Korean Job Discussion Forums

[anabolina]

I'm not sure if this has been covered elsewhere, I did a search and didn't find anything.

So I arrived in Korea a few days ago and classes start March 5 and I know what I'm teaching and who I'm teaching with (a Korean co-teacher). So here's the deal. She will smile and say she likes something and agree and then do whatever she wants. We've been working together decorating our classroom and she has her ideas of how it should look and I have mine and she'll agree with mine, then do whatever. I'm just telling myself it doesn't matter and I didn't really want to win the 100,000 won prize anyway. Now I know why none of the foreign teachers said congratulations on getting her for a coteacher. I mean she wants to do some seriously fugly stuff in the room and I do have to be in it every day for a year.

This is a new experience for me since I like to think of myself as pretty laid back and the only other coworker I've ever not gotten along with was a smokerr who went on breaks every hour when we were supposed to be working the deli counter, but i digress. I suppose I could tell her that it bothers me, but I think she'll just smile and nod and continue doing whatever. Any suggestions?

[Easter Clark]

My advice is to pick your battles. Will it really make that much of a difference in the long run if you're not exactly satisfied with the way your room looks? I gave up trying to get my school to wax my floors--even got to the point where I said "Look, I'll clean the room if you supply me with the materials!" but they insist that having the students clean is "a type of education." That would explain why our school's floors are caked in dirt!

Anyway...If there's something you really want to do to your room, go ahead and do it--without asking your coteacher. This is a critical time at your new job, when you'll be forming those all-important first impressions. You don't want to come across as a doormat, but you don't want to seem inflexible either. A little effort to accommodate your coworkers' desires (within reason, of course) right now will pay big dividends in the future. Then you can start to be a little more assertive--but like I said, choose your battles wisely!

[cmr]

Yeah, some people are like that. They say "yes" to whatever you say, so you don't have anything to complain about (or to make you shut up!), but then they'll just do whatever they feel like. At one point, though, you can do the same thing in some situations. Keep that in mind.

[anabolina]

Too true, it's really not important, but its great to talk about it on here and avoid complaining about it to any of my new coworkers be they Korean or Foreign. I just hope that I don't set a precedent by not worrying about it and not saying anything. I don't want to spend the year as a doormat, nor come off as a complaining, rigid, sort of person. Oh bugger-bear, new jobs are always hard.

[nomad-ish]

[ddeubel]

Have you both sat down formally and done a questionnaire such as this one that I put together?

http://www.esnips.com/doc/bb289c2e-c267-42c9-9168-c7106c1b4eba/coteacher-questionnaire

Do you have a set time for planning? There are a lot of "power" issues to go through that aren't so obvious. It isn't just a matter of dialogue and chatting but actually going through all the topics and responsibilities of the teaching dynamic and discussing both who is responsible for what and your own "philosophy" regarding these...... Clear communication and ongoing communication, is key. Maybe you've done this but thought I'd mention it.

DD
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

[fromtheuk]

anabolina - I would advise you to read the countless threads I've posted here about co-teachers.

My current contract ends in May. I intend to renew it in May, because my co-teacher has just left.

I began my job on a high note, my co-teacher and I got on well. A few months later my co-teacher admitted she had tried to make things hard for me.

Over a long period of time, it became clear to me that my co-teacher viewed me as a nuisance because she told me most Korean's don't want to have a native teacher present, due to all of the paperwork that entails.

I would advise you to monitor life at school, and remember you are not here employed as a diplomat, be civil, participate in what you want to take part in, but don't give your co-teacher an inch or she will take a mile.

Sadly, some Koreans make excessive demands, and unless you can firmly answer no, when appropriate, you'll see as with most retarded children, they will not react positively to your answer.

I myself never socialize with my colleagues, I never bring in gifts for them, I never eat with them etc. Why? Because some of them are so objectionable, rude and downright xenophobic.

So, unless you like the idea of being a doormat for fear of upsetting your Korean colleagues, (who may or may not actually want you at their school in the first place anyway) I advise you to be clear about what you find acceptable/unacceptable and assert yourself when necessary.

I have been asked to renew my contract at my school, so kissing up is not essential.

[Easter Clark]

A quote I read once applies in this situation:

The world is a mirror that reflects back to us all that we believe. The world does not create what we are experiencing. We do that. We create our beliefs, and the mirror of the world reflects them back to us.

[DrunkenMaster]

Listen to DDeubel...he's not a moron. Unlike the rest of us.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Is she older or younger than you? More or less experienced? If you're the younger and less experienced, don't sweat the small stuff and, as mentioned above, choose your battles very carefully. She won't expect you to be in a position to have much input. Also, bear in mind that teaching with a foreigner, CLT, and motivating students to communicate in English may be completely new to her. What you're suggesting and what she thinks it means may be two completely different things.