Here it is, what you all have been waiting for: your chance to bitch about EPIK...just kidding. Post here about problems you have experienced with the EPIK Program and be sure to let people know which POE it was so that they can better chose which POE they want to go to. You can also use this space to write about how the program can be improved so we can submit a recommendation manual to both every POE and the main EPIK office.
Does you EPIK POE do something good? Write about that too so it can be included in the list of suggestions for the program as a whole.
EPIK Contract
Here is one recommendation I think should be made to the EPIK Contract.
There should be a stipulation in the contract saying that foreign teachers should not be required to go to school over the vacation if they do not have classes.
I agree
I would have gone completely round the f*cken twist if I had stayed at school over spring break instead of taking my remaining holidays. My room was being revamped by carpenters so I didn't even have a computer. I was going to be stuck in a teachers' room with a book.
us over the vacation
this was a big problem for me also.
since December 29, 2006 thru February 6, 2007 was
the winter vacation for my school. i had 10 business days
of winter camp from Jan. 4th ~ 17th and from 18th ~31st, the principal
allowed me to prepare for the next years lesson plan
at home. i were to prepare every lesson activity for
1,2, and 3 grade in middle school units 1~6.
that's 18 different activity plans!!
however, i was appreciative of the fact that i could stay
at home and work instead of coming to school
where only three people are there to work including
the vice principal.
the korean teachers during the vacation time only come
to school for two days which they can pick. however,
we, the native speakers, are under the contract that says
only 14 days of holiday is allowed.
so for the long spring break (Feb.9th ~ Mar. 1st),
i was told to come to school from 8:25 ~ 4:30
where there was no one except those three other teachers.
i thought i was going to die!! i had nothing to do since i
had all my lesson plans prepared, no other assigned work to do,
and no one to talk to. i seriously thought about quitting the job.
to not lose the already well-trained Epik teachers, whoever
is in charge of the program should re-consider the contract.
if not, they will keep losing us, and thus will have to train
others and the cycle will never end.
i'm not sure how much of impact our opinions will have
to the supervisors, but we all should do something about it.
maybe we should petition it! ^_^
that's all i have to say so far.
i will come back with more suggestions.
Office days
I had to come to school every day of both breaks, but at least they were quite productive. The school had the students visit me every day for two hours and they also allowed me to come at 9 and leave at 3 (or sometimes as early as 2) as opposed to the usual 8:30 to 4:30. Mostly the time with students is just for conversation time (mostly, I just played Super Mario on the computer with them while explaining the game and giving instructions in English ;) ). If they're going to have us come to school every day in breaks, I think it'd be better if they cut down the hours or have us do something worth our time.
Incidentally, my coming to school every day actually appears to have improved my standing with the other teachers greatly. ;)
A few comments on EPIK
I think the program would be better if we were allowed to have longer holidays esp. if there are no classes. Even if I didn't get paid. I need the extra time to visit my family in Canada - 2 weeks isn't enough!
I had the entire month of February off but had to stay in my town. I was told to let the supervisor know if I even went 1 hour away to go shopping! However, I wasn't expected to stay at the office : )
I agree with the idea of training the teachers to co-teach better and also with giving the Foreign teachers a schedule (even a tentative one).
I also think that decent housing is a must! Both quality and size are important - I have no office at any of my 7 schools and need an extra room for an office to do preparation.
A suggestion for EPIK generally would be to hire foreigners to be supervisors for the native teachers in each province. This person could make regular trips to visit each and every foreign teacher and make sure that their concerns are heard. In other words represent them to the POE's. Another service this person could do is to be there in emergencies for them - esp. medical ones like Liz experienced all alone!
This person would need to know passable korean and be aware of cultural issues, necessities for living and be experienced in conflict resolution.
Oh and a supervisor that speaks decent English would help!
Foreign Liason With EPIK
Jeju had several foreign teachers who live here and are married to Koreans acting as liasons between EPIK teachers and the POE. They were teaching at the foreign language center and this role was supposed to count towards some of their class time or something.
It was great and just when they were supposed to come to check the housing of all the foreign teachers to make sure everything was in order and they had all the appliances and what not, they had a falling out with someone at the foreign language center and this position vanished. The Korean person said they were going to be the liason so, as you can imagine, there is now no outlet for communication, emails don't get returned, and nothing gets done.
Having some foreigners serving as liasons is a great recommendation!
I personally do not like the
I personally do not like the idea of hiring foreigners to be supervisors in each province, although it will be implemented when EPIK transfers in September. I think this will not help at all. The person will be powerless to get anything done unless they work in the Korean chain of command, which means making a complaint to them will result in the same dramas that happen when you take your issue out of the school (i.e. going over the school's head). I also worry that foreigners in this role will just put other wonomins down.
The un-Orientation
I think the whole orientation itself needs to be overhauled. Sure, the trips were nice and some of the lectures were useful (somewhat), but some of the stuff we did seemed pointless. There should have been better overviews on possible scenarios involving communication difficulties, the educational climate in the rural areas in contrast to the cities, and more on pedagogical theory. Another thing that should have been discussed are educational policies that are typically enforced in the Korean school system, tax information, and all that bureaucratic stuff. Also, there should at least have been a class on functional Korean. Learning Hangeul was all fine and dandy, but I don't think I needed to learn that Darth Vader represents the negative aspect while Obi Wan represents the positive.
Orientation cultural sensitivity programme
I get Darth Vader and Obi Wan mixed up all the time.
I think the Orientation was a perfect time to introduce everybody to cultural sensitivity issues. It could have been done perfectly by getting everybody from different English speaking countries to compare their beliefs and values. This would have been beneficial in several ways:
* comparing cultural differences in an English speaking group removes the alienation experienced in a foreign language setting and therefore is a soft introduction to the issue
* it strengthens the bonds between teachers and goes towards developing a sense of collegiality
* it allows people to acknowledge and develop their sense of identity within the new environment- which includes other native teachers, not just Koreans
* it would go some way towards encouraging an appreciation for diversity in English speaking backgrounds among the EPIK administration, which hopefully would filter down.
"EPIK? What's that?"
Another thing EPIK also ought to do is at the very least have the provincial officials notify districts earlier about the program and when new foreigners are coming. My main co-teacher did volunteer for co-teaching, but until recently, she had no clue what EPIK was nor had she ever heard a vague mentioning of it. From the e-mails we've been getting on Google Groups, it also seems that school districts don't know that they're getting new foreign teachers at the very last minute, thus making it difficult for both the co-teacher and the foreign teacher (and possibly straining relationships earlier). EPIK is a major national program backed by the national education system and yet people working in the system don't even know about it. I suppose it's somewhat understandable for smaller programs or private recuriters, but for a nationally-sponsored program, they need to be more professional.
EPIK Program is good for me
As to suggestions for EPIK: I have been reluctant to say much all along because I didn't want people to be too jealous.
I feel that I have been treated very well. I have a good apartment, clean safe elevator building with modern eqipment including a stove with an oven. I work with six different teachers and have found them all very personable and competent and for the most part easy to work with. I have had help from my cooperating teacher and from district personnel and from older EPIK techers in my district. The things that make me crazy in Korea are for the most part not the school's fault nor have anything to do with EPIK.
I was just in New York City and interviewed to teach in the private schools there next year. It isn't going to work out because I was only there for ten days and you need to be in the city for a longer time to do the leg work and multiple interviews etc. In weighing what I would gain and lose, I would gain a more interesting lifestyle and return to a community of friends I cultivated over 20 years of living in NYC.
But I would have to work more hours for less pay live far from my school because the pay would not cover the rent and lviing expenses and the students would not be so sweet. So I am expecting to renew my contract here hoping my second year wil be as good as my first.Now today I have been thinking about the one thing I wish could change but probably won't because of the Korean culture which I am learning does not plan ahead. (Who would have guessed from the extremely well planned to the minutest detail triaining program of Betty Chang?) I've been asking for two months what my Spring assignment will be.
Another teacher in my district wanted to be in middle school and I was interested in trying elementary and we both expressed these opinions to our supervisor in January. Friday, we were told that there would be no changes. Today --- Today -- (school has been in session for almost a month although I've only been in my school for two days) -- there will be a meeting of all the Korean and native speaker English teachers with the supervisor to discuss our assignments.
By now, I am happily back at my middle school, have made introductory lessons in four classes, have been thinking of how to improve my teaching and what materials from last semester I can recycle and what I need to work on new. By now, I no longer want to change. If this afternoon, they tell me that my whole life is going to be different starting tomorrow, I will be very upset.
So, if there is any way to get POE offices to understand the American / western need to know in advance, that would be great. But I don't think we should count on it. Maybe what is needed is for this last minute assignment thing to be discussed in the culture classes during the training so we are not blindsighted by it and so that we don't feel we are just left out of the loop. As has been poitned out, Korean teachers don't know much in advance either.
Teachers need
Korean teachers need to know it is normal for a Westerner to do things by themselves on occassion. It does not necessitate outpourings of sympathy. E.g. Catching the plane by yourself to go and see friends (but not actually having friends on the plane with you) is perfectly normal.
LOL. Update on this post (somewhat tongue-in-cheek). I asked a friend of the teacher who had expressed sympathy over the plane flight what the teacher could possibly have meant. She told me, "Well, you don't know the way!" I told her I wasn't going to be flying the plane, just sitting in there as a passenger, and she lost it laughing.
Later on I told her I had been a taxi driver in Melbourne. "By yourself?" she asked. I guess I could have told her it was just me and my guardian angel.