Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SpedEd]

Hello people:

I've put in a month now in Ulsan. I'm ambivalent about the place so far. Sometimes I feel like a freaky celebrity when I walk around the place... Other times I just want to tell people to quit their fucking staring and get a life.
My post is really about my observations about *some* of the Koreans in Ulsan so far, including someof the students in my school. I'm getting a bit tired of the backstabbing nature of some of them. I remember in my schools we called them 'rats' and they were dealt with accordingly
Some of my students are awesome, but some others are decidedly not worth throwing a bone to. The native staff has fed on this and want to jump on me at any opportunity.
The latest and most serious incident happened about a week ago. One of the students in my 'smart' class told me that "Judy teacher said no drawing on the board." This pissed me off in a big way because I'm a decent artist and the kids seemed to love the pictures. So I responded by saying, "Judy can..." I covered the middle finger with my left hand and left it at that (very unprofessional but I foolishly trusted these guys). Later that day, the shit hit the fan and I was drilled at a formal diner by the entire staff, which led to my demise as a teacher. Before this, I decided that I had to leave this school because of the fucked up state it was in and being worked to the bone with up to 11 classes/day, so I wasn't angry or resentful.
I'm still working at the school to presumably pay off the expense of getting me shipped over. I say presumably because the native staff refuses to speak enough English to communicate with me on any given day. I admit to not doing a lot to endear myself to the staff...but I knew things were *way* strange on about day two or three when I was give no instruction at all as to how to be a decent teacher (chalk it up to experience), and the staff simply didn't communicate with me.
I also noted that early on (not so bad now) some of my adult students will seemingly sprint to the native teachers, depending on how the lesson went that evening, and tell them in detail how they felt about the class, ie., it sucked or it was good. This seems to be a bit too much for me, and its leaving a bitter taste...
On the other hand, some Koreans have been the most friendly people I have ever met. I may be stopped on the street to talk , complimented on my looks, offered gifts at random, etc. but unfortunately, its the backstabbing that really smarts...

[kangnam mafioso]

Hmmmm ...
you broke a few professional rules there --

1) don't talk to the kids about other teachers/ administrators
2) erase the board if someone has to use the class after you do- (particularly, if what you are drawing/writing on the board might be interpreted as unrelated to English language learning)
3) don't use crude gestures/ profanity in the classroom

it sounds like a crap hogwan anyway (11 classes a day?). learn from your mistakes, get a release letter and move on. or, head back home if you feel esl isn't your cup of tea. teaching isn't for everybody.

[caniff]

I'll tr'o in a cuple:

Your students are your friends, whether you like them or not. Forget the staff b.s. The students are your life-line when you work at a joint like that. If you can't fake it, maybe other considerations come into play. Be the comedian. If, after that fails (hopefully not), make subtle suggestions that perhaps another location would be better. Don't get too heated. You don't have to eat shite, but things could improve , and you are paid to do a job.

Frankly, you're here and you don't want to f**k yourself over.

If the boss isn't receptive to that, pm me. (But give it a serious effort- you never know what's next....

[Ya-ta Boy]

Just some random comments:

1. I don't really understand the bit about drawing pictures. Are you using drawing as part of your explanations? If so, there should be no complaint. If you are taking up class time to draw pictures unrelated to teaching English, then there is just cause for complaint.

2. The poster who said flipping the bird is unprofessional is spot on. There was no excuse for doing that.

3. A good many Korean English teachers get embarrassed when they have to speak English. Just an odd fact here.

4. One of the major complaints almost all foreigners have is that we are out of the loop when it comes to information about what happens in our jobs. It is not only your school where this happens. 99.9% chance of it being the same no matter where you work.

5. It is naive of you to expect anyone to teach you to be a better teacher. You applied for and accepted a teaching job. It is reasonable for your boss to expect you to think you have the ability to do the job. If you didn't think you could do a decent job, why on god's green earth did you apply for it?

6. Why haven't you done anything to endear yourself to the rest of the staff? You expect them to go out of their way to relay information to you and communicate with you. You would be amazed at the benefts of buying a bag of cookies for the faculty. Korea is about 'the group'. If you aren't going to at least try to get along and play by the local rules, you need to prepare yourself for a lot of needless hassles.

7. It's my experience that Korean students are very forgiving of a lesson that doesn't work if it is clear that the teacher was making a sincere effort to present a good lesson. You have nothing to worry about with the adult students reporting in about your lessons if you made an honest effort to do a good job.

[bellum99]

Well....I have to agree with him on one point. Some of the people I have hated the most were K-teachers. They suck up to a boss so fast it can make you dizzy. They were probably looking for something to report about to the boss. I had numerous problems with the K-teacher in Korea.

I don't want to fight with them, but if they don't like me then they can leave me alone..and I will do the same. But they don't leave you alone...they actively work against you. The job is a joke and and they would throw away pride in order to kiss up to a boss who doesn't care about them at all.


*Some of them really need a personality adjustment.

[lawyertood]

You had students give you feedback on your classes? (I hope I read that right) I wish my students would have done that back when I was working in hakwons. I encouraged such behavior, but only heard comments when students said things, usually negative, to the management. I, like you, did not have much experience teaching when I started and was hoping to use their feedback to adjust my methods and improve as a teacher. To each their own, I guess.