TOPIA English Zone (Elementary School) – Jeonju: Junghwasan-dong, Jeollabuk-do

TOPIA opened its doors on July 13, 2009 in Junghwasan-Dong, Jeonju-Si. It’s facilities are the best and the curriculum is impeccable. The transportation system it uses for its students is a fleet of buses that run around ALL over town picking up students from every part of Jeonju and even smaller towns just outside Jeonju. Its owner is a risk taker and has a clear vision for his new academy. However, TOPIA has several things going for it: it’s a franchise so the owner has to meet a high standard, its new so the facilities are state of the art, and finally it treats its foriegn teachers with the best of contracts and honors them to the tee. However, there’s a downside to working at TOPIA.

TOPIA in Jeonju is just one franchise or division of the owner’s hagwan conglomerate in Jeonju because this owner also has TOP Kindergarten in Seosin-Dong and 18 or more smaller TOP Hagwans throughout Jeonju which don’t have all the amenities of TOPIA. Presently working at one of these TOP branches, I can tell you first hand not everything is NOT as it seems. Most TOP locations are old, losing money and their foriegn teachers work under less than ideal conditions. Housing for these foreign teachers is also in noisy, run down and poorly managed apartments due to keeping costs down. Finally, foriegn teachers who are initially promised TOPIA are farmed out around town to these TOP Hagwans and many of them never teach a day inside TOPIA. Why does this happen? Easy, appearance and discrimination practices are being used routinely used by the owner and the management staff to “place” undesirables who fail to look young enough or pretty enough–never mind their ability to teach. Even the Korean managers who work for this owner work under less than ideal conditions and can be transferred to a lesser TOP Hagwan without warning. So what? You might even say he’s the owner, and you’d be right, but he’s violating Korean immigration and Korean labor laws! In addition, this owner also teaches so his knowledge of the teaching profession is impressive, but that’s just so he can “push the envelope” (belittle and/or stress out) with/the foriegn teachers. His ideas of curriculum at the old TOP Hagwans are also old and used in everyother hagwan throughout Jeonju and Gunsan in my experience. Any teacher that dares to try something new based on passed successes is quickly stifled.

So, TOPIA and TOP “Language Institutes” are a tale of two cities, but the only difference is it’s really a tale of one city with two different standards for foreign teachers, perspective students and its Korean managers. Foriegn teachers are being graded on their appearances. Forien teachers who work for this owner aren’t guaranteed anything despite whatever is on their visas or put into their contracts–if they don’t fit the mold they’re farmed out to the lesser hagwans of this English education conglomerate here in Jeonju. In conclusion, if you’re looking at Jeonju TOPIA to teach and you’re female–look in the mirror first. Do you look like Bo Derek or Elle McPhearson (sp? on Elle’s last name–excuse me–I’m not a super model fan)? If you don’t you could be jeopardizing your resume. Work for Sullivan in Jeonju instead.