Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gdn35]

I have 3 months experience (plus other experience) teaching middle school aged children at two schools in the United Kingdom. I found the attitude and behaviour from the majority of pupils to be quite poor. It was very challenging to get them motivated and to behave.

I am just curious to know what its like in South Korea in comparison to this? I assume that there is less behavioural issues or maybe I'm wrong? Also, can anyone give me a run down in the differences in attitude between the children over in South Korea in comparison to the West?

Thanks very much.

[stew1988]

Just my opinion, so I don't want to get gunned down for my comments hehe...

1. Active: I discovered that there is a big division between the young Korean learners (kindergarten / nursery) and the slightly older ones, middle school for instance. The young kids are quite difficult to control actually and are extremely hyper at times, kids will be kids as they say. That being said, in my previous school, I noticed a massive problem in the fact that parents simply refused to accept that their children had behavioural issues. One kid in my class called Barry was so bright. He was very quick on the up take and was advanced for his age. Unfortunately he could not sit in the same place for more than 10 seconds. When he was told off for his actions he was genuinely sorry, you could see it in his eyes. He didn't want to be deliberately disruptive, he just could not physically control himself. The boy had some kind of ADHD and clearly, should have been given some medication to calm him down. I mentioned this to a coworker and they shouted at me. She said: "you cannot say that about the kids. We know the truth, but if we say anything to the parent they will take the kids from the school and the school will lose money. Parent in Korea do not medicate their kids!" Unfortunately for Barry, he wasn't gaining anything from lessons and was not fulfilling his potential.

2. Passive: As I said before, the kids are worked very hard from a young age. I'm entitled to my opinion and I think that the Koreans have taken things to the extreme. In my view the children were being deprived of a childhood in some respects. When they reached an older age is was as if the energy had been sucked right out of them. The fact that they had woken up in the morning, been to school, took piano lessons, taken taekwondo class and were now sitting in an English class was apparent. At times they were like zombies going through the motions. Behavioural problems were minimal, however getting students to actively participate was difficult. Going by this point you would assume they were simply exhausted, however this is not the only reason...

3. Shy: Korean culture is all about face and image is king. Students do not like to make mistakes in public and their solution to this is to not say anything at all. I tried to drum into them the fact that it's OK to make errors and a natural part of the language learning process. Unfortunately it's got to the stage where many students and Koreans as a whole get the most wonderful marks on their TEOFL written and reading exams, however faced with the simplest conversational experience, are utterly hopeless.

Being able to motivate them is key. They are indeed very curious and it's best to try and feed this inquisitive nature. Korea is a society in which your elders are Gods and this, whilst being nonsensical at times, breeds respect. I found that the younger ones would often say random things about me in Korean, however once they knew I could understand what they were saying in part, stopped doing it.

The youth of the UK is fast becoming an abysmal joke. I would hate to teach British children. I have taught kids in Italy and that was a pleasurable experience. In my opinion teaching Korean students can be hard work but like most things, if you commit yourself to it, can be very rewarding.

[gdn35]

Very interesting reading. Thanks for your comments. I do agree that the youth of the UK is an abysmal joke. I don't want to take a teaching job here.

[edwardcatflap]

[gdn35]

Both my parents and my brother are teachers in the UK. They have seen a steady decline in the attitude and behaviour of children. I think it will get worse and the job teachers in the UK have is quite difficult and stressful. Children in the UK tend not to have any respect for teachers here and will quite often bully the teachers and have a joke at their expense.

[ThingsComeAround]

If you are working for public school, it will be a world of difference compared to private schools (hagwons). IMO, neither are genuinely interested in actually educating however private schools have the worry of losing revenue when a student drops out- public schools only worry about the Education office (direct complaints from parents).

I have found middle school students to be the most shy, reserved or uninterested in English overall.

However- generally students are more polite and parents more involved. Punishments of their "angels" are frowned upon.