Korean Job Discussion Forums

[VirginIslander]

Recently, one of my directors and a friend of his from the US, met individually with me and then individually with five of my foreign coworkers. Our directors plan to open a few more hawgrons and they are seeking advice on how to make the teaching and living experience better for foreign teachers. We have elementary and middle school howgrans, and a very good reputation here in Busan.

They have listened to her our previous suggestions and acted on them: an extra foreign teacher at our school, free dinner for all teachers, six, not seven classes a day (the seventh was overtime), changes in the curriculum, etc....

They are looking for more (realistic) suggestions. Do you have any?

Here are my first two.

1. Head foreign Teacher. Try to retain a teacher for more than a year so that he or she can provide training and guidance for new teachers. However, allow that particular teacher to go home between contracts.

2. Holiday break for the week of Christmas (or another break) for all teachers, plus are regular one week off. If Howgrans want to recruit better teachers, they are going to have to compete with vacation time. Plus, give those Korean teachers a break. I think a first year ESl teacher would take a howgron job for 100,000 less per month if he or she had an extra week off.

What do you suggest?

[Corporal]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I'd suggest that you have a very highly unusual situation in that your boss actually wants and acts on foreigners' input and that you shouldn't press your luck too far.

On a professional level I'd suggest that they make it SOP that everything the hogwan prints out or publishes in English is edited by a foreigner first. I'd also suggest that they give FTs a fair degree of flexibility in lesson planning and a small budget for teaching supplies. A colour printer and portable A/V equipment is also a bonus.

I'd also suggest that the FTs scrape together for a nice gift for such a highly unusual director to thank him for considering their input.

[matthews_world]

Sounds like a good gig. With my past experience, I'd send u my resume for a head teacher position. Dibs!

Week vacation wouldn't fly at a hagwon unless u had a director or sub who could cover the shifts.

Start by building on cirriculum changes. If those float well, then your boss is sure to give in to other demands.

Korea is expanding with the English Village set-up. Make this style of non-threatening, fun and more affordable experience available to the kids by setting up theme rooms around ur hagwon - Home, Airport, Theater, Hospital, etc. Each day they float around them for the hour or two that they're there.

[ElizabethKim]

The week of vacation wouldn't have flown at my old hagwon either, but our competing hagwon at that time had pretty good luck with their foreign teachers (and several extended contracts) by paying to extend the visas of the foreigners so that they had a 13-month instead of 12-month contract and giving them a month off for travel abroad and in Korea and/or study. It was realistic and worked well.

Elizabeth

[Bukowski]

Free dinner? I would scratch that idea, as you have to take into consideration that there are going to be foreigners that are not going to want to eat what is being served. Why not just pay the teachers more?

What does your employer mean by "best" school? Is he referring to things being the best for the students, best for the teachers, or the most profitable for him?

His answer will help you come up with some better options.

When you open that many schools in a short period of time, it is very hard to maintain high standards. An orientation period, training, etc. in the material that your company uses is very important. Teachers meetings to discuss issues as they arise is important for mitigating potential disasters.

Increasing the minimum qualifications of those hired and a more complex hiring process will allow you to weed out potentially problematic employees.

Best of luck,
AC

[ChuckECheese]

Offering one month paid leave after the contract completion with round trip airfare (money equivalent) to his/her origin so that the teacher can choose their own vacation destination would work well.

And structured pay scale with 10% pay raise per year.

[wylies99]

[Juregen]

[JeJuJitsu]

[bellum99]

Perhaps he is just blowing sunshine up your ass. New bosses will try this "make my school best" garbage but after a while it is all about making money. There is no point in making teachers extra happy...the key is how much money you can squeeze out of the school.
I would not bother thinking about what he says because it matters what he does. Look to the actions...not the words.

[Juregen]

[dmbfan]

Ok, my two cents worth.

1. In regards to hiring Korean teachers, the boss would benefit to hire ONLY those who can speak English, and speak it well. Depending on how many Korean teachers he would hire, I would suggest that the women do not overpower the numbers. A good mix of male/female Korean teachers is always wise.

2. In regards to school policies, the boss should make sure that each and every student knows what is expected of him and her (each korean mother should know this as well). Disrespect will not be tolerated to either the foreign teachers or the Korean teachers. AND...........no speaking Korean in the school, unless it is necessary.

3. In regards to curriculum, the teachers should agree on the books, and the policies of changing the curriculum if and when necessary.

4. Scheduling of classes should be given in advance to both korean and foreign teachers. If a student misses a class, that is not the fault of the teacher, and that should be recognized.

5. New teachers should recieve a cultural orientation.

6. New teachers should recieve some sort of formal training, so that they are somewhat prepared to get in front of the classroom.

7. The school should offer on going training for the teachers that wish to take advantage of it. Not all are in it for the long haul, and that is understandable. For example, if a teacher chooses to sign on for another year, the boss may wish to offer either a paid TEFL/CELTA course (followed by a higher salary) during the teachers break (which I know, is a risk), an online TEFL course paid for by the boss, or perhaps a university course; why not a 6 months worth of Tae Kwon Do lessons?

8. Vacation for first time teachers should stay at 10 days. However, if the teacher signs on for another year, I do feel that more time should be given........perhaps another 5 days (5 working day vacations, three times a year).

9. Accomadation should be nice, clean, safe and quiet. After a hard days work, the teacher should be able to go home and enjoy being there. Having good accomadation does make an impact on the mood of a teacher.

10. Starting salary should be 2.2 million won a month, for a 25 fifty minute classes a week.

11. Students should be given practice sheets, that indicate their English practice time at home. These sheets should be turned in every week by the students, signed by both parents. Students should be expected to practice a minimum of 10 minutes each night. Hey, if parents are paying money, then they should take the responsability to be proactive. Learning a foreign language is like learning to play a piano.......you don't get better unless you practice. If you don't practice, you have nobody to blame but yourself. The boss should explain this idea/policy to the parents.

13. Although the head foreign teacher answers to the boss, he/she should ALWAYS look after the teachers, and do what he/she can to ensure that they are doing a good job. We are all in this together, and there are few things that infuritate me more than a snobby, kiss ass, wealse head foreign teacher that does not care about anyone but his/herself.

13. The boss should support the teachers when their discipline problems.

14. The boss may wish to talk with the teachers about having an English Corner. Many schools in China do this, and if done the right way, it can be very beneficial.

15. Give the students some universal competition (the younger ones anyway). Be creative, brainstrom. For example, all the kids here love Harry Potter, right? Well, divide the student body into houses....reward/take points when necessary. At the end, the house with the most points wins an amazing reward.

16. DO NOT LET THE MOTHERS HAVE THE POWER IN THE DAILY OPERATIONS OF THE SCHOOL. THAT IS WHEN A SCHOOL WILL LOSE ITS CONTROL, ITS AUTHORITY AND ITS INTEGRITY. Granted, there is a level of communication and customer relations that a school should provide, but the boss CANNOT be afraid to tell a problematic parent/student combination "There's the door". I've seen it happen, I know it works.......just takes a little time.

17. Teachers should be provided with 5 sick days.

18. All rooms should have heating/air con.

19. All rooms should have the necessary tools to conduct a class. The boss may wish to consider purchasing computers and a big screen to put in the class rooms. The internet is a great tool in the classroom.

20. In regards to hiring new teachers, they should be informed truthfully and sincerely of what they are getting into.

21. The boss and teachers should realize that communication is a great tool. There should be a meeting every week (for only 1 hour, maximum) where the teachers have a chance to talk, and share ideas about the classes and students................or to vent frustrations, or express concerns. Contributing ideas is an excellent way to build rescources for future use.

22. Happy Employees are the best employees. The boss should invest in that idea and take it to heart.

23. Hard work and excellent ideas from the staff should be rewarded.




Hmmmmm...that is all I can think of at the moment.


Merry Christmas!

dmbfan

[scarneck]

[Young FRANKenstein]