Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bartenderandthethief]

Hi,

I've been researching positions at schools in SK and most seem to be for 30 contact hours per week. Is this not a lot/too much, when factoring in lesson planning? 6 hours teaching a day is fine but I don't want my weekends to be consumed by this!

I know you get paid more in Korea in comparison to, say, China, but I've been used to teaching 22 hours in Vietnam, give or take.

I also know 30 is more or less the norm here but my question is, with particular regard to kindergarden to elementary aged kids, how far can lesson planning be recycled or 'rush jobbed' in this country?? Is there a high emphasis on constant innovation in these schools?


Thanks for any advice.

[PRagic]

You'll get paid more than in Vietnam, too, and probably be able to bank more depending on your lifestyle.

30 hours is standard for a private institute job. In general, very little prep is necessary. If you're teaching kids, and if the institute requires it, you may end up doing extra hours filling out progress reports and/or meeting with parents. Dog and pony show stuff.

Other posters with more recent experience teaching varied age levels should be able to help you out more. The public school jobs are a different animal, so hopefully someone will venture some insight about those, too.

[ttompatz]

[J.Q.A.]

O.P., keep in mind that 30 contact hours per week does not necessarily equate to 30 classes.

One class could be 30 minutes...then multiply that by two.

Major burn out.

[J.Q.A.]

[quote]Hi,

I've been researching positions at schools in SK and most seem to be for 30 contact hours per week. Is this not a lot/too much, when factoring in lesson planning? 6 hours teaching a day is fine but I don't want my weekends to be consumed by this!

I know you get paid more in Korea in comparison to, say, China, but I've been used to teaching 22 hours in Vietnam, give or take.

I also know 30 is more or less the norm here but my question is, with particular regard to kindergarden to elementary aged kids, how far can lesson planning be recycled or 'rush jobbed' in this country?? Is there a high emphasis on constant innovation in these schools?


Thanks for any advice.[/quote]

Innovation at these types of schools? Well..I would have to say that opinions and experience in that area will differ, from teacher to teacher.

You may end up at a school that will not care what you do, as long as you are in the classroom doing SOMETHING. You may also end up in a school where everything you do is monitored and micromanaged by a boss that has no idea how to put a lesson plan together. Even further, as another poster mentioned, you could wind up being in a situation where you are buried in progress reports and other various administrative duties that can often take the fun out the job and everything you do is berated, belittled and scrutinized...without actual constructive feedback.

It really is a gamble...some folks get lucky while many do not. The best advice I can think you give you is....

1. Utilize the Facebook job groups.
2. Ask as many questions as possible (then again, being inquisitive may inadvertently constitute being "picky").
3. Decide how much you are willing to put into the job.
4. READ THAT CONTRACT carefully (and make sure sign one written
both Korean and English).
5. Make sure you fully understand how many classes per week you are
expected to teach and how long each class is.
6. Pick your battles.
7. Make sure you speak to two (if possible) members of the current
foreign staff.
8. Consider a direct hire, bypassing recruiters (if possible).
9. Make sure you have ALL of the legal enitlements.
10. Decide where you want and do not want to live in Korea.

I could go on, as many others could. However, it has been said time and time again....do your research.

[PRagic]

I had a buddy, albeit pessimistically, sum it up. He said the schools pretend to have real programs and care, the teachers pretend to teach, and the students pretend to learn.

If you've been around and seen some of the shenanigans that go on at institutes, you'd probably be inclinded to agree - 'textbooks' designed by people with zero TESOL experience and printed just so the school can make an extra buck; students deliberately placed in levels that don't correspond to their actual ability levels just so the school can have students in all their classes and keep people enrolled as long as possible; teachers with zero background doing zero prep; and students flocking to classes that require almost zero effort and yield, unsurprisingly, zero results.

I'm not saying this goes on at all institutes, but I've seen it happen and heard about it enough to think that it might be more the rule than the exception.

[wonkavite62]

Well, 30 hours-and by this I take it that they mean 30 50 minute periods per week is quite a lot of teaching. But it is not so bad if you don't have to do masses of preparation. My first hagwon had 6 50 minute periods with 10 minutes between each class. That is manageable, especially if the hagwon has a syllabus for you to follow. Getting these little breaks helps.
By the way, not all hagwons do this! Some will have classes stacked back to back with no breaks, and you may have a class that lasts for one hour. I am at JLS, a large chain. I'll be moving on soon. I have back-to-back classes
. On Monday, I taught 7 50-minute periods, more or less, and the other day it was different but I had many more short classes. This kind of time table can be tiring.
You really DO need to check out how much lesson planning is actually involved at the language school you are talking about. Because if you have to make your own lesson plans and find all your own materials it will be a nightmare, and you may be shown the door. Otherwise, it should be okay.
Pragic is right when he says that hagwons are not necessarily professional. JLS has a good reputation. But I still see issues. For example, a couple of months ago, I was expected to teach is/are questions and do you/when do you/why do you questions in one lesson! To ten- year-old kids! My boss in another school, outside Korea, believed that this was fatal. You had to teach is/are questions first, in one lesson. Only when students master a simpler form, can they go on to a more complex form.
The other thing is that tonight I will be teaching 3 boys who are deemed to be advanced. They are 11 or 12 years old, but doing really advanced textbooks, with masses of writing assignments and talking about very serious stuff like racism in the US, the concept of legal aid, how can we help seniors, what can the social services do, how would you design your own juvenile correctional facility, etc.
It's maybe too advanced. But much worse than that is the way it is done. I have my hands tied here because the Korean teachers set the agenda. Don't get me wrong, I do actually like and respect these people, but it will soon be someone else's problem.