“My personal preference is to avoid (hagwons) like the plague”
When I first started this article, almost nine months ago, I wrote that I would do everything possible to avoid working for a private English academy, known as a hagwon. They don’t have the best reputation, notorious for shady contracts and employment methods in the grey area of legal.
However, despite my concerns, I ended up being won over by a hagwon in a great location of Korea, right outside Seoul. I loved my classes, loved my kids, and was really hoping that I could re-contract for a second year.
When we came back from the Lunar New Year holidays though, that all changed.
I came back to find a schedule for the new school semester, and I was mysterious absent from it. After questioning further, I discovered it was the worst: my contract was being cancelled, six months early. Naturally, I was devastated, wanting to know why, what had I done, why hadn’t someone given me any warning at all that there might have been issues with my job. No matter what I asked though, I was given a vague answer, unable to reference to anything specific that had happened. It was a classic hagwon horror story.
In the span of about 48 hours, I managed to make it through most of the stages of grief over my job. I was shocked, and then I was furious. I’d done so many good things with my students! Didn’t that count? I tried to ask for a second chance, or a transfer to a different school. I could have tried more for the transfer, but later I realized leaving the company would be the best for me after the whole ordeal. After all that, I found myself stuck at depressed.
Had I been given a reason, or even some kind of hint before, things would be different. I hadn’t been told of any parent complaints though, and there hadn’t been any feedback on my lessons in months. I thought I was doing fine. At the same time though, I’d had a strange feeling in my gut since he beginning of January about my job and re-contracting.
The worst part was that I had to work and pretend that nothing was wrong for an entire month. Eventually, it became easier to accept I was leaving, and my lessons continued to be the best they could be. By the end of February, I was looking forward to being finished my job, despite being unsure if I would even be able to get another job and be able to stay in Korea.
This story has a happy ending, thankfully. At the last second, with sheer luck, I was able to get a public school position across town from where I was teaching before. I moved to a really nice new apartment, and was able to start work the day after finishing at my last job. It’s been fantastic so far.
While I am really thankful with how my luck played out, I’m still upset that being treated this way as an employee is almost to be expected now, no matter where you are on earth. I’d like to think that employers will get better soon, but I won’t hold my breath.
eek! I really hope that doesn’t happen to me, I am going to be starting out teaching over there in a Hagwon. I haven’t heard good things about many of them, but I talked with other teachers there, and the teacher I am replacing is leaving for a public school position closer to his fiance. Everything seems to be ok, I’ve talked with them a lot… but I’m still scared.
I’m sure you’ll be fine. Nobody goes ranting on their blogs about their good experiences. 😉 However, keep your wits about you. Don’t gossip, try be friends with everyone, and you’ll be okay. I know it sounds obvious, but I’ve noticed in both my workplaces here, gossip is extra poisonous. So don’t let anyone get pissed off with you, and you’ll be fine. And always remember, in the eyes of the owner, you’re replaceable. There are a million other people willing to teach, so if they tell you to jump, it’s sometimes just easier to ask “How high?” and then complain to people so unrelated to your workplace that it will never come back to haunt you. 😉 Because you may be asked to do something you really don’t agree with, especially if you care about being a teacher (Like passing a student who is dumb as a rock to the next level up, even if they can’t even say their name. I’d been told to do that once or twice, and it was torture because I really want these kids to LEARN, not just be passed through the levels and think they’re okay at English when they’re not.)
Hello! Thanks for your post? Did you by any chance work at the Maple Bear in Jamsil? I am changing from my old hagwon (which was awesome) to a new one because mine is going out of business unfortunately. Thanks!
Hey! No, sorry, I was in the Anyang location. I don’t know about that location, but I can say that I never really had any issues with Maple Bear’s teaching methods or ideals (unlike when I look at schools like Poly or whatever who work the kids and teachers WAY too hard). So it will all come down to your co-workers. 🙂
Hi. Would you recommend working at maple bear Anyang? Is it just another hagwon or a legit school? How were you treated?
Thanks!!
Maple Bear is a hagwon. The entire teaching staff has rotated out of there since I left in 2010, so I can’t say anything about the academic director or the coordinators, because I have never met them. However, Mr.Lee is still the administrative director (aka owner) and I didn’t like him at all. However, Anyang is an amazing city, so there is a huge tradeoff. I didn’t fit in the hagwon environment. Some can, some can’t. All comes down to knowing yourself and how you work.
Thanks Rebecca! I really appreciate you sharing your experience.
Blessings.