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Corporal
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 8:38 pm Post subject: cleaning your own space? |
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I've read some posts on this issue before, and I know some teachers absolutely refuse to do any sort of cleaning in their hagwons, and others think it's just part of the job and there's nothing wrong with helping out if you're asked.
What I'm wondering is, if you have your own designated classroom, should you balk at being expected to keep it clean? I'm not talking about just tidying, obviously I would make every effort to keep my own room tidy, straighten desks, clear up papers, after the students etc. I mean the more heavy-duty cleaning like vacuuming or sweeping, washing/wiping things down, etc.
Shouldn't they really hire an ajuma to do that sort of thing? |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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I work in a public school. The students do the cleaning  |
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just because
Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Location: Changwon - 4964
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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I think sweeping your own classroom and tidying the desk up, throwing out rubbish for 10 minutes after work is a reasonable request.
After that however i would draw the line. |
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wylde
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| crazylemongirl wrote: |
| I work in a public school. The students do the cleaning |
strange that, i would have never thought it would happen... back home we a team that comes in at night and makes the joint spotless.
whilst i agree with getting the students to learn responsibility and saving money on the cost of contract cleaners, they still leave a lot to be desired in the quality of their work.
for example - instead of getting their butt up in the air and scrubbing the ground with the mop they just hold it 1 handed and walk up and down the halls, obviously wishing they were somewhere else.
i would much prefer my own room and the responsibility that comes with keeping it clean. more work but i would prefer that to these lazy ass students coming in and doing laps with the mop |
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Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 9:47 pm Post subject: |
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When I had my own classroom I would clean it once a week or so. The school was too cheap to hire cleaning staff.
This involved sweeping/vacuuming and maybe washing the desks down.
I didn't really care as I had 100% control over how much mess might be made. Knowing that it was only my students making the mess, well if you are going to cut stuff up and make a mess, why shouldn't you clean it up?
At my highschool the students clean the classrooms. We have cleaning ladies to do the halls/stairs/windows and other "common" areas. I agree that the quality of their cleaning is crap. But it does save a lot of money having students clean up the messes they make. |
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sadsac
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Gwangwang
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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When I had a designated classroom, it required minimal cleaning because I ensured that students put all their trash in the bin. I didn't have other staff utilising my room, so I took care of the minor cleaning tasks, mopping etc, I left to the cleaners. New school, every 2 weeks we are assigned an area that we are responsible to clean and I do not like it at all. It really is a bone of contention with me. My rooms are clean when I leave them after each class, chairs and desks are neatly arranged, but other staff don't share this desire to leave a room neat and tidy, very frustrating and principally the blame lays with the Korean staff, not the other foreign teachers.  |
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paperbag princess
Joined: 07 Mar 2004
Location: veggie hell
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 10:43 pm Post subject: ... |
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| i clean my classroom and frankly i wouldn't want the ajuma who "cleans" the rest of the school to clean my classroom. really i think that they should have a cleaning crew, but given how clean they keep the common areas of my school, i would rather know my classroom is actually clean. i mean the clean the toilets with the same mop they use to mop the floor and they don't use hot water for anything. it's disgusting. |
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Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 11:58 pm Post subject: |
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| sadsac wrote: |
| When I had a designated classroom, it required minimal cleaning because I ensured that students put all their trash in the bin. I didn't have other staff utilising my room, so I took care of the minor cleaning tasks, mopping etc, I left to the cleaners. New school, every 2 weeks we are assigned an area that we are responsible to clean and I do not like it at all. It really is a bone of contention with me. My rooms are clean when I leave them after each class, chairs and desks are neatly arranged, but other staff don't share this desire to leave a room neat and tidy, very frustrating and principally the blame lays with the Korean staff, not the other foreign teachers. |
I'd refuse to clean other areas of the school. They didn't hire you to CLEAN, they hired you to TEACH. |
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batman
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Oh so close to where I want to be
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| Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 12:00 am Post subject: Re: ... |
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| paperbag princess wrote: |
| i clean my classroom and frankly i wouldn't want the ajuma who "cleans" the rest of the school to clean my classroom. really i think that they should have a cleaning crew, but given how clean they keep the common areas of my school, i would rather know my classroom is actually clean. i mean the clean the toilets with the same mop they use to mop the floor and they don't use hot water for anything. it's disgusting. |
I used to work in a similar place. Made the teacher's office smell fresh and inviting.
Actually when it is my own space I have no problem with keeping it clean and tidy. Although, in general, the students have always left my class as they found it I would always make an apperance at my school on Saturday morning to give the room a once over to make sure it was ready to go for the next week.
When the class is shared (something I always disliked as I prefer to personalize my room with posters, pictures, etc) I think the teacher should make sure the room is tidy before leaving but that the cleaning should be left to a proper crew.
At KC Hell the school (though not poor) was too cheap to hire a cleaning lady. And while the Korean teachers and the illegal staff would help clean the prison I pointblank refused to clean the toilets. |
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wylde
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 12:00 am Post subject: |
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| i dont mind doing a little but i will not as the hakwon cleaner |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 1:27 am Post subject: |
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| Clean your room, not the school. Sweeping and wiping the desks down takes (for me) about two minutes. |
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Grotto
Joined: 21 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 4:22 pm Post subject: cleaning |
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I havent had this situation come up yet but during the winter we had a lot of dirty boots tracking in snow and mud and our students used to fight over who got to mop it up, we had to make them take turns. If I notice the classroom is a bit dirty I just ask my students to take the last 4 or 5 minutes to tidy whoever does the best job gets some candy or chocolate. Works like a charm.
Try it out |
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mr.bojangles
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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seems like i should have taken that "mopping 101" class in university.
they just asked me to clean (along with the other korean teachers) for 1 hour on fridays because my school's too cheap to hire a cleaner to come once a week. so now on fridays they want us to mop the floors, clean the desks and the rooms, the bathrooms and the hallways.
I said "no" and now the management is point-blank firing dirty looks. i clean my rooms after, get the papers, empty the trash, straighten the desks, but i agree with Mr.Pink: they didn't hire me to clean, they hired me to teach... am i in the wrong on this? any advice? |
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Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
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| Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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| mr.bojangles wrote: |
seems like i should have taken that "mopping 101" class in university.
they just asked me to clean (along with the other korean teachers) for 1 hour on fridays because my school's too cheap to hire a cleaner to come once a week. so now on fridays they want us to mop the floors, clean the desks and the rooms, the bathrooms and the hallways.
I said "no" and now the management is point-blank firing dirty looks. i clean my rooms after, get the papers, empty the trash, straighten the desks, but i agree with Mr.Pink: they didn't hire me to clean, they hired me to teach... am i in the wrong on this? any advice? |
Not wrong in my books.
When I was in high school I had a part time job. That job was cleaning the floors/bathrooms of a grocery store.
I didn't fly to Korea to be a glorified cleaner. I came here to teach, and that is what I do.
1hr of my time is worth 30k. Tell your director you'll do it for your standard 1hr pay...that should shut them up rather quickly. |
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ryleeys
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Columbia, MD
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| Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 2:04 am Post subject: |
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I teach in two classrooms every day... following cleaning duties are demanded of me:
Wipe down all desks, chairs, and white boards.
Sweep both classrooms and the hallway outside the rooms.
Mop both classrooms and the hallway.
Straigten up shelves (students aren't exactly neat about how they put things away).
In the end, I spend about 30 minutes cleaning every day... but the Korean teachers and our director all clean parts of the hagwon too. |
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