Hi,
I'm a UK trained primary age teacher looking to move to Seoul in South Korea.
As far as I can tell the only schools teaching a UK curriculum there are Dulwich College, Seoul Foreign School - British Dept and Eton Prep House.
Am I missing any? Any opinions on the above schools?
There's some stuff about Dulwich on here which looks great, but the Seoul Foreign stuff is mainly about the US curriculum part and Eton House seems fairly new and I can't find much information?
Also I know a little bit about Korea but much of the information relates to ESL teachers, what should expectations be regarding: salary? Benefits? Housing? Working hours? etc.
Opinions?
Thank you for your help!
Seoul, Korea
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MedellinHeel
- Posts: 169
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:59 am
Re: Seoul, Korea
I imagine it wouldnt be easy to just target one city and expect to land a job there. Might want to cast your net a bit wider imo.
Re: Seoul, Korea
Thanks for your response.
Of course I will be looking at other options as well but this post was made to find out more information about Seoul and the schools there. Thanks again for your advice.
Of course I will be looking at other options as well but this post was made to find out more information about Seoul and the schools there. Thanks again for your advice.
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MedellinHeel
- Posts: 169
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:59 am
Re: Seoul, Korea
hadrosaur wrote:
> Thanks for your response.
> Of course I will be looking at other options as well but this post was made
> to find out more information about Seoul and the schools there. Thanks
> again for your advice.
Just checking lol You would be surprised at some people's plans or expectations.
> Thanks for your response.
> Of course I will be looking at other options as well but this post was made
> to find out more information about Seoul and the schools there. Thanks
> again for your advice.
Just checking lol You would be surprised at some people's plans or expectations.
Re: Seoul, Korea
Thanks. Any opinions on expectations for Korea or the UK schools out there?
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jessiejames
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:00 pm
Re: Seoul, Korea
SFS is a very religious school. This will affect you in some ways e.g. they provide an apartment and you are not allowed to have guests overnight, as far as I remember. Something to bear in mind. Overall it seems like (edited my moderator - Please do not post school evaluation type material to the forum)
Re: Seoul, Korea
Thanks for the info,worth knowing. Any idea on the other 2?
Re: Seoul, Korea
SFS and Dulwich College are probably both... (edited by forum moderator - please do not post school evaluation type material to the forum) . I don’t know much about Eton Prep House. Cool neighborhood though. Actually SFS and Dulwich are in nice areas of Seoul too. I’ve never taught UK curriculum, so can’t speak on that. Decent sized UK/Irish expat community though.
Salary and Benefits good at the schools you mentioned. You should be able to live a comfortable life and leave with a nice chunk of change. Not crazy money but about as high as it gets in Korea for IT’s. All teachers everywhere work long and hard but there’s something different about Korean work culture, even in IS’s sometimes quantity trumps quality. Long days, lots of extra events you’ll be expected to attend or supervision.
Housing will be comfortable at both places but yeah, unless you are very religious….SFS won’t be a good fit.
Life in Seoul and Korea is very easy compared to pretty much any other post. Super wired, transportation is easy, survival Korean is easy to learn, cost of living is high but Korean food and transportation are cheap, insurance too. Virtually no crime. I’ve never lived anywhere, that felt safer. Lots to do and see, great hub for travel, nightlife, markets, hiking, skiing, four seasons. Pollution is bad but much worse in other parts of Asia. You’re not going to be best buddies with a bunch of Koreans, friendly but welcoming you into their homes and world is just not the culture.
Salary and Benefits good at the schools you mentioned. You should be able to live a comfortable life and leave with a nice chunk of change. Not crazy money but about as high as it gets in Korea for IT’s. All teachers everywhere work long and hard but there’s something different about Korean work culture, even in IS’s sometimes quantity trumps quality. Long days, lots of extra events you’ll be expected to attend or supervision.
Housing will be comfortable at both places but yeah, unless you are very religious….SFS won’t be a good fit.
Life in Seoul and Korea is very easy compared to pretty much any other post. Super wired, transportation is easy, survival Korean is easy to learn, cost of living is high but Korean food and transportation are cheap, insurance too. Virtually no crime. I’ve never lived anywhere, that felt safer. Lots to do and see, great hub for travel, nightlife, markets, hiking, skiing, four seasons. Pollution is bad but much worse in other parts of Asia. You’re not going to be best buddies with a bunch of Koreans, friendly but welcoming you into their homes and world is just not the culture.
Re: Seoul, Korea
Hi DragonGuy,
Thanks for the detailed response, much appreciated!
Thanks for the detailed response, much appreciated!
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MedellinHeel
- Posts: 169
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:59 am
Re: Seoul, Korea
Not sure id say COL in Korea is high. Apartments, food, medical visits, and transportation is or can be very cheap. If someone wanted to they could live off 300-500 won a month assuming housing was provided. The only things id classify as expensive in Korea are Western style restaurants, imported food, and having a new smart phone (which is the same as USA cost) which are all optional.
Re: Seoul, Korea
MedellinHeel wrote:
> Not sure id say COL in Korea is high. Apartments, food, medical visits, and
> transportation is or can be very cheap. If someone wanted to they could
> live off 300-500 won a month assuming housing was provided. The only things
> id classify as expensive in Korea are Western style restaurants, imported
> food, and having a new smart phone (which is the same as USA cost) which
> are all optional.
you probably mean 300,000-500,000 a month. that's true, but not really sure you'd want to. that's a lot of disgusting congealed rice stuff in spicy sauce! but it can be done - living like a hermit in the hermit kingdom!
v.
> Not sure id say COL in Korea is high. Apartments, food, medical visits, and
> transportation is or can be very cheap. If someone wanted to they could
> live off 300-500 won a month assuming housing was provided. The only things
> id classify as expensive in Korea are Western style restaurants, imported
> food, and having a new smart phone (which is the same as USA cost) which
> are all optional.
you probably mean 300,000-500,000 a month. that's true, but not really sure you'd want to. that's a lot of disgusting congealed rice stuff in spicy sauce! but it can be done - living like a hermit in the hermit kingdom!
v.
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MedellinHeel
- Posts: 169
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:59 am
Re: Seoul, Korea
vandsmith wrote:
> MedellinHeel wrote:
> > Not sure id say COL in Korea is high. Apartments, food, medical visits, and
> > transportation is or can be very cheap. If someone wanted to they could
> > live off 300-500 won a month assuming housing was provided. The only things
> > id classify as expensive in Korea are Western style restaurants, imported
> > food, and having a new smart phone (which is the same as USA cost) which
> > are all optional.
>
> you probably mean 300,000-500,000 a month. that's true, but not really sure you'd
> want to. that's a lot of disgusting congealed rice stuff in spicy sauce! but it can
> be done - living like a hermit in the hermit kingdom!
>
> v.
yea, thousands.
lol 300k would be tough which would be a lot of kimbab and ramen, but 500k not so much. enough for a 6k soup for lunch and a cooked meat and veg for dinner.
> MedellinHeel wrote:
> > Not sure id say COL in Korea is high. Apartments, food, medical visits, and
> > transportation is or can be very cheap. If someone wanted to they could
> > live off 300-500 won a month assuming housing was provided. The only things
> > id classify as expensive in Korea are Western style restaurants, imported
> > food, and having a new smart phone (which is the same as USA cost) which
> > are all optional.
>
> you probably mean 300,000-500,000 a month. that's true, but not really sure you'd
> want to. that's a lot of disgusting congealed rice stuff in spicy sauce! but it can
> be done - living like a hermit in the hermit kingdom!
>
> v.
yea, thousands.
lol 300k would be tough which would be a lot of kimbab and ramen, but 500k not so much. enough for a 6k soup for lunch and a cooked meat and veg for dinner.
Re: Seoul, Korea
Thanks for the responses guys, interesting to read.
What sort of package would you expect in Korea?
Any other pitfalls to look out for?
What sort of package would you expect in Korea?
Any other pitfalls to look out for?
Reply
@hadrosaur
In recruitment the biggest issue is course load and work schedule, the expectation at even bottom tier ISs is you will essentially work forever. SK ISs tend to just heap more tasking on ITs, its part of the culture. Ask questions by email if you cant get a commitment in writing int he contract about the number of teaching hours and the number of contract hours, the arrival and departure times for the day and how many meetings and ASPs you will need to contribute too.
In recruitment the biggest issue is course load and work schedule, the expectation at even bottom tier ISs is you will essentially work forever. SK ISs tend to just heap more tasking on ITs, its part of the culture. Ask questions by email if you cant get a commitment in writing int he contract about the number of teaching hours and the number of contract hours, the arrival and departure times for the day and how many meetings and ASPs you will need to contribute too.