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the final countdown
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thursday12



Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Posts: 93

PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:21 am    Post subject: the final countdown Reply with quote

LATEST QU UPSIDERS

- newbie orientation gettin really good - pretty smooth op
- most newbies real happy 'bout workin at QU
- most newbies happy wid accomodation
- newbies gettin da right royal treatment - taken out wid management gang ta The Ritz for all expense paid meal (lucky stiffs, didn't get that when I arrived)
- accomodation situation improvin & one gal gettin people mobilized to get stuff done round Zuhoor
- best place still is Garaffa but ya gotta have da right connections
at least Zuhoor has club house & pool & near Villagio!!
-entrance finally finished so yer car don't get the suspension bunged up
-curriculum & syllabus improvin so things look bright in curriculum area
- gettin rid of some bad books & bringin in new stuff - much better
-appraisal system seems ta be improvin but gotta wait 'n see (appraisal is a real stress thing fer people- one dude got ulcers)
- BlackBoard improvin communication system but too impersonal
- new state of the art women's building & new offices almost finished, lucky dudes will have office there - heard it's real nice
-new admin assistant really on the ball

LATEST QU DOWNSIDERS

- roadworks in some areas finished but traffic still the major stress problem
- still takin 1 hour ta get ta work, stress levels still high & some people bin victims of road rage
- appraisal time comin up again so more stress
- schedulin still unfair - some ask fer a.m. & get p.m. - some ask for p.m. & get a.m. (like people got their reasons fer choice & this shud be respected, like a bad timetable can really screw up yer life - happy home life = happy teachers = happy students - pretty simple formula fer success!!!!!)
- too many good people got rid of last year
- final countdown time ta renewal: everybody wonderin who's gonna get put in front o' da firing squad this time
- still waitin ta hear if ya get the 1 year (new probation) rollin contract or the 3 year "we think yer great contract"
- people gettin real nervous bout contracts - causin high stress levels
-lack of teacher support but someone supposed ta be workin on this...we'll see when they get there -faculty support guy when I arrived was pretty cool but sidelined
- still some lurkers watchin 'n waitin but exactly what they're waitin fer is a mystery.

Conclusions:

-still a pretty good place ta work fer most people but a real bummer if yer on the new hit list
- here's hopin we'll all get renewed
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I sure hope that you don't use this idiolect when you are teaching. I'm beginning to suspect that you might be from Alaska. Laughing

Good to hear that the complaints are down to the same ones at every job in the Gulf... worries about contract renewals/appraisals... and complaints about who gets what schedule. (oh yeah... and traffic seems to be getting worse everywhere)

The newbies that I hear from seem to be still in the honeymoon stage. It certainly sounds like management is trying.

VS
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squirk



Joined: 03 Dec 2009
Posts: 33

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:10 pm    Post subject: Re: the final countdown Reply with quote

Same old, same old no improvement in these things from what I see...


Quote:


LATEST QU DOWNSIDERS

- roadworks in some areas finished but traffic still the major stress problem
- still takin 1 hour ta get ta work, stress levels still high & some people bin victims of road rage
- appraisal time comin up again so more stress
- schedulin still unfair - some ask fer a.m. & get p.m. - some ask for p.m. & get a.m. (like people got their reasons fer choice & this shud be respected, like a bad timetable can really screw up yer life - happy home life = happy teachers = happy students - pretty simple formula fer success!!!!!)
- still some lurkers watchin 'n waitin but exactly what they're waitin fer is a mystery.
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squirk



Joined: 03 Dec 2009
Posts: 33

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:40 pm    Post subject: Re: the final countdown Reply with quote

Quote:
LATEST QU UPSIDERS
curriculum & syllabus improvin so things look bright in curriculum area


I wouldn't say that. The curriculum is a disaster. They aim too high for the students they have. They need to be more realistic and stop showing off, these students need more real 'foundation' English not EAP. Let them get good language skills and then introduce the EAP but not from day 1!!!
They need to get real. Some of the students are very discouraged because they can't cope, they're not stupid, they're just not ready for the things that are shoved at them.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is the same situation at every university in the Gulf. There are two problems... the low level of the students entering... the expectations of upper management (the locals) and the students... about how long they will spend in the foundations program. Most of them could do with 2-4 years of English... BUT... reality rules... they will be pushed to do it in 1-2 years max. AND... the teachers have to deliver.

End of story...

You can complain all you want, but thus it has been since I arrived in the Gulf in the late 1980s... You either accept it... and deal with it... or move on...

VS
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lollaerd



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 337

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

veiledsentiments wrote:
This is the same situation at every university in the Gulf. There are two problems... the low level of the students entering... the expectations of upper management (the locals) and the students... about how long they will spend in the foundations program. Most of them could do with 2-4 years of English... BUT... reality rules... they will be pushed to do it in 1-2 years max. AND... the teachers have to deliver.

End of story...

You can complain all you want, but thus it has been since I arrived in the Gulf in the late 1980s... You either accept it... and deal with it... or move on...

VS


Give the person time to learn to deal with it. How many people learn how to adapt to a radical new environmet in 3 or 4 months? For most people adjustment doesn't happen overnight. It is a gradual process. I remember being very discouraged when I first landed in Bahrain years ago. It took me a year or more to learn to adapt to ME ways. It tok time to learn to deal with powermongers from my own country who ended up in positions of power because of chance and circumstance, not because they deserved it or were good at it. This person seems to be ready to give it a chance. Mocking his concerns and picking at him is not very helpful.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Posting repeated versions of the same complaint... is not learning to cope with the situation. I am merely pointing out to her/him that the vast majority of what s/he is complaining about is standard in the Gulf. I have worked with people sounding these same complaints... for months... in the faculty rooms. There are always one or two newbies who think the system will change for them... texts are wrong... syllabus is wrong... levels are wrong... students are too low... too many reports... too much paperwork... It poisons the whole atmosphere and soon everyone avoids them because they are sick of hearing the whinging.

Then the complaints about being lonely and having no friends start... it's a vicious circle.

We all went through a version of this, but usually we are making our own problems. But, from post one it was apparent that this person needed a reality check. Of course, perhaps s/he is in her/his 20s and this is her/his first overseas job - and this is why we always advise young newbies to the field to avoid the Gulf. I was in my 40s when I hit the Gulf, so I had already learned that the employers set the rules and my choice was to live with them or move on...

As I said before... life is too short to stay somewhere that seems to be making one this unhappy.

VS
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lollaerd



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 337

PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It seems like the guy just needs to get his stresses and worries off his chest. If this FIR system is being used like knuckle dusters, it's no wonder he feels stressed. I think most people would.
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lollaerd



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 337

PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

veiledsentiments wrote:
Posting repeated versions of the same complaint... is not learning to cope with the situation. I am merely pointing out to her/him that the vast majority of what s/he is complaining about is standard in the Gulf. I have worked with people sounding these same complaints... for months... in the faculty rooms. There are always one or two newbies who think the system will change for them... texts are wrong... syllabus is wrong... levels are wrong... students are too low... too many reports... too much paperwork... It poisons the whole atmosphere and soon everyone avoids them because they are sick of hearing the whinging.


VS


I think almost every newcomer to this part of the world has to come to terms with the system and the weirdness and weirdies they encounter in this region and in the institutions in this region. Most people complain their first few months before they settle in. Of the hundreds of people I've worked with, I only recall the old Gulf hands settling in from day one (and then not all of them). Adjustment takes time. His reality check is the situation where he works. Let's hope it will improve.
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grab-bag



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 104

PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

People I met at Tesol Arabia are worried that it is the final countdown. The recruitment goes on and on and everyone is teaching fewer hours. What does this mean?
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thursday12



Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Posts: 93

PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not a good sign. I heard he's been recruitin in Dubai, Bostona and now England. Recruitin more????? What for? There are more 'n enuff teachers & der all doin reduced time. So what's the name o'da game now?
Man oh man, so gud ta be outta da fray 'n games 'n spyin 'n manipulation. Heard some poor ole newbies got the push fer nuttin. Jest like the first year I waz dere.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heard it from the voices in your head, did you?

VS
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toughcookie



Joined: 26 Nov 2006
Posts: 55

PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

veiledsentiments wrote:
Heard it from the voices in your head, did you?

VS


where on earth did that come from, VS?
tc
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sock puppets... you know what I mean... don't you...

Not to mention the subject of the complaint is bizarre... OMG... people are teaching fewer hours!! It's a plot!! Rolling Eyes

VS
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grab-bag



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 104

PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Working as a consultant in the region, you get to hear things. Maybe time for a visit to see realia. I wokred with the man almost 20 years ago so I know the deal.
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