My mom is a school principal and has more than 35 years teaching experience: I earn only a fraction less teaching here than what she earns in SA.  As far as salaries go, what we're paid back home for the amount of work that is expected of us is incomparable to the situation in Korea. 

This is a rather artificial situation - and I say that knowing that compared to many NETs, I'm pretty close to being a 'real' teacher in my school.  I don't mind staying late or working on Saturdays here because it's still less work than teaching in SA.  My classes are slightly smaller, I have more resources available to me, I don't have to attend 4 - 5 meetings a week AFTER school, my school is reluctant to give me extra things to do because they "don't want to burden [me]", I'm not sworn at or disrespected on a daily basis, I don't have to take home marking, my weekends are generally free and attending school functions earns me brownie points - I go because I want to be there not because it's compulsory. 

Anyone who thinks that teaching is Korea is even close to being a teacher back home is in for a rude awakening.  All that paperwork, extra work and stress that our KETs have to deal with - that's part of YOUR job when you teach in your home country!

Like Timorous I did my student teaching and then came to Korea. Teaching in Korea is very different from what you will be doing back home. We get to do all of the good things about teaching (working with the kids, only having to focus on our content area,etc.). We get to do the good/fun things and skip out on the  countless meetings, dealing with parents, office bureaucracies. Most of us do very little grading compared to what we would be doing back home. Back in the states I had to plan 25 lessons a week at the middle school and high school I taught at. Here I have to make 2-3.  In short, we get all of great parts of teaching and almost none of the bad stuff. There are definitely many more rewards that you can get by teaching in your home country and putting in all of the extra time and work it requires, but if you go in thinking it will be comparable to here it you will be in for  a bit of a shock.

I feel teaching in the US--as well as other Western countries, I'm sure--is obviously much more work that this but it's also more fulfilling. I like my job here; it's not very difficult; I have a lot of free time, etc, but it's hard to become emotionally invested in it. I don't mean I don't care about it, because I do, but I feel when I taught at home, I cared much more. Perhaps, it's because I was required to work much harder, and therefore, it became a huge part of my life. I think, more though, it has to do with the fact that I see almost 600 students once a week. I can't remember the names of most of them. Due to the language barrier, and the fact that I don't see them much, I don't really know much of what goes on in their lives. This semester, though, my students' English levels are much higher and class sizes are a little smaller, so I find myself talking to them more and am generally enjoying myself more.

But back on topic, I think it doesn't necessarily give a false impression of the profession, but it is very watered down. Then again, part of it depends on your situation and how you treat the job. Some people here just play games with their students everyday. Some have to teach grammar. Some have to edit papers. Some put in a lot of work--often more than necessary. Some don't care at all.

I agree with a lot of what has been said so far. From a Canadian perspective I find the differences teaching in Korea vs Canada to be pretty significant. I've been here for over 2 years and still feel more like a teacher's assistant. I have been lucky enough to have dedicated co-teachers who like to plan lessons and have control of the classroom, however that has left little opportunity for me to really use my own teaching skills. I haven't had to plan many lessons and never have any marking or work to take home with me. When the clock hits 4:40 I'm on my way home as there is never anything left to do.

Both of my parents are teachers back home and after going to teacher's college and having a starter experience, I feel a teacher's life in Canada revolves more around their job and the students then what we experience here. It is a rare occasion when my parents don't have a night without marking or writing reports. They are hardly ever home before 6:30 due to school commitments and their dedication to extra-curricular activities. As someone mentioned earlier, I hardly know anything about my students lives due to the language barrier and the fact that there are just so many of them.

Working in my teaching placement back in Canada I realized that the job will follow you home every night, whether it is lesson planning, marking, or worrying about a student's life situation. I haven't had that happen to me once while I have been here. Although I have enjoyed my time in Korea I'm worried that the teaching experience has made me a lazy teacher.

I think it is great that people are having positive experiences teaching in Korea, so much so that they want to pursue it as a career. Although I would encourage those people to spend a week in a classroom back in their home country to witness the differences for themselves before committing....

...also, I found myself in Korea because of the lack of positions available for teachers back home. Not an easy job market for teachers in Ontario!

Yeah, I'm an English teacher in the UK and it took me a long time to settle into my job here because I constantly felt ill at ease in my free periods- like I should be working. I planned my lessons a semester in advance - that could never happen in England!
Kids here are like a dream - I'm lucky cause I teach at a nice High School though! But bad High School student behaviour by Korean standards is still a loooong way off UK standards!
In the UK I was constantly thinking about work. You can't just go home and relax. Marking, planning, constantly thinking/worrying all await you when you go home. My first year of teaching I was sooo stressed I nearly quit!
BUT... I'm returning to my old job in a UK school at the end of my contract. I miss feeling like a 'real teacher', as lovely as my school is, despite the fact i teach all my own lessons. I also miss just being able to communicate freely with everyone.
I'm trying to brace myself for the culture shock when I go back! 
I think that teaching in Korea is a nice introduction into teaching in general, but I agree that people are in for a massive shock if they think it will be this easy! But certainly, teaching anywhere builds lots of skills that you can use in any job when you go back home.

The reason for this discussion is because many of my friends who started teaching for the first time when they came to Korea have suddenly decided they want to be teachers. They love the children and feel inspired, which is wonderful, but many are jumping on the bandwagon and suddenly want to get teaching degrees and become teachers, using teaching in Korea as a sole example of what the profession is like. I feel it is a little misguided.

People who've studied Education degrees, taught in their home countries or in other foreign countries (in Asia, South America, Europe, etc.) in what ways do you feel being a teacher in Korea gives a false OR accurate experience of teaching? I find it's a very watered down experience compared to the administration and actual planning that goes into being a teacher in home countries. I can only speak for myself, so feel free to enlighten and elucidate, but in South Africa where I obtained my Education degree and taught at a high school I was never paid overtime, often had to work on Saturdays and Sundays (marking, setting papers, meeting students to rehearse the school play, coach sport, etc.) I earned roughly the same amount as I do here and I can honestly say that being here makes it feel like 1/8th of the work I did back home. I know the situation is similar in the States and other countries. This is not to belittle the work we do here, a lot of us work very hard and feel exhausted at the end of the day - but it's still not nearly as complex.

If we could illustrate good comparisons between being a teacher back home (and taking on roles like Head of Department,  Vice Principal and Principal and sports coach, etc.) maybe we could assist in people making more informed decisions.

P.S. This discussion is not for people who want to go on about how we're not supposed to be real teachers here anyway, etc. It's for people who have a background in Education to have an intelligent discussion. People with parents who are teachers will give sound ideas too.

First of all, if you have studied education, then you'd probably have an idea of the ESL classroom. That being the case, you should have a good idea of what you were getting into before you came.

Those who didn't study education are the ones who probably had no idea what to expect. Those are generally the people that are targeted for working in Korea because the job is not a teaching job, but a teacher's assistant job, no matter how fancy they use the terms in English. This isn't a teaching job (assuming that you are at a hagwon or public school). Even I knew that.

So to answer your question, I am very interested in what your idea of being a teacher's assistant is supposed to do and how that doesn't live up to your expectations. If you are talking about a "profession" as in a "career" there is no career in most jobs for teaching English in Korea. There are a few at private schools and universities, but generally, an E-2 visa is a temporary thing, not a career tool.

I am honestly not sure what you thought you were getting into. My idea of what you are implying is that this job isn't what you wanted. Seems as if you wanted to work hard and are paid too much. Teachers in Korea make a LOT of money compared to their counterparts in the US, and I guess also in South Africa, from what you say.

I understand that your experience is different, but you have to remember that we are not here to be teachers, as you would be at home. You are here as more of an entertainer. That is the job. Even the recruiters admit that quite often, and the contracts prove that.

You are probably trained to deal with children in the classroom, but even more so, you are trained to take nothing and turn it into a lesson plan. You are also probably taught how to create an enviroment that is geared towards learning and you probably had some kind of power and respect in the classroom. But this isn't your country nor your culture. The rules are different here.

I know it sounds really off putting, my sayings, but the sooner you accept it, the easier life is here. I had a lot of problems myself my first year and a half, but now I am very comfortable with what I do and I love my job and I love teaching the students with what I have been given.

I have an education degree, and have tought for 3 years in Canada, firs off advise your freinds very strongly to go into something else. Where there are teachers needed are in the schools/areas most teachers would never want to work, and in the decent schools, there are virtualy no jobs, especially in North America. I came here for employment and know that I need to switch jobs as soon as I get back.

Secondly, this job is NOTHING like being a teacher back home, as you mention the worload is so incredibly lax compared to a "real" teaching job. I  tire of the whiners on here who think that 21 hours is a lot, and that they have to deskwarm instead of being able to go home. You are paid to sit at a desk and do nothing in most cases, name me ANY job back home with the exception of security guard that gets to do that ( yes I am sure there are some others, its rhetorical) I use the time to study, work out, watch a show, or read a book ( when my lesson stuff is done) There are some skillls that obviously transfer over, my class management here is a god send since my co teachers have such poor skillls in that department. BUt the job itself is totally different in regards to worload, duties and expectations

As someone who has only taught in Korea but is considering teaching when I go home, how does the life of the average "proper" (non-NET) Korean public school teacher compare to that of a public school teacher back home? If you can be specific to Canada, that will be even more helpful.

My purpose was to come here and teach and gain personal growth. But I was not expecting to go back to the US with this experience thinking that I was going to get through teaching with flying colors. So I already knew that my teaching experience here will be nothing like that of a certified teacher. Even though I plan to get my teaching certificate in the US for English or Performing Arts, still, I don't plan to be a teacher for long. Not to sound cruel but anybody coming here thinking that they are a completely taken as a "true" teacher are fooling themselves. Just the amount of personal time taken away from KTs goes to show how much of a breeze our workload is compared to our Korean counterparts.

However, hopefully, this on my resume would fill in my work experience. Also, as a writer, enhance my artistic inspiration.  ;)

Quote from: gilbert.a.h on June 03, 2011, 05:44:06 PM

Quote from: eemneedah on June 03, 2011, 04:18:39 PM

The reason for this discussion is because many of my friends who started teaching for the first time when they came to Korea have suddenly decided they want to be teachers. They love the children and feel inspired, which is wonderful, but many are jumping on the bandwagon and suddenly want to get teaching degrees and become teachers, using teaching in Korea as a sole example of what the profession is like. I feel it is a little misguided.

People who've studied Education degrees, taught in their home countries or in other foreign countries (in Asia, South America, Europe, etc.) in what ways do you feel being a teacher in Korea gives a false OR accurate experience of teaching? I find it's a very watered down experience compared to the administration and actual planning that goes into being a teacher in home countries. I can only speak for myself, so feel free to enlighten and elucidate, but in South Africa where I obtained my Education degree and taught at a high school I was never paid overtime, often had to work on Saturdays and Sundays (marking, setting papers, meeting students to rehearse the school play, coach sport, etc.) I earned roughly the same amount as I do here and I can honestly say that being here makes it feel like 1/8th of the work I did back home. I know the situation is similar in the States and other countries. This is not to belittle the work we do here, a lot of us work very hard and feel exhausted at the end of the day - but it's still not nearly as complex.

If we could illustrate good comparisons between being a teacher back home (and taking on roles like Head of Department,  Vice Principal and Principal and sports coach, etc.) maybe we could assist in people making more informed decisions.

P.S. This discussion is not for people who want to go on about how we're not supposed to be real teachers here anyway, etc. It's for people who have a background in Education to have an intelligent discussion. People with parents who are teachers will give sound ideas too.

First of all, if you have studied education, then you'd probably have an idea of the ESL classroom. That being the case, you should have a good idea of what you were getting into before you came.

Those who didn't study education are the ones who probably had no idea what to expect. Those are generally the people that are targeted for working in Korea because the job is not a teaching job, but a teacher's assistant job, no matter how fancy they use the terms in English. This isn't a teaching job (assuming that you are at a hagwon or public school). Even I knew that.

So to answer your question, I am very interested in what your idea of being a teacher's assistant is supposed to do and how that doesn't live up to your expectations. If you are talking about a "profession" as in a "career" there is no career in most jobs for teaching English in Korea. There are a few at private schools and universities, but generally, an E-2 visa is a temporary thing, not a career tool.

I am honestly not sure what you thought you were getting into. My idea of what you are implying is that this job isn't what you wanted. Seems as if you wanted to work hard and are paid too much. Teachers in Korea make a LOT of money compared to their counterparts in the US, and I guess also in South Africa, from what you say.

I understand that your experience is different, but you have to remember that we are not here to be teachers, as you would be at home. You are here as more of an entertainer. That is the job. Even the recruiters admit that quite often, and the contracts prove that.

You are probably trained to deal with children in the classroom, but even more so, you are trained to take nothing and turn it into a lesson plan. You are also probably taught how to create an enviroment that is geared towards learning and you probably had some kind of power and respect in the classroom. But this isn't your country nor your culture. The rules are different here.

I know it sounds really off putting, my sayings, but the sooner you accept it, the easier life is here. I had a lot of problems myself my first year and a half, but now I am very comfortable with what I do and I love my job and I love teaching the students with what I have been given.

I think you missed the point!  The OP is not saying that she feels misguided his/herself but rather that a lot of other teachers who haven't taught in their home countries are wanting to become teachers back home based on their experience in Korea.  The OP is saying that NETs who plan to pursue a career in education in their home country may be severely disappointed/disillusioned when they see what teaching is actually all about back home.  As you said, we're not 'real' teachers here so we shouldn't base life changing decisions only on this experience because it is completely different to being a teacher in our home countries.

Ahh, then I stand corrected.