Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Eugenie/Rose]

well... why?

[xCustomx]

Smaller class sizes compared to public schools.

Higher pay than public schools, especially if you specialize in SAT, TOEFL or TOEIC.

Working with other foreigners (some people don't like this). You are the only foreigner in a public school.

Afternoon/evening hours



I will never go back to a hagwon.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

- You are a first-timer with no experience and want an instant social network of other foreigners, and you wind up at a hagwon with decent conditions and smaller classes that never cheats you (% of hagwons suitable: ~10%)

- You are a lazy ass who just wants to have some fun entertaining kids and get well paid for it, and your boss pays you well and doesn't cheat you just to be 'games teacher'. (~25% of hagwons available).

- You cannot handle large classes and / or being the only foreigner and you land a gig with good working conditions at a hagwon that never tries to cheat you (~10%).

- You prefer small classes and more tangible improvement in your student and land a job at a good, professional, supportive hagwon (~5% or less).

- You prefer adults-only and don't mind split shifts (% of adult hagwons available: up to 50%).

[Saxiif]

$$$

[Scotticus]

[jinju]

[jamiekarin]

I'm at a public school, and the classes are larger, and probably more noisy and not as well behaved, but I get paid as much as 75% of hagwon workers I've met and only have to teach 3-4 hours a day, compared to 6-9 hours at most hagwons.

[Masta_Don]

Becuz I'm afraid of responsibility. I get pampered. The money. The flexibility.

[xCustomx]

[JD1982]

I am teach at a public school and hating it.

Kids are great but the Korean overlords(co-teachers) are just driving me crazy. It's sucks to have nationalistic anti-foreigners as your co-teachers. And call you "Assistant Teacher."

I will finish my contract here but will never renew my contract nor sign up with another public school.

I'm going to find me a nice hagwon. Anything would be better than public school.

And how can you consider teaching once every other week or month teaching? I call it putting on a monkey show.

[jinju]

[jinju]

xcustomsx PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE learn to use the quote function. Stop adding extra [/quote]s into your posts. It looks sloppy.

[VanIslander]

I have only worked in hagwons, one for three and a half years and another for a year and counting, and let me say the benefits have been clear:

1) class sizes of 4-12 students rather than 30+
2) students whose parents really want them to learn English (not kids of the xenophobic crowd, no stumps on a log, no attitude because...
3) the classroom is mine totally and alone, no travelling between schools, no coteacher, and if the director/owner of the small biz wants to throw away money by firing a teacher who tries (even though insists on teaching his own way as I do) then I could be fired, fortunately I've had nice directors who dont want to rock the boat. I'd say 40-50% of hagwons are good but the bad experiences are the most vocal.
4) make my own curriculum, use my own texts. One class is studying stories by Jack London, lots of dogs and wolves and nature adventure, another class is studying screenplays/watching films, another not using a text whatsoever, with no getting approval, no requirement to follow set education dept material, etcetera. ONly about half of hagwons give this flexibility: a lot of chain schools have their own texts, and only extra material could be incorporated as a bonus. But others are like the hagwon I'm at: use whatever you want! Helps avoid some really crappy ESL material out there.
5) meet staff and see apartment BEFORE signing a contract. Several public school programs require one to sign first and find out later regarding accommodation, exact placement, coteacher identity, etc... roll the dice. If one can go and see a hagwon, working and living conditions, everything before signing then one can make an informed choice. That's how I got the good job I have now. My first job I signed from Canada but didnt until I'd interviewed the previous foreign teacher AND got from that past teacher contact info to talk to two other teachers in the town to speak about the rep of the institute (small town fortunately). Anyways, this kind of research is sometimes impossible in public school positions advertised en masse through a recruiter.
6) value to the company. If you manage to forge a good relationship with the director, and they see your effort level (and presumably some progress/satisfaction from students and parents - dunno, never got feedback ever about that, but in some hagwons some teachers do) and they want you to re-sign (especially if a past teacher was one of the unprofessional drunkard rude slugs) then being the only foreigner in a small hagwon gives the status of valued asset, treated so well, with gifts and food and the red carpet, it's like gold! My last job and this one, I've been partially lucky, but since I've researched these small rural institutes before signing I knew what I was getting myself into. My director's wife, here and at my last job, keeps bringing over homecooked food, the last time was last night, yummy clear long noodles in a seafood veggie stirfry. I still appreciate it but let me tell you: when I was a newbie back in 2002 this kind of attentiveness was incredibly helpful, just for a sense of security and connectedness.
7) Never ever working in the mornings. I made sure I dont work at a hagwon which has a kindergarten or thriving adult class biz, instead, a typical elementary school aged student body with a couple middle school classes and maybe a token adult class or two. These kinds of hagwons are run by directors who sleep in to noon themselves, the office remaining dark until 1pm or so. Ask nonleading questions and you can find out such things (when do you open and close the hagwon on a typical day?). I ended up having to work saturday afternoon for two hours at my last hagwon for over a year, but as the director and his wife run a small biz to a set routine, morning classes were never added. Mornings off is typical of at least half of all hagwon positions, with so many jobs for 3-9pm-ish. I love that kind of schedule. I'm wiped after work anyways, time to eat and drink or hit the sack and enjoy the next morning as if an extra day!

There's very little chance I'll ever teach in the public schools. But never say never I guess. I just can't imagine giving up the above aspects of hagwon life. Do your research, balance your priorities and the odds are in your favour of getting most of what you want and all that you need.

[xCustomx]

[jinju]