Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SpedEd]

Hello people:

I'm aware that the number of hours worked in a "gagwon" vary, but is there a hypothetical average number of hours for a work day? Today, a gagwon lord told me that "Eight hours is quite normal."

[Grotto]

If you are working more than 6-6.5 hours a day at a hogwan then something is wrong. To put in an 8 hour day You would have to be making (based on 25,000 won an hour OT)a salary of about 3 mil a month. If they are willing to pay you for your time then by all means work 8 hours a day....if not

Yet another reason it is so important to get your work hours CLEARLY stated in your contract!

[alabamaman]

8 hour work days = 6 hours of teaching and 2 hours of prep time without pay.

OR

8 hour work days = 7 hours of teaching and 1 hour of prep time without pay.

OR

8 hour work days = 8 hours of teaching without any breaks

[Qinella]

First job: Four or five classes a day, which translated to about 3 hours of free time. I spent a lot of it studying. Toward the end of the contract, though, extra classes were created, and I was up to six or seven a day. Less than optimal. Usually didn't even have enough time to prep.

Second job: Now I'm doing a minimum of four and maximum of six. It changes each day, like this: 4, 5, 6, 5, 4. Sadly, the classes are structured such that I need almost no preparation, so I spend a lot of time sitting around looking busy. The other teachers are so straddled I would feel guilty to break out a book and just start studying.. so I try to find things to do. More classes would be nice.

[W.T.Carl]

As many hours a day as they have students who need to be taught. Could be up to 50+ classes a week. And they will work you until you drop.

[poet13]

"To put in an 8 hour day You would have to be making (based on 25,000 won an hour OT)a salary of about 3 mil a month."

wow. During the summer I put in 36-42 hours a week, for an extra 150-220 K a month. My boss gets around it by scheduling days off here and there and taking that 6 hours or so off the top. She has during my entire time there, never paid for a national holiday or vacation day.
Yeah, I know, it's f***ed. That's why I'm talking to labor now.

[Mr. BlackCat]

Wow. I work 7 or 9 classes (40 mins) a day. On my 'easy day' I have an hour and a half of prep and 6 hours of teaching (straight). On days like today I teach from 12:40 to 7pm with no breaks and have one other one earlier in the morning. And I actually thought this was good coming from my old schedule last semester when I was here for 10 hours a day with extra work to bring home.

It becomes apparent that the hogwan doesn't give two poops about real education when they make their teachers run around the school going to 8 or 9 straight classes with no real time in between to even get organized. We bounced from kinder to high level back down to basic vocab to free talking teens all day. Its mentally exhausting. Its also physically exhausting. You really just feel like that warm-bodied white guy in the room.

And my boss had the nerve to tell us foreign teachers that they don't need all of us and might let one go. Yeah, I'll teach three classes at once now. As long as you're making money, right?

And, by the way, I'm no where near that 25,000won/hr you speak of.

Sorry, bad day!

[VanIslander]

Teachers are paid a SALARY not a wage per class hour.

A typical 30-hour week teaching in Korea means

6 hours of classes per day, and an hour or two for prep. That is very much the standard.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[some waygug-in]

My days are all mixed up as well. Some days I teach 4 classes + 1hr of phone teaching. Some days 6 +phone teaching.

All told I teach 26 classes + 4 hours of phone teaching / week.

I know what others have said about phone teaching, but as long as it cuts down on my regular class load...I have no problem with it.


I am supposed to do an hour of prep a day. Prep usually takes me 20 mins - half and hour and I am free to leave for a while if I like.

The way the classes are scheduled, it's really impossible to know what to prep, because even though I know approximately what each class is doing, I never know exactly what page they are on. I only see each class 2 times a week, some only once, so I can't keep track of where each class is in the book.
This means I have to prepare sort of generic lessons that will work no matter where they are in the book. They do need a lot of repitition and review, so I try and cover topics over and over.

Not the best perhaps, but it's the best I've been able to come up with working in the hagwan system.