Korean Job Discussion Forums

[GoingBackOrElse]

First off and foremost, I've had some wine tonight (damn you Dionysus! Why must have I been born an Apollo?), so please no spelling and grammer NAZIs. That stuff gets under my skin... tell me the word mustache can't be spelled moustache... read a freaking dictionary and sit through two+ years of ontology/historical philosophy classes/ put up with my mum (oops... need that dic. again do ya?)

Anyway...

I have made some progress lately regarding my job search; deciding that public schools are probabley the safest bet. I'm fortunate enough to have no college debts hanging over my head (God bless the Mont. GI bill and ACF), so less money (and equivellant vacation or better) seems like a fair trade over more cash and less stability. Plus, if one works for a government position, I am assuming that one could make alot more contacts for future employment (always a plus). This does come into play since I hope to expatri-ate (expatriot? Phonetics... ahrg!) myself to Korea (say what you will, but I loved it there... far better quality of life than Ari-freakin'-zona anyway). And all that spare (paid?) time would give me time to prep lesson plans every day. Something that as an unqualified teacher i would most definately need.

Where was I... oh yeah, does anyone have a web link(s) I could go to that would tell me the real deal regarding these programs (programmes for all you brits out there... funny, I'm somehow reminded of the mus/moustache fiasco)) besides the gov. sponsered ones? (and even those would be helpful since I'm not certain i have the right ones) I read all I could via a search of the forums and also looking into the Korea Job Info Journal? (which seemed rather outdated)

PS... never f**k with an American whos parents were born in Ireland when it comes to "proper spelling"... I got both sides of the pond covered mo fracky!

[schwa]

Um, what was the question?

[JacktheCat]

If you've really got your heart set on GEPIK, these links may be of use to you:

http://220.65.227.131/gepik/web/index.php The Gyeonggido government website for GEPIK

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gepik/ A yahoo board for GEPIK teachers.


However, I'd sugguest avoiding GEPIK and all it's bureaucratic hassles and apply directly to the public schools. (though, unfortunately, this often means going through a recruiter)

I should also add that all the GEPIK jobs are for elementary schools if that is pertinent information to you.

[Derrek]

I think the pay-to-work ratio for the public school jobs just isn't that impressive any more. Keep your eyes open elsewhere. A lot of us have to put up with extra paperwork and crap that hagwon people don't. And you spend more hours in office not working.

[Grotto]

yup the in school hours is beginning to wear very thin with many of the teachers in the GEPIK program.

On a recent poll less than 50% said they would be willing to renew their contracts.

I have the feeling there will be many openings in the fall and that unless they ease up on the 40 hours a week in the school they will continue to lose more teachers.

It does suck when you finish teaching at 1:30 pretty much every day of the week and you cant leave until 4:30. 3 hours of sitting around doing pretty much nothing.

[zappadelta]

Is there a lot of paperwork in public schools? I've had tons in the past at hagwons.

[Grotto]

Not a lot of paperwork really. Depends on whether or not you know how to churn out a lesson plan. If you do...no problem

[Derrek]

[adventureman]

..

[peppermint]

I really wouldn't recommend a public school job to someone new to both Korea and teaching for a lot of reasons, but if you're gonna do it, please ask to speak with your co-teacher before hand. This is to make sure that they exist, they they speak English, and they're willing to work with you. ( In a lot of cases you can't count on these things) Ask about class sizes, discipline, homework and things as well as the usual things you'd ask for a hagwon job.

[Doodly]

There can be a lot of paperwork. It depends on how many classes you'll teach afterschool. At a small school you could end up planning up to 16 extra classes from scratch, without overtime.

[canukteacher]

This is my GEPIK reality:

Rushed back from vacation on Feb. 13th to be back for Feb. 14th. We did not teach on Feb. 14th. Students had to rehearse for graduation ceremony on Friday, Feb. 18th. My friend (the computer) and I communicated from 9am to 5pm.

Feb. 15th...........Taught 4 classes

Feb. 16th...........Taught 0 classes. Another long date with Mr. Computer

Feb. 17..............Taught 2 classes. Resumed date with Mr. Computer

Feb 18th............Attended graduation ceremony. Resumed date with Mr. computer until 5pm.

Week of spring break (managed to negotiate 2.5 days off.......12 noon on Wed, Thurs., Fri)

On the Monday went on trip with other teachers. Tuesday and Wed morning had another date with Mr. Computer.

Rushed back from my time off. Computer dates for the rest of the week with Mr. Computer............................

Now isn't this fun.

Since the mid of February I have done virtually nothing.

Welcome to the exciting world of Gepik.

I don't care if they do pay on time, and the accomodation is ok, this entire set-up is totally stupid.

To add insult to injury I have now been given a co-teacher who speaks no English.

That's Gepik................don't you just love it.

I don't know who did the poll, which indicated 50% will not resign............50% of what number. The entire group could not have been polled, since I didn't even know the poll existed.

I have no problem tangling with Gepik management. However, I think it is a waste of time. The gepik teachers in Ansan sent 3 very constructive emails to Gepik back in December, asking some very pointed questions. Our emails were on the Gepik site for approx. 3 days, and then removed. We have never heard from anyone at Gepik regarding our concerns, and I am sure we never will.

I sincerely hope that they have a 90% turnover rate this year. If that happens maybe they will rethink things.

Here is another interesting tidbit. I was recently told by my other co-teacher (yes, she speaks English) that last Oct. when Gepik was evaluating all the schools, she was told that she should be making surprise visits to my apartment on the weekends to make sure that I was not teaching illegally. She told them that she was confident that I wasn't, and surprise vists were not necessry. They were not happy with her refusal to undertake these little visits, and told her that she would be held responsible if it was found out that I was teaching privates! (which by the way I am not).


CT

[Doodly]

[manlyboy]

[Grotto]

doodly wrote