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carleverson
Joined: 04 Dec 2009
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 Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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| That's not even taking into account that hogwons force you to prep and teach their curriculum. So when you add everything up, your prepping, teaching, moving for up to 7-9 hours per day. That's alot of work for the meager starting salaries hogwons are offering these days. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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| carleverson wrote: |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| carleverson wrote: |
Whether you teach for 40, 30, or even 25 hours per week, you WILL be totally and utterly exhausted by the end of your day. If you wanted to work this hard you could have stayed in your home country.
On top of that, salaries haven't risen in years. Starting salaries are what they were 5-6 years ago.  |
25-30 hours of teaching per week does not equate to an exhausting day...unless one is physically unfit to begin with. That's 5-6 hours a day of which the most physically demanding effort required of you is standing.
Most jobs back home require a 40 hour work week.
And teaching jobs back home (as opposed to here) require A LOT MORE work. |
LOL  if you think standing for 5-6 hours a day is not physically demanding.
Also, you're not simply standing. You're moving around, walking, bending down, stretching..... I'm relatively young and in great health and when I taught at hogwons, I was totally exhausted at the end of the day. |
I've taught in hakwons for five years, and I can't say that I found it physically demanding. Nor was that my only activity. In addition to that I'd hit the gym for a hour three days a week and on non-gym days go for a 1-2 hour walk before work. Then after work go out for dinner or a drink with a couple of friends. |
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Hotpants
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2010 4:20 am Post subject: |
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25-30 hours of teaching per week does not equate to an exhausting day...unless one is physically unfit to begin with. That's 5-6 hours a day of which the most physically demanding effort required of you is standing.
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Maybe our teaching styles are a bit different, but if you are truly keeping young kids - and even adults - entertained, then 5 hours a day of talking in a raised voice, cracking jokes, miming, singing, constantly moving around, physically handling unruly students (re. kindy), liaising with parents, with only 2 weeks of vacation per year, can be absolutely exhausting for anyone of any age. Not to mention all the lesson planning, marking, reports, and stuff you have to make for schools lacking basic resources or any curriculum. |
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HanlSky
Joined: 30 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Hotpants, how much did you earn doing all that hard work, and how much per hour did it average out to be? |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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While it may not be physically demanding, it is emotionally demanding, especially if classroom control is an issue. (as it was with me)
5-6 classes of uncontrollable tots can quickly zap most people's energy.
I used to plant trees (probably one of the most physically demanding jobs around) and I was physically exhausted at the end of the day, but nothing prepared me for the stress levels of dealing with unruly kids.
I was just as exhausted teaching 6 hagwan classes a day.
Perhaps I was just a lousy teacher, but I think most people will find hagwan teaching exhausting. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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My previous job at the pizza shack required that I stay standing for 8 hours while engaging in physical activity with tasks that had to be completed as rapidly as possible. The only break from that was to deal with customers, usually a bunch of impatient adults that made Korean classroom children seem like angels and savants. Add into this the constant threat of armed robbery, drunks, and if anything came up short it was on my head. I had no paid vacations and no health insurance. 6 days a week, 9 hours a day.
Teaching is cake compared to that. And I make 3+ times as much and get paid vacations and health insurance. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Luxury. I had to get up in the middle of the night and lick road clean with tongue. I had two lumps of cold gravel, worked 16 hours a day down mill for sixpence every four years and when I got home my mother and father would thrash me to sleep with a broken bottle etc.. etc.. |
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bobbybigfoot
Joined: 05 May 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Luxury. I had to get up in the middle of the night and lick road clean with tongue. I had two lumps of cold gravel, worked 16 hours a day down mill for sixpence every four years and when I got home my mother and father would thrash me to sleep with a broken bottle etc.. etc.. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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I should throw out the good as well as the bad.
Old job- Getting to do all of this work while intoxicated. Crazy characters (both good crazy and bad) Afterwork parties, Pizza Store Groupies.
New Job- Basketball with kids. Errand boys. Relatively low stress. Benefits.
New job bad things- lack of advancement opportunities. Uncertain job security. |
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Hotpants
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 3:11 am Post subject: |
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| Hotpants, how much did you earn doing all that hard work, and how much per hour did it average out to be? |
I just got a standard, average EFL teacher's salary for that 'hard work'.
As for 'per hour', I think that answer will de-value any fixed monthly salary rate, since you never get fully recompensed for all the extra prep work, extra-curricular events, and whatever extra mile most teachers go to.
My first ever gig was between 6-9 contact teaching hours a day, with up to a 2-hour train commute each way depending on which branch I was working at for each day. After 6 months, I was sooooo burned out. I barely scraped through to complete the one year contract. I just couldn't teach those hours and commute like that again. (Although I'm sure there will be plenty here who will brag that they've endured much more.) These days, I wouldn't be willing to teach more than 3 hours a day.
If you are going to work mega hours, it's definitely worth checking out places which pay by the hour, since you might earn more in the long run. |
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