Korean Job Discussion Forums

[livinginkorea]

Ok people, advantages and disadvantages of each in point form!!

[Zyzyfer]

I voted all students suck, but my personal bent at this stage is adults. Young kids are physically tiring but a lot of laughs, older kids make me want to stab my eye with a cigarette multiple times, and adults are that magically happy land of after-class drinking and split shifts or something.

[adventureman]

...

[the_beaver]

Children are inherently evil and they're dumb little fuckers.

[Badmojo]

[d503]

I enjoy teaching kids. It takes a lot of energy, but overall I like it. I think I am going to try adults next. I am a bit burnt out on kids..if my place didn't have me teaching so many different levels/books/classes it would be better..but they like the work me to death attitude.

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

Adults! I'm not good with kids and have no desire to teach them. Adults is not a walk in the park though. It is challenging and they do keep you on your toes....there will always be a couple adults that will always complain But I highly enjoy teaching most of the adults and they really helped me learn more about Korea. Even though I was let go from my last job, my adult students and I still hang out (and they treat me for beers!) I just love more the rapport I have with adults....never had that with kids. Plus I don't have to implement any bullsh*t discipline system like I did with kids. I actually spent loads more time lesson-planning for my adults than kids, but I can tell that my efforts were appreciated by my adult students and that is very rewarding.
I will never, never, never go back to teaching kids. I've had my friends bugging me to replace them at their kiddie hagwons when their contract is up.
Some people are just naturally better at teaching different age groups. That's all it is. I feel more at ease and confident with adults, but I turn into an incompetent mess when I'm with kids. And I know other teachers who are vice-versa. There is no "right" age group. Each to his/her own.

[The evil penguin]

Stangely enough, I'm voting for middle-schoolers.

Yep, even with the surlyness, the attitudes and the often present "i don't give a shit in a plastic bucket" regard to work.

They're not the high-energy screaming little shits that are under the tables and kiling each other with crayons. They don't burst into tears at a moments notice.... (well, not as often anyway...)

And they're not as critical about the lessons as are adults. I've taught adults previously in a mixed hagown (ie- kindy kids for an hour, then elementary, then an adults class, and then kindy........ damn near killed me) and while i found i could have fun, it was a lot more stressfull. Especially with the business men classes... Very hard to please 'em all and i did feel the whole confucian crap rearing its head in class on occassion. And the house wife classes.... Well they could be interesting for a completely different reason....

The middle schoolers are young enough to appreciate a bit of (perhaps slightly off-colour) humour. If you can break 'em out of their current 'act like a zombie' funk, you can actually get 'em laughing and paying attention. Sure, its not easy. Soemtimes the stock standard "play computer game" answers can drive you right up the batty creek....

But, they CAN be quite funny. I've been at my new school for only a month now. I have two middle school classes every day that were pure misery when i first started.... But already i'm finding that these classes, while requiring alot more preparation time, are the ones i actually look forward to. I actually dread facing up to my "supertots" and lower elementary kids.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

In the right environment I actually quite enjoy working with teenagers. However, at a crap hogwan where wongjongnim-babo makes a point of undermining the FT's authority, it's a crap shoot and you get some kids who are simply delightful and a joy to teach and others for whom there are not enough synonyms of 'delinquent'. Most likely my next job will be with adults, and trust me, if you've got experience and are in Korea, you can have a pile of contract offers from adult academies in your inbox with your head spinning wondering what to take.

[joe_doufu]

How can you wrap up "kids" with a single radio button? There is a BIG difference between preschool, elementary, and teenagers. I love the little kids, but the teenagers frustrate me so much because they're just too damn shy to speak.

[Dan]

I'd done a variety of ages, and it's been years since I've taught, but my fondest memories are of my kids. Sometimes they piss you off, and then sometimes they show you how much they like you, and it melts your heart just a little.

[JacktheCat]

This poll is a bit limited. There are so many different levels of "kids" (kindergarten to highschool) and "adults" (college level vs. ajumas).

In my, admittedly brief, 5 years of teaching, I'v taught everything from kindergarten to university graduate school and have found my groove is most definitely older teenagers (middle and highschool). They just suit my personality and teaching style.

As with everything else in life, it comes down to you as a person. Different strokes for different folks.

[SuperHero]