Korean Job Discussion Forums

tmar · Joined: 15 May 2007

I am a qualified teacher from Canada. I've had other friends who worked at hagwans so I had a knew what questions to ask.
Public schools are pretty standard - as far as I can tell - and I have no idea what I should know about them or what it's like at a public school!
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xCustomx · Joined: 06 Jan 2006

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! someone teach this person how to look through the FAQ section!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Does it have a western toilet.

teachergirltoo · Joined: 28 Oct 2006

Ask to review it. You will then have questions based on what you read. Do not hesitate to negotiate on matters that are important to you - adjustments can be made. For example, if you do not want to work Saturdays make sure that it is written into the contract, or that you have the option to say no. If you do choose to teach even one class on a Saturday make sure that your compensation is stated clearly, whether that is monetary or otherwise. I negotiated that if I choose to come in even for a short class on a Saturday that I am given a complete other day off as compensation. Ask for what you want - all they can say is "no", however, I think that you will find that many public schools are quite reasonable especially if you are a qualified mature teacher, but just remember to negotiate clearly as possible so that when you commence there are no surprises for either party.

tmar · Joined: 15 May 2007

You might want to work on your welcome wagon routine for the newbies. Apparently not everyone is as smart as you.

Why Korea? Why not?

Thanks to those who helped out.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

What kind of school is it? Elementary? Here, you'd want to try to find a private elementary school if possible. Middle? Here, you're biggest issue would be class size. High? Then I'd be most interested in what kind of students it was for (academic, vocational, or technical).

Don't expect to be able to do much shopping around or get much real information if you're outside Korea and have never worked here before, though. It's easy to get a PS job from outside the country with a government organisation but where they put you is pretty arbitrary.