Korean Job Discussion Forums

[prairiemaker]

I work for a national university as a professor of English. I have been on a separate campus for three years and largely work independently of any supervision. I am a very dynamic teacher, always on my feet, and seldom use a book. I teach beginning conversation. I have excellent student evaluations and often they applaud at the end of the class. I also have very good relations with the other faculty. I am published and work hard to stay a professional educator.

Every semester my classes have grown. The first semester I had 12 hours. The student enrollment keeps growing though. Last semester I was assigned 21 hours and 261 students. I met with the dean of academics and told them I felt this was excessive and exhaustive. I still finished the semester. This semester I found out a week before that I had nine classes, five three hour classes, and four two hour classes for a total of 23 hours, and a student count of 462 students. In two classes I have seventy students and have to use a microphone.

I am not lazy and have taught classes in hagwons and at high school sometimes working 40 hours contact teaching. I had no problem working this as it is not exhaustive. But on a university level I am exhausted because of the different type of teaching and energy required to be a good university teacher. I am also the only native English professor on campus and have several responsibilities besides actual class teaching. I am putting in 50 hour work weeks plus grading and preparing lectures. I am paid well for all this and love the five months off. I wish I could teach the load, but I am already wearing out.

I love what I am doing more than anything I have ever done, but I cannot teach this load. I am one month into this semester and I am already completely worn out. I have told the university I want a 15 hour cap on my teaching from now on and someone to take over part of the classes this semester. They have agreed to hire a part time teacher to take part of the hours, but the whole thing is a mess and we are still arguing over the 15 hour cap. I have told the university unless I am given the cap and they hire someone within a couple of weeks I will walk. My curriculum that I designed and teaching method are very popular and the students do not want me to change and teach at a slower pace. I do not want to either. I would rather quit than teach poorly to carry the load. I am so tired I am actually thinking of dipping into my savings and going back down to Palawan for a few months and then applying somewhere else.

It is a strange arrangement, as I am very liked by the dean, faculty and students on my campus, but the main campus most of the time they could care less. Only when the dean and professors go to bat for me on my campus are changes made. The department chair of English that made my schedule has been replaced this week. However his replacement seems to take no interest in resolving this. The main university seems particularly hung up on the 15 hour cap.

Is anyone else working these kinds of hours and students as a professor? Setting aside the whole ego game as to rather we are professors or not professor argument, that is endlessly debated on Dave’s, any other comments besides I am a lazy sloth are most welcome.

[ChilgokBlackHole]

I would start typing my resume. I'm not being glib. They don't seem to care, so why should you?

[Bemused]

If you are on good terms with students who appear to be the most influential among their peers, I would take them out for an evening of soju and constructive venting e.g. you love your job but the administration hasn't listened to you about workload and has even piled on more hours so you're thinking seriously of leaving because of exhaustion etc. Then ask them if the students think enough of you to give positive feedback to the adminsitration. The administration in Korean uni are terrified of negative feedback from students because it endangers enrollment for the following year. The competition between universities and colleges to attract students is quite fierce.

When I worked in a Korean uni, one of the Canadian teachers was arrested for marajuana possession and ended up spending only a few days in jail because his students circulated a petition asking the judge to release him because he was such a great teacher. I was stunned but one of the Korean profs told me that the collective voice of students can be very effective. If 180 student signatures can get a pothead (he toked daily) out of jail, I'll bet a similar effort would get you the 15 hour cap.