|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
ThingsComeAround
Joined: 07 Nov 2008
|
 Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 8:52 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
| SW wrote: |
After having the best work experience of my life at a hogwan and the worst at a PS, I came to wonder how so many people could love PS so much. Threads like this help me to understand why. My theory:
NSETs don't get to spend much time with each class in a PS - at my school, it's somewhere around 40 hours per year with each class, or as much as I saw my main hogwan kids in six weeks.
There's only so much that can be done with this time. If you have staff/co-teachers who realize this, and make you work (or NOT work) accordingly, you should be golden.
If, on the other hand, your school believes they can now accomplish what a hogwan can just because they've gotten one foreign teacher, then you're in for a rough ride. This is the boat I'm in.
My middle-aged ajumma co-teachers devote a large chunk of the weekly teacher's meetings to nit-picking my lesson plans (think CELTA course from hell). Then come class time, the kids just play around (and the co-teachers aid and encourage this behavior). A double standard is at work: my paperwork must be perfect to a tee, but my class is just play time.
As if that weren't bad enough, there's a lot of unnecessary busy-work given to me to fill in the open time I do have, as well as bureaucratic nonsense that shouldn't even be my responsibility.
It's why I feel I really got screwed when I read about these people who don't even submit lesson plans, and have co-teachers who don't even show up.
With the applicant pool growing larger, and the MOE coming down harder, I do think the cushier PS jobs are going to be harder to come by. I, for one, will not walk this gauntlet again with GEPIK or EPIK. I'm going to go for a full schedule with a hogwan, because if there's one thing I've learned working for government organizations, it's that they reserve the right to fill in that time you spend doing nothing with anything. |
Damn. To each his/her own, I suppose.
Coming from the Hagwon from Hell (I only know 5 that stayed over 1 year: out of 40) where the management was silly, vindictive, and shouldn't have a job in education, Public school seemed to be so much more worthwhile. My first co-teacher was alot like yours, nitpicking my lesson plans when she didn't have anything constructive to offer. But the schedule is so much easier. And vacations so much longer. Usually its not the 'school' making crazy decisions for you, just your co-teacher. Handle them and you handle your school life |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
|
| Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| SW wrote: |
As if that weren't bad enough, there's a lot of unnecessary busy-work given to me to fill in the open time I do have, as well as bureaucratic nonsense that shouldn't even be my responsibility.
. |
This is where you whip out the contract. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
|
| Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| SW wrote: |
| because if there's one thing I've learned working for government organizations, it's that they reserve the right to fill in that time you spend doing nothing with anything. |
No. No. No.
In Korean PS you are either:
- teaching a lesson
- lesson planning/preparing materials for said lesson
- researching for future classes (internet surfing/shopping/daves etc).
- walking around the school (foreigner smiling duty)
It's time GETs stopped falling for this extra meetings/greetings, exam evigilation, speech tests, and all this 'other teaching duties' nonsense.
Just say NO! Keep saying it until they get the message. Forget about being re-signed. The chances are they won't want you again, or you won't want them again, either.
If you're getting constant criticism of your lesson plans, just tell the school that you're no longer confident that you can produce lesson plans, and that you would like them to write the next 3 lesson plans so you have 'proper' examples to follow. You can tell them that, after all, they are the licenced teachers, and therefore they should be able to provide you with this guidance. See how they slither out of that one.
Good luck. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Summer Wine
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River
|
| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 8:14 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well I have taught both.
I have enjoyed teaching Hagwons and having the less hrs and smaller classes.
Though, it was becoming apparent, that the schools I worked for expected me to be at school the same number of hrs as a public school.
I now work the PS and its becoming apparent, that we will get less holidays, same as hagwons.
Personally, I feel both are trying to mimic each other, and yet I still feel PS offer a better job. Though that may change. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
noraebang
Joined: 05 May 2010
|
| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 11:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
| 8 years down wrote: |
Happens at hagwons too if you teach middle-school and up. I've even had a full week off while students prepared for finals at the end of the year.
Would be better if they just let you stay home :p |
At my old hakwon, I'd teach the younger students then I'd get to the middle school class later in the evening and it would be empty. Then I'd go to the secretary downstairs and she'd say they're opso. Then I'd go home early and be docked pay for the rest of the evening because I didn't teach the middle school classes, although I wouldn't be able to make any plans to meet people that night since I just found out the classes were cancelled at the time I was supposed to teach them. I'd think "Hooray, I just spent 1 hour travelling on the subway to teach 2.5 hours of classes, and now I'm going to spend 1 hour going home."
I was also the only person who spoke English at this English academy of 15 or so teachers. The rest just wrote English on the board and taught grammar rules, performing the entire class in the Korean language. Because the students were never exposed to any actual English except for 30 minutes twice per week when they had me, there was a lot of pressure on me to bring their speaking and writing levels up. For example, I had to edit and mark every journal entry of every student in the academy (which I was not paid for because I had no paid prep hours), which would then be returned to the student by their teacher and never looked at again. I would usually carry about 30 or 40 of these books with me on the subway each day and mark them. They were actually quite long (often a page) because their Korean teachers encouraged them to write a large amount. However, since a sentence of 8 words could have as many as 8 errors, (the students were forced to write essays before they were even capably conjugating the verb "to be") I found marking the said essays exasperating.
In my second semester, I was surprised that I was given a lunch/coffee break (I didn't have any breaks during the first semester) by my boss. However, I was disappointed to find out that I wasn't being paid for that period, so I was just staying at work later with less pay. I didn't actually need the break because I was used to shoving a triangle kimbap in my mouth for dinner every night in the 5 minute prep period between classes. It did give me some time to mark the journals assigned from the other teachers though. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
