Working in Korea 3 - Types of Jobs

Types of Jobs:

There are 5 types of jobs teaching English in Korea

Hogwans/hakwons, Public Schools, English Villages, International Schools and Universities

Hogwan:

A Hogwan is a private school often called a private academy that usually focuses on one subject such as English, Math, or Science. The English hogwans usually have one or more foreign teachers. An English hogwan can be just Kidergarten, or just an after school program for older children. You also have Hogwans that teach kindergarteners in the morning and then an after school program in the afternoon. There are many levels of the kindergarten program. They can start school as young as 3 or 4 years old (Which is 5 in Korean age) There are classes for 5 years old, 6 Years old, and 7 year old kindergarteners. If they start at 5 or 6 six they can also complete a 2^nd or 3^rd year of Kindergarten. So if they start at the age of 5 (Western 3 or 4) they can attend the private kindergarten for up to 3 years before moving on to a Korean public school for 1^st grade. These students will often then attend the hogwan’s after school program.

Parents in Korea love afterschool programs. Some students may go to up to four afterschool programs / hogwans/ academies. Elementary hogwans often teach classes up to 9 o’clock at night. That may seem late but when these students get in to High school ending at 10 pm is normal and could last until midnight if they are taking a test.

A hogwan is a good place to start if you prefer to teach younger children or you want more or less a set schedule. 

A benefit of a Hogwan is that usually you are expected to be at school during your teaching hours but can come and go as you please during non-teaching hours. It is your responsibility to make sure you have prepared your lessons and graded papers or tests.

Public Schools:

We have never taught at a public school, but have several friends who do.  Usually you must be at school during your set working hours, even if you don’t have any classes. Sometimes you are expected to be at school for an entire week while the students are on vacation. We have heard of teachers at public schools who have large screen T.V’s in their offices and play video games when they don’t have classes. At a public school you get more vacation time and they are more flexible about what days you have off. Often, public school English teachers are the only foreigner at their particular school, but not always.     

English Village:

We currently work at an English Village. We have worked at a total of 4 of them. Two as full time employees and 2 for temporary work.

English Villages (EV) were built by the government to be full immersion programs. That means that when a student arrives at an EV they are expected to speak English the entire time they are here. The students can join many different programs. They have one day programs where you come and take a class of your choice. There are weekend programs, where the students arrive on Saturday, and spend the night and leave Sunday afternoon. Special Programs are usually for High school students who come for 2 to 5 days. In the One Week Program (This is the program Chris and I currently work in) a school is brought to the campus for one week. They arrive on Monday and leave on Friday. At our school we also have two Vacation Intensive Programs (VIP). During Winter or Summer VIP a large group of students stay on campus for a entire month including weekends. These programs are held during public school winter or summer vacations.

The EV we work for is owned and run by the government. The government often decides which schools in the province will attend the EV.  Many of the other EVs were built by private investors and 3 of the schools that were built by the government are now run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA). We worked at three SDA EV’s but did not like their program. We now work for the Government run Paju English Village and love the school and the way the programs are run.  Paju EV is designed to look like an American College. The architecture of the buildings are of western design. It is a park that opens and closes every day. We live on Main Street / Market Street. There is childrens music playing outside our window and I can here children laughing. I feel like I am at Disneyland. It is a very beautiful facility. Many movies, music videos and commercials are filmed on this campus.  Here is a link to a Korean Drama that was filmed on our campus. Most of the outdoor shoots and the auditorium were filmed at Paju EV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3C1f9JWTyc. We really like working at this EV. It is the best job we have had in Korea. A good way to judge if a school is good is to find out how many foreign employees resign after their first year vs. how many sign on for a second year.

International Schools

We don’t know much about International schools. They are considered the 2^nd best type of school to work at in Korea. Universities are noted as the best. We think that International schools are taught completely in English.

University
University jobs are the best ones to get in Korea. They pay a lot of money and you only work 3 or 4 days a week and you have long vacation periods during school vacations where you do not have to teach. Usually you have to have a Masters Degree and at least 2 years teaching experience in Korea (preferably at university level) before you can get one of these jobs.

You have to be careful when applying for a university job there are two types. The first one is where you are a professor teaching college students at a university. The other type of job is just a hogwan that is taught on a university campus.  If you are seeking a university job be VERY careful to make sure it is truly a university job, not a hagwon.