Korean Job Discussion Forums

[agraham]

This was going to be a reply to another message, but I thought I start a new thread with this rant.
It's directed to all the people who say "my Hakwon is a soulless money-making enterprise" or "my Hakwon is totally unprofessional" or "the Korean educational system is stupid".

You guys have the wrong attitude. The kids have to go somewhere while their parents are at work. So it's the streets or a daycare. So while they're at daycare why not give them a few minutes of English?

The boss is trying to make money. Shock! Horror! I'm sure every teacher in Korea is a selfless volunteer.

Why don't you look at the Hakwon as an opportunity to haul the kids away from violent video games for an hour or two. You can give them the chance to meet a foreigner, the value of which I think is unappreciated by we who live in our multicultural societies. And just maybe you can teach them something too while you're at it.

As for whether the system is messed up: It works for them. Some people wouldn't be happy unless twelve year olds were being taught in total immersion schools by TESOL masters. Come on, in the real world we have diminishing returns. No middle-class parent can afford that kind of thing.

And have a little humility for god's sake. There's a reason you're paid the same as a daycare monitor: because that's what you are. There's nothing wrong with that though; you can find satisfaction in it.

[Paji eh Wong]

Some things.

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

Because many backwards, slimy directors harass teachers, force them to work at illegal schools (like mine tried to do until I told him to "f*ck off..luckily I don't work there anymore), threaten them with physical force, don't pay teachers at all.....there are SOME people with negative experiences....you can use that "they're just trying to run a business" but that doesn't mean they should treat teachers like subhuman creatures (at SOME hagwons....just so I don't generalize here). This DOES happen to some teachers and many of these type of hagwons should be shut down.
And I'm sorry, I didn't get a college degree to waste my time baby-sitting...but then again, I refuse to teach kids so I have no problem there. If a hagwon wants a baby-sitter, they should adverstise it as such....I came here to teach English like a professional....not to be Mary Poppins.

[schwa]

Plot Summary for
Mary Poppins (1964)
Two banker's children lose their nanny due to her frustration with them. A change in the wind blows in an assertive nanny who matches the qualifications of the children and not the father. As she helps them magically explore the world around them the father grows increasingly disapproving of her methods, and must eventually deal with his own distance from his children.

She doesnt sound too bad a teacher.

[Real Reality]

[agraham]

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

I don't want to sound negative but if a hagwon wants a "monitor" as you said, then they should advertise as such...not under the guise of an "English teacher." I've worked in a kiddie hellgwon and education was really the LAST thing they wanted. If I gave homework or even studied out of the book, kids complained, then the mothers. If I kicked them out of class or raised my voice at them, then the kids no longer had "fun" and then I was in trouble. I was told by my boss to be an entertainer, not to really teach (he really said that) I though if all he wanted was a baby-sitter with a college degree, then he should of just changed the job title to 'baby-sitter English Monkey" because that's all I was. My adult students also say that they'd never enroll their kids in a hagwon because they know that many of them are daycare centers, not an institute of any educational worth, despite the silly names they use for their hagwons. The problem with hagwons is that they deliver all these promises that kids will be fluent in English as well as have "all-fun" with foreign teacher...but don't realize that studying English takes WORK. I know that there are great teachers out there who are making a great effort to teach English to children, but many times their efforts are not often recognized. Maybe some hagwons do have a great balance of education and fun, but my hagwon I worked with only wanted a baby-sitter/entertainer and that's not a year I want to waste of my life. I need more of a professional/intellectual challenge with students who want to learn. That's just my choice. I don't dance in circles to entertain kids.
And besides, many times their behavior is not that different to how they would behave out in the streets. I can see where you are going with this...I don't fear that if little Meen-Soon doesn't go to Kid's Club hagwon, she's gonna end up smoking pot as a teenager. Hagwons are not outreach programs for troubled kids. Besides, kids in my hagwon brought in their pocket video games in class and behaved just like they would on the street. If I took a video game away or kept it for a couple of days...the parents would get all bent out of shape. If they want their kids to play with their video games in class instead of learning English, then they should not waste their money. Many times, these children are completely robbed of their parent's affection and some parents just send them to hagwons to get them out of their hair.

[Wrench]

I love it here, I love my school its great. Its been a great learning experience so far. Even making me consider of becoming a teacher back home. Although I just wish Korean teachers would stop teaching phonics to my kids because they horribly miss pronounce simple words, otherwise I am cool with everything.

[rapier]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I was recruited to be a 'teacher'. My E2 says 'English Teacher'. In my one beginners' kindergarten class where the kids are too young to be thrust into a room with a monolingual English teacher I'll just be a babysitter. In my 12 hogwan classes I've decided just to disregard whatever vibes I get from management, because everyone of them has some kids who can learn, even if it means making life hell for the ones who won't. If some kids don't like it and their parents pull them out and the boss makes less money, great. Far too many Korean idiots need to learn that you simply *cannot* have it both ways with some kids in terms of making them learn English and have fun.

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

Many hagwon parents are stupid...that's why plenty of hagwon businesses capitilize on their stupidity. Many hagwon directors promise that all it takes for their kid to be fluent is to throw them in a room with Whitie and their kid wil be fluent in two days...no study required, just fun....it's as if Whitie has magical English powers Then these idiotic parents get angry when their kid hasn't learned shit. I wonder why? Maybe it's because they don't understand that their kid actually has to STUDY. Don't get me wrong, fun balanced with study is the key...but many hagwons want to axe out the "study" part and just have fun...at least my hellgwon was like that. I agree with the Yu_Bum_Suk that there are kids who actually want to learn and I ONLY would focus on those kids. The rotten ones could play all they want with their little cheap video games...I don't care...let their parents waste their money.
And sorry but I don't believe in that most kids are interested in a "cultural enrichment" experience with a foreigner....typically the foreign teacher is a Monkey Joke to them.
There are many reasons why I would rather chew my right arm off then go back to a kid's hagwon...but listing those reasons would take all day. If soley being a lowly babysitter is your cup of tea, I say go for it. You're right..being paid 2 million won to do a western 13-year old girl's job is really sweet. But I prefer to be an actual educating professional, and I only seek out schools that want a teacher, not a circus clown.

[Phoenix]

Sounds like you had the wrong attitude to ever make it here, PolyChronic Time Girl.

No wonder things went bad for you.

[Grotto]

pheonix perhaps the reason her attitude is the way it is now is due to the stupidity and corruption that she went through first hand.

cast no stones til you have worked at her hogwan!

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

[Phoenix]