Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mindmetoo]

How is teaching different from other jobs you've had?

As a writer working in the software industry, my life has always been ruled by deadlines. The worst is the world of tax software where you either make your deadline or the entire company goes out of business and, since your company supplies the tax software for all the major accounting firms, you basically take down every major accounting firm.

Teaching generally lacks such deadlines.

When I left Seattle, I had a large 12th floor corner office with a mountain view. Now I'm in a small room, shoulder to shoulder with very attractive Korean math and science teachers who wear miniskirts and kneesocks.

I've always worked 9-5. Now I work 4-9.

I work fewer hours but by weeks end I'm far more tired out by teaching. In Seattle, working for a dot.com, if I had 1 hour of actual solid work to do a week, well, I was felt I earned my paycheck. Being paid to do almost no work and surf the net and plan your next asian holiday isn't bad for a year, but 3 years in it gets demoralizing. Friday there's no sense like "well, I worked a hard week and I can really relax this weekend... sit in my apartment complex's hot tub, drink coffee, see a movie, etc."

However, even when I was working in tax software during the crunch time when you had to work a month of Saturdays and work many nights until 10 pm, it still wasn't mentally draining like teaching. The reason, I figure, is when you're working in an office you can always take little mini mental health breaks. You get up, get a coffee, hang out in a friend's office and talk, trade Star Wars quotes with the developers over email, wage nerf gun wars, etc. When you're teaching your mind has to always be turned on. You have to focus on the material, keeping 12 kids quiet and paying attention. There's almost zero chance to take a mental break. (This is why I really like the Backpack series... you can take a mental break when the kids have to find their stickers at the top of the unit..)

In North America, you're free to personalize your office with posters, books, cds, "found art", etc. In Korea, no one personalizes their work space and you don't even get much space in the first place to personalize.

[mindmetoo]

Oh another one: Since I work at night I don't seem to really care about when the sun goes down. When you work during the day, driving home after work in daylight is nice. Driving home when its dark is depressing.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Uni TA:

- See your students once a week, sometimes also in the TA staff room. Basically same-same.

- Students are half male / half female, have different hair and skin colours, don't all wear the same clothes, vary at least a little in age, and have names I can easily remember. Not same-same.

- Marking. Not same-same.

- Discusiion topics: not same-same.

- Students who really don't enjoy your seminar don't come. Not same-same.

- A cell phone goes off at least once every lesson and you can't confiscate it and scare the bejesus out of them by threatening to give it to their homeroom teacher. Not same-same.

- Going out to the pub with your students. Not sa.... oh wait, I've actually done that here (one of their mothers owns the neighbouring shop and knew where they were).

- Never bowing to anyone but still employing an interesting range of titles. A little same-same.

Actually quite a few similarities when I think about it.

[Homer]

High School and sometimes College teacher (well its called Cegep...in Hull, QC) teacher.

a) I see my students about as often here than I did home (well in most of the jobs I have had here).

b) Student behaviour is very different here vs home. Here being better as far as respect for the teacher.

c) Marking...no contest...much less marking here!

d) Student-teacher interaction: Sometimes easier back home for older agte groups.

e) Cell phones are more annoying here.

f) Hours are better here.

g) Work dynamic is basically the same except for a few fomalities.

h) Much less out-of-school hassle here (fewer teacher meetings, parent-teacher meetings....and so on).

Overall...it is teaching and many things are quite similar here and home.

[SPINOZA]

In short, much better.

* More relaxation time.

* Low stress; 3-5 lesson plans every 2 weeks. Almost a laissez-faire atmosphere.

* Great colleagues. It's a small miracle that no-one annoys me. In previous jobs I've had to endure the most awful douchbags. Good atmosphere, no discipline because it's impossible to step out of line.

* Better pay thanks to rent-free accomm, lower deductions.

* Much more fun. I really enjoy teaching and will do it forever because there's nothing else I particularly enjoy doing work-wise. I'm a born teacher - took me 27 years to realize it. Work is fun here. If you'd told me a year ago that in a year's time I'll make the statement "work is actually fun" I'd ask you what you were taking!

* No "company values" 21st Century office-speak, like performance appraisals or "reality checks". Ugh! The thought of it makes me ill. Everyone just gets on with it. No tedious meetings in which I fall asleep.

* No productivity issues.

* No being told what to do.

* No coming home from work in a rotten mood.

* intellectually-demanding enough to be interesting but not difficult.

[Zark]

** No weekend phone calls

** Nothing gets blamed on you when you are on vacation

[ajuma]

The thing about teaching is that you're "on" 90% of the time. And even that 10% when you're NOT "on", you really still are, since you're monitoring the class...

I've never had a job where I worked so hard mentally and physically (and that includes being a nurse's aide!!), but is so rewarding at the end of the week. I KNOW that my students have learned SOMETHING...and it's a great feeling!!