Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fermentation]

[Konglishman]

[ontheway]

[myenglishisno]

Very well written article. I like how it dug deeper and talked about how America has an idealized view of the education system over here and how time is essentially being wasted at these places.

It doesn't matter how long you've been teaching, if you teach at a hagwon and unless you're some kind of god figure, most kids aren't going to be paying attention to you. They're going to be trying to sleep, talk or do essentially anything but study. They're controllable but it takes three or four times the amount of work than what it would with kids the same age in our home countries. It doesn't help that NETs are essentially teaching the equivalent of a mandatory, zero credit basket weaving class at a competitive science-driven school.

This goes for public school and just about every other class they go to in a day. I'd bet that fewer than 20% of their teachers have the student's full attention and I'd even bet that they weren't really even studying anything 80% of the time. They spend their adolescence in a crappy classroom, half-pretending to study. Even wasting away at a PC Bang would be more productive than being a desk zombie in some math hagwon.

Most of this studying is useless. It's an open secret, really. Education here is really nothing but a giant daycare system that seldom educates the kids and when it does, it does so indirectly (they might occasionally glean meaningful knowledge in the process of cramming).

There are a few subjects Koreans excel at by brute force and this accidental gleaning does accumulate a fair amount of knowledge but it doesn't nearly make up for what it takes away from them.

The VP at my old public school said it best. He said that kids here have no human rights and aren't seen as people. He went on to say that he wanted to change that but he would have to convince lots of parents first. I doubt he'll ever become a principal

[jvalmer]

Public schools are not the problem, it's the parents. Koreans could have the best public system in the world, but parents will still sent their kids to extra lessons, just because all their neighbors will. Parents will need a major cultural/attitude change before this cycle of excessive extra 'studying' will stop.

I'm thinking maybe in a couple of generations, this hagwon madness will stop. But then I see Japan and I think maybe not.

[jvalmer]

[misher]

[ontheway]

[ontheway]

[northway]

Reading this article, the first thing that came to mind is that if they're going to prosecute the hagwon owners/staff/etc., they should probably prosecute the parents too.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[MoneyMike]

I have the same opinion as Urban I guess. I've heard from multiple sources that the average hagwon just teaches test prep and how to get high scores, rather focusing on any kind of understanding of the material.

Now I think a lot of public school teachers could be accused of glossing over the understanding part too, but most of the Koreans I've talked to have given me the impression that hagwons are mostly test prep.

I've never worked in a hagwon, so maybe my opinion is entirely incorrect, but that's always been my impression.

[isisaredead]

korean students really don't study as much or as hard as they think they do.

[myenglishisno]

[TheUrbanMyth]