Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nev]

Alias, I sympathise with your situation but ultimately you are the one that has to gain that respect, whether it be in the classroom or life in general. If you're referring to yourself as a white clown and not a real teacher then you clearly have no intentions of being here for any educational purposes.

If just one class is a problem then that's perfectly understandable, but do you really think that if many classes are problematic then you can't be held partially accountable for their conduct?

I have discipline options - I could probably hit them if I wanted to - but I don't really have to resort to them. A calm and non-confrontational class atmosphere controls most classes. And a quiet teacher usually has a quiet class.

Alias, this isn't directed at you but just at the attitude of some that their kids are running riot and there's nothing you can do. A good teacher can almost always gain respect and if your hagwon is directly sabotaging your good efforts then I would just quit, citing these reasons.

[Alias]

I do not refer to myself as a teacher because it would be an insult to real teachers out there. You mention that I should just quit. However, I've heard and read of so many similar situations as mine. How many jobs should I quit before I find the right one? That could take a long time.

I'm not whining about how unfair my situation is. I've accepted the fact that I'm supposed to be an entertainer and not a real teacher. If I tried to be a real teacher (like I did at my last job) I would probably be reprimanded or eventually fired.

[captain kirk]

I've been thinking about rude students and what to do about it.
The Korean teachers (there are eight at my school) don't seem to have the problems of rude students to the degree the foreign teacher does. But I think I'm wrong about that. Back when I worked at another school there were only two teachers, myself and a Korean female teacher. So we talked, quite alot. And she said that the students would say rude, abusive things to her which upset her and she had to deal with it.
It's tough for Korean female teachers to assert themselves with certain male students who are conditioned by their family upbringing to be sexist towards women and see women as subservient.
But the foreign teacher has a lot more trouble with rude students, I think. The Korean teachers don't want to relate to how much difficulty the foreign teacher has. I've heard them suggest that the foreigner makes up the insults and their descriptions of the abuse they get in class is too 'mad' to be real, is exaggerated, 'made up'. Perhaps only a foreign teacher can know just how hurtful some classes can be.
I'm not a sensitive, easily hurt teacher by far.
The bosses don't back up the foreign teacher, nor do the Korean teacher. If there's a problem the kids report to the Korean teacher some fiction and deliver the same to the boss. The Korean teacher or the boss says, 'that's not what the children say. They say (bla bla bla)'. Of course the kids are lying their heads off with the faces of angels; it's quite horrible but they do.
I had a class say to me that my face is red, and that they can smell liquor on my breath. It made me mad for the rest of the day and I took it out on the next couple of classes to a small degree, unconsciously. I don't drink on the job and have a 'red face' because I'm pitching my voice all day and talking a mile a minute putting students through their paces, barely catching a breath sometimes. From doing a good job and going all out. And I told them, 'it's because I talk all day'. The kid knew she was out of line and let me know by being cheerful and full of greeting the next day. Koreans don't get a red face and colour the way foreigners do, probably.
One class, later that same day, some middle school guy called me a 'gom seki'. So I told the Korean teacher and the big boss and the boss got the guy to apologize. Middle school kids are tough, abused by the Korean teachers corporal punishments (in my opinion) and that of their parents so they have thick skins. Get them to hold up chairs? Push ups? An alternative to getting the boss to make him apologize.
The head Korean teacher noted that kids are 'unpredictable, you never know what they will do'. That's the great thing about working in a hagwon. And, as there's bad with the good, some class might be 'lying in wait' some moment to throw in a test in a battle of wills which could include 'rudeness'.

[jajdude]

If a student really pisses me off, as happens occasionally, I get pissed off and yell and sometimes even throw stuff, like a book at the floor (not at anybody). It works for me even if I look like an idiot. I'm finally learning how to get angry without carrying that anger into the next hour or more. They usually will be good for up to a month after that. I've also forced kids out the door, grabbed them by the hand and said, "No more of you today!". And if possible even locked the door to keep them out. Then again I never care if I get fired or "reprimanded" by someone who doesn't actually have the experience of a crazy foreigner in a crazy country. I just won't put up with crap.

[Demophobe]

[nev]