Korean Job Discussion Forums

[huck]

How many of you hogwan workers have a 2 hour mandatory prep time every day? One of my co-workers says that our boss is not being unreasonable because this has become the standard for most hogwans...I disagree...but I'm not sure if I'm right, or if things really have universally changed.

[Homer]

Huck,

How much prep time to do you feel is necessary for you?

[Snowmeow]

I have 2 hours per day prep time in my contract but nobody is forcing me to stay at the school for this length of time. I consider the many small breaks I have to take each day to be the prep time.

[jacl]

What do you mean by "mandatory prep time"? Do you teach 6 hours/day and then have to be at the school 8 or more hours? Is that what you're talking about?

[Ya-ta Boy]

I voted 2+ before I read the post. Delete my vote because I work in a public school. Sorry.

[huck]

We teach for 6 hours a day and then we have to be there for an additional 2 hours. All materials and lesson plans are provided.

I think it's unprofessional to make it mandatory. If they trust us to teach the classes, then they should trust us to plan for our classes - or at least, give us the option to mess up.

I know there are some teachers on here who think that you should spend 30-45 minutes or so planning for each class, but if I'm teaching a low, low grammar or vocabulary class, then I don't need to spend much time figuring out how to teach it - especially if I've already taught the same material 3-4 times in the last year. Also, since we have lesson plans that must be followed, then there really isn't any time to do extra materials. It takes the whole class time just to rush through the pages that we've been told to do for that day.

[steelhead]

My first hagwan, we were rerequired to be there 2hrs b4 classes for prep. We had materials, but not lesson plans. SOmtimes some prep was necessary, or had marking to do. Most of our time was spent on the computers checking sport scores or email. Bring a book, hit the computer, etc. Sure you gotta be there, but what can you do at home that you cant do at school. It may or may not be worth the battle.

Ignore the above if you start work at 9am and have to be there at 7. Thats a whole new can of worms.

[chiaa]

Depends how long you have been teaching. When I first taught I had to spend a lot of time figuring shit out.

Towards the end of my teaching career I would arrive at the school five minutes before class started. I had 15, 3 month long levels planned out. Peek in my book and I knew exactly what to do.

[sheba]

I have to arrive an hour before my first class for 'prep'.... I can pretty much use that time for whatever though.

[jacl]

If you aren't teaching split shift then I'd say you should be a the school a maximum 7 hours. 8 is too much for a hagwon job. 2 to 10 should be 2 to 9, 1 to 9 should be 1 to 8, etc. I have to be at my hagwon at 2. I start teaching at 2:30 and go straight for five classes (five 50-minute lasses). I get a a half-hour break from 7:30 to 8 (or 40 minutes - 7:20 to 8 in reality) and then teach until 8:50. I teach three hours a week from 9 to 10, but that's OT.

[Homer]

I would say one hour is reasonable. Two if mandatory is a bit much.

Also, prep is not just making flashcards, its trying to improve your class. Not to mention teachers in hakwons don't have much grading to do! In other teaching jobs, grading is plentiful and is often not paid as extra work. I still remember teaching back in Canada and having the grading discussion with out school director and then with the school board only to be told that grading is not part of a teachers recognized duties and should be done on our own time...