Korean Job Discussion Forums

[yingwenlaoshi]

Please share. I'll discuss further, but I'll just leave the opening post with a...

BAD SCHOOL CAME FIRST.

[thegadfly]

Bad teacher came first, though a bad owner (or administrator) would in turn hire a bad teacher, which would then make a bad school from day one.

[Homer]

Actually the lax regulations for teacher selection comes first ying.

Then it splits down pretty evenly between bad schools and bad teachers.

Thanks for playing however.

[yingwenlaoshi]

[Kimchieluver]

An easy way to spot a dodgy hogwan is when you ask about the last teacher and the direcors says he/she was not a good teacher. 9 times out of 10 I bet you will have pay, contract, tax and apartment issues. A happy teacher is usually a good teacher.

[Homer]

[yingwenlaoshi]

[Homer]

[yingwenlaoshi]

[ms.catbc]

bad administration

i think that that is universal no?

i have seen it here in Canada where the dynamic between teachers changes when a new principle is put in place. Teacher's attitudes start to shift, tensions rise and it is the kids that are left behind.

it is important to differentiate between the "school" and the administration. The school encompasses everyone and everything including all the staff and most importantly the students. The building, the pictures on the walls, the books, the support staff...everything.

[Biblethumper]

A bad teacher is bad before anything bad happens to him in Korea. Because he does not understand what work means.

But a bad school is bad no matter how many good teachers it tries to hire, because a bad school always prevents the good teachers from doing what is right.

Both are ab origine. Reprobate and foreordained to give children a foretaste of the sufferings of this world. <wry smile>

[mistermasan]

what came first, the bad army or the bad soldier?

one good soldier cannot make a good army. however, a good soldier can suffer in morale and become a bad soldier. but soldiers actually get training, even in bad armies.

[Thunndarr]

[bellum99]

I think that most teachers come here with a real desire to do a reasonably good job. There are problems in this type of employment in Korea. They are:

1: No upward mobility. There is nothing beyond simple teaching. Most people will try and do their best to suffer through a hard time if they know it is good for their careers. Korea has no careers in English teaching...it is a job.

2: The culture is hostile and negative. It is not fun to live in Korea. There is nothing to do for most teachers and it is boring. So they drink a lot and sit around complaining.

3: There is a feeling of being powerless. Most teachers have no actual power to control their situations. They feel trapped in contracts that allow the boss to screw them at will, live in school housing, and are dependent upon the school to pay them. Lack of power can seriously cause some un balance.

4: There are feelings of low esteem. Koreans look down on them for the jobs they do. The boss, the children, average Koreans, and even the other English teachers. There are posters on this board so Korean in their mentality that I would call them Super-Koreans (they are not even Korean).

5: There is no training provided. Teachers often don't know what is expected of them. The Koreans are not clear and have unreasonable expectations that can change on a whim. Teaching does require some skills and learning on the job is not a very effective way to learn. The teacher gets frustrated and angry because of the constant complaints without clear guidelines as to what the school requires.

---These are few reasons why I think reasonable hard-working people can come to Korea and turn into "BAD" teachers. It is the culture here that changes some teachers.

(Of course there are some who don't care about anything, want easy money for no work, chance to drink and party all the time, have many women, and do nothing of substance. I do think these are minority when teachers first come to Korea.)

[ms.catbc]

Teaching is not easy no matter how much training you have

you just have to keep teaching

The only truly inspiring and solid teachers i have had the privilege to observe in the classroom had been teaching for so many years, inspiring children to want to learn was like winking for them.

that was a skill that took a very long time to come close to perfecting.