not work for everyone, but it's worked for me.
The kids are happy and learning, so the admin just leaves me alone after a while. For the most part, forget getting significant support for cool stuff with Esl, it's just not a big part of the educative culture here. Yer on yer own.

[JacktheCat]

I haven't given up trying, and hope I never will, but I have lowered my expectations ... drastically.

In my high school classes, there is really no way I can make much difference in their English ability as I only see most of them once a week in classes of 40. So I just try to focus on improving their confidence and cultural awareness and pronunciation. If they're having fun and using English, I'm doing my job.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Koreabound2004]

Last semester, I taught a class on international culture...to my high schoolers.

They initially claimed to be interested in learning about the world and different cultures...but that soon turned to sh**. I was excited too at first, being a Cultural Anthro major....but then, I just gave up on being excited about it all.

This semester, they eliminated that class, and I am glad about it.

Now, they have me in charge of the English Club. My coteacher used to do English Club I believe, but hey toss than on me. Now, HE is also in charge of the speech contests which are being held for high schoolers here in August. So, he has asked me to write the scripts for the students(students should do this I think), but whatever. And now English Club, I have been told will be used for practicing the scripts until the contest. So with months of practicing scripts with a native speaker(written by me), I am sure they will do very well, and I will take none of the credit for it. In fact, I won't even be here to see how they do.

I understand how it can get you down, and I now find it very challenging to take teaching here seriously. And it's hard to decorate a classroom that doesn't exist.....I am the visiting clown.

[rapier]

Your job is to keep the kids happy and entertained, so the parents keep paying your wages.

Thats all there is to it. Hagwons are not serious educational establishments.

[adventureman]

[Koreabound2004]

I am at a public school, also not a serious institution....

[hari seldon]

All the boats aren't going to rise. Feel proud of those you helped. You had a positive impact on their lives.

[guangho]

If a kid said "good class" I'm happy. Hey, take what you can get.