[Whistleblower]

Hello. I hope someone could help me. I have been in Korea for about a year and I seem to learn about teaching everyday. Anyways, before I ask my question I would really like to introduce the environment where I am teaching to give anyone with more experience some idea about my query.

I work at a typical Hagwon in Korea out of Seoul and have had a rocky time at the Hagwon since working there a year ago. I started around that time and found the management of the Hagwon lacked any motivation to lead the school or give it a direction for others to see and work towards. So I started working there and really was thrown in the deep end. No observational offered and thought "bugger". Anyhow, I worked hard to understand what to do and what not to do during classes and built up a professional yet relaxed relationship with the students.

As the management of the Hagwon are at best slightly relaxed at managing and at worst giving me the responsibility to manage the Institute when things get tough, in a strange "knee-jerk" reactional way, is this sort of thing common in Korea from Hagwons where the directors have next to no English or prior relevant experience? Secondly, is it common for Koreans to teach English in a text book manner even though the Koreans teaching have no conversational skills?

I am the only native teacher at this school so I have no other natives to bounce ideas of and the students have no one else to speak to. It is starting to get annoying with this Institute now and am thinking of seriously opening a Hagwon in the future because I believe I could do a better job than the directors I work for.

Sorry for the big post or the ranting on.

[livinginkorea]

Hi Whistleblower,

I have worked is a couple of different hagwons (private schools for everybody outside of korea) since I first came here back in 2004. It's true that most of the time they do things that is totally baffling to me but let's remember that they are managers not teachers. Some of them might have taught a few classes but they are more concerned about making money than anything else.

You have to understand that the hagwon situation came about very recently about 10 years ago into full swing. The economy was doing well and all the companies wanted graduates who spoke English and also many students were travelling abroad and studying in Ivy League schools so all of a sudden English had to be learnt from the 3rd Grade onwards. As a result a lot of mothers were screaming for hagwons and they sprung up with no thought about how or what to teach. In Korea it seems that once their child goes to a hagwon with a native English teacher then they will think that he/she will progress and it's true that they should progress more in pronunciation, speech and listening more than their Korean English teachers as the majority of their English teachers have not had proper training.

Therefore a lot of private schools here seem very unorganised as their bosses mostly care about getting the cash and you keeping the students happy rather than what exactly you teach. One of my friends had to constantly play games with all his classes as his boss said so and it made him feel like a clown constantly and the kids had no respect for him. The management were more concerned about keeping the kids "enterained" than actually allowing them to study. It's all about the money in most cases. It's sad but true.

I am in a new hagwon now, basically because it's part time and the money is great but to be honest the owners (husband and wife, which is also very common in Korea) don't have much of an idea and seem to be relying on me a lot. I don't mind relying on me for the teaching but I won't run the school. I won't answer the phones and take the money. Not unless they will pay me for it too.

[livinginkorea]

(I have split my post into two as it's long)

Also, you said in another thread that you are married to a Korean? What type of visa do you have? If you have a marriage visa then you can easily move and get another job without having to leave the country and you can get as many jobs as you want. If you want to open your own school then I think that you have to do it under your wife's name as I don't think foreigners can open their own school in Korea yet (not so sure about it). Do you have any idea how much you will need to run a school. Seriously the advertising is the worse part. We are talking about a couple of 100 million won here. I knew a guy who had 50 million in a partnership and that went under very soon because they didn't have enough for advertising. With so many schools here it's all down to advertising.

Some guys have their wives as the manager and themselves as the teacher, teaching companies and private classes to mothers and students who want to work in their apartments and offices. Just advertise if there are apartments near you (none near me ) and you will always get some takers.

Just remember that if you are married to a Korean and have an F-2-1 Visa then you have the same rights as Koreans when it comes to employment. If the boss is treating you badly then you can just leave and find another job. With the normal teaching visa holders (E-2) they have to stay and take it or leave the country or get a letter of release (which their boss can refuse) or as a last resourt (which I had to do a long time ago) a midnight run, which is leaving the country without finishing the contract.

Hmm that's all I can think of now.

livinginkorea

[Whistleblower]

Thanks for the reply. I haven't really looked at the prospect of opening a school in Korea that seriously but had a passing thought that I could probably do a better job than other Hagwons and directors.

I have got to agree with you that the Hagwons are really just Cash Cows and there is no long term prospect for them. They just don't seem to have any longterm vision for the school. The school I teach at, I'm the only native teacher and I work with a full time Korean who speaks both languages (gyopo) and a part time gyopo. They are good but they like to teach the Korean style out of a book and just turning a tape on but I am glad they open to more ideas.

The director, however, who speaks very very poor English teaches a class everyother day and teaches pronunciation/phonics/speaking. How he does that is anybodies guess 'cos he has a very very strong Korean accent. I listen to his classes and he is teaching the students that sound like a bunch of parrots. "Do, did, done. Go, get, gone". They never really learn how to use English during a day but are "brain washed" as my wife likes to put it. Then we have parents complaining: "Why doesn't my kid speak English?". Really gets me frustrated. Added to the fact that the directors are very greedy and aren't willing to employ a second native teacher or pay for extra things in the classroom, such as a OHP, PC, or speakers. Those would make my teaching easier with the students rather than the old fashion way of chalk and board.

Nevermind, I think I shall try to teach at a University in the future to get away from the politics of teaching at a Hagwon. I am going to try and take a CELTA Course in the New Year in Seoul. I have had to take four weeks off unpaid for me to do the course. As soon as I have this qualification, I am gonna leave this Hagwon and move towards Seoul, preferably Bundang.

Nevermind. I look forward to moving to a better position in the New Year. I hope that a reputable school in Korea, such as YBM Sisa or likewise, will employ me soon.