Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rwnorman]

Hi everyone,
I'm in talks at the moment to teach at a public middle school. I was hoping some of you could give me a run down of the pros and cons of teaching at a public school versus a hagwon. Is it much better? What are some of the substantive differences?

Cheers, and thanks

[Yu_Bum_suk]

There are so many threads and debates about this - including one, I think, called 'Hogwans vs. Public Schools'. I'll save repeating myself and just say that in my experience, public schools are 100 times better.

[crazylemongirl]

use the search function...

As I've said on many occassions public schools and hogwons both have benefits and problems. If you haven't taught before and new to Korea I'd suggest finding a good hogwon where you can learn the ropes.

Beware anyone who makes blanket statements about public schools being like this and hogwons being like that. Each organisation will differ depending on your relationship with various powers that be.

[BigBlackEquus]

Sadly, the "are better" is quickly becoming a "were better" situation, as far as the public schools are concerned.

[Pak Yu Man]

If you work at a Hogwon.

You are the money maker for a place out to make money first and foremost. It's all about the $$$$$.
Some places will get angry at you if you date a Korean, because some of the parents might not like this and will take their child to a different school instead of being taught by a 'race traitor'.

If you are ethnic (non-white) or have a funny accent (not a N.American) you might have a more difficult time getting hired.

I've met larger black people who arrived at the airport and their boss never picked them up. (Boss saw them and thought "screw that").
At a hogwon you are a monkey. You are there to look interesting and teach English second.


Public schools

These places are interested in the education of the kids. Appearance is secondary. Skill is the most important. You will get better hours. You will get your stated vacation. You will get paid on time. You will also have to deal with more kids per class.

I've done it all. Hogwon, Public school, Adults and Uni jobs.

The best is the Uni position. The close second is public school.

If you want to be part of a dog and pony show with the possibility of getting screwed over...sign up for a hogwon.

If you want to teach, take a public school job.

[pet lover]

[BigBlackEquus]

Ugh... older kids over screaming young kids any day of the week.

But I bet that if you find a good public school, your good hagwon won't seem as good.

Either way, hagwons seem to be paying a better base, but you work more for that. I have yet to find a hagwon that pays the teacher 2 million for standing in front of students just 18 hours per week. Sure, you could make 2.2 or as high as 2.6 with an MA for working 30 hour per week, but why would you want to do that? At a public school, you are there from 9 to 5, or thereabouts depending on if the school fudges the hours and lets you come/go early. Personally, I prefer having an hour break in between a few classes so I have time to rest.

Sometimes you can pick up extra hours with a public school, especially with the older students (high school, from what I hear). And they pay better overtime for that. You can quickly be making almost 3.0 and still be working less hours than you would at that hagwon job that pays 2.6.

[UncleAlex]

I'd rather work at a public school than at a hagwon, only because the
number of teaching hours at a private institute are way too many. Yet
a public school position has its down side: 35-40 students in a class,
most of whom cannot even utter a word or two, annoying co-teachers,
exploitation on the part of the staff and ministry officials, subtle forms
of discrimination, and vacation programmes with no overtime pay and
holiday bonuses. In spite of the stressful workload at a hagwon. the
institute seems far less an alien environment in that the insider-outsider
mentality of Koreans isn't as acute as at a public school. I've been in
the public school sector since 1998 and have had to suffer many forms
and grades of prejudice, abuse, and neglect - even down right cheating.
With the new provincial ministry contract forms that deny the foreign
teacher the full vacation period off and offer starting salaries at the dis-
graceful amount of 1.7 a month (the average salary in 1998) it would be
better to teach at a franchise school - but not in Korea. Try Japan or even
Taiwan if you wish to live in Asia.

[pet lover]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Ah yes, finding that elusive 'good hogwan'... You get paid well but are just there to entertain screaming monsters and never do any real teaching... You have wonderful, small classes of students who aren't allowed to slack off and you get great support from management until you don't get paid... Everything is going swimmingly - great kids, 2.3 paid on time every month, and then one day the whole opperation is sold to some dickhead who buggers everything up... Everything is going swimmingly - great pay, great kids, and then one day you're called into the office and told you're being let go because it 'just isn't working out' (and they have young, blond, Canadian female waiting to replace you).

For a newbie a 'good hogwan' is probably best, but if you have a bit of self-confidence and think you'd be able to handle classes of up to 40 you might want to consider a public school.

[pet lover]

I'm starting my second year here. I've always been paid if not on time then EARLY.

Complete support from bosses.

Class size stays at 16 maximum. I had to specifically request a class to get bumped up to 17 in order to get a kid in there and started on the learning rather than waiting for the kid who is going to move in two months to stop coming to class.

I get paid well. I am NOT there to entertain screaming monsters. A: I don't have screaming monsters. B: I take my job very seriously and so does my boss. And if a kid doesn't, he/she gets marched into the office and gets an attitude adjustment. Out of 100+ students, I have ONE kid I'm not happy with. One. That's it. Just one.

Other teachers have been there much longer than I have. I will never be replaced by a "young, blonde Canadian female" unless she is a great deal more experienced and better educated than I am. Or, unless I don't renew...then, who knows? One of the teachers is in his fifties. They do not discriminate based on age. They want GOOD teachers.

I have housing within two minutes walking distance from the school. I have my own huge classroom. Yes, I have a lot of textbooks to get through with kindergarten, but I have a year to get them done and I know exactly what they are. It won't change. ONce the school year has started, books do NOT change. And I still have time to do the extra fun stuff I like such as sequencing and listening skills development as well as work on some skills that they need such as penmanship.

The drawback to this school? School Presentation Day. I'll admit to wishing I didn't teach at this hagwon during last year's presentation preparation. But, that was a tiny portion of the year and I got through it and I'm so glad that I did. Yes, it's looming up in the future, this summer. But at least now I know what to expect and I think it won't be as bad or stressful. Again, this is a tiny part of the school year.

But otherwise? I have heat...ondol floors in the school. If I'm still cold, I can pull in an electric heater. The good kind that heat up the room quickly. I have my own a/c. I have lots of windows and they open. I have a great mountainview and sometimes catch fantastic sunsets during which I make all the kids stop working and ooooo and aaaaaah. The new Korean teachers are nice and friendly (though, yeah, I still miss the former ones who moved on after years of service at this hagwon). The bosses are friendly, kind, and care about the students and the teachers. I don't have any psychotic co-workers (have in the past). In fact, I have the best co-workers I've ever had before. Oh, and the school got repainted during the holiday. I got a new floor in my classroom and a giant bookcase to accomadate all the things I think I need and keep buying. Yes, I filled up on the first day and brought in one from home, but that's besides the point.

I'm not overly fond of the location of the school, but it's hard to be happy with the scenery and weather up at the DMZ area after you've lived in Seogwipo.

This hagwon is not perfect, but it's danged close to it. There's no way I'd trade it for a public school job.

[Pak Yu Man]

Ah. Ignorance is bliss.

[pet lover]

Yes, and I'm happy for the ignorant to stay blissfully unaware of the great jobs available. Gives the rest of us even more choice.