Korean Job Discussion Forums

[strange_brew]

If all the parents decided that public education was enough for their children and they all stopped working their second and third jobs and just spent their evenings with their families? That would be a huge amount of money and manpower leaving the economy. Of course this won't happen, but if it did, what would happen?

[jdog2050]

[strange_brew]

[crusher_of_heads]

Arse backwards Confucianism will still be the strongest current, followed by saving face. Kimberly isn't going to take his firstborn son out of the hagwon and raise eyebrows in doing so any time soon.

As far as engurishee hogwans, how many Korean 'English' teachers send their kids to English hagwans? Better yet, how many do you know that don't send them there-I know of NONE.


It's funny because it's true.

[jdog2050]

[crusher_of_heads]

South Koreans don't rock the boat, because of peer pressure.
No social revolution is going to happen here.

[sojourner1]

They would only pull their kids out of hagwon if it boils down to a major economic crisis and then they'd just find cheaper options for schooling. Maybe the government is preparing for this downturn by having a huge public school hiring event during the past year that still is only beginning. There are many more public school teachers now than ever and it's developing English education for everyone. They aim to start putting 2 FT's in each school starting this year so that's a sign pointing towards parents using and getting more out of public schools for their childs educational needs. I know they're enrolling in camps 2X more than I was told I would have. PS ran Winter camps are full this year to my understanding. I think the PS English education is a good bargain for parents and students as they don't charge and don't have the stressful work culture of hagwons that inviarably rubs off on students in a negative way. It's also better for the teachers in that you don't have so much of the toxic work culture common in hagwons, but you still have communication problems; not due to language barrier, but due to a lack of communication. I've found myself slightly chewing out Koreans when they tell me something and it's another causing me to be totally unprepared at the last minute such as how many students I'll be teacher. This lack of communication on all fronts is destroying value for everyone involved.

I expect big change in the coming year or two; not only with Korea, but with the entire world.

[Panda]

Another good post I read.

[suadente]

[Xuanzang]

As long as they continue to have the standardized tests for EVERYTHING then hagwons will continue. Flight attendant, newsbroadcaster, entertainer hagwons in addition to language ones. The only way I could see a revolution was if Japan took over all the hagwons and started another Imijin waeran.

[blaseblasphemener]

Kids in the West, for the most part, have entirely too much free time. Or conversely, other kids are expected to pull down straight As (like Korean kids) while also playing sports, volunteering, and whatever else will look good on a resume. Plus, kids in the west have the added pressure of trying to act like an adult when they are in middle or high school, doing drugs, whatever.

I don't think things are quite as bad comparatively as we like to believe they are. Kids in the West are just as f!cked up, maybe more.

[jdog2050]

[aka Dave]

It's not just hagwons. Test taking is ingrained in the culture. Okay, I taught a writing class 4 hours a night for students preparing for the 임 용 고 시 (Korean English Teacher Exam). 11 out of 13 passed. This was huge and incredible for our department, really unprecedented.

Now we (err me) have to work 3 hours a day preparing them for phase 3 (interview and teaching presentation).

And they change the test every year.

But the point is they have these insane, often arbitrary tests. And they have to pass them.