Reconsidering the Role of An Educator outside the Normal School Environment

Class, prep for class, sleep, class, prep for class, sleep...the normal cycle of being an "educator" in an "intensive" summer SAT program seemed to finally come back to me. Even though it has been more than a year and a half since I taught similar programs, it seems that I am having much easier time getting used to the life of an English teacher this time compared to the last few times. Perhaps it is really because that my discipline and worldview changed much since I went through my full-time job in Japan...

Perhaps, just perhaps...but what is interesting is that I can confidently say that I worked harder and had a much broader view of the world back when I was a Yale student (even though I am in many ways quite dissatisfied with it) and will certainly do when I start another tough year at LSE. My Japan experience should not play that big of a factor. So, I took a few minutes out of my prep time to rethink about exactly what is making my few days of teaching seemingly easier than my last few stints in Korea, China, and the US.

After a few minutes of reflecting on what I did in classes the past couple of days, I am beginning to consider that the perceived attitude toward teaching has seen a dramatic change, leading to my teaching methods being affected in some ways. Sure, some people (many of whom are currently teaching English in Korea and other countries with "English fevers") may have always bought in the beliefs that I will subsequently describe, but I, for one, am only coming to grips with its consequences in the past few days (or so I feel).

First, what really is a private education institute that parents pay too much money to send their kids for too long of hours everyday. I am inclined (and some part of me still agree) to think that these places (which we call "hagwons" 학원) exist because schools suck (which most people still cite as a major reason). In other words, hagwons have the responsibility to teach their kids academic knowledge the school have neglected to do or have done too sloppily.

But the reality is, unfortunately, by taking away the coercive nature of school grades and their enormous influences on the future of the students, hagwons, even when offering superior knowledge, has not given the students themselves (instead of the parents who are paying the cash) any incentive to really suck in all the knowledge they can from each of their countless hagwon experiences. And we, as hagwon operators, cannot do anything to exert pressure on the students or their parents without having the efforts backfired in a series of complaints and permanent leaves.

As a result, the hagwons, and us, the so-believed educators superiors to those in regular schools, have become nothing more than the servants of the consumers, unable to push ourselves forcefully for further effects. In fact, hagwons are really just playing it safe in many cases, offering the standard many-practices-and-some-feedback techniques that give the teachers not much of a role beyond knowledge-embodying figureheads that dispense answers and explanations that very much already exit in various prep books.

There are no revolutionary problem-solving strategies, no unique teaching techniques, and no need to act as innovative rebels within a saturated hagwon market. "This is a buyer's market," our head teacher has mentioned several times, and the buyers' wishes we shall follow. When the standard procedure for teaching SAT is to drill the students with mountains of practice questions and hope these guys eventually make the connection with our vaguely stated problem-solving techniques, we shall follow the lead, give much homework, and hope the kids figure out the patterns on their own.

To be honest, I have no problem with such current situation. While it may not be at the most effective place, uniformity and standardization of all hagwons toward some methods and curriculum that all parents and their students can handily anticipate and accept, there should be no problems with actual operations of the classes. The hagwons will be solely competing on the business side with sales and marketing, and those with big names and long reputations are bound to win. And it is on this business side that I hold quite a bit of confidence for my current workplace.