Korean Job Discussion Forums

EMKAYES · Joined: 04 Dec 2006

Hi,

I just wanted to find out what the average teaching hours/lessons per week you would expect to work in a University.

I have recently seen a couple advertising 30 hours a week.

would this not burn you out?

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

makemischief · Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Location: Traveling

Awesome department job: 8 hours a week.
Good department job: 8-12 hours a week.
Good university language institute job (for credit/usually freshman): 12-15 MAX hours a week.
So-so (or worse) Uni Language Institute job: 15-20 hours a week (can actually be quite OK for new Uni teachers, especially if there is a good atmosphere).
Terrible Unigwon job: anything over 20 hours a week.

I'm talking class time here. Office hours (required or otherwise) vary wildly- from zero to 10 hours a week, and none of this begins to look at the quality of the program/curriculum (set or teacher designed), the length of the vacation, or the monthly pay.

Basically though (especially with years of experience or a Masters) anything over 20 hours of class time a week is simply ridiculous.

Cheers.

Voyeur · Joined: 19 Jun 2003

my understand is that Unis should be about 22 contact (read: teaching hours) per week. However, there is a lot of extra work and most good uni teachers have said, afaik, that when not on vacation uni. teaching is a 40 hour/ week job.

It is all about the vacations that make the real difference it seems. Well, there are other advantages to be sure, but in terms of the time spent to money received equation it seems to be about the vacation. Also, a lot of veteran uni. teachers here have said that once they have their programs well-tuned they can shave a bit off the 40 hour work-week - and the non-teaching hours they do put in become softer and softer to the point of some of them being merely for appearances sake.

Michelle · Joined: 18 May 2003

I just signed up for a 'unigwan' of a kind. The base rate is 1,600,000 for only 18 hours...but since they turned it into a unigwan they are apparently paying 20,000 won/hour for roughly 10 hours a week which adds up to much better pay. (2.4 mill)

I hope it works out...doesn't sound bad to me. What am I going to do during the day anyhow?

I wouldn't have accepted it without the extra classes, so it might depend on the offer, who knows?

makemischief · Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Location: Traveling

really? 22? ouch.

Not to disagree- but a quick look at the ads on Dave's (or on many of the uni websites) are mostly for 20 or under- there are for sure exceptions (especially with the trend towards more hagwon style "university" institutes)- but I'd still say that even from the third tier uni's (Soongsil, Kyungpook etc.) you are still averaging under 20 hours of class teaching per week.

If you are getting offers with more required hours, and you are well qualified, I'd say: keep looking. Very Happy

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

My contract is 12. In the Spring Semester I'll be doing 14.

Voyeur · Joined: 19 Jun 2003

my mistake - guess I misread a lot of Uni teachers posts.

How many hours a week does a Uni job take - all in (prep, grading, ofice hours, etc...)?

gsxr750r · Joined: 29 Jan 2007

I taught 15 hours per week last semester -- all on Thursday/Friday!

This semester, I'll teach 21, but only because they asked me nicely. The extra money won't be bad, either. It's pretty much just more of the same class (oh, and I have to teach one class of writing again -- GAG!).

SuperHero · Joined: 10 Dec 2003 Location: Superhero Hideout

I've got the same deal as the_beaver 12 hour contract and 14 total hours this semester.

makemischief · Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Location: Traveling

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Voyeur · Joined: 19 Jun 2003

Assuming you are not a genius, would you say that for the first 1 or 2 years at a given job (before you have everything mastered) the average university job *is* at least 35 hours or so total work a week?

And I mean for the average uni teacher to be teaching classes good enough that he can get re-signed, not have issues, etc... Not talking about crap or brilliant - just decent.

Just asking for a ballpark here. I know situations can vary. But should one generally be expecting a fairly full work week if they take a Uni job?

OTOH I understand that many of the hours are pretty soft sometimes - like office hours etc...

SuperHero · Joined: 10 Dec 2003 Location: Superhero Hideout

I would say that one hour of class time needs one hour of outside work whether that be prep, grading, paperwork, or meeting with students. The average seems to be about 1 to 1. Some weeks it's higher (midterms and finals) and others it will be lower. To me the average stays the same whether I've taught the class before or not.

Voyeur · Joined: 19 Jun 2003

lol so decent uni jobs - even for non-MAs or Ph. Ds are like

*only 12-14 teaching hours

*only 12-14 non-teaching hours

* 24 to 28 TOTAL hours a week

*1.8 Million to 2.2 million + housing

*retarded amounts of vacation

*no weekends

I mean you could supplement with winter/summer camps and privates and make more than hogwon or public school guys?

Now I know the trend is againts the classic uni. jobs, and slowly they are getting worse. But right now tehre are still some out there like the above.

So how is Public School work or Hogwon work even REMOTELY competitive with *decent* Uni. work for the guys with just BAs who still find their way into Uni work? Seems like it isn't even a close competition.