Korean Job Discussion Forums

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

Have you ever had your department head (boss) perform a surprise evaluation on your classes? How did you react? How did the students react?

applepie · Joined: 30 May 2003

criticism, both good and bad, can be helpful for your teaching. I look forward to when it happens.

Consider it practice when applying for university jobs, because many of them have you teach a demo lesson. I went to one where my students were native speakers pretending to be Koreans.

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

posco's trumpet,
"As soon as the administrator entered and asked if he could watch,"

What if he never asks "if he could watch" but just walks into class looks around and sits down?

What do you think about having surprise evaluations three times in a semester (beginning, middle, and near the end)?

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

What are the best ways to evaluate instructors?
Surprise? Scheduled?
Once? Twice? Many times?

Are Korean instructors evaluated the same way as foreign instructors?

applepie · Joined: 30 May 2003

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

If there's going to be quality teaching going on, I think it's important that teachers are observed regularly, both announced and unannounced. The tricky part is that the observer needs to be qualified. How many people have supervisors who are qualified as teacher trainers?

Anyone been observed or evaluated lately? How did it go?

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

phaedrus · Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Location: I'm comin' to get ya.

I hated being observed. It was an unneccessary stress.

I am an honest hard working person, and I felt as if it was assumed I was a bad teacher if I had to be observed regularly.

I think a good boss would observe once, and then trust the teacher as long as things seem to be going well.

Sometimes, I assume most times, hagwons are pits of suspicion, and I think the boss feels that if they are trying to scam parents the teacher must be up to something fishy as well.

I am almost never observed at my new job. Just the first day.

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

I had to laugh at this one! A former director used to come into my class to "observe." I often had to ask her to be quiet and let the STUDENTS answer the questions! Really, she just wanted a free English lesson!