I think perhaps most people who decide they are going to spend a year teaching English abroad for a year have a strange feeling of self importance. Or at least I’m pretty sure I did. When I decided to come out I was convinced in my own mind that I would be making a difference, helping these people learn English and I would make a big impact on their lives. This is not really the case.
I work for Hagwon, which basically is a private school that the students come to after their regular daytime school. The owners of the Hagwon I work for a multi millionaires and I suppose the students must pay quite a lot of money to go there. All the parents are bothered about is that they are getting value for money; they are not particularly bothered whether their child is learning correct English.
The main aim in every class we teach is to get as much of the book done as possible. You may think that this aim would be the same in all classes, but we are not doing it because we want to have a very productive lesson. We have to get as much of the book done as humanly possible because the parents complain if we do not finish the book. They argue the fact that they have paid for it so we should have completed it in the term.
The books we use cost about $10, really not a lot of money when you think about how much they are paying already to send their children there. However they do not really care about the quality of the teaching as long as they have got their money’s worth from the book.
Some of the other teachers at this school and me feel as though we are not really teaching the students as much as spending 50 minutes rushing through the content for some corporate company. There is precious little time in class so we are unable to check the student’s homework is correct, only that they have done it and we have no time to explain anything in any real depth.
I am fortunate, as I also teach 4 70 minute classes a week to some of the more advanced students at the school. In these 70 minutes classes I have the chance to explain things more fully to the students, get them to give me examples so I am sure they understand me and also have a chance to have a chat and have fun with them. I much prefer this method to the corporate by the book teaching I spend the rest of the week doing,
Now I am aware that most Hagwons are like this in Korea, and maybe I was disillusioned thinking that I could come out here and make some great difference, but surely we should at least feel like we are at least teaching?
It is important here you understand that I do really enjoy my job. I have spent most of my weekend grading essays and it is great to see that a lot of them are actually taking on board what I am teaching them and putting it into practice. But I cannot help thinking I could be doing something more…
I have decided to put this right. I am currently in the progress of organising volunteer work at a local orphanage where I will teach English a couple of times a month. By making a contribution towards people who may need my help a little more than my current students means that I might feel like I am making more of a difference in Korea.
