by Berkeley
Self Q&A with Native Teacher Team Leader: Ms. Robyn
Berkeley Language School
Hi! My name is Robyn.
I currently serve as the Native Teacher Team Leader at Berkeley. I’ve worked here for about 7 years overall, and have worked as a Team Leader for a little over 4 years.
1. Can you describe your main responsibilities?
I am in charge of training Native Teachers, communicating expectations and feedback, assisting in classes when needed, and providing support in and out of the workplace.
2. What are the daily expectations for teachers at your school?
Teachers are expected to be at work on time, conduct their classes in an enjoyable and interactive way, and keep track of their students’ progress.
3. How do teachers contribute to lesson planning and curriculum execution?
Every week, each teacher is expected to create and submit a weekly plan of classes built on the curriculum, teaching materials, and schedule provided by the school. These weekly plans are in part for the teachers to keep track of what they have planned for their classes, but also for parents to be able to follow along with what’s being learned or reviewed throughout the week.
4. What types of materials are provided to the teachers?
Each teacher has access to the school’s Dropbox folders where they can find scanned pages of each book, PowerPoint presentations, recommended daily lesson plans, supplementary materials, and more. Outside of that, the school provides classroom materials as well (board markers, crayons, stickers, activity materials, etc.).
5. What reporting systems are the teachers responsible for, and how frequently do they report?
The Native Teachers are expected to make progress reports for the Elementary section every 2~3 months (2 months for special classes aimed at 5th and 6th graders; 3 months for the normal conversation classes aimed at 1st ~ 4th graders). For Kindergarten, a midterm report card is required by the end of the first semester.
6. What is expected of teachers regarding student engagement and classroom management?
Teachers are expected to create an interactive classroom environment for their students. This, to us, means creating an environment where students feel comfortable enough to speak up and speak out about their thoughts, feelings, ideas, and the like. We want our students to be able to trust us enough to share these things with us.
When it comes to classroom management, the school implements a point system in the elementary classes, where students can collect their points over the course of the semester and then participate in a school market day. In Kindergarten, we have a sticker system to reward students for their good behavior. After collecting all the required stickers, the students are allowed to pick their own prize from the prize wall.
7. How do you assist foreign teachers in adjusting to the school system and Korean work culture? How do you and the Korean staff help support new teachers at the school?
At the beginning of the work period, I try as best as possible to explain to all new teachers how the school works, what the expectations are, how to carry out our main duties, etc. Of course, every teacher has their own way of adjusting to new work settings and needs their own time to get properly into the swing of things. If time allows, we also try to get new teachers to sit in a class during the day and observe how current teachers conduct their classes, or I try to go in and observe or help out, to give feedback later.
In Kindergarten, the classes are taught along with a Korean co-teacher who provides support when needed. Native teachers and their co-teachers tend to build a pretty strong bond of support and camaraderie, which we find really helps to settle teachers into their classes.
8. Does the school help the teachers with things outside of school? (i.e. banking, hospitals, etc.)
The school can help to a certain extent, but tries not to overstep personal boundaries. I tend to give advice on where to go, why go to this place over that place, and step in where possible to provide help with translation. Other admins are on hand for such matters as well, but I’m usually the first person our native teachers go to.
9. What is the surrounding area like for teachers living and working here? Is there easy access to transportation, local amenities, and nearby cities?
The surrounding areas where the majority of our teachers live are quite convenient. Coffee shops, restaurants, grocery stores, gyms, doctor’s offices and hospitals, all within a few minutes walk. It’s easy to get a taxi, or hop on a bus or the subway, to get to anywhere else in the city – from either campus.
10. Does the school provide housing for teachers? If so, are the living conditions, proximity to public transportation, and overall quality of accommodations?
The school can provide housing. All standard provided housing options are studio apartments, with all necessities provided (refrigerator, stove, bed, AC units, etc.). Public transportation is never far away -buses, subways, and taxis- all within reach.
11. Are there any challenges that international teachers commonly face when adjusting to teaching in Korea, and how does the school help with these?
Culture shock can be very jarring, and different teachers take to it in different ways. I try, as best as possible, to provide teachers with what they need in the way of help and understanding, and always make sure that they know I’m available to talk when they need it. I also try to make sure that they know that they’re not the only person to feel culture shock and that their feelings are valid, but just about everything can be worked through, even if they don’t see how in that moment.
12. Do you have any additional advice for prospective teachers?
No matter which school you work with, Berkeley or somewhere else, it’s important to be open-minded and a little flexible. Not everyone will do things the same way, and adjusting to any space can be difficult. But by staying open-minded to change and/or differences, you can always find a way to adjust to a new situation. What may seem easy now could turn out to be difficult later, but that’s just a chance to learn and grow – the same thing we, as teachers, push our students to do.
