American STEM Prep Kinder (Gwanggyo)

On the surface level, this job had such potential to be a great job. You are granted a bit more freedom in the classroom, your co-workers seem (key word being seem ) nice and care about education and their jobs, and the vacation time is more generous than traditional hagwons.

However, that is on a surface level, and there were so many catches to this job.

1. Lack of professionalism, specifically in leadership.

* Head teachers are chosen based on admin s (who have no prior formal qualifications in education or leadership development) personal opinions on staff. Admin will specifically handpick head teachers who will submit to their every will without considering professional ramifications of any decisions that those head teachers will make. Because of the obvious favoritism, head teachers have abused their power by purposely assigning unreasonably excessive workload onto their teachers. For example, head teachers split lesson planning by giving their teachers 2-3 subjects each to plan and prepare materials for whilst they would assign themselves only one subject to plan and prepare for. There is only one head teacher in the entire kinder campus that fortunately is a fair leader, however this is only one out of many.

* Administration is constantly changing their minds when it comes to planning events, deciding curriculum standards, behavior management, and their opinions of employees. Their opinions and decision making is entirely based on their moods and how they are just feeling that day. Korean Teachers will work hard during event days only to have their ideas diminished and changed entirely by admin, who do nothing to help during event days and just merely stand and watch as KTs and FTs prepare and set up for events. Admin fails to communicate their desires for anything to foreign teachers, and relies solely on foreign head teachers to deliver feedback, which is rarely constructive and based entirely on personal opinions. In addition, because of admin s lack of decision making and communication, curriculum is constantly being changed. Lesson plans and materials that were agreed upon teachers as well thought get tossed because admin thinks they are boring , messy , too hard or too easy , when admin themselves never observe classes. Instead of observing classes or meeting with FTs to discuss curriculum or provide effective feedback, admin sits down in front of their computers for the whole day, sometimes on YouTube or online shopping.

* Behavior management is inconsistent and based entirely on whether or not they simply like the kid. There have been times where teachers have observed certain kids not receive discipline from admin, but instead admin will take said kid behind their desk and coddle them and offer them snacks. Certain students may cause disruption or uproar in the class, and it will be entirely up to the KT and FT to enact action because admin will simply give them a hug. On the other hand, when certain students are causing little to no harm, or may be in need of minor discipline, admin will yell at them unnecessarily. It all depends on how they personally feel about the student, class, and sometimes even the teachers of that class. ASP thrives on favoritism, needless to say, do not send your kid to this school.

2. Work environment (specifically with the foreign teachers).

* While on the outside, the teachers at ASP seem determined and dedicated to their work, they also thrive on one of the most cliquey type cultures someone would ever see.

* If you are not someone who consistently kisses up to administration, or is a yes man , you realize that there is a divide between the yes men and the others . Admin further exacerbates this gap between foreign teachers by showing the utmost favoritism and engagement with the yes men and subdued attitudes towards the other teachers.

3. Korean Teacher Quality.

* Unfortunately, most, if not all, of the Korean teachers at ASP Kinder do not have their foreign teachers back. Admin encourages, almost forces, the Korean teachers to report and gossip about any foreign teacher behavior to them, driving the gap between foreign staff and Korean staff even further. If a korean teacher does not like their foreign teacher for whatever reason, instead of communicating with their FT (if it is a case of their teacher), they will almost always report anything and everything to admin, causing the foreign teacher to get in trouble out of nowhere.

* Admin constantly will side with Korean teachers, even going as far to try to terminate their employees based on the opinions of the Korean teachers, without meeting with the FT and asking for clarifications.

* Korean teachers and admin will pose unreasonable and unqualified expectations onto foreign teachers, and will report them if they are not met. Again, this is usually done without ever meeting with foreign teachers. This has caused some foreign teachers to not trust their Korean teachers.

4. No training/no meetings

* Teachers (experienced or new) are told virtually nothing of their positions. Teachers are rarely told that they have to create their own lesson plans and prepare materials. While experienced teachers in Korea can somewhat navigate through this because of previous hagwon experience, new teachers are thrown into the job without being told of expectations, and how to even lesson plan.

* Some foreign teachers have unfortunately been subject to intense criticism and in some cases, termination, simply because Korean teachers and admin would complain that they were not prepared or did not know what to do , when teachers, in fact, literally do not know what to do because of the lack of training.

* In some cases, when teachers have inquired about lesson planning and how to plan appropriately to the schools standards, they have been simply told to just go on the Google drive and look at the stuff there , instead of a more detailed, adequate explanation.

* Regular staff meetings are never held, and all essential communication is done through KakaoTalk (yes, KakaoTalk, not even slack or teams) chats. Because of the lack of regular staff meetings, foreign teachers do not get the chance to have a space to air out any concerns or ask questions. In addition, this opens the door for further miscommunication as all communication is done through text messages instead of in formal meetings.

5. No employee protections

* As mentioned before, this school does not care about their foreign teachers, and funnily enough, their Korean teachers as well (although they are more protected than foreign teachers).

* There have been past instances of Korean teachers and foreign teachers not getting along, and whenever such issues are brought to admin, admin will continuously side with the Korean staff.

* [redacted]

It is simply easy to attribute a lot of this schools behavior to the Korean work culture , however, there has to be a point where even the culture should not be an excuse to explain unprofessional and toxic practices. There are other hagwons in Korea that, while having their own problems, are not as bad as American STEM Prep Gwanggyo Campus. It is not advised that anyone should work here. Teachers are severely underpaid in comparison to any other previous experience and their workload. It is also not advised that anyone should send their child to a school that can not decide on its own curriculum, let alone treats children differently based on any rapport admin may have with their families. Consider this your official warning to stay away from American STEM Prep Kinder Gwanggyo Campus.