Too soon?

Today my co-teacher Wendy asked the question everyone in my position anticipates (albiet much further down the line) - would I be renewing my contract at the end of the year? Please note that this is only my second week of officially teaching! Also bear in mind my predecessors both (there were originally two Native English teachers working in the school at the same time) stayed at Naeto for two years before disappearing into the unknown (although one of them still haunts my desktop). I was completely thrown by the question as we were only idly chatting and it came out of nowhere. Yet thinking back now I can understand why she asked and also why she would want me to stay. The previous Native English teachers were both male and older than her (Wendy is in her late 20s and they were in their mid-to-late 30s). Based on Korea's Confucian culture they were automatically in the hierarchy above her. Respect is extremely important in their culture, and this is reflected in their language and etiquette. So it's from my understanding she had some difficulty in working with them. It also didn't help that she only started working at Naeto about 6 months before they left. Therefore they probably had developed a particular teaching style they found hard to adapt. Whilst they were different in their own way they both seemingly favoured playing games in the classroom and did not attempt to 'discipline' the students.

Don't get me wrong - I believe there is much value in games (if it is related to the learning objective) but am aware of the danger it poses when you overuse it. I am also against corporal punishment ('tehnically' it's illegal in South Korea). However, the principals of discipline is part and parcel of being a teacher. Believe me when I say I've learnt the hard way when it comes to avoiding discipline.

Back to the point - our working relationship is completely different and (I hope) a welcome change. Putting myself in her shoes, it must be nice to finally work with someone younger and female with whom you can relate to. As I've pointed out before, your Korean co-teacher can make or break your experience in Korea. From my point of view she is the perfect co-teacher. Yes, she translates but she's not a 'translator' - she'll only translate when necessary or appropriate. Whilst I plan and take the lead in the lessons she isn't afraid to give advice if she thinks an activity is too difficult or would work more effectively in a different way. Nor am I afraid to ask.

Teaching has its ups and downs. You'd be disillusioned to expect anything else. Yet I can't help but love it (less so when I haven't had enough sleep). Inevitably I get attached, very easily - even when they're being monsters! It is what I've chosen as a career path so for me this is long-term; for many it is just an experience. A year may seem like a long time at first but it always surprises me how fast it flies by! I am beginning to understand why many in the same position end up staying longer than anticipated. It takes so much time to fully adjust and settle in a new place that it almost seems a waste to leave when you finally do so. I did consider the possibility of staying longer than a year before coming here but haven't yet factored it into my plans. Staying longer overseas means starting my teaching career in England later. Never mind that, how would my family react!? Of course plans change all the time. However, it is still too soon to answer the question. So until then, I'm keeping schtum.

Naeto Elementary School

As promised here is an extended blog about the school I've been placed in - Naeto Elementary School which is located in the Sin-back dong area, just on outskirts of the city. The bus stop is 2 minutes from my apartment and the bus journey takes roughly 15-20 minutes. I've got my bearings now so I plan on walking to school as often as possible (beats going to the gym) but I need to time the journey first as I've been told it could take about 40 minutes!

Journey to school - crossing the bridge

Naeto is a very big (Primary) school and, as mentioned, has an attached Kindergarten school.

Attempting to capture the scope of the school. There are at least 5 levels!

Playground/playing field

As I feared - in every Korean school you must take off your outdoor shoes and don these lovely shower slippers! I lasted exactly one day in them! I made sure I had brought with me some new flats.

They use 'grades' in Korea as opposed to the Year groups we use in the UK. It gets extra confusing due to the Korean age system. Infants, upon birth, are automatically 1 year old. However, as soon as it's a new year they add an additional year on. So when asking someone's age you have to factor in when in the year they were born and where in the current year you're in as they could be anything from 1-2 years younger than the stated age. I simply convert the grades into our year groups for simplicity and hope for the best! Thus Grade 1 is equivalent to Year 1 and so forth.  

Back story: I came in on the EPIK (English Program in Korea) recruitment but was actually hired by the school directly as opposed to being placed. Not too sure about the finer details but I'm taking this as a good thing! My current schedule means I am teaching to the full requirement of 22 teaching hours per week. As it's an 'after-school' programme my working hours are roughly 10am - 6pm but this can vary!  This includes 2x20 minute classes with Kindergartens, a special (gifted) class and a Teacher class (yes, really) in addition to my normal classes. We've grouped the grades together (e.g. grade 2 - 1's will start next semester, 3/4, 5/6), tested them and then separated them into Lower, Middle and High ability groups with classes no bigger than 16 (it's all that will fit so I've stuck firm with this). In the normal school programme classes can be anywhere from 30-40 with no distinction between abilities. So in a way the after-school programme is significantly more organised and, hopefully, more beneficial for the children. I officially start teaching on Monday (later today!) so we'll see how that goes!

I have my own classroom and despite having some textbooks, they are there as a guide and so I have flexibilty as to what I want to teach. There isn't one for the gifted class so I've planned some more 'project' based lessons. Will blog in future to let you know how it's going. I used the 'desk-warming' time productively and explored all the resources available and was shocked as to how much hadn't been used (i.e. new and still in packaging). There were numerous phonics-based resources so I will try to utilise them as much as possible in my lessons with the lower grades.

Almost every class comes with a Interactive TV (ITV) that links with a computer. Whilst it may look impressive it isn't as versatile as the Promethean ActivBoards I'm used to in the UK schools.

My lovely Korean Co-teacher Wendy

Above is Korean Co-teacher, who is incredibly helpful and friendly! As a foreigner you must register for an Alien Registration Card (ARC) when you start working for your school. To do this we had to go to Cheonju, where the immigration office for Chungbuk is located. It takes about 7-10 days. You must get an ARC in order to get services such as the internet, cell phones, functioning bank accounts, etc. Therefore, I could not get internet installed in my apartment until I had my ARC. Wendy knew how important it was to me to get internet as I had yet to contact my family through Skype. It arrived late Thursday afternoon and she arranged it all for me so that it was installed by Friday! She even let me go early in order to let the installation person into my apartment! I've read that your Co-teacher definines your experience of teaching in South Korea so I'm eternally grateful to have such a lovely one!