Why I am Sure I Will Go Prematurely Grey

This month we have two weeks of study session. This is when middle school children have a week of school tests. In many English hagwons it means their middle school classes are cancelled for 2 weeks. In my school I am assigned 2 classes, which are not my usual students, and I have to watch over them whilst they do English study, or I give them a test, given to me by the Korean teacher. This means that I teach 6 classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday instead of 7. It still sounds like a lot, but I don't really teach these two classes, so it is much easier. It also means I have a 50 minute break after 4 classes which really improves the quality of my day, and my mood. With these breaks I have been going to a lovely coffee shop called Etre, and reading.

This is last week of study session, but slowly the children will start studying at home. So, hopefully my friday will consist of 4 classes and a finish time of 7pm.  The week after that is when the actual tests take place. And then, I will be back to my usual 7, which is always a tough transition. My evening middle school classes are low levels, and I never thought I could get so angry at a group of children, let alone shout at them.

One of my classes is group of 15 student, about 15 years old. These are the ones who just, literally, don't give a crap. They don't care about learning or listening. I know what you're thinking, this is typical for children close to a nasty bout of puberty, but it's different here. The level of respect given to Korean teachers is shocking compared to foreign teachers. I truly believe that this is simply because Korean teachers can shout at them, in Korean. I know for a fact that it is not my teaching, because I have some amazing classes.  This particular class is at a phase in their life where they just make it harder on themselves.  It's like a vicious circle - Their bad attitudes make me turn into Evil Bitch Teacher, so they dislike me for it. In one of my classes with them, I split them into teams - Boys Vs Girls. The winning team would get a bag of candy. I did this in the hope of getting them motivated, but alas, they took it for granted and were ungrateful.

My second bad class is entirely different. Their bad attitudes are on a whole other level of behaviour. I get stressed out just thinking about them. The last class I wrote about stay in their seats and are quiet if I tell them off enough and threaten them with punishment (more about that later). It is however, quite a mission to get RJ1C settled down or to stay still and focus. Often, if I ask one of them to move to the front of class they will try and argue with me about it. Of course, I can never, ever back down because then I lose all power. Their English is so bad that they have gotten to a point where being at English academy is their play time.  I primarily teach listening classes, and when we are listening to the CD I can see that two of the worst students don't even try to answer the questions. I stress this at them often - It doesn't matter if you don't get the right answer, as long as you try. The frustrating thing, is that one of them is the worst, yet I know he is capable. He is just an incredibly angry boy.

I want to help them and teach them, but the language barrier makes it feel near impossible. My coworker and I have discussed the lower level classes and think they would be better with the books designed for younger children, however this would really upset the mothers. I feel that these lower levels have it so much worse. Their parents pressure them to improve which makes them angry and frustrated. I also find that the girls (in my bad classes) try a bit harder and I think this may be true all around the world. In this class there are 4 girls who generally do their work but it is still hard to calm them down without shouting at them.

Remember in school when you always lean your chair back on its hind legs, and you know you're not going to fall, but there's always the kid who does? Your teacher constantly tells you not to do it. Well, I have become that teacher. I have one child, named Zealot (a name from Starcraft) who always has his chair as far back as it may go. He must have fallen off his chair 4 times now. You would think that the initial shock would scare the crap out of him, but no. He's probably just adjusted to it.

You may have been wondering about what punishment is like in South Korean academies. In my school, the main thing we do is make them 'stay after'. So, after class finishes at 9.35 they stay and do extra work. We also recently introduced a 'minus point' system, so if they don't do homework, forget books, say a bad word, draw on the walls/desks etc, they get a minus point or 2. Once they receive a certain amount they get a phone call home, have a meeting with the boss, or get expelled. I have so far found it ineffective. If the child does something really bad or constantly has a bad attitude in class we can ask the main Korean teacher to call their mothers. I have found that threatening them with a call home occasionally works.
In other schools, mainly one near mine, there is someone employed to watch all classes on CCTV. If they see a child do something bad (and sometimes it's a misunderstanding) they will come in and hit the student. In the school of a new friend of mine, she has been told that she cannot shout at the children or tell them to be quiet. I know from 6 months of experience that this is often impossible. Last week a Korean teacher came into her class and took a child into a small cupboard, I forget what the student had done wrong, but my friend could hear the student being hit. Now, I know that in England or America a teacher would be arrested for that, but in many schools here it seems to be acceptable. (Not all, it would never happen at my school.)

If you're thinking that teaching in South Korea sounds like hell, it is not. I love it here, and I love teaching (usually). Every teacher has a couple of bad classes, and my good ones completely make up for the two or three stressful ones. So, if you started reading this with the hopes of becoming an English teacher in South Korea, and have swiftly changed your mind, I apologise.  I would not change my decision to come here for the world.

On a lighter note, one of my ex-students (he quit, possibly because the only English he knows is 'what?' and 'teacher!') would try and bribe me every month to give him a good score on his essays or speaking tests. He was my favourite.