Just resigned from my hagwan. . .already have new job  

TheFuturePhD 3/10/2009 2:10 am	Okay, so I just resigned from my hagwan, my "school" from Hell. Let me describe to you my process of getting here. I contact this recruiter (let's call him turd blossom) and give him my information. He seems knowledgeable and smooth and since I wanted to travel, I decided to give him a shot. I asked for three things: 1) No Kindergarten: He tells me I would have to take it because that way I would get full time pay. I tell him I have no skill and no ability with children that young and would be "very unhappy." He tells me "no, it's a breeze." 2) High School: I am at my best in a high school setting, being certified high school history/government. He says he can only do elementary, then gives me hours horror stories about high schools in Korea. 3) Public School: Charter Schools in the States are just like "private academies;" they look at students as clients and customers and truly do not have the interests of their students or teachers at heart. It's either a profit motive or simply a way for sociopaths to get instant credibility. Hagwans and charter schools are businesses, not schools, and I did not want to work in a place with the business mentality. He tells me "it's different here in Korea." Of course, I ask around and get nothing but bullshit from people he tells me to talk to. I even the the line "my girlfriend will be working there. Will I send her to a garbage place?" So, I sign my contract, after Turd Blossom says "I worked to get you more pay." I told him this might not work out because I have no experience with elementary. I have no experience with kids under 12 years old period. Turd Blossom blows off my fears and away I come. Five weeks in, there's a problem. Apparently the Director (let's call him Inept Douchebag) doesn't believe I am using my prep time effectively because he never sees me working. I lose it. I have 95 minutes of prep time. It takes me 20 to do my lesson plans. He threats to can me after five weeks. Read Flags go up. Between then and now, I have limited communication with him. Indept Douchebag hides in his office and barely speaks to me. I truly have so little to say to him that I avoid him completely. In January, Indept Douchebag alienates his second in command, tipping his hand and forcing a resignation. Three teachers follow. Suddenly, Turd Blossom weasels his way into a position of power in the hagwan, exhibiting no real leadership or consensus building skills. Suddenly, complaints start rolling in about me. Of course, I am told of none of this, so I keep teaching the way I have been for the previous four years. Then today, the crap hits the fan. I am called into a meeting and given the ultimatum: "We have had numerous complaints . You need to change the way you teach [This is an insult to any professional teacher who knows their system works]. You lost the faith in the parents . You need to change. This is my last warning ." I am floored. Inept Douchebag doesn't communicate, doesn't lead and doesn't do anything . . . he sits on his computer and does nothing all day everyday. Hagwan teacher complaints are taken as absolute truth by this piece of crap because he is losing money and panicking. I already have a contract and a PASS with EPIC. I start working April 1st. I was out of this hagwan even before this crap happened. I was just waiting for the time. This exercise in inept school management forced my hand about three days sooner than I expected to resign. Here are the complaints: a) I asked a student to get me chair because he was sitting next to it. b) I talk too fast. c) I don't explain anything, even though I explain EVERYTHING. d) I tell the kids about my family when they ask, instead of teaching all the time. Even though the material takes me 20 minutes to go over. e) I wore my yarmulke to school for a Jewish holiday and had the audacity to answer questions about it. f) By the end of the day, my feet smell from standing and working all day and the kids don't like it (even though they smell like rotting cabbage and dead fish ALL the time). g) I yell at the kids for not saying "please," "thank you," "you're welcome," and for being rude and disrespectful. h) I play too rough with the kids (even though they tackle me all the time). Notice the ticky-tack bullcrap! Again, none of this was communicated to me at all. Good riddance and goodbye. The final note: They are threatening to deport me, even though I know the way around the system. I never do anything without checking on anything anyway. The breach of contract is only a small part of my problem with this place. I feel I was lied to repeatedly, misused and abused. I was even attacked on the job by Turd Blossom. I have been made to feel completely worthless at this place and that I don't know what I am doing. To be honest, I have set curriculum, observed teachers, presented workshops, let professional development, mentored teachers and been used as a master teacher by universities. I come to a Hagwan in Korea and am treated like some do nothing simp who barely has the brains to stand up and walk upright. I am glad this is over at this place. I start my new job April 1st at a public school. . .more money, less hours, better working conditions and more intelligent professional educators, not warm, white bodies. Hell, I might even be able to employ more interactivity with the kids and teach them the way I usually teach without some spoiled, rich "too much time on her hands" Korean housewife and her little bratty "Chaewon" or "Juna" complaining that "teacher yelled at me for no reason."
obama 6 posts 3/12/2009 10:32 pm	cheers man
DarkWolf1974 23 posts  6/3/2009 11:18 am	Good on yah! Tell those b*stards where to go Shit always hits the fan when an educational institution doesn't get the results they wanted - and their new guy always cops the flack F*ck 'em and move on, I say