I have officially been teaching in South Korea for five months.
It's sorta crazy that it has already been that long, so I wanted to take a minute to reflect on my experiences thus far.
I have definitely sorted out that teaching isn't for me. The sustained levels of energy needed to constantly engage with 6-7 year olds for six straight hours is all but impossible for me to achieve. I don't dread going to school everyday like I did at the beginning. And I'm not mindlessly exhausted at the end of every day. But I don't really enjoy what I'm doing...and I think that's pretty telling.
I have settled into a routine of sorts with teaching. I better understand what the expectations are for me, and I have learned a few tricks to help me with classroom management.
As I looked back over my first post on teaching, I can say for certain that one thing has definitely changed. I have fallen a little in love with the students in my London class. As you would expect, there was an adjustment period where we were all getting used to each other. And it took me pretty much the entire first month to figure out what my teaching style was. So I can imagine it was hard for the students as I bumbled my way through a few different techniques of classroom management.
But once I settled into a style that worked for me, I felt them adjust and settle into the routine as well. Consistency was a big factor when working with animals, and it appears to be the key to working with small children as well.
I know my student's personalities better now, and it has definitely helped with my patience for their sometimes wayward behavior.
And now that they know me better as well, their willingness to participate and behave in class has also increased.
This is London classroom where I spend the majority of my day. (My afterschool classes are in different rooms on another floor.) The students are honestly some of the smartest six and seven year olds I ever met. They know things that I didn't learn till I was in, like, 3rd grade, AND they are able to converse about it in a second language. It's insane.
My students are the highest level students in the school and it shows. I very rarely have to change my normal way of speaking, with the occassional exception of advanced vocabulary words (they are only 6 after all). They have an amazing ability to retain information, and they learn new things really quick. (Although learning how to spell my name seemed to trip them up for a while.)
But don't be fooled too easily. They are still just kids, and they do and say things that any 6-7 year old would.
For example, one day, I missed my first two classes in order to go open a bank account. When I returned to school, I got the third degree from my students about where I'd been, what I'd been doing, why I'd been doing it, etc. And it lasted ALL day. They are incredibly nosy.
They touch EVERYTHING on my desk. Every single one of them has figured out the swipe code to unlock my phone. They put my earphones in their ears when I'm not looking. And the ONLY thing keeping them out of my laptop is the fingerprint ID needed to open it.
With children...nothing is sacred.
There are several things I have noticed about teaching in Korea. Bear in mind, these are only my opinions based on some observations I have made over the last five months. I'm going to break them down into sections since there isn't an easy way to transition from one point to the next.
First
There are two things about Korean school life that are VERY different from American school life. The first being that bullying culture is very real in Korea. As long as the bullying doesn't get too physcial in nature, it is usually ignored by the teachers. I'm not really sure why it is tolerated to the extent that it is, but I have heard some pretty brutal insults tossed back and forth between my students.
It is also pretty common for one student to get ostracized and made to be the "outsider" of the class. Since Korea values community over individuality, the mental and emotional effect this can have on the ostracized student can't be overstated. Again, I don't know why this issue isn't addressed.
In my opinion, it has something to do with the fact that Koreans don't like to be direct. As an American, this sorta blows my mind. As Americans, we are usually so direct it makes people uncomfortable. To address a bullying issue you would have to come at it directly, and that just isn't really how the culture works.
Which leads right into my second point. Koreans do not acknowledge learning difficulties or learning disabilities. I have a student in my London class who has the most textbook symptoms of ADHD but neither his parents nor the school will acknowledge it.
Instead, these children simply struggle. They don't know why they aren't able to learn as quickly as their peers and are often called stupid by their classmates. Their parents won't get them any help or medication to help them through what I consider to be an insanely competitive school environment.
School becomes impossible for these children and they grow to hate it.
Second
The longer I teach my students the more I realize how much teacher's everywhere are giving emotionally to their job. I see my students 6 hours a day and:
They tell me when they are tired.
They tell me to hang up their coats for them.
They tell me when their siblings are mean to them.
They tell me they're sorry they didn't do their homework, but their parents were too busy to help them.
They tell me when they get a cool new toy.
They tell me they went to the park and played over the weekend.
They tell me they drew this picture just for me.
They tell me they want to see pictures of my cats.
They tell me I'm too mean.
They tell me they love me.
And this is all in just one day. It is impossible to be with these students everyday and not feel responsible for them. How do you encourage a child when their parent is putting pressure on them to perform? How do you help build a child's confidence when the other students make fun of them? How do you bring a child in line when the only way they know how to get attention from anyone is by acting out?
These are impossible questions to answer. Yet, teachers face these problems and more everyday.
I have found that Koreans don't offer praise readily. Praising my students over small things like finishing their milk in the morning, or working quietly at their desk, created a need for more affirmation that spread like wildfire. Now, they intentionally seek out things that could result in praise from me. And if I praise one student for their good work, all the other students want to see what they did so they can copy it and get praised as well.
It made me realize it might be worthwhile to be more free with my praise in all of my interactions with Koreans. I don't think there is enough positive affirmation being given to people here and it shows.
Third
I continue to be grateful for the other foreign teachers at my school. If I had been teaching at a public school I would have been the only foreign teacher. The relationships I have begun to build with the other teachers is what gets me through most days. At this point, I can't imagine doing this job without them. Community is SUCH an important thing for teachers (especially foreign teachers) to have.
As is evidenced by this drawing another teacher left in my classroom. Only another teacher can understand the struggle of having no control somedays.
Overall, I have definitely been learning about patience...and a little about self-sacrifice. Being responsible for these students, I can't really say, "I'm tired this morning, go away" (although, sometimes......I REALLY wish I could). Most of the time, I have to remember that they are young and don't know about things like personal space, or that 9AM is too early in the day to scream at the top of your lungs.
So, more often then not, I have to tell myself to put down my phone or turn of my laptop and give them my time and attention. Not only is it kinda my job to do that, but I have to remind myself that this might be the only time during their day they get undivided attention. Maybe it will make a difference...or maybe it won't.
Either way, I remind myself it's important to try.
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