I'm beginning to realize how much good of a deal working at a public school is. If anyone out there is thinking about teaching in Korea, but doesn't know if they should choose a public school or a private academy (hagwan), let me tell you, public school is the way to go. The following comparisons are based on my year at a private academy based on the ECC model vs. teaching public school in Sacheon.
First off, your class sizes are larger, but you have a Korean co-teacher working with you at all times. This basically means that if there are discipline problems, you have someone to take care of it. Also, if the students don't understand something, you can get them to explain it to them.
You have to be at your public school for a half hour longer...but you get a proper lunch break of one hour. At my hagwan job last year, we had 10 minutes to cram down our lunch and then get back to class.
English teachers at public schools are usually expected to teach 22 "hours" per week (an hour of class time is actually a 45 min block)...or less (I'm not sure what the final number will be for me). I only had to teach 6 hours per day at the hagwan, BUT that constituted eight 40 minute classes, (two back to back and then a 10 minute break).
In public schools, you don't have to do time consuming student evaluations or mark tests. Instead, you make your own lessons--which is great, because you have enough time to do it, and it prevents things from getting boring. In the private academy, they don't want to pay you for lesson planning, so to maximize profits, you just "teach" students repetitive lessons out of the same damn book day after day. Also, the classrooms in public school are equipped with a giant media screen and mini cinema. In the academy, you only have a whiteboard.
Finally, instead of dealing with an evil, money-grubbing director, your go to person in public school is your Korean co-teacher, who listens to you, helps you, and is not even a little bit evil.
Other perks include: getting a decent apartment instead of a rat-hole, getting far more days off, getting extra money for working at extra schools (this doesn't mean you do any more work) and being secure in the knowledge that your employer isn't going to fire you at the last minute to avoid paying you your contract completion bonus (this didn't happen to me, but it's happened to a friend), or otherwise try to screw you to save a buck.
The only reason to choose a hagwan over public school as far as I'm concerned is that it allows you to sleep in and main your night-owl lifestyle, if that's your deal.
Some of these things really depend on the school you're placed at, mind you.
ReplyDeleteA few of my friends up in Andong do participate in evaluating listening tests. And some of us do have to teach from a textbook, which is awful... but we do get time to try to figure out something interesting to do with them, so there's that. My class sizes are also ridiculously small, topping out at ten per lesson.
How many coteachers do you have? I've got six all told.
(But yeah, I'd have to be paid a LOT of money to consider going to a hagwon.)
I really think it's school specific too.
ReplyDeleteI haven't worked in Korea but I've worked for both good and bad public and private schools. The most horrendous example of a money grubbing evil director that I've ever met was probably the owner of the school that you worked for in Turkey, Suha. I've worked for some really good private schools too though and I worked for a really bad public school in Istanbul as well.
My last job in Hungary was for a public high school and I liked it for the same reasons that you posted; a director and co-teachers that were only interested in students, not money; more holidays and a better contract; short(ish) hours. I did have to mark papers and homework and do exams (and final exams) though so there was a lot of extra work. If you're teaching 4 grades at 60 students a grade it can add up fast! I got a paid summer holiday even though they knew I wasn't coming back to teach the next year plus a few other perks that you would never get at public schools so it was a pretty positive experience.
The main plus about working in the private sector I've found is that you'll make a lot more money per hour if you're teaching the right classes for the right school. I think the first year in a country is a feeling out year then you know where you're at the second year. Every time I've gone to a new country I haven't stayed with my first employer.