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baekgom84
Joined: 03 Nov 2007
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 Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:03 am Post subject: Public School Jobs |
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Hey everyone,
I've just been putting the finishing touches on a Diploma of Education with TESOL and am looking at getting a public school job in Korea, preferably High School but Middle school would be fine too, or even Elementary if the conditions were good. I taught in a hakwon last year and while I loved the experience overall, working in a hakwon is not something I'd do again in a hurry. Anyway I've been doing a bit of research but there are a few questions I have which, if any of you could give an opinion on, I'd be very appreciative.
1 - Standard holiday seems to be 14 days. But surely kids are not in school for all but 14 days of the year? I've heard that most teachers have to come in to school during the vacation times - if so, what do you do there? Just sit around and twiddle thumbs? I was actually hoping for a bit more vacation time but if this is the norm, so be it.
2 - Minimum teaching hours seems to be generally 22 hours. I used to do 30 in the hakwon and it's just too much for me. 22 would be great, but they're not going to secretly ramp it up on me or anything are they?
3 - What's expected of me in the classroom? Seems that I'll be co-teaching with a Korean teacher, so is the curriculum all set for me, or do I have a lot/a little freedom to plan lessons at all? More importantly, do I have a lot of correction to do??
4 - Any chance to go on camps, field trips, school picnics etc? That sort of deal sounds pretty fun, if only to break up the routine of teaching.
5 - What might a teaching schedule be like? Are spare period scattered between classes at random, or do you teach in big slabs of back-to-back periods? And do you teach roughly the same amount of classes each day, or does it vary?
6 - What's interaction with the other Korean staff like, in general? Is there a staff room where you hang out, and do you get a desk or anything like that?
They're the only questions I can think of for now... I appreciate ANY and ALL feedback about public schools at this point, as I want to try and land a semi-decent job right off the bat if possible. Any recommendations? I'm not concerned about location - I was actually looking at a job in Kangwon-do recently. I'm more interested in conditions - especially max teaching hours, and also vacation time.
If any of you could take the time to reply, as I've said I would greatly appreciate it... thanks. |
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BS.Dos.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:34 am Post subject: |
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Speaking from my own perspective:
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| 3 - What's expected of me in the classroom? Seems that I'll be co-teaching with a Korean teacher, so is the curriculum all set for me, or do I have a lot/a little freedom to plan lessons at all? More importantly, do I have a lot of correction to do?? |
Co-teaching is probably a rather 'loose' definition for many. To the best of my knowledge, CT participation is generally minimal, at least, it is in my case. Best case scenario is that they may be supportive, helpful and co-operative in equal measures. Worse case (or best depending on how much control you want), you wont even know they're in the room. Think it's fair to say that you will more than likely have a varying degree of autonomy in your planning, think it really depends on the school. As for correcting, I'd expect most of your students to be of a pretty low level. As for curriculum, upon arriving at my HS and inquiring explicitly as to what precisely my responsibilities would be, I was told "Speaky slowly. Makey interesting"
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| 4 - Any chance to go on camps, field trips, school picnics etc? That sort of deal sounds pretty fun, if only to break up the routine of teaching. |
Think it happens, though I haven't experienced it myself yet at my HS. Maybe more of a possibility at E and MS (at my girls MS they seem to have more out of school type stuff going on than at my boys HS)
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| 5 - What might a teaching schedule be like? Are spare period scattered between classes at random, or do you teach in big slabs of back-to-back periods? And do you teach roughly the same amount of classes each day, or does it vary? |
Probably scattered, although I get couple of lessons on the bounce. I think that around 4/5-lessons per day is probably typical for most.
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| 6 - What's interaction with the other Korean staff like, in general? Is there a staff room where you hang out, and do you get a desk or anything like that? |
Again, I think most PS teachers are equipped with an online PC, desk and access to printers etc. In both my schools, teachers prep in an office and also have access to a lounge like staffroom. As for interaction with your CT, personally speaking, I've found that I get along better with the older teachers. I get more 'subtle' attitude from the younger male CTs, subtle being the operative word. |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:40 am Post subject: |
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Seoul public schools:
1. Standard is 21 business days plus chances for more.
2. 22.
3. Roll the dice. You may follow a book, you may not. You may create a lot, you may not. Your co-teachers may be great, they may suck.
4. Usually, though some xenophobic schools exclude the foreigner.
5. Different schedule each day.
6. Interactions are minimal with most, but with English teachers and speakers, it can be good. You are free lessons!
Other: Apply in Dec and Jan or June and July, or earlier |
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curlygirl
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Location: Pundang, Seohyeon dong
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| Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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1 - Standard holiday seems to be 14 days.
*Yup. I've heard other teachers have to go to school during vacation but I've just been scheduled for a few days here and there.
2 - Minimum teaching hours seems to be generally 22 hours.
*Right again, and no they can't ramp it up. *But* you may be asked to do additional teaching hours for which you will receive overtime pay - W20,000 is the norm.
3 - What's expected of me in the classroom?
*Some people have stacks of freedom to do what they want (I'm one of them) and others are used as human tape recorders. As has been pointed out 'co-teaching' is a very loose term. Your co-teacher will either run the show or hang round the back of the class being unobtrusive
More importantly, do I have a lot of correction to do??
*No idea on this one
4 - Any chance to go on camps, field trips, school picnics etc?
*You betcha  I've had 2 opportunities to go to Everland, the Korean Folk Village, and mountain picnics with the kids.
5 - What might a teaching schedule be like?
*The schedule is set in 2 week blocks i.e. schedule A and schedule B. The classes are broken up throughout the day and you'll normally teach 4-5 classes per day.
6 - What's interaction with the other Korean staff like, in general?
*Totally depends on your school staff. Personally I like mine I've had lots of invites to peoples houses and other social functions. |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Diploma of Education with TESOL |
Is that an actual degree or some kind of mail order jobbie? |
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baekgom84
Joined: 03 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:17 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the replies, everyone. It's been really helpful.
spliff - The Diploma is with a University, so it should be pretty solid. I'm qualified to teach here in Australia with it.
Bibbitybop - If the standard is 21 days, why do most of the jobs that I've seen suggest that I'll get 14? Is 21 an 'unofficial' standard, or am I just looking at jobs that are being stingy? I get the impression that a lot of the vacation time is extra on top of what they say you'll get.
Finally, should I be wary about the process through which I apply for a public school? I was looking at this site: www.wjtos.com. They claim to have a contract with the Korean govt that allows them to recruit for public school jobs. Are these guys (or any others I might come across) legit, or should I be careful of getting screwed?
Thanks again. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:33 am Post subject: Re: Public School Jobs |
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| baekgom84 wrote: |
Hey everyone,
I've just been putting the finishing touches on a Diploma of Education with TESOL and am looking at getting a public school job in Korea, preferably High School but Middle school would be fine too, or even Elementary if the conditions were good. I taught in a hakwon last year and while I loved the experience overall, working in a hakwon is not something I'd do again in a hurry. Anyway I've been doing a bit of research but there are a few questions I have which, if any of you could give an opinion on, I'd be very appreciative.
1 - Standard holiday seems to be 14 days. But surely kids are not in school for all but 14 days of the year? I've heard that most teachers have to come in to school during the vacation times - if so, what do you do there? Just sit around and twiddle thumbs? I was actually hoping for a bit more vacation time but if this is the norm, so be it.
At the majority of schools you have to go in even when there are no students. I don't so my 20 days is more 9 weeks, but I know not everyone is that lucky. If you are serious about taking a job, make email with a teacher in that province and they'll be able to give you the lowdown on what holiday you can expect.
2 - Minimum teaching hours seems to be generally 22 hours. I used to do 30 in the hakwon and it's just too much for me. 22 would be great, but they're not going to secretly ramp it up on me or anything are they?
You'll find that you'll not always teach your full quota in a week. School trips, exams, festivals etc. If you work at more than two schools then you only teach 20 hours
3 - What's expected of me in the classroom? Seems that I'll be co-teaching with a Korean teacher, so is the curriculum all set for me, or do I have a lot/a little freedom to plan lessons at all? More importantly, do I have a lot of correction to do??
Different schools vary. Some of the other native teachers in my city, only backup the teachers at their schools, clarifying, helping etc. Some of them also only teach from the awful text books that they give us. I can teach whatever I want on the topic from the textbooks, but none of the pointless dialogues. You will have a lot of correction to do, but too much correction can be detrimental, best to get their confidence up with speaking because it may be a class of 30 or so students.
4 - Any chance to go on camps, field trips, school picnics etc? That sort of deal sounds pretty fun, if only to break up the routine of teaching.
You will be expected to teach a summer camp for a week or two, it depends on the province. If you're teaching at multiple schools and a field trip lands on a day when you're at another school then you won't be asked to go. If it falls on a day that you're there then it'll highly likely that you'll get to go.
5 - What might a teaching schedule be like? Are spare period scattered between classes at random, or do you teach in big slabs of back-to-back periods? And do you teach roughly the same amount of classes each day, or does it vary?
You'll teach around 4 classes a day. These will be 45 minutes at Middle school and 40 minutes for elementary. There's four periods in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, generally they're scattered around. I haven't worked at a high school so can't comment on working day. It's seems policy that the elementaries and Middle schools get priority of teachers. High School not so important.
6 - What's interaction with the other Korean staff like, in general? Is there a staff room where you hang out, and do you get a desk or anything like that?
I really like my co-teachers and other teachers at my school. It pays a lot to smile and be happy around them. Works wonders. It's also good to get involved with helping with a few things. Today, I helped in a cooking lesson, which I do every couple of weeks. Not bothered about being paid for it and it's really good to cook with students. (I used to be a chef so miss it a little)
They're the only questions I can think of for now... I appreciate ANY and ALL feedback about public schools at this point, as I want to try and land a semi-decent job right off the bat if possible. Any recommendations? I'm not concerned about location - I was actually looking at a job in Kangwon-do recently. I'm more interested in conditions - especially max teaching hours, and also vacation time.
I took the contract over the area. I live in a small city in Chungnam but my contract is sweet. So pleased I took my time, sifting through the bad ones. Will re-sign for one more year. Very good choice. It's good that you're doing this research and hope everything goes well.
If any of you could take the time to reply, as I've said I would greatly appreciate it... thanks. |
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butlerian
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:37 am Post subject: Re: Public School Jobs |
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| Dome Vans wrote: |
| baekgom84 wrote: |
Hey everyone,
I've just been putting the finishing touches on a Diploma of Education with TESOL and am looking at getting a public school job in Korea, preferably High School but Middle school would be fine too, or even Elementary if the conditions were good. I taught in a hakwon last year and while I loved the experience overall, working in a hakwon is not something I'd do again in a hurry. Anyway I've been doing a bit of research but there are a few questions I have which, if any of you could give an opinion on, I'd be very appreciative.
1 - Standard holiday seems to be 14 days. But surely kids are not in school for all but 14 days of the year? I've heard that most teachers have to come in to school during the vacation times - if so, what do you do there? Just sit around and twiddle thumbs? I was actually hoping for a bit more vacation time but if this is the norm, so be it.
At the majority of schools you have to go in even when there are no students. I don't so my 20 days is more 9 weeks, but I know not everyone is that lucky. If you are serious about taking a job, make email with a teacher in that province and they'll be able to give you the lowdown on what holiday you can expect.
2 - Minimum teaching hours seems to be generally 22 hours. I used to do 30 in the hakwon and it's just too much for me. 22 would be great, but they're not going to secretly ramp it up on me or anything are they?
You'll find that you'll not always teach your full quota in a week. School trips, exams, festivals etc. If you work at more than two schools then you only teach 20 hours
3 - What's expected of me in the classroom? Seems that I'll be co-teaching with a Korean teacher, so is the curriculum all set for me, or do I have a lot/a little freedom to plan lessons at all? More importantly, do I have a lot of correction to do??
Different schools vary. Some of the other native teachers in my city, only backup the teachers at their schools, clarifying, helping etc. Some of them also only teach from the awful text books that they give us. I can teach whatever I want on the topic from the textbooks, but none of the pointless dialogues. You will have a lot of correction to do, but too much correction can be detrimental, best to get their confidence up with speaking because it may be a class of 30 or so students.
4 - Any chance to go on camps, field trips, school picnics etc? That sort of deal sounds pretty fun, if only to break up the routine of teaching.
You will be expected to teach a summer camp for a week or two, it depends on the province. If you're teaching at multiple schools and a field trip lands on a day when you're at another school then you won't be asked to go. If it falls on a day that you're there then it'll highly likely that you'll get to go.
5 - What might a teaching schedule be like? Are spare period scattered between classes at random, or do you teach in big slabs of back-to-back periods? And do you teach roughly the same amount of classes each day, or does it vary?
You'll teach around 4 classes a day. These will be 45 minutes at Middle school and 40 minutes for elementary. There's four periods in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, generally they're scattered around. I haven't worked at a high school so can't comment on working day. It's seems policy that the elementaries and Middle schools get priority of teachers. High School not so important.
6 - What's interaction with the other Korean staff like, in general? Is there a staff room where you hang out, and do you get a desk or anything like that?
I really like my co-teachers and other teachers at my school. It pays a lot to smile and be happy around them. Works wonders. It's also good to get involved with helping with a few things. Today, I helped in a cooking lesson, which I do every couple of weeks. Not bothered about being paid for it and it's really good to cook with students. (I used to be a chef so miss it a little)
They're the only questions I can think of for now... I appreciate ANY and ALL feedback about public schools at this point, as I want to try and land a semi-decent job right off the bat if possible. Any recommendations? I'm not concerned about location - I was actually looking at a job in Kangwon-do recently. I'm more interested in conditions - especially max teaching hours, and also vacation time.
I took the contract over the area. I live in a small city in Chungnam but my contract is sweet. So pleased I took my time, sifting through the bad ones. Will re-sign for one more year. Very good choice. It's good that you're doing this research and hope everything goes well.
If any of you could take the time to reply, as I've said I would greatly appreciate it... thanks. |
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Spot on. Chungnam is the place to be for public schools. A good uni is better, though, so worth trying for that too. |
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baekgom84
Joined: 03 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent. I'm not overly concerned about location, so I might seek out small-town jobs where possible. Seoul is great and all, but it does get a bit overwhelming at times, and I would like to experience a different side of Korea.
Uni jobs - the descriptions make them sound like fantastic gigs, but I only just meet the minimum requirements for them, if at all, and it seems that they only interview those in Korea. I supposed the first thing to do is to get a job in Korea, and then shop around once my contract is near completion.
Dome Vans - something you said intrigued me. Working at more than two schools? How does that work? Does this mean that some schools will farm me out to different locations to teach English? I don't mind doing this if that's the case, I'm just curious as to how it would work. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:10 am Post subject: |
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| Dome Vans - something you said intrigued me. Working at more than two schools? How does that work? Does this mean that some schools will farm me out to different locations to teach English? I don't mind doing this if that's the case, I'm just curious as to how it would work. |
What I found that if you teach at two schools you will work your full contracted 20 hours, but as I work at 4 schools I only have to teach 18 hours because of the added travelling time between them.
I work out in the countryside so the schools are small in comparison to the city ones. Most city schools have enough students and classes to have you there the whole week. Mine don't. I generally will teach each level or grade once a week at all the schools. I like it this way because it's a nice change of scenery.
It's the Office of Education who decide where you teach. They can take you and move you any school that they want to. I think there is a priority list for some schools, some will always have a native teacher there, and if that teacher leaves then they will get replaced by a teacher already there. I have a friend here who has been at 9 different schools in one year. Sometimes it can be a pain but overall if you don't like your school then it can be a god send to move.
But as I said, I am really enjoying my four schools. One of my elementary only has 30 students in total. In 3rd grade I teach 4 students. There's a lot of chance to make progress with these sized groups. And talking with my friends in the city schools there seems to be a problem with discipline in their bigger classes. I find in the countryside the children are better behaved, more respectful of the teachers. I have a couple of bad students but out of the two hundred or so I teach the percentage is still very low.
They travelling costs between the schools is covered. I get picked up in the morning and dropped home in the evening. And between schools I take a taxi which I pay for but get reimbursed once a month.
Seoul was never an option for me, I love the countryside. Today I went for a autumn walk up the mountain behind my apartment. Beautiful. If I lived in a big city, it'd be a trek to do this. If I want to go to Seoul it takes two hours on the coach, so can take it or leave it. All in all I find the countryside a more relaxing, easy life. |
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