Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adventurer]

This is for hagwon school teachers, not public school teachers.
Do you like your job?

I definitely like my hagwon job. Compared to my last job, it's a God-send. I can take time with my students, I don't need to rush and have them produce and produce like at my last job. I don't have to give them too much homework to do at home, but rather focus on their fluency, pronunciation, and writing.

I asked one of the Korean teachers about a certain class today and their pronunciation. I've been working hard on their pronunciation. I used to teach pronunciation, enunciation at an adult hagwon in the past, and I use the skills I learned on the kids. The Korean teacher said she complimented the kids on sometimes sounding like a native speaker when reading. I've worked hard with them, because I thought their pronunciation was horrible before.

I also managed to get a class that was depressing at first, because they wouldn't talk to smile and talk. Once one Korean teacher said she found them depressing, because they wouldn't do anything. I managed to
convince them somehow to do work, and they've responded.

I love that I can actually work on their fluency, and rather than having 32 classes, I have 23. Since I don't have many classes, I give a special class (I volunteered) for some weak students. One of the Korean teachers decided to do the same to help weak students. I like the fact that I can really work hard on their speaking, writing, and have lots of time for review. I don't feel I have to rush and produce in a somewhat unproductive fashion like I did before.

I also really like my co-workers whereas I had not as much of a connection with the Korean co-workers I worked with before, and I am not sure why. Perhaps, because I am in a smaller room.

[Illysook]

I have 30 classes a week, the books suck, and there's seldom enough time to adequately prepare. Then, after I've worked my ass off, it's never good enough for my miserable slave-driving boss. She says that she doesn't understand how I can complain about a lack of prep time when all the other teachers get their work done, but the midterm exams that they put out had word search puzzles in them...and can anyone explain to me how those measure learning in any way?

[Adventurer]

[Hyeon Een]

I liked my first hagwan job. About 3 months in I got culture shock and fed up and nearly did a runner to Cambodia, but stuck with it. After my little culture-shock episode I really enjoyed it. I worked 3-7 or 9 depending on the day. It was fun and the boss was cool. (To put things in perspective, other people in town thought he was a total scoundrel, but I found him cool).

1 year of the hagwan scene was enough for me though. I moved on. I don't really understand why people who've been here 2, 3, 4, 5 years+ still work in them unless they love teaching kids above all else. Even living in the country I managed to make enough contacts to get a good University job in Seoul. (Only negative point: no kids)

Hagwan jobs can be easy and fun. If any person's hagwan is neither of those things then it sucks.

[greedy_bones]

I'm pretty happy with mine. I teach about 24 hours a week and spend about 35 hours a week there. I could spend 30 hours a week there, but I usually show up a couple hours early to lesson plan. There's no syllabus, just some materials for all of the books. I get to use the materials I want or make my own.

I prefer the hagwon game for a few reasons.

I find kids more fun to teach then adults. Small classes make it much easier to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of your students. The abilities of the students tend to be a little higher. And finally, afternoon/evening schedules are great. I can sleep in or run errands I couldn't otherwise do if I was teaching during the daytime.

[Otherside]

I hated my hagwon job.

Where to start?
I was teaching 37 classes a week (got screwed on the "teaching hour" thing),
Got shafted on vacation - 5 days in Summer, including Sat and Sun, lol
Independent Contractor (So I was being overtaxed, with no medical).
Lied to about location - Had to commute 25-30 minutes to work and pay for the bus (when I was told, it would be a 5 minute walk).
Had the smallest apartment I've ever seen...in Korea or otherwise (7Pyeong)
Boss was into heavy micromanagement, you know the drill "Students complain class is too boring, play more games" next week "Parents complain class is too fun, less games". etc

On the plus side...
My 1 co-worker was cute^^

[Xuanzang]