Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tigerstyleone]

This is related mostly to hagwons.

Why are there so few middle school students?

For years my schedule has been loaded with elementary students with only one or two middle school classes

I also have some high school students preparing for the entrance exam but I understand they go to school until 9pm, but middle school finishes around 3 or 4

and why are there also more 1st and 2nd graders and as the ages increase the size of the classes decrease?

[koreatimes]

First and second graders are not old enough to be out on their own. By 4, they are usually done. After that, you have students who choose a hobby like soccer, taekwondo, piano, and even calligraphy. So, either they come late to your class, or they leave early to go to them. Sometimes, they are simply going to a hagwon which also teaches math.

Middle schoolers tend to go to larger schools which have the resources and materials. Smaller ones can't keep a business unless they cater to the young ones. This is one reason why I didn't take an adult only position. I wasn't sure how long the school would sustain business. Adults come and go. They don't regularly show up like the little ones. Parents see it as a babysitting/English service.

Middle schoolers are also swamped with learning vocabulary. When I taught a few classes at a hagwon, they would take out their vocabulary books from their public school. There is very little context and few reading sections in those books. As for high school, it seems like only the serious ones sign up, and they are quite advanced. The other ones focus on tests.

Try teaching at a school which has math teachers also. Then, you are more likely to get older students. In that case, your class will be seen as secondary to science, math, and social studies.

[noobteacher]

From my experience, as the kids get older and move into middle school, there are other school subjects that take precedent over English (math, science, Korean, etc.) and are more important for the high school placement test.

[rednblack]

Yeah, I agree with noob. I have my own business and I'm sick of teaching M.S. They are a waste of space, time, and parents money. So.. I have cut all middle school classes for 2012. I have lost a lot of money, but I don't care. Quite frankly, I hate teenagers and I'd rather spend my time trying to educate younger people.

[Skipperoo]

About half to to-thirds of my students are middle-schoolers and they range from completely apathetic to wildly enthusiastic and talented. The former are more of a chore than the craziest elementary and the latter are the light of my life. Swings and roundabouts.

We only get high schoolers during the vacation months though, and they're generally the worst of the lot.

[Chimie]

My school just had a load of elementary move up into the MS ranks, so we're a little bloated at MS levels. Right now I teach 20 classes a week of only MS. (65 mins/class on MWF, 45 mins on TTh)

I think I have something in the range of 340 MS students in my classes (15-19 per class) alone, and we have 4-5 foreign teachers dedicated to MS at a time (each with 20 classes) as well as maybe 12/13 Korean teachers. Only three or four of all the MS teachers is on break at the same time.

(Then again, there are 7 elementary school FTs and 20 ele KTs)

[Rayna~]

The director at my school mentioned a general decrease in student population. It's a trend going on throughout the country right now. Hagwons are doing what they can to recruit, but there aren't as many students around as there were even 3 years ago.

[thunderbird]

every school atracks a different market, some get lots of middle, some lots of primary, some lots of kindy