Korean Job Discussion Forums

dbee · Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Location: korea

I've just started working in a new hogwon there a couple of weeks ago. This hogwon has the latest computers, the most comfortable chairs, classes that are restricted to 10 max, as well as a nice boss and competent staff.

Basically they seem to have done everything right apart from one thing ... the curriculums are seriously crappy. Which in my opinion it kinda ruins everything.

I teach kids from 8yrs to 16yrs. The boss in his wisdom has decided that the best approach would be to teach each class a 45min (oral) grammar lesson every week and one comprehension lesson every week, for a 2 lesson total per class per week total.

So there I am, stuck in class again, teaching the finer points of pluralising nouns and personal pronouns to a bunch of 8 year olds that can't spell B-O-Y. Then doing a comprehension text that was designed for 8 yrs old american kids. And which is completely crap anyway.

I love teaching kids, and I wouldn't mind going to the trouble of designing a different ciriculum for the kids I teach at the moment. But we have to stick to the book that they went out and paid money for. There is also tests and homework that have to be done from these books ... so even if I was to change my teaching approach, their parents would start complaining that they aren't using their books and they can't do their homework.

I've talked to my boss about it of course. but he seems to think that 'drawing pictures on the board' to explain the words will solve all my problems.

This is the second franchise that I've thought at that have an absoluely crappy ciricumlum, which is basically a waste of my teaching and the kids learning times. I might as well be banging my head against a wall for some of these classes. There are no teaching guides or manuals of course.

I wouldn't mind, but these franchise owners pay good money, so that they can have all their courses and teaching systems designed for them by 'professionals' up in seoul.

Basically the two worst that I've seen are

*GnB
*ChildU

The best I've seen is probably ECC, who also pay the least to their teachers...

ilovebdt · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Location: Nr Seoul

You had a curriculum at a GnB School? Wow, I didn't. I made all my own stuff.

You have a tough situation there. How bad are these books? Could you maybe persuade your director to let you make the text a bit easier for the kids to understand?

Homer · Guest

Or....put a little extra work in and come up with a better curriculum yourself. Are you alone as a teacher there? If not, the others could help.

Thats what we did at my last school. It took some convincing of the director but after it was all said and done she accepted our plan, tossed out the bad books and bought new books that we had checked out and that fitted our new curriculum.

dbee · Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Location: korea

Ya, I'd like to change the curriculum, as I said. I think its pretty much a no go area though, because the school seems to have bought most of their books in advance.

They use the 'Write Time' series from the 'Teacher's Publishers' or something like that. It's seriously bad. The first lesson for the 10yr old's was on wayne gretsky ... the canadian ice skater. The article was full of metaphors and idioms, that would have been more suited to an English sports magazine. Eg. "Wayne gretsky skated into the spotlight for the last-time ..." . The questions at the back then went on to ask "What height was wayne gretsky ?" ... "what age was wayne gretsky?" Unfortunately though, none of these questions were covered in the story.

The GnB books that I had, were hardly what you'd call a curriculum. They were full of very abstract themes, strange target language like "my ! what a pretty nest" with absolutely no contextualisation. The idea behind it seemed to be that you get the kids to repeat a few phrases by rote for 30 or 40 mins everyclass - I think they called it the 'yaksumi method' or something like that. Basically it was just another gimmik, tested on a classroom full of motivated adult learners somewhere and then pawned off to unsuspecting franchise owners. I could hear the korean teachers classes and the kids would just be chanting "We like brown buns" and other ridiculous crap for the whole class. They had serious discipline problems and went through students and teachers like they were going out of fashion.

Now that I come to think of it, the two franchises that put the most effort into their computer assisted learning programs, are the one with the crappiest real curriculums. It seems that the curriculums are being designed solely with the pitch to the parents in mind. Flashy graphics and 'oral grammar' lessons to 8yr olds seem to be the flavor of the day in Korea. Then it's all handed over to the waygook to make it all work out. I sometimes find it very difficult to have respect for this industry.

Hobophobic · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 7:09 am Post subject:

The Canadian ice skater....hmmm.... Shocked

I thought he was the golfer guy who spoke for Tylenol.... Very Happy

....Seriously though...it didn't go beyond ice skating.... Confused

Zenpickle · Joined: 06 Jan 2004 Location: Anyang -- Bisan

Sorry --- really ---

Curriculi, they are crappy curriculi.

Gorgias · Joined: 27 Aug 2005

I was bloody hurt the first time this was said to me, but after many months of therapy and thinking about it, there is some truth to it: "there are no bad students, just bad teachers." After a while it became a joke: 'there are no sick students, just sick teachers,' 'there are no bad teachers, just bad hagwon owners' and so on and so on. You see were this is going about the "crappy ciricumlum." It makes you mad to hear at first, but think about it.

If that doesn't help you to take personal reponsibility for the ciricumlum that has fallen to you-- god, I can't get enough Tony Robbins, that guy has the answers to everything; check out some of his quotes on the net or look at "Awaken the Giant Within," you'll be having massive fun with that ciricumlum in no time!

Hobophobic · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:40 pm Post subject:

I have to agree with the previous post...
..do up some supplementals...maybe try to dumb it down...
...chant or sing...make a crossword www.edhelper.com

In anycase, good luck! Very Happy

Son Deureo! · Joined: 30 Apr 2003

lastat06513 · Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:37 am Post subject:

I can feel for you~

But you sound pretty content with your situation, that's good.

As for the poor lesson planning on the part of the school, sometimes there is no way around it. Because we get into the argument of "if they tell me to put on a penguin suit and squawk like a chicken- if the money is right- You'd be damn sure I'll do it"

Last semester, I had to use a really awful textbook for both my freshmen and senior classes and there was no way out of it except to supplement it with my material~ sometimes handouts, sometimes boardwork.

I know alot of teachers bulk at the idea, but if you find the material too mundane, you can find some kind of idea or activity that can be used in addition to what you are teaching them to make the class.....more lively.

Zenpickle · Joined: 06 Jan 2004 Location: Anyang -- Bisan

Zark · Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:30 pm Post subject:

Less than half the schools I have ever worked at had a decent curriculum worked out for the students. Don't let that get in the way.

Do try to change what you can change - but what you can't change - BEND. Even a bad lesson can be extended, expanded, made more or less specific, more or less relevant - it's up to you!