Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Snowkr]

Hi to all..

I am seriously thinking of returning to Korea this September to work in a public school.
I spent a year working in a hogwan during 05/06 and loved it.

Yes, I LOVED my hogwan and I loved Korea. I am currently finishing up my Masters in TESOL here in the states and will be starting my thesis this fall and I'd like to do it while teaching high school kids in Korea.

I've had no experience whatsoever with this age group there. My little hogwan kids were awesome and I teach at an adult English school in San Diego where Koreans come to study with students from all over Europe and Latin America and they always talk about how difficult their life was in high school in Korea.

I know how it works... I know many of them are up until ungodly hours of the night studying. My question is, how is it for a foreign teacher in a public high school? I'm sure it depends on the school, naturally but I'd really like to hear about it from those of you who are experienced.

I miss Korea so much and I'm pretty determined to come back at least for one year. I'm just trying to decide what kind of teaching environment I want to be in while I'm finishing up my coursework.

Anyone with an experience to share, bad or good... would be appreciated!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Teaching academic HS students is fantastic. Make sure that your prospective school is composed of moongwa (arts & humanities) and / or eagwa (science) tracked students. The biggest frustration you'll likely find is the HS curriculum - one geared almost only to teaching reading comprehension. Getting them to communicate in English in any sort of useful way can be a real challenge.

[Snowkr]

thanks!

Anyone else... care to share high school teaching experiences?

[marckot]

I teach at a private boys high school and up to now it has been a blast. The kids are well disciplined and respectful. It is not that hard to get them talking in class but some days are more difficult than others. It is almost impossible to get any reaction out of them before exams because they are all very tired. I usually prepare some light lessons during those times so they can relax a little. They appreciate the easy lessons before exam and participate really well.

My schedule is not that full. I teach 18 (50 min) classes per week from 9 to 5. I do have some over time during the week but that was my choice.

This is only my personal opinion but try to get hired directly by the school and not through one of the government run programs. I just find it easier to deal directly with the school and get all the perks in the job that I want. It just complicates things if there is a third party involved in the deal. Hey that is just the way I like to do business. I got the school to give me extra vacation time and other small perks. In return I try to do my best as a teacher to show my appreciation.

I would say that it would be a good choice to teach at a high school. You will have some free time on your hands to finish up your studies.

[ilovebdt]

[contrarian]

ilovebdt has it pegged right on. Getting from reading comprehension to talking is a real challenge.

[formerflautist]

I teach at a mixed high school. Some classes are great and other classes suck. In general their English level is pretty low. That being said, I do enjoy it. I'm here 8-4 but I only teach 16 classes a week. I show up on time but I can come go as I please during the day. I have free reign over what I teach, which can be a pain because I've had to come up with all the material. The students are nice and past the age where they need a mommy. And I have a sweet apartment. Really, that was the selling point on the school.

[xCustomx]

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I'm at a vocational-technical high school, and for the mst part I like my classes. I teach 18 classes a week, see my first grade classes twice a week and my second grades once a week.

Of course lately the Korean teachers have been in the habit of cancelling some of my classes at the last minute for exam stuff. I'd say in a given week I probably do about 25 hours of "real" work. Everything else is just surfing the web for teaching ideas, making PowerPoints, finding listening exercises...

My students are very low. It took two lessons to teach the level 1s "Family." But I prefer teaching beginners and my coteachers are great. I only have two classes that I don't look forward to due to discipline problems (just the wrong mix of personalities).

I've found that some classes respond better to a strict environment and others prefer more "active" classes. I spent the first few weeks trying to gauge what works best for each class.

I think I might like it better in an academic high school because I do get a lot of sleepers and talkers. As far as my working and living conditions, though, I think my job is ideal.

[marckot]