Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PatrickBateman]

This hasn't come up yet within one of my classes yet, but I know it's happened in a few other classes.

Okay, so the only disciplinary measures we can take against a student is giving the student 'detention.' This means the student has to stay after all the classes are out for about an hour and do their homework.

However, here's the problem. A good majority of the Korean co-teachers have to phone the parents to inform them that the student has to stay for detention. Question is, what do/can you do when you tell a student they have detention and all they say is, 'I can't have detention my mom won't make me stay.'

Keep in mind that our director does not allow us to kick students out of class if they're misbehaving. What kind of power, if any, can I assert if a student is just acting terribly and knows there's no repercussions?

[tanklor1]

I always left detention to Korean teachers. After hours stuff is a whole kettle of kettle chips that would be best to be avoided. Work with your co-teachers to see what you can do and anything outside of those lines should be agreed on with them first.

Your biggest problem is covering your ass when or if things get too far. I wouldn't worry so much about the students as I would making sure that your relationship with your co-teachers is pruned to near-perfection.

You're not on equal footing with them and they will override any decision that would bring a problem to them or the school.

[nathanrutledge]

[PatrickBateman]

You're right.

We literally have zero power when it comes down to it.

[Fishead soup]

Discipline is your Co-teachers job. Next time a kid fools around just look at your Korean Co-teacher and ask "Is this kind of behavour acceptable in Korean culture?'

[PatrickBateman]

This might sum it up as far as some co-teachers are concerned.

I was heading to class and saw this one terrible student wandering the halls during her teaching hour.(She knew he was out there)

[bobbybigfoot]

There's little you can do.

I learned a long time ago that detentions are a waste of time. Fully 50% of the kids just walked out of the school. The Korean teachers didn't want the extra work of fighting my battles so little was done. They'd give me lipservice but that's it. The kids soon started telling other kids to just walk out, that nothing would be done. It became a joke. So I stopped altogether.

Same thing with asking a korean coteacher to help you with discipline. Most either have no idea what they are doing or they don't care or they don't want to rock the boat with the parents/admin staff.

Discipline in Korea, at least in my 3.5 years of hagwon experience, is a joke. Ergo, teaching in Korea is largely a joke.

The very first thing that should be taught/enforced at any school is discipline/respect. Without that, learning becomes haphazard.

[tanklor1]

[Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida]

In my day the threat of the corner (arms up etc.) usually worked. Never gave a student detention. The strictest punishment I ever gave was 100 lines and verbal apology. A 13 year old boy called a female student a pig.

[le-paul]

write a short letter to the kids parents telling them how I wasted time/class time/money or whatever and you are very sorry for being so bad/rude. etc.

give it to the student and tell them its their task for the lesson to translate it into korean.

when theyve finished, tell them to take it home and get their father to sign it and bring it back the next day, signed.

that usually does the trick for me

[JC VT]

It depends on the age of the student. Many times I find that calling the student over during a break and having an adult conversation with them gets it done.

In extreme cases, however: