South Korean Schools and The Soil Association

Two blog posts in two consecutive days can only mean I have two consecutive days off work. A rare occurrence that I like to make the most of. Catching up with family and friends has been what has made up the majority of my "mid-week weekend" but I've also spent a lot of time researching different teaching opportunities in South Korea.

It seems there are two types of schools to choose from when wanting to teach English in South Korea. The public school and the Hagwon.

We can start with the public school. This is very similar to what we have in England. Daytime classes, 30 kids in one class, most of the time the teacher will have an assistant Korean teacher and they are run by the South Korean government.

These are also, (according to my research) the schools where the jobs are the most secure. They pay around 1.8million Korean Won per month (£1,100), reimburse the flight tickets (to Korea, however if you see out your contract they would pay for your out flight too), on completion of your contract they give you an extra months pay and they provide fully-furnished, private accommodation.

The second option is the Hagwons. These are private schools that teach after the normal school hours so classes seem to run from around 4 or 5pm to 10pm. The advantages are they typically pay slightly higher compared to public schools and the classes are a lot smaller (under 10 per class). Although most do provide accommodation they don't seem to be to the same standard as the public school's housing. They also appear to give less other benefits and their holiday allowance is a lot less.

As Hagwons are private schools they are therefore run as businesses and the government have very little control over them. They are, apparently, just as much a business on the high street as a local supermarket, the hairdressers or a take-away shop. While I'm sure most Hagwons are run very well, I feel like it would be more of a risk going to a Hagwon than a government-run public school.

I am therefore leaning towards applying for public schools ahead of Hagwons but I am certainly not ruling Hagwons out just yet. I am very much keeping an open mind on where in Seoul I am based, what level of students I teach, the age of the students and the type of school I work in. I have no experience of any of those things so I am not in a position to drastically rule one type out ahead of the others. My gut feeling is that teaching 7-8 year olds, at elementary level in a public school is the best option. But if I were to teach teenagers, at intermediate level in a Hagwon, I'm sure that would be an equally rewarding experience.

On a different subject entirely, I have started a monthly donation to the Soil Association charity. This charity promotes organic farming, fair trade, healthy food, biodiversity and animal welfare in the U.K. They also fight against genetically modified farming and other harmful farming methods.

With their introduction pack that they sent to me a few weeks ago came a pack of seeds. I can't remember the name of the bush that the seeds produce but apparently they help sustain our bee population here in the U.K. I dug out a small patch of grass from our garden and laid the seeds on the bare soil, not really expecting too much from them. The other day I was in the garden and checked on how the seeds were going and to my elation, and surprise, a bunch of green sprouts were arising from the ground. "Mother of God" was my initial reaction.

The green sprouts kind of looks like weeds but I'm going to ignore that thought as my inexperience on planting bushes means I am not in a position to judge. I'm sure the sprouts look just like what they're supposed to. I hope.