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kimiki
Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Location: south korea
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 Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 3:57 pm Post subject: an "Edutainer" persona |
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Do you have one? I admit that I used to think somewhat badly of people who did, but at last, I totally see why someone might take this on. At this point I really believe that unless one keeps up a super-perky facade, finding a connecting point with Korean co-workers is difficult.
In the classroom it's different, as I feel a genuine interest in my students and a love of teaching. Relating to them and engaging with them is (usually) easy. But in the work environment I more or less keep to myself/act like myself. Which now I think has created some obstacles.
I'd like to know people's thoughts on this... do you put effort into pumping up the 'happy foreigner' persona, or something along those lines? If so, is it worth it? Does it come naturally to you or was it a conscious decision? And what are the key points you focus on in this regard?
(Thanks in advance) |
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Menino80
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Location: Hodor?
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| Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Korea, god bless it, still has the Maoist "work unit" kicking, and it has it down to a science. There is no "me-time" unless you're 60, you have to get hazed now and take your lumps. |
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kimiki
Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Location: south korea
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| Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Menino80 wrote: |
| Korea, god bless it, still has the Maoist "work unit" kicking, and it has it down to a science. There is no "me-time" unless you're 60, you have to get hazed now and take your lumps. |
"hazed" lol very interesting
So true about the Maoist work unit thing. Did I ever eat an orange at work before without sectioning it off into enough slices to offer to everyone around me? I can't recall anymore.... |
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yeti08
Joined: 04 Nov 2009
Location: Anyang - Pyeongchon
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| Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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| The majority of my coworkers have lived abroad in either Australia or America, so they understand western culture more than most Koreans. This has helped me feel more comfortable. |
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legrande
Joined: 23 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 6:07 am Post subject: |
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| If you're considerate and pull your weight on the job, things ought to work out. |
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kimiki
Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Location: south korea
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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| legrande wrote: |
| If you're considerate and pull your weight on the job, things ought to work out. |
you're naive if you think that bad things don't happen to good people
but anyway i'm not talking about things merely working out. i'm talking about the next level.
everyone i've met who has the best contacts and the most unique job opportunities all have some specific things in common. they've made themselves into a human product to some extent. to get to a point of finding a true niche here it seems one has to sacrifice some amount of one's humanity/individuality. |
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nathanrutledge
Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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| kimiki wrote: |
| legrande wrote: |
| If you're considerate and pull your weight on the job, things ought to work out. |
you're naive if you think that bad things don't happen to good people
but anyway i'm not talking about things merely working out. i'm talking about the next level.
everyone i've met who has the best contacts and the most unique job opportunities all have some specific things in common. they've made themselves into a human product to some extent. to get to a point of finding a true niche here it seems one has to sacrifice some amount of one's humanity/individuality. |
I think you're being... not naive... but naive with a darker tone. Maybe a type of cynical?
Different culture, different methods. When I hear "edutainer," I cringe. Dancing around, acting like a clown, a glorified baby-sitter is horse manure. BUT, ignoring the realities of the situation is not doing your job.
For example, I'm at a technical high school. My kids are rough, to say the least. They don't want to be here, they don't care about English, they don't really care about school at all. That doesn't change the fact that MY job is to teach English.
So today, I did a lesson on tongue twisters. I mixed in Korean tongue twisters with English tongue twisters, making sure they both focused on the same sound differences. I had a stop watch and challenged the kids to beat me at both English and Korean tongue twisters. The kids participated, they spoke, and we had a great time.
That's the base. That's what I've done all year and as a result, my kids are happier and do better in my class than in some of the other classes. The other teachers see this and are happy and impressed.
This isn't the only thing, though. I've always been friendly and helpful in the office, but if the classes suck, the co workers are ambivalent. The reverse is true - your classes could be perfect and you're a total so-and-so in the office, and the co workers would be ambivalent.
Long story short, you want to fit in and make the contacts, it's a whole package approach. You have to be a good teacher and if that means you keep the kids entertained, then that's what you do - but it's still possible to teach them something. Some of MY favorite teachers were the ones who made the material interesting. At the same time, you have to be working behind the scenes in the office, putting in the time and effort. I'm giving up 15 minutes of my lunch break over the next three weeks to help a co worker. I was sick yesterday and stayed home and that same co worker said "No problem, hope you feel better!" Give and get. Now I'm just rambling, but you get the idea. |
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legrande
Joined: 23 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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Hell, we all know bad things happen to good people.
In terms of taking it to the next level (if by that you mean landing/maintaining a very coveted high paying job), I don't think it's only in this country that you'll have to make some sacrifices.
If you feel conflicted about having to be someone you're not, exploring the alternatives may be the way to go, and could provide some surprising results- I'd wager Bill Gates is happy he dropped out.
Having said that, I work at a uni (not the highest paying job in the land, but comfortable enough conditions i.e. 5 months paid vacation) and pretty much do as I please  |
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computermichael
Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Location: Anyang
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Sticking around and not acting like a stereotype really seems to be the trick. I just act like myself and try not to be too much of a choad. Being able to drink a lot of booze and speaking Korean well enough that it doesn't seem like you're trying to get a free lesson in help a lot too. I've never sucked up to anyone and don't work like a slave, but I have options better than my current job through people I've met. Nobody ever pesters me at work either because I'm friends with the right people there. However, I'd rather leave once my current contract is up and try something that's not teaching Engrishee. I'm so tired of it here, and staying here longer's just going to make my prospects back home worse at this point. |
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kimiki
Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Location: south korea
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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| computermichael wrote: |
| Sticking around and not acting like a stereotype really seems to be the trick. I just act like myself and try not to be too much of a choad. Being able to drink a lot of booze and speaking Korean well enough that it doesn't seem like you're trying to get a free lesson in help a lot too. I've never sucked up to anyone and don't work like a slave, but I have options better than my current job through people I've met. Nobody ever pesters me at work either because I'm friends with the right people there. However, I'd rather leave once my current contract is up and try something that's not teaching Engrishee. I'm so tired of it here, and staying here longer's just going to make my prospects back home worse at this point. |
I thought I was friends with the right people too, but the covert aggressiveness of some of the females here truly knows no bounds. The pressure to conform to all of their ways, of talking, eating, socializing, dressing, etc., is not lost on me anymore. I wish it was. I long for the days when I had no idea what people were saying or why they did the things they did.
I'm starting to think like them, too, i.e., seriously considering buying one of those heinous $3,000 handbags, which is so out of character for me it would be kind of like Al Gore getting a Hummer limousine and driving it around day and night.
No doubt I'm cynical. My students are quite delightful though and make it all worthwhile for me in the final analysis. I just wish I could have my own office. I can't play nicey-nice when there's daggers behind the smiles, I just can't.
Thank you all for your responses. Good food for thought. |
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kimiki
Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Location: south korea
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:30 pm Post subject: |
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| nathanrutledge wrote: |
| kimiki wrote: |
| legrande wrote: |
| If you're considerate and pull your weight on the job, things ought to work out. |
you're naive if you think that bad things don't happen to good people
but anyway i'm not talking about things merely working out. i'm talking about the next level.
everyone i've met who has the best contacts and the most unique job opportunities all have some specific things in common. they've made themselves into a human product to some extent. to get to a point of finding a true niche here it seems one has to sacrifice some amount of one's humanity/individuality. |
I think you're being... not naive... but naive with a darker tone. Maybe a type of cynical?
Different culture, different methods. When I hear "edutainer," I cringe. Dancing around, acting like a clown, a glorified baby-sitter is horse manure. BUT, ignoring the realities of the situation is not doing your job.
For example, I'm at a technical high school. My kids are rough, to say the least. They don't want to be here, they don't care about English, they don't really care about school at all. That doesn't change the fact that MY job is to teach English.
So today, I did a lesson on tongue twisters. I mixed in Korean tongue twisters with English tongue twisters, making sure they both focused on the same sound differences. I had a stop watch and challenged the kids to beat me at both English and Korean tongue twisters. The kids participated, they spoke, and we had a great time.
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That's great, do you speak Korean well? I've started to integrate more L1 into my classes recently and it's had super results, wish I had done it sooner. |
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nathanrutledge
Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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| kimiki wrote: |
That's great, do you speak Korean well? I've started to integrate more L1 into my classes recently and it's had super results, wish I had done it sooner. |
My Korean is garbage. I speak well enough to get around. That is one of the benefits though of using it in class - I learn new words all the time. I can tell you all about mammals/amphibians/etc in Korean, as well as how the manager of the soy sauce factory is named Jang and the manager of the soy paste factory is named Gang...
It's a real fine line to walk. Some places won't let you use a single word in Korean, others don't really care. I've found that the best thing I ever did was learn classroom Korean - sit down, be quiet, open your books, pay attention, etc. If you learn the functional words and use them, you spend 30 seconds quieting the class down compared to 5 minutes, and you do it without yelling. You do that,you get additional time to use, and you become a lot more productive.
I'm a huge believer in learning Korean for use in the class. It's useful, it shows the kids you make an effort to learn so they should too, and it saves time by not wasting time trying to explain mundane things in English when you can get the point across in a single Korean word, letting you focus on the main points of the lesson. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm a huge believer in learning Korean for use in the class. It's useful, it shows the kids you make an effort to learn so they should too, and it saves time by not wasting time trying to explain mundane things in English when you can get the point across in a single Korean word, letting you focus on the main points of the lesson. |
Yes, why not just teach the whole lesson in Korean? It'll save even more time as the kids will have to waste even less time trying to understand you and they'll appreciate you more for it so discipline will be better. And you will improve your Korean a lot more, so everyone will be a winner! Plus, all the time you save trying to teach the kids 'mundane' English like expressions they can actually use to ask for stuff and follow instructions, you can spend on focusing on the really important points of the lesson like Korean tongue twisters  |
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Menino80
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Location: Hodor?
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:51 am Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I'm a huge believer in learning Korean for use in the class. It's useful, it shows the kids you make an effort to learn so they should too, and it saves time by not wasting time trying to explain mundane things in English when you can get the point across in a single Korean word, letting you focus on the main points of the lesson. |
Yes, why not just teach the whole lesson in Korean? It'll save even more time as the kids will have to waste even less time trying to understand you and they'll appreciate you more for it so discipline will be better. And you will improve your Korean a lot more, so everyone will be a winner! Plus, all the time you save trying to teach the kids 'mundane' English like expressions they can actually use to ask for stuff and follow instructions, you can spend on focusing on the really important points of the lesson like Korean tongue twisters |
Yes, why not make an actual argument? |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not an edutainer and resent it when I get bullied into acting like one. I try to be a teacher. Sometimes, I'm respected for this, other times I'm not. In Korea I find that if you're working in a good hagwon or a public school, they want you to be a real teacher more or less. When I was working in Japan, it was constant: "sing more!" "Dance more!" "BE GENKI!!!" "Why aren't you genki?" "Here, wear this costume!" "SMILE!"
I think teaching in Korea can be like this too but they don't force it on you which is nice.
I have noticed a trend amongst foreign teachers to kind of fall into being edutainers naturally. Like, they think if the kids are smiling, laughing and happy than the class is going well. They think that if the class flows nicely and everything fits together well then it's a good class.
While these are good things, they don't have much bearing on how much the students are actually learning. You have to ask yourself after each class, are the children actually learning anything? Will they remember it? If not, you could be the best "edutainer" in the world and still fail miserably as a teacher.
Too many foreign teachers in Korea fall into this trap. Yes, being entertaining helps but it's secondary to the kids actually learning. |
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