Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Homer]

Flotsam,

My University has no rule on how many times a teacher can re-sign. They even favor returning teachers as they see it as stability. They also tend to hire teachers in their early 30s and look for very specific qualifications. They do not offer tenure (yes thats tenure/Tenure) to people who:

a) Have no PHD
b) Have no significant publications in their field of study
c) Cannot speak Korean on near fluency level

They do however offer substantial bonuses for re-signing (if you did a good job mind you and the bonuses are not automatic).

Hope that sheds some light on your questions...

[HapKi]

Flotsam-
Concerning your questions, tenured Korean professors, as well as Korean entry level positions, are graded on a point system, called ho-bong (호봉). Points are given for years worked, published papers, student and teacher evaluations, activity in extra programs, and so on. These points are applied to a pay scale. I'm now in a 2 year probationary period for "tenure-track," and this point system effects my total evaluation.

[the_beaver]

[flotsam]

Thanks to all for the posts.

Let me throw this out there:

The program I am about to start will be a joint MA/M.Ed in Social Studies Education and TESOL. At my particular school the MA is around 30-36 credits while the M.Ed is basically an ABD degree at 60 graduate credits. I am contemplating coming back after the M.Ed in order to stock up on more experience and cash for two or three years(maybe more) before returning to finish off an Ed.D which will run up to 90 credits compared to a Ph.D at 75.

Based on your experience in Korea, what do you think is better: waiting until after the doctoral degree is finished or the plan outlined above? Also, and please don't think me snooty--it's not my MO, what do you think the value of an Ivy League degree is in Korea? Do the unis go as nuts over them as the high schools do? Most of the world knows that University of Hawaii is the pace to go if you want a TESOL degree, but people here tend to place a lot of value on those 8 silly schools...

[Homer]

They might make a difference Flotsam. Then again it depends and it is hard to say how much of a difference.

The name of such a University would carry some weight.

What is your goal here? I only say this because a PHD is not always worth the expense and years of lost salary. It also puts you on the Professor career path as the most likely job and there are not that many of those around as the field is more and more competitive (unless of course you go in a field of study that is not very well known but growing). At any rate, many doctoral grads never really make up the years of salary they lost doing their PHD (some do mind you...). I think you must have the ole "sacred flame" to do a PHD, a person needs to really have a passion for doing research in a very specialized field of study.

Good luck to you anyway!

[flotsam]

Sorry all. I am bumping this once in the hopes of getting some more advice.

Forgive me.

[maggoli]

Hi Flotsam,

I've been at my technical college for six years now, just up the road from you. (Generally low level, but great boys and girls, all!) I started without a graduate degree. Sometimes that is a very real possibility. I happened to work with somebody whose brother's dog's cousin twice-removed...you know the story.

However, I sense that you might rather enjoy something more challenging than teaching freshmen conversational English. I agree with earlier posts that it really depends on the institution...some seem not to care where your paper comes from so long as you've got it. Others seem more concerned. Maybe the best bet is to get the M.Ed, teach for a few years at that level and see if that's the area in which you really want to continue studies...baby steps! TC is a great school, but really costly, too!

D&D!

[Woland]

Hi Flotsam,

I have a PhD and am working now in a teacher education program. I can't comment on any bonus for where your degree is from or whether your intended plan is the best one. I can talk about the opportunities my degree has opened for me here.

One of the biggest advantages of working in teacher education is working with small groups of students who are interested and motivated and already have good English. They often need polishing of academic skills, especially if they intend to go on for further degrees, but I find those skills fun to teach. In short, I truly enjoy the work that I do with my students - they are a total joy every day.

Beyond this, I generally work far fewer contact hours than most people on this list for a larger salary than I see on this list for teaching English. I do do a substantial amount of prep and spend a lot of time responding to my students' work, but I set that up to be as interesting as possible. I have slightly less vacation than most uni people on this list (12 weeks), but I effectively work three days a week while in session. Every third twenty week session in my program, I get a half load (with full pay) in order to enable me to do research. I have a courtesy appointment at an American University to which I will be invited at some point to teach (though I might turn it down for tax purposes).

My sense is that there will be an increasing number of universities opening up gradaute level teacher education programs in cooperation with American or other universities in the near future. There are three already that I know of. I expect that salary and benefits will be comparable. I see a lot of opportunity developing in this area, if you are interested in it in the future.

[flotsam]

Woland, you devil, that sounds exactly like what I am looking to do in a few years.

I will be PMing you in the very near future(when my eyelids aren't so heavy) to pick your brain.

Again, thanks to everyone for their posts. Lots of useful info.

[Hanson]

[Len8]

Getting them to speak though is the rub. Would be great if the universities streamed their classes. The no interest guys could sit and be bored to-gether, and if your lucky you might just get the more interested in English classes.

English majors aren't much better at spoken English either. Most of them suck in fact. i wish we could fail those who just don't try.