Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jimmyjames1982]

I'm considering coming back to Korea after 3 1/2 years at a public school, and a 6 month stint back in the states. I'm sort of over the isolation that a PS seems to offer, so I'm considering some academies. I'm hoping to find a reputable hagwon that offers higher pay and has a solid curriculum.

Is Dongtan Poly in that category?

Thanks for any advice!

[Emark]

I am speaking from my experience and that was a few years ago.

Unless POLY has taken a dive in their level of academic quality, any POLY will be a great place to work. The kids are either "gifted and talented" or have live overseas (English speaking countries) for a considerable period of time.

POLY has a research and development group that created the outline to every book that get taught. All campuses follow the same calendar for each class.

Get in there.

[expattarheel]

i worked at 2 different POLY campuses over the years (neither of them the campus you're looking at), and the experience varied SIGNIFICANTLY between the 2 campuses based almost entirely on the respective directors. The workload was relatively the same at both campuses (higher than the average hagwon, from what i gathered talking to friends at other hagwons, and way more work than my bf's job working for SMOE), but the jerkface director at one campus made working there miserable for everyone (K-staff and NA-staff). The other director was pretty no-nonsense, but fair, professional, and if you cared about the job, that was actually kind of appreciated.

My advice to you, ask for emails from some current teachers there and ask them about their specific campus. I was often given email addresses for potential new hires and always gave them the good and the bad about my campus. you should also make a list of questions to ask them so that there's some focus to the things you want to know most about (workload, living arrangements, management, etc). also, the POLY materials are hit or miss from the R&D dept, so you may still wind up pulling together materials for classes. You also have to do monthly report cards for the kids, and that can take quite a bit of your prep time. keep all this in mind as you determine whether you want to up your workload from a PS job.

The upside is that teachers i worked with 6 years ago at POLY i still count as some of the nicest, coolest friends i've ever met. It totally made the "teaching in korea" experience for me, even in the crappy campus. good luck on your job hunt, and i'm happy to answer any questions anybody has about poly. Emark was right on about the kids, though; they're awesome and usually pretty above-average. you'll be able to communicate and interact all in english no problem.

[cedarseoul]

POLY = great students, some good curricula, long hours but above-average pay (for a hagwon).

Note that POLY is on an e-learning kick these days, which makes the first 4-6 weeks intensely frustrating/confusing...there's a lot to learn at once, and the 10+ hour days don't help.

But if you keep a level head, ask plenty of questions, and try to relax during your downtime, you'll get the hang of it. POLY is a solid place to start an ESL career IMO.

[jaec13]

I'll echo the comments above. I worked at a different POLY campus for a year. It does seem to be, talking to teachers at other campuses, that your POLY experience is quite closely tied to the director of your school. Have a good relationship with them, and assuming they're not a complete jerk, and your time there will likely be decent. My time there was good (but not good enough to want to extend).

Pay seems to be a bit higher than other hagwons, but longer hours. Almost all students speak fairly good English. Exceptions might be the really young kids (5-6 American age), and the new first graders. Students are tested for basic English knowledge (which I understand to be alphabet recognition and base conversational English).

The curriculum, as mentioned, is very hit or miss. Some of it is decent, some is quite awful. But, it can be good if you're just starting your ESL career as it relieves some stress of having to put together your own curriculum.