(Written August 6th)
Right now I'm sitting in a nearly empty school building, wondering if any of my 6 summer camp students will show up for class today. The last day of summer classes for the rest of the teachers was yesterday, but I still have to come and teach for 2 more days because "it's in my contract" that I have to teach a 3 week summer camp.
Nevermind that some of the other SMOE teachers got to condense or shorten camps to spend an extra week at home with their families during vacation. No, it is more important that I sit and Facebook in an empty building instead of being with my family and friends that I haven't seen in a year.
Nevermind that when it works in my school's favor, it's perfectly okay to break the rules. Example: SMOE recently issued a new rule that any teacher returning from a foreign country should stay home for a week so that they don't spread any potential swine flu or "new flu" germs. (it's called "new flu" here, because if they called it pig flu, Koreans would be too terrified to eat pig meat and the industry would crumble)
My VP wants me to come to school that week because there's a group of Japenese exchange students visiting and they want to show me off. My coteacher and I have already had to do several demo lessons this year showing off our "groundbreaking" ESL teaching methods. In Korea, whenever someone comes to observe your class, you are supposed to blow them away with a meticulously prepared, previously rehearsed lesson to make yourself look like a super teacher, and therefore make the school look good. It doesn't matter what you do on a regular basis, for this one demo lesson where people are watching, you are supposed to be a model of teaching perfection. Hence, most Korean teachers dread these "demo lessons" and avoid them like the plague.
I think this is ridiculous, and one of many, many complaints I have about the education system here, and the reason I was almost dreading the thought of another whole year. Back home, teacher observations were used as an opportunity to give constructive criticism and help you improve as a teacher, not hurl insults at you if your lesson is short of perfect.
Don't get me wrong, I like Korea. I like my life here, my friends, the country itself. But I think the school system is completely backwards. They think that by sticking a bunch of Native Speakers in the classrooms that they are being progressive and improving English education. But it's not working because there is very little we can do within the system itself. I feel like more of a figurehead and walking grammar book most of the time.
I'm staying with SMOE for 6 more months, because the pay and hours and vacation are very good compared to other jobs. Also because I like my students and my coworkers. I live and teach in an enviable area. However I cannot handle the chaos and illogic that is the school system here much longer. Fellow (foreign) teachers tell me to relax and stop taking it so seriously, but I can't. Teaching for me is a vocation and I have to believe in what I'm doing. I keep hoping that the situation will get better, but I keep having to put up with the same BS over and over. I'm ready to try something different.
Note: My students did show up for class today, 15 minutes late. They apologized and worked diligently on their projects for the rest of the period. They don't really get any credit for my class, they signed up voluntarily to improve their English. Kids like that are the reason I'm in this 'biz.
My busy little worker bees in Summer Camp:
