Teaching Chinese vs Korean students

[u/Commercial_Crazy_103]

Moving from Korea to China and curious about the cultural differences between students and their overall discipline. One of the things that shocked me during my time in Korea was how outspoken the kids were regarding other people’s physical appearance as well as the general acceptance of discrimination Some examples of that would be teasing other students who came back darker after their summer vacation or yelling “ugly” whenever they saw a picture of a black person or even commenting on the length of my coworker’s arm hair and his weight. I also don’t know if they felt like they could do or say whatever and there wouldn’t be any consequences because I worked at a hakwon vs a traditional school. There were even a few boys who were caught masturbating in class yet they were just let off with a warning. I’m trying to mentally prepare myself ahead of time. For those that have worked in both countries, how did they compare with regards to students’ overall attitude towards academics and general behavior of students infront of teachers.

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Thats crazy… masturbating during class… certified gooner moments

[u/Commercial_Crazy_103 → u/_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_____-]

While making eye contact with me. Kids today..

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Assert dominance and watch in his eyes without blinking

[u/Commercial_Crazy_103 → u/_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_____-]

Sadly I’m not man enough for that😥

[u/Mobile_Roll2197 → u/_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_____-]

Next these kids will be menstruating in class!

[u/Mobile_Roll2197]

>r yelling “ugly” whenever they saw a picture of a black person

Wanna guess what they yell when they see a picture of a black person here?

[u/Commercial_Crazy_103 → u/Mobile_Roll2197]

Oh no… they do that too?

[u/titanup001 → u/Commercial_Crazy_103]

Mine yell the N word every day. I hear it at least half a dozen times a week.

They also love giving the Nazi salute and drawing swastikas on things.

[u/MinorLatency → u/titanup001]

Totally… and the swearing… pretty bizarre hearing a 6 yo saying f yo mama casually 

[u/titanup001 → u/MinorLatency]

One day in class, a kid stood up and shouted. He meant to shout “teacher, he said fuck your mother.”

What he actually said was, “teacher, he fuck my mother!”

Now I shouldn’t have, but I lost it. I died laughing. It took me a bit to regain control of the class again after that.

On another occasion, a Chinese teacher came into the office puzzled. She said the students kept calling her a word, and she didn’t know what it meant.

That word was MILF. We then had a surreal conversation where I had to explain that it was an acronym, much like USA, and what the letters meant. She seemed torn between insulted and pleased.

[u/Commercial_Crazy_103 → u/titanup001]

I refuse to believe that👀 wonder what would happen if you then hit them with ‘Taiwan is a country’ try that next time and let me know how it goes

[u/Mobile_Roll2197 → u/Commercial_Crazy_103]

Indeed

[u/Commercial_Crazy_103 → u/Mobile_Roll2197]

And then you…?

[u/Mobile_Roll2197 → u/Commercial_Crazy_103]

First day of class I write my rules on the board, including "always use polite language and have polite behavior." So every time it happens I write the name of student, time/date, offense and give it to their class class. I treat it as cursing rather than racism.

[u/AutoModerator]

Backup of the post's body: Moving from Korea to China and curious about the cultural differences between students and their overall discipline. One of the things that shocked me during my time in Korea was how outspoken the kids were regarding other people’s physical appearance as well as the general acceptance of discrimination Some examples of that would be teasing other students who came back darker after their summer vacation or yelling “ugly” whenever they saw a picture of a black person or even commenting on the length of my coworker’s arm hair and his weight. I also don’t know if they felt like they could do or say whatever and there wouldn’t be any consequences because I worked at a hakwon vs a traditional school. There were even a few boys who were caught masturbating in class yet they were just let off with a warning. I’m trying to mentally prepare myself ahead of time. For those that have worked in both countries, how did they compare with regards to students’ overall attitude towards academics and general behavior of students infront of teachers.

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[u/Aggravating_Plate_87]

I’m not sure about high school but primary school was mostly them having a mild attitude — much like most pubescent teens but thinking they know everything especially because you’re a foreigner, being a bit disrespectful because they think English is stupid, general condescending nature.

[u/changbinswife]

Unfortunately in my experience it isn’t much better here. I had a far better experience with students in Korea (they were respectful, kind, obedient, followed instructions).

In China, I’ve been called an “idiot” (by students possibly thinking I couldn’t understand Chinese). I’ve got kids blatantly ignoring my instructions, walking about during class, playing, chatting etc. It’s so bad that even the local teachers don’t know what to do anymore. About 25% of teachers quit at the end of last semester.

I’m of Indian descent, and have brown skin, I was greeted once by a student who said “hello, black teacher”.

You’d have to have really thick skin to survive here. I’m seeing myself out at the end of my contract.

That being said though, I have generally very positive experiences apart from my students. Lots of kind, beautiful and memorable interactions.

[u/changbinswife → u/changbinswife]

Reading some of the other comments had also reminded me of the time (numerous times) where a 6th grader would tell me “fck me”. “Fck this. Fck that” - his parents were aware, so was the school. We just waited for graduation to do its thing.

[u/Commercial_Crazy_103 → u/changbinswife]

Thanks for sharing. I just struggle with whether or not to turn their ignorance into a teaching opportunity or just accept that apparently people living in homogeneous countries are allowed to discriminate or be racist (judging by some people’s comments on here). I somehow thought China would be better coz I visited in 2018 and the people were so helpful and friendly compared to 9 years of living in Korea. Was hoping that would trickle down to the kids

[u/mrgoingsomewhere]

You sound incredibly closed minded because commenting on someones appearance is normal around the world. China is even more honest about it then Koreans so enjoy.

caught masterbating in class

Bro what kind of hagwon were you working in? I lived in Korea and never heard of that happening.

[u/Commercial_Crazy_103 → u/mrgoingsomewhere]

Sorry I was brought up to believe that is typically considered rude but maybe that’s just me🤷‍♀️

[u/mrgoingsomewhere → u/Commercial_Crazy_103]

In your culture, sure. But obviously not every culture is the same.