Co-Teaching English in Korea
I’ve been asked through my YouTube channel (lenimida) to introduce my teaching life in Korea, so I thought I’d talk about my co-teaching experience here. Please keep in mind that what you’re about to read is my personal experience and every EPIK teacher’s co-teaching experience will differ tremendously depending on their individual circumstances. The relationship between you and your co-teacher(s) will depend on various factors, including but not limited to:
- Your communication/conflict resolution style
- Your co-teacher’s communication/conflict resolution style
- Your teaching style and how well it matches with your co-teacher’s teaching style
- Your school’s teaching philosophy and what they want from you as a Guest English Teacher (GET)
- Your school’s students (their motivation, English ability, and discipline)
To give a brief introduction of the Korean school system for those who aren’t aware, English education starts from grade 3 and is a mandatory class until high school. Kids have English class 2-3 times a week, and if the school is large, maybe only see their Native English teacher (like myself) once a week. Although the Korean government recognizes English as an important subject, it’s still considered a secondary subject compared with Math and Science. Kids in Korea receive a lot of homework from their other subjects, even in Elementary school, so English teachers tend not to give much (if any) for their classes. Therefore, as you can imagine, these Korean kids don’t get much exposure or practice with Korean. However, many parents, if they have the money, will send their kids to Hagwons (after school preparatory schools) to study more. That being said, even in the same class, there will be a large range in the students’ Korean abilities.
Now let’s talk co-teaching specifically. I teach with four different Korean co-teachers in my school, and they each have very different communication and teaching styles. Two of my co-teachers are new to teaching English and they take a more relaxed approach to teaching their classes. They are more flexible with teaching outside of the textbook and are fine with me switching around class activities or inserting a few unplanned pronunciation drills if I see the need to. Being new to teaching, I was initially uncomfortable with their suggestions to lead the class planning, but now that I’m a few months into teaching, I actually appreciate being given the flexibility. Their relatively hands-off approach makes me feel like my knowledge as a native English speaker is valued and appreciated.
My other two co-teachers are more experienced and are more set in their ways. One of them is very strict about sticking to pre-discussed activities and keeping to the time. While this makes for excellent time management (we always finish class on time and complete all pre-planned activities), it doesn’t allow me to tailor any of the activities to the class. For example, if I see a class struggling with pronouncing the key phrases, I naturally want to spend more time doing phonics drills and such, but when I look to my co-teacher, I see her pointing at the clock, reminding me that we have to progress to the next activity…
She’s very experienced as an English teacher as she teaches at multiple schools, and has taught for 7 years. As a result of being much more experienced than myself, I feel like she’s not as open to my suggestions. Rather, I often find her trying to correct my teaching style to be more like hers.
The other of my more experienced co-teachers, in contrast, doesn’t keep to time very well. She’s been a home room teacher for a few years, so she believes in enforcing discipline and teaching a good learning attitude over teaching the actual content of the class. As a result, I find sometimes find myself standing awkwardly off to the side of the class while she lectures the class in rapid Korean. ^^;
Despite working with so many different personalities, I believe I have a fairly good working relationship with all of them. There are times where I feel a bit put down, or frustrated at my co-teacher’s teaching styles, but luckily those times are not very often. I’ve been able to maintain a peaceful relationship with my co-teachers by accepting their advice and always voicing my opinions as suggestions (never as complaints or orders). My advice to current GETs who feel frustrated with their co-teaching situations is to approach your co-teachers with an open heart. Try to keep in mind that they have no reason to be against you personally, so if they come off as a little rude sometimes (which is possible), it’s most likely due to them not understanding the nuances in English and not understanding the subtle implications of what they’re saying sometimes. Keep in mind they are NOT native English speakers (despite being English teachers), and they are also from a very different cultural background than yourself, so of course cultural clashes could occur!
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