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Aussiekimchi
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Location: SYDNEY
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 Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 4:03 am Post subject: What questions to ask the outgoing native teacher... |
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To make things easier for the newbies in this upcoming hiring season for PUBLIC SCHOOLS, I thought a list of questions could be compiled by those of you who are working in these positions already.
It is you guys who have the hindsight, so what are the critical questions a newbie could ask the outgoing native teachers in a phone interview?
E.g. Do you have a co teacher in the classroom with you?
etc etc |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 4:22 am Post subject: Re: What questions to ask the outgoing native teacher... |
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| Aussiekimchi wrote: |
To make things easier for the newbies in this upcoming hiring season for PUBLIC SCHOOLS, I thought a list of questions could be compiled by those of you who are working in these positions already.
It is you guys who have the hindsight, so what are the critical questions a newbie could ask the outgoing native teachers in a phone interview?
E.g. Do you have a co teacher in the classroom with you?
etc etc |
In most cases talking to the outgoing teacher in a public school isn't an option. If you are hired by EPIK, GEPIK, SMOE or any of the new ones that we can expect in the near future, you are NOT assigned to a particular school until AFTER the current teachers' contract has expired and they have moved on. In the PUBLIC systen you are officially hired by the province or school district and not usually the school. PRIVATE SCHOOLS are different.
Typically (but not always) their contracts expire a week or two before you get assigned to your new school or you may rotate to several schools in a school district (working out of the education office) unless you are fortunate enough to grab one out of the blue by yourself.
In addition, many schools do not have/have not had a FT yet. You may very well be the first.
Last edited by ttompatz on Wed May 17, 2006 4:27 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Peeping Tom
Joined: 15 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 4:23 am Post subject: |
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Here's a few:
What do you expect me to teach? (of course English, but what aspect, what level...)
Do you have a curriculum or at least a textbook for me to follow?
Am I paid monthly or hourly?
Will I be expected to teach after-school classes as well (assuming it isn't your official job)?
Will I be expected to teach during summer and winter breaks? |
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Aussiekimchi
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Location: SYDNEY
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 4:26 am Post subject: |
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| Gyeonggi do start dates are around September. The schools have teachers in them now....I would assume. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 4:38 am Post subject: |
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| Peeping Tom wrote: |
Here's a few:
What do you expect me to teach? (of course English, but what aspect, what level...)
Do you have a curriculum or at least a textbook for me to follow?
Am I paid monthly or hourly?
Will I be expected to teach after-school classes as well (assuming it isn't your official job)?
Will I be expected to teach during summer and winter breaks? |
Great questions for a newbie heading to a hakwon.... DUH....
This is a very backward country..... there is NO curriculum in the public school system yet. They can't afford books so the children use a piece of chalk and a slate that we have to chain to their desk so they won't steal it.
Most people get paid monthly... hard on the banking system if they have to pay you every hour.... OR did you mean, "Are you on a monthly salary or hourly wage?"
Public teachers do NOT work outside of their contracted time (usually 8:30/9:00 - 4:30/5:00. You may be asked to teach afternoon classes and you get paid extra for them. It is in your contract.
You MAY be expected to be available if they run a summer or winter camp at the school during the day AND during your contracted working time. Again it is covered in your contract. You will not be expected to forgo your contracted vacation.
| Aussiekimchi wrote: |
| Gyeonggi do start dates are around September. The schools have teachers in them now....I would assume. |
Yup... Gyeonggi starts in Sept... AND March. You will be brought to Korea in the middle of August for orientation and then assigned to your school around the end of August.
IF the school had a previous FT (nationally, about 10,000 of them don't yet) they would have finished their contract around the middle of Aug. and be gone on their holiday or new job or left for home.
Good luck on your quest... it is good to ask questions... but not realistic in the PUBLIC school system for any PARTICULAR school.
IF you want CRAP on the systems (EPIK, GEPIK, SMOE) then ask here and you can get lots of feedback.
Last edited by ttompatz on Wed May 17, 2006 4:46 am; edited 1 time in total |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 5:09 am Post subject: |
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Will I be teaching with a co-teacher?
What systems will be in place for classroom management?
How many people in the school speak english?
Will the person supervising me be able to speak english?
What facilities will I able to use for my classes on a regular basis?
Will I have a computer of my own to prepare lessons on?
Does the school have Air Con?
Will I get any money towards classroom supplies or I expected to supply my own? |
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jacl
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 5:39 am Post subject: |
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| How in the hell do you teach 40 students a foreign language at once? |
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Neil
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 5:41 am Post subject: |
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| Where's the nearest pub? |
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tiger fancini
Joined: 21 Mar 2006
Location: Testicles for Eyes
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 5:43 am Post subject: |
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Why are you leaving?
Who will your best allies be?
How do co-teachers communicate with you?
How much of a free reign are you given?
What equipment is available to use?
If you use textbooks, are they any good? |
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jacl
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| Are there any hot women around, or is it too far out in the boonies where I'll be scratching at the walls to get out? |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 11:56 pm Post subject: |
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Are you always paid on time?
Have you been stiffed on airfare, healthcare, severance, taxes, and/or pension?
What kind of housing was provide to you?
How far is it from school?
Are your students well behaved?
How's your boss? Any major disfunctions?
How's business? How many students are registered? |
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Aussiekimchi
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Location: SYDNEY
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 12:19 am Post subject: |
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Like Hagwans Public schools MUST be high risk jobs too.
Is it any wonder why newbies have problems jobsearching here...
As the public schools have no English speaking teachers available or they are too busy to call, or the school has no English speaking teacher willing to make a call....it is near impossible for a newbie to get an interview or if they do it is along the lines of:
Hello. Can I talk to .......?
Hello yes this is ....I applied for a job at your school
Hello
Yes Hello..This is ....
Hi..do you like children?
[i]Well ..yes I do...
Can you come to Korea?
When does the job start?
ok bye bye
Now I know speaking an L2 over the phone is really difficult, but how is a newbie supposed to get an idea of the school without having to trust a recruiter or a boss sugar coating everything?
I have no answer, just wanna know what you guys did and what you would do differently now. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 12:43 am Post subject: |
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| Hollywoodaction wrote: |
Are you always paid on time?
Have you been stiffed on airfare, healthcare, severance, taxes, and/or pension?
What kind of housing was provide to you?
How far is it from school?
Are your students well behaved?
How's your boss? Any major disfunctions?
How's business? How many students are registered? |
The thread is about PUBLIC schools....!!!!!!!!! NOT HAKWONS
Are you always paid on time? Public school gig = always for basic salary.
Stiffed? Nope.... except maybe severance... EPIK was bad for 50 week contracts. The rest is a given.
Housing IS a good question to ask..IF there is someone to ask.
Students well behaved? It's a public school with 40 kids in a class.. you get all kinds.
Boss questions... NOT just your boss (the principal) but the school district and your FT minder.
How's business... hmmm tough question in a public school. I didn't think they were in business at least not for a profit... or that they had to make a profit and your position was dependant on those profits.
How many students are registered? If it is a public school and has less than 1000 I would be surprised. IF it had more than 2000 I would NOT be surprised.
| Aussiekimchi wrote: |
Now I know speaking an L2 over the phone is really difficult, but how is a newbie supposed to get an idea of the school without having to trust a recruiter or a boss sugar coating everything?
I have no answer, just wanna know what you guys did and what you would do differently now. |
Ignore most of the sh?t on here (INCLUDING MOST OF THIS THREAD) that relates to hakwons...
Public schools are a different breed of cat and NOT the same.
There ARE some problems...but they are NOT along the same lines as a hakwon because:
1) You have a CAPTIVE audience who can't just move cause they think the school on the next block is better.
2) They DON'T depend on PAID attendence to pay the bills and
3) the government MAY go broke but you will see that writing on the wall LONG before you have to worry about not getting paid.
Pay, medical insurance, and pension, are NOT issues when dealing with the public school system.
Class/classroom management, co-teachers in the room with you (as required by contract and union agreement), your minder, and perhaps to a lessor extent your principal can be issues. Ocassionally the education board can be a bit of a pain but nothing tragic.
SOMETIMES housing can be an issue but that is NOT a common complaint as compared to hakwans. eg. I have a 19 pyong officetel with aircon, bath and separate shower, washer/dryer combo, 2 burner range, full size fridge/freezer, microwave, coffee pot, some kitchen stuff (pots/pans/dishes/silverware), TV and DVD/VCR combo, bed, sofa, table and chairs, twin wardrobes, and some other assorted furniture.
If you want reasonable and accurate information check the GEPIK website (although it is a little out of date) and that will give you a fairly good idea of what is in store for you at a PUBLIC school.
Each school is a little different, but they are primarily governed by the same GOVERNMENT policies. This is NOT like a hakwan where the wonjang make the rules up as he goes along.
If a teacher in the PUBLIC school system (Gyeonggi-do) has a problem they can talk directly to the Provincial Education Office (David Nam = [email protected] ) and get a solution worked out according to the government policy in place at the time you signed your contract.
BLATENT contract violations are not common. Minor issues do arrise and they can USUALLY be worked out before they escalate to the Provincial Office level if you have any interpersonal skills at all.
Now... do you have any real questions??? |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 3:54 am Post subject: |
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| Didn't notice it was about public schools. I was wondering why nobody had suggested these questions. |
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canuckistan
Mod Team
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Location: Training future GS competitors.....
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 4:34 am Post subject: |
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This one can really open the floodgates:
"What's the worst thing about the job/school?" |
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