"Like a king without a castle. Like a queen without a throne. I'm an early morning blogger and I must be movin' on."
Maybe I'm up early THIS time because it has occurred to me, nay, Fate has smashed me over the head with the concept, that maybe now would be a good time to start my master's degree. I can't work anywhere for at least two, probably three months, but the lowest paying uni gig in the country, and they're immutable in their persistence to remain so. I was recently given an ambiguously worded offer to reduce the shady "counseling" part of the job, not get rid of it entirely, but I remain unmoved since they've lied about the counseling before. I told the school that my main concern was making more money, to which they replied, probably dishonestly again, that the budget has been determined and can't be changed. I countered with, "That's fine, then give me the entire semester breaks off so I can do kids camps or some other extra work to augment my (paltry) salary." The eventual reply was "Four months vacation is too much."
My retort was, "Actually it's closer to 5 months and that is standard in college/university contracts around Korea. All I am asking for is a standard contract. I am not a sub-standard teacher and I would like a contract that suits my skills and experience. If you cannot offer me that, please email me my record of employment and letter of reference."
So that's where things are at this time. While in the midst of this negotiation, the time of vacation struck me as familiar. Semester breaks are 9-10 weeks long. What was I just reading about that was 9-weeks long? Oh yes, it was a term of study toward a master's degree in education. If I timed it right, I could teach for a semester, then use the semester break, if I had it off, to complete a term of study toward an M. Ed. Five of those terms of study and I've got the master's so many places in Korea are now requiring. In fact, if I were even in the midst of acquiring said M. Ed., it would certainly increase my marketability over here!
I taught in the regular program at Gongju University just last year. They gave us the entire semester break off and if I had been smart, I might have started my studies then. This year I couldn't teach in the regular program at Gongju University because they changed their policy on qualification and a master's degree is now required. I didn't have any education-specific lobotomy. No skill or experience was lost. I actually, along with thousands of educators worldwide, was forced into a self-taught crash course in remote education. Those skills only strengthened with another year of online teaching this year for lower pay and less vacation time in the international program. That said, I didn't really feel like I had been demoted until I started talking to the latest of the three supervisors I've had in the last 10 months. She was unaware of my years of teaching in Korea including at some more reputable schools than Gongju U., and, like a lot of the supervisors I had had in the past, seemed a bit envious of my schedule that wasn't 9-5 Mon-Fri like hers. Her efforts at trying to fill in my schedule, usually with bogus busy work and meetings about nothing, were transparent. But never more so than when I started negotiating for a higher salary and she said, after a derisive scoff, "You don't work enough already!"
Another time when I suggested they pay me the same as the teachers in the regular program, the same person, and if I remember correctly, with the same scoff, said, "They probably work more than you." I told her I know exactly how much work they do because I was in the regular program last year. Evidently she didn't even know THAT about me. And to clarify, they don't do more work because they get the full semester break off.
The point I'm getting at, the point with which the gods seeme to be bashing me over the noggin, is that without doing anything but teaching, I am becoming a second rate teacher in Korea. A few words on university charters mandating master'ses and suddenly:
At the outset of this post I said, or sang, that I must be movin' on. My landlord has told me that I can't stay in the apartment I'm in now. I have to move before the end of February. He wants a one-year contract or nothing. But I've been thinking... If I took 6 months off from March to August, included in there is the Korean summer when I don't want to be working anyway, got accepted into a master's program and studied my ass off, I could finish TWO terms toward an M. Ed. By September, when next semester starts in Korea, I would be 2/5 more employable. And if I landed a job at one of the universities that require master'si, I'd likely get the full semester breaks off and could get my degree within a couple of years.
To me, that sounds a whole lot better than slogging through another year at this place where I already KNOW they think of me as a lesser teacher and will surely be treating me as such the entire time.
All I need to do now is talk my landlord into a 6-month lease, or move, figure out my visa situation, get accepted into a master's program and hit the books. I never thought I'd be returning to school. After my BA, I was so exhausted by the whole education thing, I kinda swore it off. But that was 28 years ago. Things have changed. I'm actually a little bit excited about this!
I am not going to get my hopes up yet. Things tend to get sidetracked or sometimes completely blown to smithereens in my life, as the title of this blog would imply, but if they do, you'll hear about it here.
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