Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zack_in_Korea]

What moron thought up of seperating teaching hours and other work related tasks? Is this just a Korea thing?

It seems like at my school they treat teaching hours as what we do, and all the other time we have to be there doing stuff as meaningless in terms of being renumerated for it...

They say 'well, you only taught about 5 and a half hours today'...... yeah 5 and a half hours back to back without a break, plus the 5 and 10 minute intervals that are mostly working time too.. and what about the extra prep work...

What does it matter what exactly we are doing.. the point is it's ALL for the job and it's a full 7 hours a day at least.. meaning almost 40 hours of work on average every week. The next person who distinguishes teaching hours and makes it seem like that matters more for sum reason... I dunno what im gonna do lol...

As sumone else suggested in my other thread.. we should just stop doing anything other than teaching and do nothing for those 5 or ten minutes literally.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Speculating here: I think it comes from trying to turn what is normally a salaried position into a wage position in a system where the boss is used to having complete control but workers who are used to having somewhat more rights.

[VanIslander]

EIGHT hours is a work day where I come from.

And even with an hour or two prep time or extra duties, I never exceed that here in South Korea (e.g., teach 3 pm-9 pm, earliest ever to go there is 1 pm).

Whining about having to work seven hours instead of six sounds ludicrous to me. I just don't get where that attitude is coming from.

[peppermint]

I definitely understand the need for 5 or 10 minutes away from the little people between classes, but teaching is one of those jobs that you have to prep for if you want to be even vaguely competent.

I've been put in situations where I've had no time to prep (surprise schedule changes and the like) and I' ve learned to dread them.

[dbee]

I took my first job here almost three years ago at an ECC branch paying only 1.7million because the recruiter assured me that the job had an awful lot less hours than a regular position. Something in the region of 80 hours a month.

What he failed to mention of course was that he meant 'teaching hours'. When you included phone counselling, holiday pagents, coming in an hour early before both split-shifts and a vast quantity of other unpaid work - it turned out that I was actually working more than most other people who were on 2.0 or 2.1

Boy am I glad I don't work there anymore

[Grotto]

Yet another reason why you should only agree to work 25 50 minute classes a week instead of that hourly crap.

OR

Tell your boss in clear terms that you are including that 5-10 minute break, that phone teaching and any other duties in your calculation of teaching hours.

IN SHORT PUT IT IN THE CONTRACT IN A CLEAR MANNER!

If you leave room for interpretation in a contract you can bet your sweet bippy that your boss will not interpret in your favour!

[jacl]

The teaching hour thing can actually work in your favor.

Administrative work, phone work, etc. is just not needed and is slavery as far as I'm concerned.

Why do you need to plan? Everything's in the book. It's impossible to make a daily plan anyway when teaching at a hagwon. Testing is also BS. The parents don't pay the hagwon for you to take up valuable teaching time to give them tests. Your better off throwing the students a pizza party because it keeps them happy instead of a test which makes them miserable. I was testing the students and decided to stop. No time and often some students are absent the day you want to test them.

When your teaching six hours/day, it's enough. Take the ten minutes between each class to get away and tell your boss to shove it if he/she complains.

[Zack_in_Korea]

Van Islander.. what are you talking about?

I wasn't whining about teaching 7 hours instead of 6.

I was whining about hagwon owners who came up with the thought of teaching hours... making it seem like you are only working 6 when in fact you are working 7. Big difference there if you read my post. Work is work be it in the classroom or out of it.


When I came back to Korea the last few times I had extreme problems BECAUSE I insisted on clear answers and contracts. You DO have the right to demand answers and call them on the info they give you but then the recruiters immediately withdraw from dealing with you because they know they can't pull the wool over your eyes. THAT is the problem too people.

Sometimes I have gotten downright aggressive in emails and even on the phone (can u tell?) and told them to ..well you get the idea. Sometimes aggressions build and that happens and it's not the best idea either because it doesn't get you what you want and reduces your options to a point.

However, next time I sign a contract here I will put more time in it. Only reason I didn't as much before is because alot of times these things can have alot to do with luck. Even with all your conditions met you still might not like it, and things for me anyways work 100% on emotion. That's why I love my job now.. because it satisifies me on an emotional level. Liking your job is extremely important, and usually in the long run more important than making more money.

The next time some recruiter or school says to me such and such teaching hours I will stop them immediately. Working hours is what I am interested in! They can view it any way they want.. but for me to take the job I want to know what is entailed from the get go and will leave if I don't like it. I have often worked at institutes for less than a month. I even quit right upon arrival at a school from Canada the previous day.. told the supervisor less than a minute within meeting her.

I am definitely gunning for the 2.7 million won a month job next time. Work is work if you do get paid enough and chances are you will be putting in about the same amount of time anyways and if you manage your time properly and have a strong personality you can draw the line, though you can't forgo testing at a school like POLY. I've been here long enough and am as qualified as any teacher here.. Forgoing that I am finally off to Japan!!!

[jacl]

If you get a job like me (2-9 shift) with the 120 hr/month contract then it works out fine. I begin teaching at 2:30. An hour is 50 minutes. Anything more than six 50-minute hours in one day is OT. Anything outside of the 2-9 is also OT. So, at worst, I have one hour of time where I'm not paid for teaching time. You could look at it as non-paid time, I guess, but really you're paid monthly and it's not an hourly thing.

[Homer]

Actually back home...where I taught..they split your time between "teaching periods" and "administrative periods" plus "Time in school" and added it up for your work week load....

However, grading was not recognized as being part of a teachers duties, hence it was not not paid for (not calculated into your work week)....

[some waygug-in]

Yes, it sucks, but it's just one more of the ways haggie wonjangs try to pull the wool over people's eyes.

I talked to a couple of teachers working at an ECC yesterday. I thought I had problems, but man, compared to what they have to put up with...
I should be laughing.

They are working 6 days a week + overtime on Sundays. AIGO!

I don't need to kill myself that badly .... yet, but I suppose the extra money is nice.

[Zack_in_Korea]

grading is part of the mix too. am i doing it for my benefit? no.. im only doing it because of the job.

my point is that everything that is done for the job, all the time that requires... that is what you consider when u answer how long you work in a day or week.. and u compare that to the wage. bottomline.

recruiters and hogwon owners say "only 5 hours teaching a day".. like they are saying only 5 hours of work total in the day, when its not like that.

its kind of like going to the travel agent when the ad says 99$ from toronto to vancouver, when in reality its double with the tax they have to add. Thats why you dont believe that. If i have to pay the tax too.. then im actually paying $199.. and not 99. So who cares if the airfare in fact is 99 dollars.. I still have to pay other costs to get me there.
Therefore I am actually working 8 hours a day and not 6.. whatever.

My point is that people need to ask how much time are they going to put into the job daily... not how many teaching hours. Thats just a spin or slant people put on things to make sumthing seem better than it is..

Consequently if u were working at a job where they said no grading or prep time,.. but u worked 10 classes a day.. that too would suck.. but in the end the work time total is bottom line..


(by the way people still work weekends? lmao)

[jacl]

I said this before, and I'll say it again. If you teach 6 hours/day, it's enough work for the day. Any other work is OT. Therefore, don't do prep, lessons plans, etc on you extra time. Whether it's in your contract or not.

[Zack_in_Korea]

thanx jacl..

well im about done with this topic too.. no point arguing in here. just need to let out sum steam.. every work place is different even if its the same franchise.. changing jobs is a very positive step if u are unhappy

[buymybook]

What ya do is try to see the contract ASAP. Then you can tell them what you like/don't like in so many careful words.