Korean Job Discussion Forums

[whatajerk]

Hi, I recently was accepted into an online masters program that im really excited about. I have been teaching in Hagwons in korea and i was wondering if teaching in a public school would provide me with more time to study. From what I understand, vacation time is longer in a public school but daily working hours are less in a Hagwon. I have heard it mentioned that the work load in a public school is so light that teachers have plenty of time read, study or do whatever. Are these stories a realisitc depiction of public school work? or would it be better to get a Hagwon job working only 5 to 6 hours a day?

[BS.Dos.]

I'm at a PHS and am currently about a third of the way through my Masters, which suggests that I put in a minimum of 15-hours study per week. My work load is very light. I teach 14 classes per week (6x45 and 8x50-minute). I get most of Thursday to study (my first class is at 15:00) and every other wednesday afternoon is free. Additionally, over a semester, I pretty much get every other Friday afternoon off at my MS beacuse of CA cancellations.

Despite this, I usually stay in school until about 7:00pm most evenings reading etc at my desk as even though my work load is light, my classes are typically only seperated by an hour, meaning it's difficult to really get your head down and focus in 2/3-hour blocks, which I prefer. I found that if I try and study at home I just end up fannying about watching crap online etc and don't get much done. Vacation time at PS is great if your studying over here. I had all of February off and only 3-classes per day for 3-weeks of January, which was great for the assignment I was working on.

I think ultimately, it depends on the size of your school and whether you're hitting the 22-classes per week etc. Thankfully, my school are cool with me studying during the day. I can even come in on the weekends if I like and study at my desk.

[Faunaki]

I'm thinking about doing an on-line course too.

Anyway I work at a public middle school. I'm pretty busy. I work 22 ( +45) hours a week plus I gotta teach after school classes (4 +45), plus I gotta prepare for three levels per week. Also the E-zone is opened twice a week during lunch time. I thought it'd be ok for next year but the book will change so I gotta make all new lessons.

I've heard that some schools don't make their teachers work 22 hours. I guess it's the luck on the draw.

Oh and I finish at 4:30 or 5 so there is lots of time after work, but not during.

[xhaling]

I've done both and the 2 are incomparable.

I work in a public high school, and I really can't remember the last time I did my regular schedule of 17.5hrs p/w. Now it's exam time, so I have a week of exams and a week of prep time during the prior week's classes. 2 weeks vacation to get everything done that I want to. There's always a reason cooked up by the higher-ups as to why we all don't have to work one day this week. In a hagwon, you work your 30 hour weeks until the monthly government legislated day off comes.

Yeah, I have to stay 8:30-5pm, but when I have 5 hour breaks at the end of the day, there's a nice long list of excuses of why I have to leave and come back at 4:30. I spend my Sunday evenings preparing the 2 levels' lessons for the week, and the rest of my free time during the week is spent at my desk studying/watching sport online/wondering how I can wind up my coworker. I couldn't do that in a hagwon.

Basically: more free time, more energy (major factor for effective studying), more freedom to do what you want provided they trust you to do your job effectively etc. Plus having to spend my time in the office disciplines me into actually getting my head into my books so I kind of look like I'm working.

[nomad-ish]

i'm doing my online masters as well and i found that i had enough time during the day to print off notes, do some highlighting, nothing requiring a ton of concentration (the kids will constantly be coming and going in your staff room and checking out what you're doing). however when summer or winter break comes and you're stuck in an empty school, you'll get loads done

[whatajerk]

thanks for the information. sounds like the best option is try to find a small school with less classes or get a hagwon job with only 5-6 working hours. what is the best bet for finding the public schools with less classes? rural? does the age group tend to make a difference?

[BS.Dos.]

^Possibly, but then you'll probably have to teach at two or more schools, which isn't so bad, provided of course that they're not too far apart else you'll be sat on a bus for a few hours each week. Either way, I think it'd be less likely that a town of, say, 20,000 would have one single school of say 1000+ HS/MS students. More likely it'd probably have an academic, a technical and a vocational HS with a few hundred in each. As for the age group, I teach at both an MS and a HS and, with the exception of my two classes of 1st grade HS students whom I teach twice a week, I teach them all (1st, 2nd at MS and 2nd grade at HS) once a week.

Other, longer serving FTs are probably in a better position to answer this with more authority, but I'd say if you're looking to maximize your study time, then stay away from the big urban centers and look into teaching in some of the smaller towns, preferably, and IMO, at an academic HS.