::A Geek in Korea::

So the rumors were true. There will be an expansion of our school. A dramatic expansion that will include the addition of a second floor to our school, the hiring of triple the teaching staff we have now, and a massive remodeling. All of this will happen in an undetermined time frame in the next two to three months, depending on when the school above us closes, the organization of the parties involved, hiring time, training time, and turn around time.

To put this sort of expansion to scale, I know a school considered to be “large” in our city that currently has a close to 1000 students. 700 to 1000 students is a VERY large school in this area of the country. These very large schools are literally only a block or two away from where we are. How there can be schools of this size so close together is a testament to Korea’s population density.

It seems that some of the whispers my coworkers had mentioned in the past few weeks were not as worrying as I had feared. The school I work at is getting taken over by a franchise in Seoul (boo!). They are buying the floor above us and converting it into more classrooms. They hope to draw a thousand students at this branch. (Are they serious?!) *

I used to work on the the third floor four years ago. Then I moved to a different branch of that school in another building. I left when they were caught doing illegal things, then got hired at a different school on the second floor of the building I used to work at. Now that second floor school is going to end up buying the third floor. I call my old private office!

This is the very first Korean meeting I’ve ever attended where there was a bottle of champagne present for the teachers. Being offered alcohol…on an hour break between teaching! The directors have to be happy about this. The school is supposed to be one of the highly competitive schools that are in the richest, most English-crazy parts of Seoul.

This particular franchise is branching out into multiple big city markets across the country, which seems to be the trend of uber-competitive Seoul academies at the moment. Top-down, Internet based standardized teaching across the country trading on a brand made in Seoul is how to draw the most English insane parents. You also require a branch campus somewhere abroad, probably Canada to send overachieving kids with too much money to during summer vacation.

All the other really big chains are present in our city, so this new franchise system is sort of late to the party in expanding across Korea. Smaller “independent” schools like the school I work at now are getting pushed out of the business in the really competitive areas of the city. You can’t compete without ad blitzes, an army of buses, and tons of modern classrooms.

Just having a recognized name from Seoul will get you a few hundred students easily, no matter how crappy your system might be. If there is an English teaching bubble in Daejeon, the craziness in Seoul is unrivaled anywhere else. Simply having a school that lasts and gets big enough to expand outside the city means they must be doing something mothers like.

My dealings with schools organized across multiple campuses have been terrible in the past. It’s one of the reasons I left my previous job. There are logistical and financial concerns (read: BRIBES) that can best be absorbed by country-wide organizations, but when changes to a course, level material, or personal student issues need to be addressed, big chain schools are usually very slow to react. Any change made locally needs to occur at all the other branches to keep things standarized. They want to make learning English like a burger at McDonalds: The same no matter where you go. It might not be the best, but it’s consistent.

I like a one layer bureaucratic system like my current school. As soon as a director can say, “Let me ask someone at the main branch this question…” they’ll pass the problem on and it will never get dealt with. Koreans aren’t good with confrontational problems, but when something can be pushed on to someone higher up, they’ll take that option and bury your problems. The bullshit to solution quotient is astronomic at these sorts of schools most of the time.

The director said their style teaching and curriculum was most like what we do at our school now, so she went with this franchise’s offer. I’m cautiously optimistic that there might be a sliver of a chance that this school isn’t as bad as others like it. I’ve walked away from other job offers from franchised schools in the past. I’ll get to see a school go from a small kid on the block to a major player around town, and I’ll likely remain the most senior teacher involved in a transition to a new program. It could very helpful if I’m ever put into any kind of situation like this in the future.

I’ll have to make the choice to see if I want to continue onwards at my school through all of that, but it’ll certainly be a big change. I’ll have new coworkers, a new system to learn, and possibly a brand new office. If my director is doing the hiring, I’m sure I’ll also be put into a sweet schedule too. Right now, I’m happy to see a school I’m involved with go onto something bigger.

I oddly feel I’m partially responsible for the success of the school moving on to the “big leagues” where we compete with other schools with hundreds or thousands of other students, instead of being a niche independent school. I don’t know if it is good for me, or the students, but that’s where it’s going, so I might as well enjoy the ride while it lasts.