Job Discussion Forums

Guinea Pig · Joined: 11 Jan 2010 Posts: 10 Location: Prague

I agree with most of the above comments.

Moral is very low among teachers at the moment, even Czech staff are starting to criticise the new management of the school.

The Director of Studies who is very well respected by the teachers is leaving in April and I think that others will be following her lead.

We know that a language school is set up mainly to make money but I think current policies are designed really to make as much money as possible without any thought for the future reputation of the school. Students that were enrolled with the school have started looking elsewhere and I think that teachers with the self employed status could do well out of this as long as they don't set their rates too high.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 8435 Location: On a Short Leash

Hmmm. škoda. It's been a decent school for a long time. Too bad if it's really going down the drain - but of course it CAN happen...

anglicaninpraha · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 18 Location: Praha

Caledonian were bought out by Tutor no?

anglicaninpraha · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 18 Location: Praha

smithryansmith · Joined: 27 Dec 2008 Posts: 77

Prague now has what its never had in the past. A dominant school that controls a lion share of the market. So it can dictate salaries as it wishes because its the biggest.

tumbawumba · Joined: 14 Jun 2009 Posts: 6 Location: Prague

I currently work for the Caledonian school and it's not as bad as its made out by some of the previous comments.

My visa was sorted out with minimal fuss. Insurance could be an issue I agree, but I didn't expect the same cover as my private insurance at home. The pay could be better. I'm on about 30 hours a week and supplement it with some private work were I can. If I want more hours it generally hasn't been a problem. Cancellations are a pain, but I'll pick up a sub if I need to get my hours up. As for staff attitudes, the people I'm in contact with are really very nice and always helpful. In general a positive proactive attitude goes a long way.

I'm a newbie to teaching and intend staying for at least a year at the school. In the meantime, I'll be assessing the TEFL scene in Prague with the intention of staying permenantly. I've heard many teachers moan about the topics discussed here and rightly so in some circumstances. It just boggles my mind that a large portion of those unhappy don't bother to stay longer than a few months at the school and feel that they are qualified to judge. Reasearch the country and the school before you come over people. Just because it says so on a web site doesn't mean its true. eg: ThomasGradgrind, 30hrs per week x 4 weeks x 178 czk per hour = 21,360 czk. For Feb' my pay was about that figure. Nobody I've met at Caledonian has recieved 13,000czk for 120 hours. Sounds like someone has an axe to grind.

For me it's what you make of it, I certainly didn't come here to make money. From my teachers wage I have managed to live a similar standard of life I left back home (I share with one other person a nice 3+1kk flat).

Caladonian is a business operating in a tough economic climate. I for one do not agree with some of the changes they've made. But from what I've seen the grass it not necessarily greener at the other Prague tefl schools.

sisyphus · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 149

Caledonian School not only have an appalling reputation within the Prague expat community but are also reviled by other language schools due to the way they seem to , by magic almost, acquire so many contracts? Now how could that be? Wink

Guinea Pig · Joined: 11 Jan 2010 Posts: 10 Location: Prague

They also don't contribute to the Czech tax system anymore according to this article on the internet:

http://m.ihned.cz/c4-10005620-40733400-700000_ekodetail-lektori-bez-dovolene

sorry it's in czech though!

TinSardine · Joined: 13 Feb 2010 Posts: 19 Location: Prague

So does anybody have any experience what working for Tutor is like?

Guinea Pig · Joined: 11 Jan 2010 Posts: 10 Location: Prague

So the latest good news at the Caledonian is that there is a lot more bad news to come over the next 2 months.

The Director of Studies has left and the Executive Director announced that she too was leaving today due to the new owner's plans for the school.

If you are new to teaching and considering coming to teach at the school I would advise you to start somewhere else. There is generally quite a negative attitude here at the moment and all the changes are starting to have an effect even on students.

I notice that no-one from Tutor has replied to the previous post. Does anybody know if they even employ any non-czech teachers?

mr tree · Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 111 Location: Prague, CzR

yes, i have a good friend who works there, native speaker. but he is one of those who works for three or four places, and actually he's considering dropping Tutor cos he's overworked.

Mercury Morris · Joined: 28 Jun 2009 Posts: 26 Location: Prague

I would not recommend Caledonian, I knew several teachers who had negative experiences there of one type or another. One theme that kept coming up was rude, unprofessional administrative staff. Also got the impression it was a factory, large and impersonal.

Finally, I recall I blew off applying to Caledonian as they had this pain in the ass application process where you had to submit several lengthy lesson plans and do several unpaid demo lessons...and noticeably lower pay compared to other schools if hired. I said *beep* it, why bother with them when all the other schools just interviewed you, and went with you if you seemed alright in the interview.

My impression is Caledonian is very heirarchical and patronizing towards its teachers compared to other better schools which gave teachers some respect and more responsibility.

My advice is to shop around, the schools in Prague vary greatly in terms of management, resources, pay, etc.

mr tree · Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 111 Location: Prague, CzR

oh MM - i thought we'd just decided we were friends, and then i find more untruths Sad

i have many contacts around Prague - it's hardly a teacher bible, but it's why i'm able to answer a lot of the queries on here - sorry if some are finding my contradictions to others on here tiresome Laughing

i assure you it's done with best of intentions and always with what i **know** to be accurate, current info.

a good friend of mine works at Caledonian and i know that the admin staff are often praised as a brightspot at the school. indeed, i get this impression from a few schools at Prague - my girlfriend works at Akzent, and it's similar there. I think the idea is "if the conditions are poor, we need to ensure the admin staff are friendly or we won't be able to attract anyone"

similarly, i know that at present, the application process for Caledonian asks for just one lesson plan. i might even dig through my emails and post it on here - it's far from taxing. and the interview was always just an interview - no demo lesson, just talking about grammar issues, or ways to handle problems in the classroom.

as mentioned above tho, now that Tutor has taken over, this may change - i know Tutor's application process involves a demo lesson.

NisaTex · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 25

I have heard bad word from close associates about the lack of prompt pay to teachers salaries for what its wort---

Mercury Morris · Joined: 28 Jun 2009 Posts: 26 Location: Prague

Dear Mr. Tree, and of course dear American ESL Teachers who worked for Caledonian: I was just surfing Facebook and came across an interesting site which has this to say about Caledonian, to wit--

Taxes owed to Americans by Caledonian
Category:
Common Interest - Current Events
Description:
It appears that the Caledonian School legally owes a tax refund to all American teachers who worked for the school in 2009. The tax expert hired by the school informed me and others that Americans who have been working in the Czech Republic for less than 2 years are tax immune. So far the school has done nothing about this and has only offered an array of completely illogical excuses for not refunding the money owed to us.

The fact of the matter is that this is a LAW and is not for the school to decide if they want to comply or not.

Tell every American Caledonian teacher you know to DEMAND a logical explanation for why the school is not refunding the tax money withheld from teachers' pay in 2009. If they can't give you a logical answer (which has been the case for me so far) then DEMAND the money owed to you. Also tell teachers from other countries to research to find out if their respective countries also have a treaty in place allowing them to be exempt as well. Don't just expect it to work itself out. We all have to take this seriously and each demand answers from Caledonian management.

It appears that the Caledonian School legally owes a tax refund to all American teachers who worked for the school in 2009. The tax expert hired by the school informed me and others that Americans who have been working in the Czech Republic for less than 2 years are tax immune. So far the school has done nothing about this and has only offered an array of completely illogical excuses for not refunding the money owed to us.

The fact of the matter is that this is a LAW and is not for the school... (read more)
Privacy type:
Open: All content is public.

I'm not grinding my own axe here as I never worked for Caledonian. But, as a public service just thought I would post this here for my dear fellow Americans who might have worked at this sweatshop. Organize, petition, get what's coming to you....you certainly deserve the money that the law says you're entitled to.