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Snowmeow
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Location: pc room
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 Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:30 pm Post subject: In defense of the kindy school |
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I worked at a Kindergarten hagwon my first time around in Korea and at the time, I hated it and couldn't wait to leave. But I did come back to Korea and now that I no longer teach in that kind of environment I find myself engaged in some revisionist thinking with regards to how I
benefited from working at such a school.
It's true, I had a long split shift schedule from morning to night, a fair bit of extra and unpaid work in the form of field trips, summer camps, song
and dance rehearsals and decorating. And I can't forget that Big Brother was omnipresent in every room of the building. All that amounted to a lot of anger on my part.
Now that I only teach a short afternoon schedule with no extras it's been really easy for me to eat western food all the time, spend way too much time reading this forum and others and basically disassociate myself with Korean culture and society. And... I'm really bored.
I am starting miss that all encompassing, heavy handed but still caring approach of my former school. There were a lot of benefits and I felt
much more assimilated into Korea at the time. I had Korean lunches every day with all sorts of exotic foods that I no longer eat: tentacles, fish complete with spines and fins, chewy glazed minnows, you all know about that. And we did go on some interesting field trips to museums and amusement parks, for instance. There were a lot of theme parties and special events, birthdays and gifts from parents. There were staff dinners and mandatory kareoke. I'd sing "Eye of The Tiger". I miss the little kids. I wasn't bored as much as I am now, aside from exercising all I do is play computer games these days. Guess that's my fault as there is plenty I could potentially be doing in Busan.
Crazy rantings of somebody who should have gone to sleep hours ago, that's all.
Last edited by Snowmeow on Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:22 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CBP
Joined: 15 May 2006
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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Well, it's an insightful rant, so thanks! Gives me something to think about as I prepare for my first teaching experience overseas.
Are you thinking about going back to your school? Or changing your place of employment? What makes your job boring ... the shorter hours? The age level?
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Snowmeow
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Location: pc room
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| Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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I am still awake.. the job is boring due to the nature of the subject - basic english. There is a structure defined by the school, and in reviewing each page of text from every angle possible and from a class level down to individual repetition, it just gets old. I try to do different things but it's time consuming and there's occaisions when I have spent 1-2 hours on a special class and it falls completely flat for various reasons.
As for Korea being boring, it's not really I just have become too apathetic to get out there and see the city (I am looking forward to some tacos at O'Briens tonight though). I am not going to come back here or anywhere in SKor once I finish my contract. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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Kindergarten = hell
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| some tacos at O'Briens |
Somehow that doesn't sound like a place that makes great Mexican food. 
More of a whiskey and beer place. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| wylies99 wrote: |
Kindergarten = hell
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Please allow me to disagree. A particular school/franchise can be hell.
A sink or swim attitude from a Korean director can be hell.
Kindy can be great - and as a case in point I gave up a cushy uni job to go back to working with little kids.
It more depends on your attitude, aptitude and maturity level.
It is NOT for everyone. Kindy is demanding. Little kids are demanding. Little kids sometimes have less patience than bad directors.
IF you are one of the truly gifted few who can work with little kids then my hat is off to you. Early childhood education is at least as if not more important than the later years and is certainly more difficult.
IF you are NOT one of the people who likes working with little kids, then you are NOT a bad person. It is just not something you have an aptitude for. Try older kids or young adults.
A teacher who is good with one level is NOT necessarily good with another level. They may be adequate, but if the spark isn't there then it isn't there. Everyone has an age level that will respond to you. The trick is to find that level and make the best of your time and their education.
For those who think that we are nothing more than trained monkeys performing for the kids, you are 1/2 right. But even a good monkey show is as much educational as entertaining. Perhaps more so with kids.
ALL adults are teachers. Kids watch us every day. They imitate us, the way we dress, the way we act, the way we talk. Don't kid yourselves my fellow foreign monkeys. In spite of how you feel some days, we are still educators, entrusted with the precious lives and futures of those children we see every day.
Your boss may be an absolute ass and, just like at home, some kids think teachers are a joke but you are still teachers. One day some little Miss Yu Mi-jin will look back with a fond memory of the teacher who inspired her and she will go on to do great things. That is our reward.
It all starts at the kindergarten.
Thank you for allowing me this space. I will get off my soapbox now. |
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Hotpants
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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Love kindy. They're more receptive than most other age groups of English learners in Korea. It's a great test to see how well you manage kids and whether you'll be a great parent in the future!
I also agree that the experience of kindy can also depend a lot on the adults who run the place. It's the adults who are the killjoys in this whole darn business!! |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Hotpants wrote: |
| I also agree that the experience of kindy can also depend a lot on the adults who run the place. It's the adults who are the killjoys in this whole darn business!! |
Bingo.
Once I got a bit of a handle on classroom management and how to teach my kindie students they became my favorite classes and they are still the kids classes I have the fondest memories of.
Unfortunately, the boss treated us like absolute crap with long split shifts and eating into our precious break and prep time with extra unpaid work that made it impossible to do a good job and maintain our sanity. This seems to be pretty common with hogwons that offer kindie so I made a point of avoiding kindie on my next job.
I miss the kindie classes, but the hours were just too long to make it worthwhile. |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
| wylies99 wrote: |
Kindergarten = hell
. |
Please allow me to disagree. A particular school/franchise can be hell.
A sink or swim attitude from a Korean director can be hell.
Kindy can be great - and as a case in point I gave up a cushy uni job to go back to working with little kids.
It more depends on your attitude, aptitude and maturity level.
It is NOT for everyone. Kindy is demanding. Little kids are demanding. Little kids sometimes have less patience than bad directors.
IF you are one of the truly gifted few who can work with little kids then my hat is off to you. Early childhood education is at least as if not more important than the later years and is certainly more difficult.
IF you are NOT one of the people who likes working with little kids, then you are NOT a bad person. It is just not something you have an aptitude for. Try older kids or young adults.
A teacher who is good with one level is NOT necessarily good with another level. They may be adequate, but if the spark isn't there then it isn't there. Everyone has an age level that will respond to you. The trick is to find that level and make the best of your time and their education.
For those who think that we are nothing more than trained monkeys performing for the kids, you are 1/2 right. But even a good monkey show is as much educational as entertaining. Perhaps more so with kids.
ALL adults are teachers. Kids watch us every day. They imitate us, the way we dress, the way we act, the way we talk. Don't kid yourselves my fellow foreign monkeys. In spite of how you feel some days, we are still educators, entrusted with the precious lives and futures of those children we see every day.
Your boss may be an absolute ass and, just like at home, some kids think teachers are a joke but you are still teachers. One day some little Miss Yu Mi-jin will look back with a fond memory of the teacher who inspired her and she will go on to do great things. That is our reward.
It all starts at the kindergarten.
Thank you for allowing me this space. I will get off my soapbox now. |
Hat tip to you.
You are darn right: Very young learners are a group that most are not prepared to teach and teach well.
Please share your most engaging Lesson Plans with those who do not know the Tricks of the Trade, eh.
Thanks.
Roch |
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i_teach_esl
Joined: 07 Sep 2006
Location: baebang, asan/cheonan
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| Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Well, it's an insightful rant, so thanks! Gives me something to think about as I prepare for my first teaching experience overseas. |
seconded.
very insightful, ttom. your comments, along with the OP, makes me feel much more at ease about my first korea job. |
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tomato
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: I get so little foreign language experience, I must be in Koreatown, Los Angeles.
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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Another tip of the hat to you.
R |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:39 pm Post subject: |
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You could double my salary and I'd never work at a Korean kindergarten. Little kids are horrid, and little Korean kids are the most horrid in the whole world. ECE directors are horrid, and Korean ECE directors are the most horrid in the whole world. Biatchy parents of little children are horrid, and ... well, I'm sure you get the picture.
Yes, hats off to those who can teach kindy and like it, but quite frankly I'm glad that none of my students ever had a white kindergarten teacher, and learned at an early age that white people are assclowns to get dong-chimmed on one end and spew drivel they can disregard on the other. |
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