The Hagwon Job Structure

No matter the age,  Korean students study like crazy

While most hagwons differ in schedule and job duties, here is an example of what you can expect at the average academy:

Hours

When first perusing a hagwon contract or job posting it's likely that the job description will note "up to 30 hours of teaching per week." It's important to differentiate that these 30 hours only include the classes you will teach. Most hagwons expect you to show up to school at least an hour before your first class in order to prepare your lessons; some will give you more lesson planning time.

By law, hagwons are required to pay overtime for each teaching hour* over the 30 classroom hours an employee works per week. The hourly amount should be listed in your contract.

One important thing to note about hours worked is the amount of extra duties that many hagwons require from their employees. Duties such as report cards, phone studies and general cleaning of the school are usually done after hours and are not included in your 30 work hours.

*teaching hours can be considered forty or fifty-minute continuous blocks of classroom instruction time

Breaks

Depending on your work schedule, sometimes hagwon employees will not a get a lunch break during the work day. There are usually 5 to 10 minute breaks between classes in which most teachers will have time to prepare for the next class or quickly eat something.

A few hagwons provide lunch for the staff, but more often than not you ought to be prepared and have food on hand. Teaching can be emotionally draining, so it's always a good idea to have some nutritious food just in case you don't have time to slip out to a restaurant or food stand.

Classes

One perk of teaching in a hagwon is the significantly smaller class sizes teachers have. The average class ranges anywhere from 3 to 15 students, therefore it's much easier to build relationships with these students.

Foreign teachers will often have one to three Korean co-teachers for each class they teach, but each teacher covers a different subject. Most foreign teachers cover conversational or writing classes, while Korean teachers are likely to cover grammar, reading and listening. It is rare to ever teach a class with a co-teacher at the same time, and most hagwons give a lot of freedom regarding lessons plans, given the teachers cover the material the hagwon director has chosen.

Other duties hagwon teachers can expect are creating and grading tests and correcting written work assignments.

An Average Day

Here is an example of an average work day from my experience.

11:30 a.m. The assistant director picks me up at my apartment to take me to an outsourcing class located approximately 20 minutes away. After the class ends at 1 p.m. I am driven to my hagwon to prepare for the rest of the day's lessons.

1:30-3:00 p.m. I work on preparing my lessons. Sometimes this includes making tests, grading homework or generally looking up activities to supplement whatever lesson I am teaching that day.

3:00-5:00 p.m.  I teach my first two classes, which typically consist of lower-level elementary school students.

5:00-6:00 p.m. I have a free hour during which I can eat lunch/dinner and work on grading or making tests.

6:00-6:50 p.m. I teach a mid-level middle school class.

7:10-9:00 p.m. After a 20 minute break, my last two classes of the day consist of adult students.

9:00-9:20 p.m. On an average day I might stay 15 to 20 minutes after my last class to finish some last- minute work.

Although the amount of work hagwons expect is nothing to snort at, the learning experience is invaluable.

Brianne Beets

Brianne has written for various publications since 2005. After university she worked a string of non-journalism-related jobs, including working as an auto parts delivery driver, food festival event planner and a casino employee before moving to South Korea in the fall of 2013. She currently works as an English teacher at a Hagwon near Korea’s west coast. Read more.