Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pet lover]

[poet13]

Thats weird. Could it be a web cam?

[Rteacher]

If you're working at a hogwan, I wouldn't advise contacting the boy's mother in a confrontational way without clearing it with the director first...

[Woland]

[oldfatfarang]

This kind of ultra competitiveness is very common in Korean parents.
My students tell me horror stories of parents beating kids because they do not get 'perfect ' test scores.

So my defense is not to give number grades. Although the school wants me too.
My students all get an 'Excellent' and good comments on their reports.
The kids love it, they walk around the hakwon saying 'Excellent' all day.
I can get their immediate attention in class by congratulating a student with 'excellent'.

Some parents here get really steamed when their kids 'only' get 95% on a test. I tell my students that if a kid gets 95 % on a test in my country their parents buy them a bicycle! They love it.

[Big Mac]

It's ridiculous the amount of pressure that Korean mothers put on their children to do well. I had kids who would cry if they got 98 per cent on a test. And you know why...because their parents were going to freak because they didn't get 100 per cent.

I think a lot of Korean parents have a strong desire for their child to be the top student in the class. It's all about prestige. Trouble is, not every kid can be at the top of the class and certainly every child cannot be perfect.

[some waygug-in]

I think you should have told the mother that her child probably could have gotten 100%, but you think there is too much pressure coming from home and that is negatively impacting on the child's performance.

Don't be rude about it. Just say it matter of factly.

Then site a couple of edu/psych studies that prove your theory. (not necessarily real ones of course)

I don't know the mother's motivation exactly, but I would guess it's more her wanting to try and complain about you and your teaching than any serious consideration about the child's performance.


Some of these parents will stop at nothing to find something to complain about regarding the foreign teacher.

[teachingld2004]

Why on earth did you give a kindy class a 30 word test? Did you have to do it? That is a lot of words for any age group.

I do agree, the mothers are nuts. I have had kids tell me they were beaten for even getting one mistake.

I'll never forget that one student came into class one day and said she was very angry with me. I asked"why?", and she said it was because I taught her to think outside the box, and the teacher got very angry when she gave an answer that was not in the book. (Her english was great)

The teacher hit her.

[pet lover]

[red dog]

Wow, that's really amazing! Congratulations on your success with the kindies. I could never manage to do anything with kids that age.

[pet lover]

[crystal]

some parents here are really psychotic about their kids education, some mothers here are constantly calling the hogwan about their kids, asking for them to be given more work and more tests, one of the classes mothers are always asking about the scores of the other kids so that they can find out if their little darling is the best. I had one kid score zero on a spelling test - it was numbers and he should have got something right, he cried for five minutes saying he couldn't bring that home to his mother. I was talking to another class about rude things they saw and one spoke about a girl in their middle school who got one wrong answer on a test, she ripped the test to pieces and threw it around the room, some seem to take education way too seriously here. While it's good that they want their kids to be educated, they really shouldn't forcefeed them - it will only make them resentful in the long run.

I have never seen that amount of competitiveness from kindy parents though, it's kinda crazy to be starting this mad drive for perfection in kids that young, he can probably kiss his childhood goodbye

[curiouswd]

haha, this reminds me of my own mother!! and yes, i am asian. that usually explains a whole lot! i do recall coming home with 97% in third grade and my mom asking me what happened to the rest of the 3%. i was never punished for not doing well, my mom was only disappointed. it's just how they were taught as children and thusly perpetuated. my mom's gotten quite relaxed since then and no, i will not treat my own children this way, but that's probably because I grew up in America. =)

though, i do agree with Big Mac that this is all about prestige. according to a few korean friends, going to a top university (oh wait, *the* top unviersity) buys you an enormous amount of fame and respect. sure, you can say that about harvard and yale, but i think it's just given that much more regard in korea.

[jacl]

Sounds to me like you're teaching them the Korean method. Learn how to spell a bunch of words without even learning what they mean and not even knowing how to form simple sentences.

Later on, in public school, they'll be faced with the same learning method while some teacher goes around with a heavy stick to test their spelling with no regards to proper pronunciation.

All you're doing is opening the door for ill treatment of these children with these stupid tests.

Little hint: memorization is not the key to language learning.

Congratulations!

Anyway, that's besides the point. It's only fucking kindergarten. I'd stop the tests if I were you.

[Junior]

Preschool parents are the most idealistic of them all. When their kids reach teenage years they're usually a lot more realistic and experienced.