Poly School, Daegu, Dalseo-gu
Nothing that the administration does, nor the flow of the curriculum, make any sense to me. This school is BROKEN.
Over the time I've spent at Poly, employees, myself included, have been given very basic introductions to utilizing the school website and other online resources, but never any training about the expectations or prospective outcomes of the job. The amount of training time allotted to me over the last three months has been laughable, and over a year's time and mostly handed manuals to peruse as my training. "Learn this and then teach the kids." Sound like a good training tactic to you? Another training tactic used for two of the newest employees was to have them sit in the teachers room reading a manual for several hours, while they might have used that time to observe classes. There have also been more than half a dozen occasions where employees have been scolded or corrected in the manner in which grading or writing comments is carried out, without any prior expectations having been explained. Without the proper training, how was anyone to know? It's impossible. The administrators believe that their minds are easily read by others, through walls, across space and time. If anyone COULD read their minds, all they would see is misery.
Overall, the environment feels very hostile, the communication is very poor, and the expectations are very vague. The two directors of the school often do not even communicate with one another and make conflicting decisions that leave the employees in a daze. Most of the blame for mistakes falls on the employees, despite the responsibility of the administrators for their actions, and the staff is left very confused and upset because of this.
You will have an 11 hour work day, and trust me you will be exhausted by the end of it. Your aspirations to go out and see the country will be crushed by the overwhelming urge to sleep through the weekends. By the time you're re-energized, you will have to do the whole process over again. Even when you do make plans, you have to force yourself to carry them out being as tired as you will be. In short, this is a great way to miss out on many of the experiences and opportunities available to you in Korea.
Your lunch time will be no lunch time at all. Don't bother to try to relax and take a break because you will be dog-piled with work to correct, books to check, and planning to finish. This is fundamentally prep time while eating a snack. Your prep times will mostly come during the morning, but never be seen at any consistency otherwise. This is no way to spend an experience in South Korea and other teachers you meet will pity you.
Dalseo in particular is a business that is FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED. There are two sisters that run the business, as director and co-director, and keep any foreigners out of any of the daily goings on by speaking Korean, even though they are both fluent in English and have Canadian citizenship. This keeps everyone not fluent in Korean out of the communication loop, and even those who are fluent in Korean but out of earshot suffer as well. Many times these administrators actually speak over a foreigner staff member sitting between them about pertinent information about the school, sharing freely with one another information that is best spread to everyone but hardly ever passing on beyond their 'private' conversation. Every foreigner teacher employed there TO DATE has pressed the directors for open communication, but most attempts fail while other attempts are mere placation and sputter out after a few weeks. The administrators are hostile, they are cliquey with one another, and they bully in a self-righteous manner. They have no tact, no communication skills, they bully, they judge, and they're overall the worst clique of women I have ever encountered in my career. Though they were born in Korea, they lived in Canada for a number of years. They like to talk and act like Canadians, but they double back on their fake expressions only to demand the respect that a traditional Korean would deserve in their position
The training is awful, and most of it comes from trickles of information fed to the staff "as necessary" in the form of side notes and quick references amidst a full day's schedule. The directors would claim there is no time for proper training, and there isn't! The business breaks itself by bad planning and a lack of coordination. Be prepared to be flooded with textbooks and criteria on your first day, maybe you will lucky if you meet your students ahead of time too. An employee is expected to soak up as much as possible in as little time as possible and expected to be perfect from the onset. Any modifications, personalization, or customization you need to make is frowned upon. There is no teaching included, just due dates deadlines to meet.
One Korean teacher actually lasted only two days there. Another was so stressed out about the job that her unborn baby was in danger. Another had enough of the administrative bullying and resigned. She might have been the smartest one of us.
Is this the worst school or academy to be stuck with? Legally, no, they are not among the criminal hogwans in Korea. Other schools might swindle you and rip you off. The directors are NOT criminals or swindlers and will NOT try to take advantage of you financially, but it is clear that they are also NOT the right people to run this business/school. They are simply not good people.
Like the employees, the administrators lack the training and proper guidance to be fully successful in their field and it is clear that the directors "fell into" their jobs more so than actually selecting it from a long line of experience that built toward it. They have no interpersonal skills and do not adapt to their employees in any way. Instead, they are as rigid as possible, not at all empathetic or interested in being proper directors but just business owners running a machine. One of the administrators has zero people skills at all and leans on intimidation and titles to get things done. It is apparent that they have never encountered a quality administrator in their entire lives and therefor have nothing to base themselves upon.
That being said, you may see a lot of money in it, but it is NOT worth the frustration to work at Poly School in Dalseo, Daegu. If you don't find the above problems appealing, then just avoid this school.
Remember why you came to Korea, or, in other cases, just consider why you're coming to Korea. Opportunity? Work? Access to Asia? Or to be oppressed? You're happiness is one of your most important assets.
Do NOT work at Daegu's Dalseo Poly School.
