Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jccarpen]

Some of the Korean English teachers at my public high school are reluctant to come to class. They conclude there is nothing for them to do since I'm really the one teaching, or they are busy with other teaching responsibilities. The Board of Education told me co-teachers would be in the classroom together, but my supervising teacher tells me it varies from school to school. I'm interested in hearing about other teachers' experiences in this regard. Do you teach your class alone, or is there a Korean co-teacher there? Do you think a co-teacher is necessary? Why or why not?

[sheba]

I prefer to teach alone because then I can teach my own way. When I have another teacher present, I feel like we shouldn't have any games, or I get nervous about whether they think I am a good teacher.... all about my own insecurities I guess. I just feel more confident on my own.

That being said, there are times when I need a K teacher to help with discipline, or simply explaining something that I cannot explain in English because their English isnt that great. Lukily for me, I teach K teachers classes once a week, so when I am teaching, they are available to help if I need it.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I'm starting Sept. 1. My classes will be about 1/2 and 1/2. That's fine with me. In the ones with a co-teacher, I am going to be the pronunciation monkey and activity planner, but the K teacher will be around to give the game rules. A good idea IMO. The classes where I'll teach alone will be with higher level students. A common sense plan I think.

[babtangee]

I have a co-teacher in my elementary school classes, but he doesn't do much. Just sits there, and beats the odd kid if I stop teaching and just stand silently staring at someone who won't shut up.

He also explains some games if kids are having trouble getting the picture, and be's one of the students if there is an odd number in pair work.

It's a pretty good set-up, really. But this is only because he is a good co-teacher who respects the fact that I put work into my classes, doesn't give me any grief - overriding my authority, disrupting my activities, etc - and tries his best to help me out.

The other FT at my hagwon has the same gig - two days a week at a nearby elementary school. He hates his co-teacher, who consistently disappears for long periods of time; and when she is there, disrupts his class, rejects the activities he has prepared and spends class time trying to explain to him some other activity she thinks he should do (I don't know why she doesn't just teach the classes herself) - basically she makes sure all the students know he is nothing but her pet monkey teacher. I would walk and tell her to have fun teaching if I had a co-teacher like that.

So do you want a co-teacher? I strongly suspect that the chances of you getting a teacher of the latter kind are higher. I'm just lucky my co-teacher is a male and was born in the same year/month as me.

[guangho]

"He hates his co-teacher, who consistently disappears for long periods of time ; and when she is there, disrupts his class, rejects the activities he has prepared and spends class time trying to explain to him some other activity she thinks he should do (I don't know why she doesn't just teach the classes herself) - basically she makes sure all the students know he is nothing but her pet monkey teacher."

You have just described my daily life.

[Paddycakes]

Co-teachers are a real mixed bag...

Look at it from their position though...

They've studied (well, memorized really hard) for a long time to pass the state teacher's test, which is a big deal to them I gather, and now some foreigner whose only real qualification (in most cases at least) is that he can speak English, invades their turf and steals the show.

Also, a lot of Koreans as we all know are not exactly the most confident, self-assured people on Earth, and no doubt a lot of them feel extremely threatened to have another teacher coming in to their classroom doing their job (especially true at the middle school level).

(Actually I don't think that's just a Korean teacher thing... I think that would apply to almost any teacher in any country).

Also add in the basic foreigner, non Korean dynamic, and all the sense of hurt and false-pride imbued in the Korean psyche immediately comes to the fore, resulting in a situation where they are very sensitive to the appearance that the foreigner is in a position of power of the Korean.
Most of them don't have the confidence to handle that...

[jccarpen]

I've currently got about six co-teachers. Some come consistently and are laid back and others find reasons to miss. No one overtly interferes or tries to undercut me during class though, so I guess I'm lucky compared to some people.

[manlyboy]

Co teaching is good in theory, but in practice it requires a lot of patience, tolerance and consideration to make a truly co-taught lesson effective. Timing, mutual understanding, adapting, role assignment, positioning - it takes a lot of effort to get all these things in sync. And I don't know if the benefits are worth the amount of preparation required.

I just want my co teachers to handle discipline, and to explain any rules or procedures which the students may not understand.
There are some well-intentioned K-teachers I work with who try to get more involved, but most of the time this creates more problems than it resolves.

[guangho]

She was supposed to quit 5 months ago. Out of curiosity what do you say when your coteacher storms into your class mid-lesson and yells "You are not real teacher!"?

[Paddycakes]

Wow... I remember my first co-teacher... a real charmer.

I had the students perform a listen and repeat exercise, and she stopped me mid sentance in front of the whole class and quotes from some abstract pedagogical manual saying that listen and repeat is not pedagogically appropriate.

This person had absolutely no tact whatsoever, and probably wondered why after that I wasn't very friendly with her.

Small wonder the students used to write me notes going "You are so kind and handsome, but Korean teacher X is mean and has an ugly face."

I don't think her students liked her very much either...

[babtangee]

[kermo]

[livinginkorea]

In my first job, I was doing this program for elementary students in the country from the education office, just to show that country kids could still learn English just as well as city kids.

I had 20 students and 2 co-teachers in every class for two hours a week and it was great! No discipline problems (they were mostly male) except on one occasion when I threw a student out for not doing work. As the class was for 2 hours every week, we had a break for 10 minutes but the co teachers were crazy to talk to me and ask me to go drinking with them so the break would last a good 20~30 minutes. Sweet job it was.

Also that same year the hagwon sent me to a really small middle-school (39 students in all!) and she was a lady in her 40s and brillant. She missed a class only once and her English was very good and no problems occurred.

Having said all that, I hope that my new co-teacher will be as good as the last but I don't know yet. I have met her once when I checked out the school before siging the contract (GEPIK). I don't know if she will be in all my classes or if I will be teaching alone. Also I will be the first foreign teacher there so hopefully I can lay down the law!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[bosintang]