Thursday, August 8, 2013

My School and the Korean Education System

I feel like I have settled in quite nicely in my new school.  I am currently teaching for what's called an after-school program.  My previous school was a hogwan.  As I may have mentioned before, after Korean kids finish their regular schooling for the day, it isn't common for them to go to baseball practice, or dance class like many American kids do.  Korean parents pay money to send their children to specialized private academies where their kids receive additional schooling.

Korean society is so competitive, and it seems to be extremely important for parents to enable their children to get into the best universities.  There seems to be less top tier universities in Korea than there are in countries like the United States and England.  On top of that, the importance of education in Korean society cannot be understated.  For a combination of these two reasons, Korean parents send their children to these hogwans.  A large number of them pay huge sums of money for their children to attend them.  There are hogwans of all different types.

There are music hogwans, math hogwans, Chinese hogwans, and  computer hogwans, among others.  But English hogwans seem to be the most numerous and prominent.    

My previous school in Gwangju was one of these English hogwans where parents pay a rather large rate for their children to attend, and this school had a total enrollment of around 1,000 students.  The hogwan industry in Korea is enormous, and huge sums of money is made here by successful hogwan owners.

I heard stories of certain parents taking second jobs to enable their children to attend, and it is fairly safe to assume that this is not an uncommon practice throughout Korea.

It is, no doubt, a "keep up with the Joneses" mentality here when it comes to education, and the stakes are extremely high.  If a parent sends his/her child to a hogwan with a great reputation, and that kid is seen to have an advantage in school and in test taking, then other parents feel almost forced to send their children to something similar, so their children will not fall behind in the race to get into a top tiered university.

My previous hogwan's focus in its marketing was that it will enable the children to have higher test scores on these high school and university entrance tests.  In many advertisements, it had a long list of names of students who went through the curriculum, and scored highly on these exams.

Apparently, there are a lot of academies in Korea that are very similar to my former employer, because as my Korean friend explained, scores on these entrance exams are increasing, making it increasingly difficult for these top tiered universities in Korea to select the best students, so now, they have made their entrance exams even more difficult, and thus, applying even more pressure to these students.

Again, in my current teaching job, which is my second in Korea, I work for what is called an after-school program.   My workplace is a public elementary school, and I have an office there, but I am not an employee of that school.  My employer is a private company contracted out by the school board to give access to an effective English curriculum to children of parents who don't want to pay high rates to send their children to a hogwan.

I knew about the job opening for my current employer before leaving my previous school, and I asked my boss about after-school programs such as mine, and although he did recommend me as an employee, he didn't recommend them as an employer.  I now understand why, because my current employer is a direct competitor of my former.  

I teach around 150 students, and my employer has contracts with around thirty public schools like mine in the greater Seoul metropolitan area, so like my previous boss, my current one is doing rather well financially.

I only work around six hours a day, sometimes less, and the atmosphere is really laid back.  My superiors are in a central office somewhere in Seoul, and I rarely come in contact with them.  I am free to do things the way that I feel is best for me and the kids.  So my job is highly desirable among foreign teachers in Korea.

I teach elementary school students ranging in grade levels from the first grade to sixth grade.  They are every bit as awesome as my previous students.  Generally speaking, their level as English speakers is considerably lower than those that I taught at my previous job, but they make up for it with their wonderful attitudes, and their desire to learn.

A story about my first grade class:

For some reason, my students, especially my first and second graders, respond extremely well to role-play exercises, where they act out various scenarios in English.  They love it, and it seems to be really effective in teaching the concepts that the books are introducing.

Each grade level that I teach has two classes, one for the more advanced students of that age, and one for those of a lower level, in terms of speaking.

One particular lesson for my lower-level first graders was to teach my students the following dialogue.  "You can borrow my _____."

"Really?! Thank you very much."

"You are welcome."

I introduced the text, and taught the children how to properly pronounce it, and as soon as they were able to say it, they were lining up at the front of the classroom.  I didn't even have to prompt them.  They were orderly, and in line with props in hand.  "Teacher, you can borrow my pencil case."

I would act surprised, smile, and respond with, "Really?! Thank you very much."

"You are welcome."

The next student would be next in line.  "You can borrow my scissors."

"Really?! Thank you very much."

"You are welcome."

And then the next student, "You can borrow my book bag."

"Really?! Thank you very much."

And as it would go on, they would start handing me whatever they could get their hands on.  "You can borrow my umbrella."

"You can borrow my shoe."

"You can borrow my (sweaty) baseball cap."

I would respond sarcastically, "Really?! Thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

It's kind of funny that this was the most enthusiastic these kids were for a lesson.  It may not be a big deal, but I was really encouraged by that.  Maybe when they are older, they will see a foreigner in need, remember this particular lesson, and be inclined to say, "Hello.  You can borrow my ____."

Although my job is rather laid back, I take my position as a teacher, authority figure, and role model seriously.  I want them to remember me positively when they become older.  I want to lay a foundation for them to possibly become fluent English speakers.  I do not want to them to be at a disadvantage.  And as an authority figure in their lives, I feel it is my responsibility to be a moral example for them.  I want to be a contributor of not only their success as Korean citizens, but I also want to contribute to their development possibly as people of integrity, so I am highly motivated as a teacher.

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