My School in Korea

March 3, 2014

 

Today was the first day of the new semester at my Hagwon (private school).  This means that the students were moved up to their new classes at a higher level and I was teaching all day long.  I really like the schedule though because I move from room to room to complete lessons.  This may sound like a drag, however I like conversing with different children throughout the day and teaching each group different subjects at different levels. 

The day begins by removing my shoes in the foyer and adorning some lovely slippers that match my outfit so well!  (sarcasm alert!).   This is a tradition in Korea. Even in the apartments there is a small foyer with which to remove the shoes before entering the household.  I believe it is a sign of respect to not make the house filthy as many in traditional Korean home slept and ate on the floor and didn’t want to make their living areas dirty.  So, I along with all of the other teachers and the children must change into slippers before entering the school.

My school is on the eighth floor of a building in the middle of a trendy area.  It is cool to go up an elevator to the eighth floor, remove my shoes in the foyer, and be able to have some pretty sweet views from that high up.  Also, there is a KFC and a Starbucks right across the street that I can see from my classroom window, and a Dunkin Donuts around the corner.  Really funny!   

I was assigned to work with the 6-1 and 6-2 classes in the kindergarten.  These are the children who are 6 years old Korean age.  This age is different than in the U.S.  As I was told, and I may be wrong, but when you are born, you are 1.  When the Lunar New Year occurs, another year is added on.  So, for example, I am 27 today in international age, but am 29 in Korean age. It is interesting and also very confusing at times.  Sometimes I am not sure how old the children actually are.  They seem so little! 

The school set up and children are also very different than my previous kindergarten in the U.S.  Here, the children have periods, like in an American high school, only they stay in their homerooms and the teachers move from room to room (probably because they are so little).  The children are also dressed in uniforms and bring their own backpacks with the school name and logo.  The foreign teacher’s job (i.e. me) is to make the children happy, otherwise the children will be unhappy, complain to their parents and I am in hot water.  So, we laugh, play games, and complete the correct number of workbook pages I have been assigned to work on. 

The workbook thing is something else that is completely different than my previous employer.  Before, I wrote all of my own lesson plans and made the curriculum based on the children’s interests and had play as the main focus of the day. Here, play is definitely incorporated, however it is in a limited space with limited time and little room for creativity.  The workbooks are something that I am not used to, however I do like them in a way. As long as not too many pages are assigned, I still have the freedom to make the learning fun with games and other activities.  The children also crave the workbooks, since they have been using them from an early age, and the parents expect their children to complete the books as it is an indication of the amount they have learned.  For example if Susie doesn’t finish her book, then she is behind and not smart.  This is something that is a bit more challenging to get used to culturally, but I accept it as is because I am assimilating into their culture.  I can see the results of this method.  On the one hand, the children are losing creativity and statistically Korean adults are some of the unhappiest in the world, however education wise, the children are incredibly advanced!  They are fluidly speaking, reading, listening, and writing 2 languages by early elementary age.  It is massively impressive.  I think Americans (politicians) really needs to get their butts into gear and work on the education system in the U.S.  Working on key skills in early childhood and a adopting a stricter system and curriculum will, in my opinion, yield far better results so we won’t be subpar with the world in education. 

In terms of names, the children are also all assigned English names from the beginning of their induction into the school.  Some of the names are cute, trendy, and compliment the child, whereas other names are old fashioned and do not match the child at all!  It is kind of amusing. It does, though, make remembering all of their names even more difficult because their names don’t really match who they are.  It’s tough, but also important for them to begin their English immersion at the school.

Only English can be spoken at the Hagwon, and the children are reprimanded with a stern word when they speak Korean.  Obviously this is more relaxed with the younger children, simply because they don’t know very much English.  The teacher of the 5years said that many of her children only knew the word “pickles”! 

The children also receive a hot lunch everyday (as do I as I partake with the children).  I enjoy the hot meal with them as it is a good time to continue English learning with manners and a good way to get to know them better (such as who is the slowest eater in class!).  Every day, the children take out their lunch trays from the backpacks along with their spoon and chopsticks.  The tray has 5 little compartments: 2 large and 3 small.  The rice is served in the large compartment on the left hand side with the soup served on the right.  Kimchi (the spicy cabbage) is always served as well and is placed in the top middle small area.  The other two small compartments are a vegetable and a protein of some kind (tofu, egg, chicken, etc).  The cook is amazing!  Not only is she a very nice woman, she is also an excellent cook!  The rice is always perfect and I love the veggies and Kimchi.  Yum!

By 2:30, the kindergarten children on the bus and heading home and the elementary kids start coming in.  They have already been to school all day and are at the Hagwon to learn English. Obviously their curriculum is more intense because they are older and have acquired more English-speaking skills.  They are able to read far better than a lot of American children older than them, and the Korean children are reading in their second language!  I am still amazed at how far along these children are. 

Overall, the children are very kind, cute, and respectful.  They know the routines well and I really have very little discipline problems.  Yeah, some are very chatty and silly in class, but the small class sizes make these issues much easier to handle. In some classes I have seven children, others I have ten.  In one elementary class in the afternoon I only have two students!  I am really impressed with how the children really do act like sponges and I can see their progress so quickly!  They speak English much better than I thought they would before I arrived in Korea.  They amaze me.  J

좋은 하루!