Kelly D
- 2019-02-07
I'd like to take the time to reply as this review may be making it difficult for my school to find my replacement. I took over after this teacher, and while I was not present for the 2017-2018 year, judging from the above review and the testimony of those who were there, it's a night and day difference. From last year's staff, only 2 teachers stayed on--- a very kind and quiet Korean English teacher, and a shell-shocked English native teacher. Both were keen on a fresh start after 3 Korean teachers left. We hired 2 new Korean teachers and they are both hardworking, funny, and friendly. Since getting to know them, my life here has gotten easier and easier. We function well as a little family, and I will really miss them when I go. 
At first though, it was tough. It was my first time really teaching, and in a new country, and all the stuff that goes with it. But I've learned that to thrive here, you just need to be flexible and not take anything personally. There have been many frustrating times, but in the end, I just sum it up to, "Well, that's Korea."
The lessons are almost all pre-made for you, and I've made a personal policy of not working outside of my 9-6 hours and I've only ever stayed late or come in early twice, for projects that I wanted to do a little extra on. This is not a desk-warming job, but instead calls for someone to be organized and ready to change course quickly. Because of the busy nature, I find the days go by quite fast.
In regards to my personal safety and privacy, I never felt invaded or spied on. The only time my boss has been at my door was when I overslept and was 45 minutes late for work (super embarrassing... but judging from their faces they genuinely thought I might be dead lol).
Anyway, we've been trying to find a suitable teacher to come and replace me, and it's coming time for me to leave and we're still looking. I thought maybe the right replacement for me could see the former review and pass over an opportunity that has changed so much since that time. I truly feel badly to leave my awesome coworkers here and I don't want them left high and dry. If anyone wants more info, feel free to contact me and I can provide more about my experiences.
Daegu Chimsan Worwick Franklin Institute
The school sounds good on paper and their curriculum is great, that being said the issue is the current owners and staff. I was one of four teachers to leave within a year and I am hoping this post will educate others before they consider working for these people. I was hired as a first year teacher, replacing the one who left for “personal reasons”, to be a home room assistant and teach a few classes on my own. Before the end of the year I was put in charge of an entire homeroom of 9 kids and teaching 9 periods back to back 9-6, mon -fri, no Korean co-teacher and definitely no pay raise. All of the responsibilities were not the issue, it was tough but doable as long as one was extremely organized- juggling two self planned cooking classes, two self planned craft classes, and being the token english speaking MC for all events - to name a few duties.
What was the issue was the constant abuse that interfered with teaching - the 11th month firing when I said I didn’t want to sign on for another year - the breaking into my apartment to “fix” items and not asking my permission (I installed a camera once I thought they were going to take my passport) - the pulling me aside during class period to tell me how bad at my job I was - they stopped speaking to me entirely for a while and communicated with app translators, aggressive emails, and passive aggressive whiteboard messages… these are just a few of the crappy things they did. I learned to record all meetings I was involved with and didn’t try to hide it, until one meeting about my contract. My boss grabbed my phone and tried to turn off the app, she failed, later she sent me a email claiming it was illegal to record meetings and to never do it again. I can’t begin to truly explain the level of disregard these owners have for their teachers - Korean and native english speakers. I truly felt that I was a necessary component for their business but beyond that they couldn’t care less. Which would have been fine but for the fact the school was so small and the entire network depended upon a team working environment.
I have records of all meetings and emails if anyone wants more information, testimony and contact info from the former coworkers that I am happy to share. Lastly I just want to say, there are many great hogwans in Daegu, this isn’t one of them, do yourself and me a favor - avoid this one. Use the groups on facebook and other sites to check out the area you’re interested in and just chuck this place up to the blacklist gods. - I wish you all luck.