Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wonkavite62]

There were 2 western teachers working at this school this year but both will be moved on. There is a job available there now. Whoever gets that job may be left totally in the dark. There are issues with unstable conditions at the school, and a chaotic schedule, and I think it my duty to warn prospective teachers.
Before applying for the job, it was listed as a public middle school. The recruiter lied of course. It's private, and there is none of the stability or reliability of public schools. It may look public. Don't be fooled. It isn't. You may be told it is in Gochang, but it is in a tiny village 30 minutes away from the lovely town of Gochang. You may be told that there's a well-stocked school gym. There is, but this year the Judo group think they own it. That's why the gym is often kept locked, except at times which are inconvenient for you.
The good points include that the kids are quite well-behaved. It's a private school, with wealthy parents, but that doesn't make the students more enthusiastic about English than elsewhere. The other good points are that it's quiet at night (a real blessing), and that you don't have to commute. I have had to spend an hour in busy traffic getting to work. I've had to get up at 5:30 sometimes. I accepted all this, at the time, but staying next to school is a nice change.
The bad points are next. There are 2 co-teachers. The lady, whom I will call Ms. X is your boss. The other teacher, a man, is Mr. Y. Mr.Y seemed really helpful and enthusiastic but he quickly soured. It wasn't me. He is under a lot of stress at home and work. Ms. X was cold and uncommunicative from the start. She's bad news. She can be dangerous. I will explain why later.
The timetable can cause problems. The basic timetable will likely have some students you see once on week one and twice on week two, others you see twice a week, and some you only see once a fortnight. It's complicated, isn't it?I made a point of sitting down with my coteachers and putting the changes in the time table on the calendar for a month or two ahead.
That's well and good. Except that the management monkeys around constantly with the schedule, and the coteachers may not warn you.
Ms. X is dangerous partly for this very reason. You won't find out till the class has started and you are 5 minutes late. I am not the only one she has done this to.Then she will criticise you for not knowing something you weren't informed of. it will be your fault. You will then have to use whatever lesson you have-even if it won't be right for that class, or make photocopies while the class is waiting. She will hold this against you. She never praises anyone. Miss X and Mr. Y are temporary staff, but they will still be at school in September. In order to prove their right to tenure, they do extra classes up to 9 p.m. They get paid for this. Unfortunately, because Ms. X is doing extra work, and you are on a lighter schedule, she thinks she can just snap her fingers at any time and you will be ready. She thinks you can work out chaotic schedule changes even if no one tells you.
Another problem. The kids' parents all drive BMW's and the school is rich too. But it is too "poor" to put a computer in the classrooms. So you have to carry your own, from class to class. It's a real nuisance. If your computer is slow-it's YOUR FAULT. When I was in public school, in a different part of Korea, they had a computer in every class, and I just carried my USB and worksheets.
The school is rich, but your take home salary may be slightly under 2 million won. They don't take proven experience into account here.
I was late because of schedule changes I hadn't been informed of. When that happened, Miss X told me that I'd be fired if more incidents occured. I am at fault for not taking her to the Labor Board, but that's water under the bridge.
What makes me furious is that when I was fired, most of the criticisms were about things like burping in the office, dropping food in the cafeteria, although I apologised immediately, and not greeting all the Korean teachers till June (which is a lie. I did greet them). Criticisms were petty and spiteful.
I blame myself for taking this job. The fact is that I had a bad feeling about it during the Skype interview. Something was "off." I should have followed my gut instincts this time, because there was something not right. Instead I listened to people who said I could always come home if things went wrong.

[mortonclub]

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