Korean Job Discussion Forums

Unreal · Joined: 01 Jul 2004 Location: Jeollabuk-do

My school decided that it will make the cafeteria an "English only zone", which is fine for the students because they all speak English passable well. Unfortunately about half of the teachers don't seem to know much at all so it's been decided that I have to teach 2 teacher classes per week to help them out. This is all fine by me but yesterday I learned that one of my classes is just the principal and vice principal who are very intimidating figures in the school (there's 4 layers of authority between me and the top dog and often I can't get my demands past the first) and I'll be teaching in the principal's office. From my experience with them, the vice principal speaks Engish very well while the principal speaks none so there seems to be a large disparity between "student" abilities. How should I approach these classes? Anyone with a similar experience?

BigBlackEquus · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:57 pm Post subject:

Although additional teaching hours for the same pay are rarely favorable, you should view this as an opportunity to become closer to the REAL POWERS at your school. If you do a good job, and they will notice if you do, they will want to keep you around.

Don't be afraid of them. For one, you aren't Korean. They could never include the principal or vice-principal in classes with other teachers. For one, it would either embarass the p or vp, OR, as was the case at my former school, it would freak out the teachers. Probably both would happen, in your case.

The chairman at my previous school spoke the best English of all of the Koreans there, and everyone knew it. This created tremendous stress for the English teaching staff. He had lived overseas. He took us all out to eat once, and NO ONE would say a WORD! It was hilarious, because we were all sitting around one big round table. You could cut the cloud of stress with a knife, it was so obvious. The foreigners were the only ones that spoke to the chairman, and everyone else was frozen.

thursdays child · Joined: 21 Sep 2005

Ooooh, I loathe teaching older, important, male students. It feels rude to correct them and they feel uncomfortable to be corrected.

I taught my Principal for a while... actually he taught himself and I oohed and ahhhed. He chose his text book (printed in 1954), insisted on the teaching style (memorised a dialouge) and just smiled at my attempts to help him and just carried on in an incoherent manner!