Korean Job Discussion Forums

aphasia83 · Joined: 13 Apr 2007

Hi,

I am interested in coming to South Korea for my first year or so of teaching (in order to gain experience) and I am interested in investigating teaching as a long-term career. Thus, wondering whether there are any schools or types of schools (or even companies, like YBM or something) that offer professional development for their employees. Is there any chance of this, for a newbie? Or am I dreaming?

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Private schools (hogwans) care only about grabbing immediate money, and using you to get it for them.

Have you ever lived overseas? It's can be quite a shock, and you may not enjoy it. First, see if you enjoy it before making any long-term plans.

bellum99 · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: don't need to know

aphasia83 · Joined: 13 Apr 2007

actually, I have lived abroad in a few different countries - I absolutely love it. It's hard, yes, but I haven't found anything to be nearly so rewarding. That's sort of why I'm looking into TESOL in the first place, rather than just teaching in my home province.

Does anyone else have anything to offer?

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

ontheway · Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 7:12 am Post subject:

There are many good hogwans (like the one I work at) that offer fully paid training for one or two weeks upon arrival, and onging training throughout your contract. They will also give you much better terms for renewal, since you have been trained.

We train all of our new teachers. We have found, however, that teachers with TEFL and other certificates need at least as much training as those without.

I think you will find very little training in the public schools. There you are just a white faced dancing monkey, babysitting the children in the morning until they can go to their after school programs and get a real education.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

root555 · Joined: 09 Aug 2006

Yes I'm afraid you've chosen the wrong country for your professional goals. All you will find here is frustration, and confusion. I would suggest looking into central Europe, or S. America. If you're set on asia- maybe a place like Singapore. But not Korea.

jellobean · Joined: 14 Mar 2006

Although, if you work hard, it is possible to learn by doing, here in this crazy place.... A good hagwon or after-school program might work... But check it out real well first...

ddeubel · Joined: 20 Jul 2005

mehamrick · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

Saxiif · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: Seongnam

There are a few school that are better than others, but in almost all cases you'll have bosses making decisions that don't make any sense and for the sake of your sanity you've got to learn to roll with it instead of try to do what's best educationally.

Here's what I'd do if I were you (unless you graduated from a very famous school, in which case you have some other options):

1. Get a standard newbie job (probably at a public school) and don't worry too much about professional development. Just do it for a year to see if you like working with kids.
2. If you like kids then go back to your home country and get teaching certification and then work two years in a public school.
3. Once you have that get an international school job through www.iss.edu. If you want to teach english there's only a few places where you can make decent money but if you teach international school your options really open up. That's what my parents did and they ended up teaching in Norway, Finland and Bolivia. I might have done the same but I've got a good job in Korea now, so I'm staying put for the time being.

bourbon street · Joined: 25 Apr 2007

Hey there aphasia. Previous replies regarding hagwon training and professional development in Korea are fairly accurate. Perhaps a few hagwons and public schools will provide a few days of boring, useless jabber but for the most part Korea is not where you want to get your training to be a teacher. Is Korea a great place to get your feet wet? Absolutely. I have a degree in Education and am fully certified with 15 years of teaching experience. Taught in Korea collectively for three years. Am currently going to go back to graduate school and will probably go back to Korea subsequent to finishing my Masters degree. If you like teaching and enjoy traveling but don't have a degree in Education, then I highly recommend that you go to Korea for a year to test the waters. Don't worry so much about your training at this point. Experience Korea and get a taste of what it's like to teach in a predominantly non-English speaking environment. If it ends up being your cup of tea and you decide that you really want to make teaching a long term thing, then I would recommend some kind of alternative teacher certification program. This will give you a huge edge when it comes to contending for the better jobs, not to mention the fact that it's a great ticket to teaching all over the planet. As you probably already know, the internet is loaded with educational websites. These resources coupled with the help of some of the other teachers where you are working should easily get you through your first year in Korea just fine. Finally, be sure to do your homework before signing any contracts. While there are some very decent places to teach in Korea there are that many more hell holes that will eat you alive if not careful. Good Luck!