Korean Job Discussion Forums

natashagwitt · Joined: 21 Apr 2014

While I research around to see if I can find reviews or posts in message boards about particular schools, is it okay to ask to speak with a current teacher? will they likely be honest about their experience, or no because I am asking the school to provide someone...?

Skippy · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Daejeon

natashagwitt · Joined: 21 Apr 2014

Update: one school I am talking with gave me a teacher email - of course it was their school one, so I plan to send a nice email to the school one but I also sent a request to connect on facebook to see if he mentions anything else more privately.

natashagwitt · Joined: 21 Apr 2014

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

natashagwitt · Joined: 21 Apr 2014

hatfiejl · Joined: 14 Feb 2012 Location: Ohio

yeah request a personal email/facebook. the current teacher i spoke to before i arrived was a puppet for the school. she had some type of mental issues and while she was fully functional, she refused to acknowledge the flaws in the school.

Troglodyte · Joined: 06 Dec 2009

It's much better to contact a previous teacher. Current teachers might have an incentive to lie to you. Still, if you get to talk to a current teachers it's not bad. If they hint that the place is not good then turn down the offer.

DosEquisXX · Joined: 04 Nov 2009

I consider not being allowed to talk to a former teacher a bit of a red flag, but not a huge one. It doesn't always correlate with a bad school. After all, the teacher who was let go might just be a bitter jerk and speak poorly of the school when it is unwarranted.

As for the current teachers, the best questions to ask are ones that sounds innocuous, but are truly telling of the school. Questions like, "Do you get paid on time?" are so easy to lie about because they know that it's likely a deal-breaker for you. It's too direct. A question such as, "How long have the other teachers been at the school?" is a good one because it sounds innocent. By finding out how long the other teachers have been there, you find out about their turnover rate and how likely you'll be able to stick out a one year contract. If they've got a lot of teachers who have been there for multiple years, then they must be happy with their job.

Finding out the approximate age of the teachers is wise too because you can get a feel on their teaching experience. If it's a bunch of early/mid 20-somethings teaching at the school, safe to say that they are looking for malleable, easily controlled people who don't know the ins and outs of teaching in Korea. If you hear that they have some foreign teachers there with a lot of experience, then it might be okay since they know better when it comes to picking a job.

I always ask what happened to the employee that you are replacing. Sometimes, the teacher will talk about the person being fired after 5 months or 11 months on the job which is a solid sign that the person wasn't being fired for incompetence, but because the owner is a cheap bastard. It's also wise to try and get the e-mail of the former teacher from the current teacher. The owner might not give it to you, but a teacher there might.