Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lookingtoteach]

After a crap load of research, I haven't come upon any answers to my question: How hard is it for the teacher to get the students to accept his/her teaching style when the teacher is taking over from another one? Is the new teacher expected to teach the same way as the old one? Is it hard to retrain the students? I've been told about the people, the culture, the hagwons, how wonderful Kids Herald is, how horrible Kids Herald is, but what about teaching styles?

[tomato]

Hello, Looking to Teach!

I never hear much about the teacher I'm replacing.
The main problem is repairing the damage wrought by the Korean teachers. Here are the main problems:

If you hear the sound from the neighboring classroom, you might hear a Korean teacher hangukmalling up a storm. Most Korean teachers spend most of the class time speaking Korean, and they allow the students to speak Korean.

There is an unwritten law that says that the students have to progress at least one page a day whether they learn the material or not.

In my last job, I had a class which the director had taught before. The class was on Side by Side 3, which combines with simple present tense with present progressive tense. None of the kids even knew what was in Side by Side 1, in which the two tenses were presented individually. A few of the kids couldn't even follow which question in the book we were on.

The kids complained to the director. The director tried to fire me, but couldn't find a teacher to replace me.

[maxxx_power]

You have to entertain the kids, make them laugh and keep them happy so they don't run home to mommy and daddy and say you are a bad teacher. Also, you have to do this under the guise of actually educating them so the parents feel their kids are learning.

If you don't keep the kiddies, the parents, and the director simultaneously happy you will catch hell from the director and most likely be threatened or called a "bad teacher". Don't expect any training either, it will be more like, "There's your classroom, go teach now!"

No matter what any of these other posters claim when they try and glorify their hogwan kindy or elementary jobs, this is an entertainment industry. There is education but it is secondary to pleasing the parents and children and MAKING MONEY for the "school".

Keep kids from leaving, please the parents, and keep the money rolling in and your work life will be much easier.

[mithridates]

Having a new teacher is like having a change of government. A bad leader comes in and tries to emulate the old one. A good leader comes in, recognizes that people still remember the old leader fondly, but completely changes the atmosphere and makes it his/her own.
The old teacher is still useful for learning about the nature of each class though. Sometimes there are kids that need special attention or have had a stroke in the past, can't write very well or whatever.
Basically, take charge of the class' atmosphere, know the kids well, know the parents, and be interesting. That's what's most important.

[purrrfect]

I agree. I'd also add that's it's really important not to get too involved in other foreign teachers' negativity. This isn't to say that all the other foreign teachers in any given hagwon are negative - I'm just saying that negativity is highly contagious, so to speak. Of course, I have my down days, but I generally try to stay positive. I remember at my first hagwon (back when I worked in Seoul), I was really excited about teaching in this far-away country and I really wanted to do my best, etc. But I quickly realized that other teachers didn't feel the same way. They regarded everything as a joke and generally had nothing positive to say about teaching; when you're working in this kind of atmosphere, it's difficult to stay upbeat about the whole thing. So basically, I started feeling the same way, started slacking off, started complaining about everything and lost that enthusiasm for teaching.
Well, that was a long time ago, and luckily I've moved beyond that, but my advice to any newcomer to teaching ESL here would be, if you enjoy teaching and want to take it seriously, do it and don't let other people bring you down.

[Tiger Beer]

[some waygug-in]

It really isn't a matter of teaching style, but more a matter of keeping the "impression" of teaching alive, eventhough the reality is almost the opposite. I'm not saying this is always the case, every class is different and I'm sure every school or hagwan is slightly different. But if you are expecting to be an effective teacher in a hagwan, you have your work cut out for you.

The directors want the parents happy, and the only way they have to show that the kids are "learning" is to show them "pages per day". While this may have some merit in certain settings, you will soon realize what problems this can create for a teacher. For example, what if the textbook is WAY TOO DIFFICULT for the kids? or what if half the kids won't bring their books to class? Some kids are half done the book before you even get there. Some kids have a used book that was finished by their older sibling, so all the exercises are done.

Then you will have classes where the students refuse to do anything in the book and you have to try to get them to do the required "pages per day" quota. The only things the kids respond to and or pay attention to are games and or puzzles. But these are not exactly what the director and the parents want to see. It's a tough balancing act. You have to have enough "fun" things to keep the kids interested, but still be able to cover the "pages per day" requirement.

Good Luck

[em]

[bosintang]

[here it is]

best advice for a new teacher is to do their job to the best of their ability, be content with the product they are supplying and hope that their efforts and abilities are recognized and appreciated...

[Alpinegal]

I wonder about this question too. The kids are often telling me that I am not doing things the way their old teacher did, and I even had one cry and tell me they missed their old teacher so much. I felt pretty crappy about that but then I thought, wow, they are 7 years old, of course they miss what is familiar. I think maybe the kids and the school supervisors want you to morph into the same person who you replaced, but that is not possible so just continue doing your own thing and soon enough they will stop comparing you. Maybe. Hopefully.