Korean Job Discussion Forums

[alinkorea]

After reading posts about public schools, specifically GEPIK, I noticed the tone is largely negative. I'm in the GEPIK program, and it's the easiest job I've ever had. I get 2.3 Million a month, teach 20 lessons a week, class sizes are 15 or less and best of all I'm left completely alone by the school. I'm free to teach what I like, no tests, no grading. Lessons cancelled at least two or three times a week. Plus fairly regular days with no classes because of school trips and such like. 15 days paid sick leave, paid leave for weddings and bereavements.
Being at the school from 9-5 is the main downside, but I have my own room with a computer. As with nearly all schools in Korea, organization where the foreign English teacher is concerned is a joke. Occasionally this can be annoying but usually is great as it means I'm free to do what I like.
I'd be interested to hear your opinion

[dulouz]

I teach at a non EPIK/GEPIK public language-magnet school in Bundang. My opinons are like those above. My opinthions are like your above. They trip over themselves being honest and my pay is better. I get an extra 500,000 each month. I am at the school from 9 to 5. I teach less than the K teachers and sometimes they make comments but thats about all that is wrong. There is a law that says I can't teach outside of the school and thats my biggest complaint. I get 4 one week test vacations and 2 2 week vacations during school vacations. The disorganization usually results in me doing nothing for the hour.

[Hater Depot]

Most of the people I know in Korea are in public schools (though not GEPIK/EPIK), as am I. Your experiences are great but far out of the norm.

As far as having your own room goes, I think that's something that sounds better than it is. When I had a separate office though, the K-teachers and I communicated very little. Now that the English teachers have a shared office we have way more communication and just general good feelings about one another.

[Manner of Speaking]

alinkorea and duloz,

Wow, those sound like good gigs. And after teaching in an elementary school last year, I miss teaching the kids. Got any openings coming up soon?

Seriously, I taught in a private elementary school last year, but the gig was cut short after 3 months due to the flakey antics of my boss. But I really enjoyed it...I had the freedom to teach whatever I wanted, a K teacher to co-teach with me, I came home every night and was lying in bed thinking about what I could teach next, always thinking about developing new lessons. I've about had it with the hagwon lifestyle/management style.

[Derrek]

[rumpolestitskin]

I'm in the same boat.
The job is easy.

The problem is that it's made hard by high up powers that be, and by one or two teachers that don't turn up to class and lie about stuff blaming you when they do something wrong.

If they could Iron out some problems, thay would have a great program. But until they do I'm distrustful and staying the hell away once I finish my contract.

[crazylemongirl]

Public school jobs are like hogwon jobs, there are good ones and bad ones. 15 students is something that is unusual for public school teachers. Most of us have 40 or so in a class.

Vacation, apartment size, salary, class size, number of classes, adimn, testing, grading, extra cirrucular crap is all highly variable.

In the end there are postives and negatives to public school jobs and a lot of it comes down to different schools, particularly the principal and your minder can make a difference in whether things are pleasurable or not. So in the end it's a crap shoot.

In the end I think people new to both teaching and korea really need to think hard about whether a public school job is for them. A lot of these gigs will have you being the only waygook, sometimes in isolated areas, with a staff that may or may not speak much english (not so bad from middle school where there are korean english teachers). Also a crash course in classroom management with 12 kids who don't speak english is infinetly easier than when you have 40.

Also just as a general observation at the moment I think that hogwons in general are used to having to deal with foreigners, so being thrown into the day to day mine field of dealing with koreans. Obviously this will change over time, but a lot of westerners get frustrated dealing with adminstrators who have no idea how the west functons while they themselves have little idea of how korean admisntrators functions.

[zappadelta]

OP, you're in GEPIK, and you can teach whatever you want? I don't understand that. I thought we all had to teach the same thing.

[manlyboy]

[dulouz]

That sounds fine Derrek, TY for asking. We can try a pissup or a GT in Bundang. I don't live here, I live in Seoul proper so after work sounds fine. Mixing dinner and beer is OK, in fact I'd rather have that.

Every night of the week is fine.

[zappadelta]

This sounds like a date.

[dulouz]

You sound jealous.