Unfortunately the whole UK teaching job fell through due to red taping; however, I will try again next year! Currently I am teaching Grade 3 - 6 English in Geoje Island (second largest island of South Korea). It is very famous for its massive Samsung shipyard. I would say that Geoje Island is a mix between Vancouver(although not nearly as nice) and Whistler (not nearly as nice, again). There are many foreigners here due to booming shipbuilding business. I have included what the climate is like here below if you are interested and pictures of the city.
My elementary school is quite large(940 students and 73 staff members) compared to Canadian schools. It is almost impossible for me to remember all the names as I have to teach approx 600 students. Each grade has about 6 different classes with 25 students each (e.g. Grade 6 Class 1, Grade 6 Class 2, Grade 6 Class 2, etc). I teach each class for 40 minutes a week focusing on conversational and listening skills. Only 40 minutes per week makes it very difficult for me to develop any meaning relationship with the students. I am still trying though. One of the best thing about Korean elementary school system is the lunch program. Each school has a massive cafeteria which serves all the students and staff with healthy and fresh meals (and none of these pizza hot lunch business from Canada). I am always looking forward to having lunch with the staff or students. Also each class is approx. 40 minutes and between each class there is 10 min recess. For lunch and lunch recess is an hour. I am still trying to analyze how Korean and Canadian system differ and how I could learn from this to apply them in the future.
Another thing I noticed was Korean students' relationship to their school. It is considered their second home and they take care of the school. This means that there are no janitorial staffs. Students clean and take care of their school - the entire school is spotless. They learned not to litter indirectly as they need to clean up more if they litter. And from what I saw they seemed to have fun while cleaning.
As far as I can tell South Korean school does not seem to use differentiated learning and still stuck in the old ways of teaching and learning. One way of teaching for all. Also despite being a massive school, I have not seen any students with exceptionalities (therefore no teaching aid nor special aid). I believe that those students with disabilities or exceptionalities are sent to a specialized school. I will get into this topic more in the future.
As far as I can tell South Korean school does not seem to use differentiated learning and still stuck in the old ways of teaching and learning. One way of teaching for all. Also despite being a massive school, I have not seen any students with exceptionalities (therefore no teaching aid nor special aid). I believe that those students with disabilities or exceptionalities are sent to a specialized school. I will get into this topic more in the future.