Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Oreovictim]

For my next contract, I'm considering working at a public school. Hagwons can be okay, but you have to do a crud-load of research just to make sure that you don't get a bad gig. Even if you do the research, you're not guaranteed a good job. (I suppose that some current teachers you speak with could lie just so that they can get a good reference or someone to finish their contract.)

So, yeah, are their any disadvantages to working at a public school? The only thing that's holding me back is the fact that you have 30 or so kids in a classroom. I think that I can handle everything else.

[renzobenzo1]

In my experiences: negatives:
-large classes-some of mine are up to 42 students.
-I am the only foreigner at 2 schools-this breeds other problems
-I have to teach at one school in all classes by myself with no co-teacher, makes discipline issues a daily basis.

[daz1979]

The hours would put me off. If I went to a PS, I would be working 9 hours a day instead of 4 or 5.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

[waynehead]

I did a hagwon my first year, I'm at a public school now. The biggest disadvantages IMO:

-the aforementioned class size. 40-50 kids in my middle school. it really limits what you can do and makes controlling the class difficult.

-planning. planning your own lessons can be both a blessing and a curse, I do enjoy the freedom of it, but sometimes I long for the hagwon days when everything was set out for me and I didn't have to think about it.

-the social aspect (being the only teacher). i already had a good group of friends when i started my public school gig, but even now i only see them on weekends. monday-wednesday/thursday can get kinda dull. the drudgery of your most advanced conversation during those non-weekend days being something like "hi" "hello" "nice to meet you" *giggle* can get old fast.

-the low level of your co-teachers. maybe my experience is just an outlier, but the co-teachers at my hagwon last year had a much higher english level than my co-teachers at my public school, and what's even better they weren't afraid to have a conversation in english w/ me. some of my co-teachers now seem terrified of making a grammatical mistake in front of me and as such avoid conversation at all costs (as well they should, some of them have embarrassingly low levels of conversational english)

other than those 4 things you're golden. i don't regret making the transition myself. i enjoy my job now a lot more than i did last year.

good luck.

[LateBloomer]

It depends whether you're talking about public high school or elementary school. Most elementary schools make you stick slavishly to really bad textbooks and a curriculum that makes no sense.

You will most probably have to teach with a co-teacher in every class and many of them have no concept of co-teaching and initially treat foreign teachers like pronunciation robots. As well, I had to put my foot down and insist that my co-teachers maintained some discipline. Many ignore kids that talk and throw things while you try to teach. The noise levels in some classes are unbelievable.

The luck of the draw also comes into play. I have one great co-teacher and two that are much better than my last year's co- teachers. Last year, I taught with one Korean English teacher who spoke so little English that she couldn't even tell me when a class was cancelled.

The former princial was great. My current principal can't be trusted to keep his word on anything he says.

More elementary school than high schools insist that you be there when there are no classes or even kids in the school. But you will get paid according to your contract and usually on time.

[Bibbitybop]

[CentralCali]

[yingwenlaoshi]

[Jizzo T. Clown]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

So much depends on the school and what you, personally, consider disadvantages. I have very, very few complaints myself apart from the pathetic level and teaching methods of some Korean English teachers.

[oxfordstu]

Yeah, it completely depends on the school. I taught at a hagwon my first year and although I'll never go back, I do miss certain aspects of it. There are a few disadvantages I've found teaching at a public middle school:

The level of English is very very low. I'm at a very poor school, and 1 in 4 students cannot read or speak any English, and they make no attempt to remedy this.

The principal. If he doesn't like you, then you're in for a year of hell. I forgot to say hello to him a few times, and he now thinks I'm an arrogant American. He called the supervisor and told her that he was going to call the news media and blacklist me. I'm still dealing with this BS.

You're the only English teacher there. This means no one is speaking English to you all day, except the occasional brief conversation with your co-teachers.

Co-teachers. Mine are great, but I know some teachers who have 4 useless coteachers who do nothing but sit in the back of the class and read.

Discipline. We can't hit the students, and they know this. If your co-teacher goes outside the class for even a minute, the class can turn to hell. It's also difficult to manage 40 kids who most don't speak English.

Communication. I'm the last one to know anything. One day the supervisor came in to watch my class; they literally told me 20 minutes beforehand and I had to make up a "special" lesson for that class. I asked when they knew she was coming in; they told me that they found out a week ago (this happens in hagwons too)

You have to stay in school even when your last class finishes. Today I have one class that finishes at 12, yet I have to stay until 4:30. Many schools require you to stay during vacation when students aren't in session. Luckily mine doesn't do that.

Curriculum. Luckily my school gave me a stipend to go out and buy some activity books. But I was still told that I had to teach from the main book, which was not written by a native speaker. It's the most useless English book I've ever encountered in my teaching career.



This being said, there are many more good things than bad things about teaching at a public school. I never have to worry about being paid, my vacations are long, and I'm not treated like an EFL prostitute like I was at a hagwon.

[genezorm]

[renzobenzo1]

[stephensessions]

I'm coming to Korea in January, and I really want to work in a public school. How much of the cirriculum will I be creating? Do I need to show up with a pretty solid idea for a 4-month semester of classes?