Korean Job Discussion Forums

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

If the girl was doing what her parents are paying for, IE paying attention in YOUR class, she wouldn't have had her homework torn up. You can beat them with a paint mixer if they don't do their homework but you can't tear up a piece of paper...

joe_doufu · Joined: 09 May 2005 Location: Elsewhere

joe_doufu · Joined: 09 May 2005 Location: Elsewhere

JeJuJitsu · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Location: McDonald's

If you told her to put it away at least once, you were CORRECT in tearing up the paper, even though many people here say it was wrong.

babtangee · Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:15 pm Post subject:

CaptainConjunction · Joined: 12 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul

One thing that disturbs me most about Margaret's situation is that she was forced to apologise to the student. This is Korea dammit! Older people don't apologise to younger people. Next thing we'll have school Directors apologising to teachers, or parents apologising to their kids. Very Happy

But seriously, especially a teacher apologizing to a student. Perhaps in certain situations it would be acceptable but this clearly isn't one of them. It totally undermines your authority. It's giving a green light to students to misbehave in your class in the future. If there's any problems with the teacher not letting you do other class homework in class, then just get your mommy on the phone and it's alright. Mad

The real core of the problem here is that school directors too frequently allow parents to call the shots, when they know nothing about the situation. As some other people pointed out, if the student is in an English class, she shouldn't have been doing her other class homework!! Case closed. Anyway, what's the worst that could happen. They'd have to explain to their other teacher, that their homework wasn't complete because their English teacher tore it up. So what?! Shocked

While I'm ranting, perhaps I should point out that the parents of this child should take the hint that perhaps their daughter is too tired to handle the crazy school system that they are putting her through. But they wouldn't want her to drop English classes and neither would your director.

Everytime I hear about an incident like this it makes my blood boil. Evil or Very Mad

(ouch!) It seems that yet again, the parents refuse to recognise the waygook as having any real authority - instead preferring to typecast us as some kind of clown put there simply to entertain their children. Very worrying indeed.

Nevertheless, I should point out (for the OP's benefit) that the situation will probably cool off in a few weeks. There are always other problems that arise in hagwons, and soon enough your director will have her nose stuck in one of those instead. Good luck! Wink

Summer Wine · Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Location: Next to a River

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

To repeat some of what I said earlier,

Choose one of two options: - quit, and let them know exactly why you are quitting. - teach exactly the way you want and let them know that if they don't like it, they can fire you.

When my old supervisor asked me what she should tell one little *beep*'s mother I replied that she should tell her that I think her son's a disgrace and she should be ashamed of him. Unfortunately the supervisor didn't have the guts to pass along the bad news to wongjongnim-babo, but I was able run the class the way I wanted, and actually teach the majority of kids who were teachable.

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

Maybe the teachers who work in hakwons can buy a few video cameras and tape their worst students. Then give the (edited) tapes to SBS. Laughing

Grotto · Joined: 21 Mar 2004

put your foot down...HARD!
It seems pretty obvious to me that your boss is milking this in order to keep you on the defensive.

Be firm...tell her that students should not be doing other homework in English class. Tell her that you dont want to hear another peep about the incident.

Koreans love to play the blame game particularily with foreigners!

Mr. Pink · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: China

It sounds like a crappy place to work. I think you could have stood your ground more on:

The student isn't learning English because obviously OTHER homework takes priority #1 in your class.

I have taken students homework, study sheets and various papers they had while they were in my class. I never had a problem.

Try to be firm...people can only walk all over you if you let them.

EFLtrainer · Joined: 04 May 2005

I'm sorry, but this is one of those times I totally disagree. You seriously overreacted. Your behavior was inappropriate, period. Where you blew it, and you already acknowledged you had "lost it", was in tearing it up.

Do the crime, do the time. Yes, they're going to overreact. Expected. Unless you are going to do something a little above and beyond to make amends you can pretty much count on having a rough go.

Babayaga · Joined: 28 May 2005

Koreans are generally very lenient towards their kids and let them do what they want, since their kids are their pension plan. They usually take it out on the foreigner teachers.

With regard to bosses taking their problems out on foreigners, it happens quite frequently here,too. At one of my jobs, the boss didn't want to pay me my over-time,so he invented an excuse that students' English skills have gone down, because he had to transfer some of them to a lower level. I retorted that off course he had to do it, since he had placed them at too high a level to begin with. He then said that my former boss had called him and told him that I have bad teaching techniques. Apparently she did, to pay me back for finding a higher--paying position, which is exactly what I told him.

When he didn't pay me my over--time, I then called a meeting and said that I want to be released from my contract in about a month. When they panicked and told me it's impossible to find a teacher in that time, I mentioned the over--time. They paid.

Babayaga · Joined: 28 May 2005

Koreans are generally very lenient towards their kids and let them do what they want, since their kids are their pension plan. They usually take it out on the foreigner teachers.

With regard to bosses taking their problems out on foreigners, it happens quite frequently here,too. At one of my jobs, the boss didn't want to pay me my over-time,so he invented an excuse that students' English skills have gone down, because he had to transfer some of them to a lower level. I retorted that off course he had to do it, since he had placed them at too high a level to begin with. He then said that my former boss had called him and told him that I have bad teaching techniques. Apparently she did, to pay me back for finding a higher--paying position, which is exactly what I told him.

When he didn't pay me my over--time, I then called a meeting and said that I want to be released from my contract in about a month. When they panicked and told me it's impossible to find a teacher in that time, I mentioned the over--time. They paid.