Korean Job Discussion Forums

[spinner]

What's it like?

What do you do after lesson planning on break?

How often can you sing the mariachi?

Do other teachers take an interest to get to know you?

Do people constantly want to know where you are and what you're doing?

Do Korean co-workers at school really like us or are they pretending?

Do Korean teachers yell alot at the kids in general?

Are students generally afraid, rebellious, shy, sarcastic?

What are some things students may do to test you. Your patience, level of humour, brains etc...

Last but not least is it more fun to teach

Elementary
Middle
High
Hawk
Uni

Sorry for all these questions but ...i'm sure some of you have interesting things to say.

[UncleAlex]

Yep!

[ddeubel]

[ddeubel]

PS. please forgive all the typos....writing in a hurry

[zappadelta]

Hawk is the most fun.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

1. What's it like?

It's the best job I've every had and I look forward to going to work every morning.

2. What do you do after lesson planning on break?

Make new lessons, photocopy, and piss around on Dave's.

3. How often can you sing the mariachi?

???

4. Do other teachers take an interest to get to know you?

Yes, too much so, sometimes.

5. Do people constantly want to know where you are and what you're doing?

In my social life, yes; at school, not really so long as I'm covering my lessons.

6. Do Korean co-workers at school really like us or are they pretending?

If they're pretending they're doing a damn good job of it.

7. Do Korean teachers yell alot at the kids in general?

Yes, sometimes.

8. Are students generally afraid, rebellious, shy, sarcastic?

Wonderful, sweet, darlings, super nice, sometimes just tired of learning, sometimes sleepy. The odd potential trouble maker knows better than to carry things on too far. On the whole they're absolutely wonderful.

9. What are some things students may do to test you. Your patience, level of humour, brains etc...

Play with their handphones, be generally too giddy, play with their handphones, wisper and giggle, play with their handphones, read comic books and do homework for other classes, play with their handphones, fall asleep, and play with their handphones. If you're Draconian with the handphones everything else is no problem. I've never lost my temper at high school once and at middle school never been really angry though on a couple of occasions been a bit frustrated and once yelled at two kids were starting to fight (for real, not playfighting, which they do all the time).

Last but not least is it more fun to teach

Elementary
Middle
High
Hawk
Uni

High school is by far the most rewarding. Middle school is usually lots of fun and when they're enthusiastic it really brightens me up, but they're quite a bit more work and in some classes you really have to be on top of things in terms of classroom management.

[UncleAlex]

One can do a very professional job as a teacher and be well liked by the
students, but if you don't wear a costume and go trotting down the hall
whistling nor dance to the tune Koreans play for you chances are you'll
be ostracized and refused a contract renewal. But then, who would want to
renew a contract where one is expected to be used and be sensitive to the
local culture while the cultural sensibilities of the foreign teacher are ignored.
If you hope to teach at a Korean public school for more than one year, swallow
your pride and suck up to the natives. That is more important than how well
one teaches and relates to his colleagues to a reasonably professional degree.
Be prepared to be exploited and show that you wish to be 100% Korean
while you are here if you hope to renew your position. There's really no
meeting half way with one's Korean employer and colleagues in the public
school system regardless of how friendly and civil a foreign teacher is. It's
fine to join the others on a school picnic, but what matters more is that you
say yes to helping out in the English drama class after 5pm for no extra pay,
although your Korean colleagues are paid overtime. And don't grumble when
on Friday after school you are asked to attend a teacher's field trip on the following
day, Saturday, even though your (colleagues) were aware of the trip weeks
before and so didn't make other plans like you may have. Refusing to go on that
trip can wipe out any hope of renewing a contract, especially if you fail to
'comply' with many other inconsiderate and inconvenient requests. A final word
of warning: Don't pay any heed to the vague generalisations of gyopos, anthropology
or sociology grads, or unassertive people. And it's okay to ask "guarded questions"
because realistically a foreign teacher has to be on his guard here.

[ddeubel]

Alex,

I understand where you are coming from and I'm sorry your experience hasn't been the best. It happens. But I do think and know Koreans accomodate foreigners and we don't have to be "used".

I have had no problems getting paid all overtime, receiving money for working extra classes/clubs etc...... I have had Koreans go out of their way to help me get things I enjoy as a westerner. Going out of their way.

There is a half way point in any relationship. Just have to manage it. I do think your advice about not rocking the boat, is valid. When coming into a foreign environment, you don't start demanding, you don't start cutting down the trees until you know they aren't something valuable....(then the farming can take place....)>

In my own case, I found it very valuable to do student surveys. A strict questionnaire they fill out which ascertains whether they feel the teaching is helping their English. 10 yes/no/somewhat questions and a place for open comments. Tally and give to the school administration and district. The results will help give objective proof of your worth and put you in a much better position to negotiate extra things and be part of the valued staff...

Has anyone else let their students evaluate their teaching? I think it is something all serious teachers should do and an obligation. Helps a teacher with the office/management and also get to know what they are doing right and wrong.

DD

[Demophobe]

[tomato]

Hello, Spinner!

What's it like?

I had an English school director who sent me out to local kindergartens for half-days.
I was the only person there who knew English.
I liked the chance to prove that my Korean proficiency is enough to function in such a situation.

Working in the kindergartens is illegal, but nobody ever came to my apartment with a pair of handcuffs.

What do you do after lesson planning on break?

It is easy to order meals.
The local eating places pass around full-color advertising leaflets.
If you're afraid to order over the telephone, ask the secretary.

I do most of my lesson planning at home.
It is more comfortable because I have my own computer at home.

Sometimes I go to sleep, sometimes I read a book,
and sometimes I go out in the lobby and horse around with the kids who are waiting for class.
Sometimes we get too noisy, so the secretary reminds me that she's on the phone.

How often can you sing the mariachi?

Nobody on this thread seems to know what that is, and I can't find it in my Korean dictionary.
Could you please enlighten us?

Do other teachers take an interest to get to know you?

No, but I don't take much interest in them either.
I guess what goes around comes around.

Do people constantly want to know where you are and what you're doing?

The only place where I've lived where the people watched every move I made was in rural Tennessee.

Do Korean co-workers at school really like us or are they pretending?

Like I say, I don't know and I don't care.

Do Korean teachers yell alot at the kids in general?

I have heard horror stories about Korean public schools.
My only generalization about Korean teachers in English schools is that they slavishly follow the textbook and provide very little creative input.

Are students generally afraid, rebellious, shy, sarcastic?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. You will meet all kinds.
In most classes, there is at least one Dennis the Menace.

What are some things students may do to test you. Your patience, level of humour, brains etc...

The only Korean custom I can't stand is the ddongchim.
It's--well, I can't bear to describe it.

Last but not least is it more fun to teach--
Elementary, Middle, High, Hawk, Uni

High school is not an option.
High school lets out late in the evening
so the students don't have time for anything else.

This question depends on the individual.
I'm not macho enough to handle upper elementary and middle school students,
and I lost my last three jobs because of that.
One of those jobs also involved university conversation classes, where I was expected to chitter-chatter for the whole hour.
I couldn't do that either.

On the other hand, many teachers would rather take a beating than to teach kindergarten--which I am very happy doing now.
The only way I know how to teach is with a supply of games, toys, and picture books.
Younger kids enjoy that, but older students don't.

The next poster on this thread will probably reply to this question with an answer completely different from mine.

Sorry for all these questions but ...i'm sure some of you have interesting things to say.

Quite all right.
We have all been in your position, and we are delighted for a chance to turn the tables.

[mindmetoo]

Advantage of being the only foreigner: You don't have to worry about loser foreign coworkers.

Disadvantage: Your school might not have a lot of experience with the needs of a foreigner. You'll be expected to go out after work for company drink ups and everyone will speak Korean and it can be very isolating.

If you're not the kind of person that can handle isolation or even prefer an isolating environment, then you should think twice.

Korean coworkers will take a varying level of interest in you. Most will be totally gun shy about exposing their English to you. You have to do some of the leg work. Don't make a bad impression on your first day. Bring chocolate and treats from your native country and share it with them on your first day. Buy a mess of gold fish bread or other odd street foods and bring it in on a Friday, heaping both effusive praise and wild eyed confusion upon on this mysterious food you bought from a vendor. Share it with your coworkers.

They love that.

[tomato]

Sent a duplicate message by mistake.
Sorry!

PS Mod, we used to be able to erase our own messages in cases like this.
What happened?

[VanIslander]

Spinner, it's great. Only ten minutes between classes but I go two hours early to prep for class and chat with the two Korean teachers. The three of us go out for dinner about once a week, certainly every two weeks at least. It's nice to be in a small hagwon with staff you like and likes you: it has made it hard to leave, have been there since late 2002.

The students can get a bit excited and chatty (in Korean) if you don't structure the start of class, but they are NOT rebellious and definitely not sarcastic. And I've trained them all to work and have fun. A few are shy, and most have a healthy fear of pissing me off, though I only raise my voice and keep students after class (though i prefer to cancel games for the end of class, a mass punishment that quickly turns the students against the offender and gets peer pressure working in my favour - everyone works together and then we all play games over the last ten minutes of class - everyone's happy). Those are just with my elementary school-aged kids.

I have a couple of middle school classes now too and they are surprisingly easy as long as I have an organized lesson plan which has lots of subtasks for them to do in pairs and groups. And my few adult classes are pretty straightforward conversation classes revolving around a theme (subject, or grammar point, or whatever).

As for life away from the hagwon, the director and his wife are the only other teachers, and they know what I've emphasized from day one: mornings are my time to write and weekends are my time to do whatever, that I'm open to get together on a Saturday any time I haven't other plans, and that Sundays I spend by myself (away from coworkers I meant) as it's a family day, a sabbath where I come from (the point is clear - I've never seen or talked to the staff on any Sunday since I've started working there, all by design, because I was CLEAR from the get go - be clear!).

I used to hum old tunes but these days I hum original compositions, especially when I walk the ten minutes it takes to cross the small town, from the bay to the hills, here on an island off the southeast coast of the peninsula.

All is good. If I were married with kids, I could happily do this for twenty more years here.

[UncleAlex]

It's more like bad experiences at several schools but two. The strange thing
is that I have never quarrelled with or estranged myself from my Korean colleagues.
I have made it a point to be friendly with them, and not simply as a cynical
tactic to be accepted as one of them. I have sincerely sought their friendship
to enjoy their company when going out for dinner and then the singing room,
for instance. But I have to draw the line when a supervisor asks me to plan and
submit 16 lessons that I don't have to teach. My refusal to do so had probably
cost me a contract renewal. I am not the type to press unreasonable and annoying
demands, but I refuse to compromise my professional dignity by complying
with such a nonsensical request. I for one will not suck up to those individuals
who impose foolish demands on me and try to take advantage of my presence.
I am more than happy to scrap a contract renewal and try my luck elsewhere.
But it can be difficult finding another public school position when one's previous
school brands him as "uncooperative". The turn-over rate among foreign teachers
at public schools is too high, and it isn't because the foreign teacher is a
"loser".

[The Kung Fu Hustle]

I don't think I'd ever work at a hagwon with another foreign teacher.

It rules to be the Master of English in the building. If you wanna change books, do it. Nobody else has to teach them but you!

No strategic mind games, playing the staff off against each other: "Why isn't Tony ������ more like Ryan ������?" I feel sorry for Korean teachers because they are so disposable. My boss fears me more than Chuck Norris because I'm not so replacable.

...other teachers...

Same what everyone else said, you get what you put in.

...the kids...

The first month is tough but you have to be tough right back and after that they're tamed. It helps if one of the teachers is a hardnuts and can instil fear into the most hardened Middle Schooler with the mere mention of her name.

...learning Korean...

Tomato alluded to it, but being the only foreign teacher at your school is the number one way to learn Korean and how to use the different speech levels. One language for the staff, one for the kids.