Korean Job Discussion Forums

[margaret]

My boss told me I get the day off next Friday because the hogwan owners are going to protest a government policy that is against them. She didn't have time to explain more. Has anyone else heard about this?
Margaret

[itaewonguy]

yeah its an annual thing!

[Ya-ta Boy]

I hope you have learned by now to ignore itaewonguy.

I have not heard anything.

[prairieboy]

[canuckistan]

Enjoy taking it easy on your unexpected day off, those don't happen often!

[saw6436]

Starting in March of 2006 the national government will be providing "after school programs" in approximately 1000 elementary and middle schools. This is a program which will be expanded to all schools through-out the nation. From what I currently understand (from conversation with my co-teacher at my elementary school) the starting program will be open to ALL first, second and third grade students regardless of where they go to school.

According to my co-teacher most school programs will focus on music, science, math, Korean and English. In the case of English, the government stated that it will rely on Hagwons hiring out native speakers to teach in the programs (don't see how that will work given immigration restrictions AND this basicly requiring Hagwons to shoot themselves in the foot).

My Hagwon is also closed on December 9th so the owner can attend the protest. This protest is being organized by the local Hagown Business Associations throughout Korea. According to the letter I read the association is urging all Hagwon to close for the day and have both owners and teachers attend the rally. The Association is also requesting that all Hagwons schedule make-up classes to the missed day.

I know the owners of 4 different Hagwons (both English and Ip-Shee) they all agree that this new school program is the begining of the end for Hagwons in Korea. They all figure that Hagwons will never completely go away but that only the biggest and best will survive. After 7+ years teaching in Korea I agree with their assumptions.

So, enjoy your day off but be prepared to do make-up classes on the 10th or another day.

[bellum99]

I say good riddance to them. Long live the day of private teaching. One-to-one will always pay well and survive. I say "death to the schools". Then us F2-1 and F5 teachers can rake in even more money. I would love to see those cheating school owners have to make money instead of pimping us out.

[Ryst Helmut]

[mack the knife]

Well, hogwons' days were always numbered. It's only a matter of time before the English curriculum in public schools matches and even outpaces what is being taught at hogwons (via standard curriculum or special classes). Those that survive this process of evolution will be those filling some sort of niche, such as TOEFL prep, adult classes, study abroad prep., etc.
At my school I've been doing extracurricular lessons for 1/2 graders as well as 4/5/6 graders for a year and a half (the 3rd graders got the short end of the stick, for whatever reason). Not to mention the fluent Gyopo teacher who also teaches a class on M/T/W.

The real question is:

When competition becomes fiercer because of the fewer jobs available, will hogwons and public schools up the ante by becoming more selective (and concomitantly making salaries more attractive), or will they take the opposite route and simply lower the bar (and salaries), since only a limited number of jobs will be available and surely some desparate jerk will take whatever he can get. My bet is on the latter.

It is true that a market for private, one-on-one teaching will always exist. You can take that to the bank. Korean pride and the ugly rat race it has spawned virtually guarantee this.

[jaganath69]

Methinks you are all too hasty in predicting the demise of the Hagwon. Given the competativeness of the education system and job markets here, Korean parents will always look for that extra edge for their children. Rather than depressing the job market, I predict that school programs will raise wages for teachers. This is because there will be more openings and the best teachers will be even more sought after. Getting someone to work in a school in the provinces will be even harder without decent remuneration. Further, given the rise of China as a competitor for English instructors and the likelyhood of better salaries in the wake of the Beijing Olympics teachers will be in even greater demand. Unless the Korean government reverses the policy of requiring a degree as a condition of working here, I see nothing but happy days ahead. Just my 2 won's worth, mind you.

[mack the knife]

[plattwaz]

Many (actually, I think all but one) of my friends are working in the Gyeonggi after school programs this year.

Not ONE of their programs has actually been successful, with only about 20 - 30% of the students remaining in the program, of those who started in March.

Parents are unhappy with the programs, there are no evaluation systems in place, they don't have the "authority" the way they do in hagwons, there aren't as many levels for their children to move from,etc etc. The companies that have been hired to run these programs are screwing over the teachers, providing a horrible cirriculum, and generally just saw it as a quicky way to make some money, with little work. As a result, the programs are not as succesful as expected.

In some of the schools, it is only the lower-income families who are sending their children to these English programs - the classes cost significantly less than hagwons. So, the middle and upper class kids don't want to be associated with attending these classes - it's an advertisement that mom and dad can't afford English Hagwon.

In some of the other schools my friends teach at, the after school progams are simply additional English for the kids....when they're finished, they ship off to hagwon.

I think that saying it is the demise of the hagwons is a quick statement -- but I do think that it will require the after school programs to get their act in gear and the gov't to actually ORGANIZE the programs properly, or at least the individual schools will have to be more selective in who they choose to run the programs, ensure a certain quality and have some cirricula and goals in place -- otherwise, it's all just a waste of everybody's time.

[ontheway]

This is all interesting, especially the current drop out experience of the afterschool programs indicated by Plattwaz. This might look bad for hogwans initially, but perhaps it will have the opposite effect. This could just be one more nail in the coffin of the public school system in Korea. Once parents see that it's the public schools that are dumbing down their kids, they'll run in even greater numbers to the hogwans, more specifically, the good hogwans.

Parents in Korea do learn. Over time the word gets out as to which hogwan programs are good and bad. My hogwan has a student waiting list. Parents wait months to get in. Those who can get a spot in less than six months count themselves very lucky.

In addition, our interview system and testing experience has repeatedly shown, and we explain this to the parents, that the English instruction in the Korean schools is so bad that it actually LOWERS the English ability and levels of the students. Most parents confirm that they agree with this assessment and indeed, they already new that the public school English programs actually lower the level of the students who have previously studied in good hogwans or overseas.

The current generation of Korean English teachers can't speak English. They teach by translation of words and sentences even though the words and sentences they are teaching are wrong, mistranslated and in some cases, have opposite meanings. Even movie titles and subtitles are full of translation errors here.

This new afterschool program might hurt the "ipshi" hogwans that try to teach every subject. And it will certainly hurt the Korean private English teachers who can't speak English either. But, it won't hurt good hogwans who have only native English speakers on their staff. It'll take at least one more generation of hard study before Korea has enough Koreans who speak English to teach themselves. And the public school system English classes, even with native speakers, have too many students and too few hours to compete.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[mishlert]

Hagwons hiring out native speakers to teach in the programs (don't see how that will work given immigration restrictions AND this basicly requiring Hagwons to shoot themselves in the foot).
It's the govt., it can do what is wants; change the law.