John Peter Sloane Schools

<b> Forum for those teaching business English </b>

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elaine.adams216
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:50 pm
Location: Rome, Italy

John Peter Sloane Schools

Post by elaine.adams216 » Sat Mar 09, 2013 2:10 pm

Forgive me if I'm posting this in the wrong place, I'm a newbie so any help is appreciated.

I have been invited to a "workshop" after having had an interview for a teaching job in the new Rome John Peter Sloane school, they already have one in Milan.

I would be grateful to have any feedback for people who already work for this company, particularly as regarding salary.

I am waiting for an email from them with full details of this workshop, I don't even know if they will pay me for this. I, like many others here in Italy, am fed up with being called to onerous interviews, where the employer demands super-qualified people and want to pay them a pittance. I don't want to waste their time or mine. HELP!! :?

elaine.adams216
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:50 pm
Location: Rome, Italy

John Peter Sloane

Post by elaine.adams216 » Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:57 am

Well, here's the latest news:

I received an email with details of the 3 day workshop, including no fewer than 9 attachments with didactic material to study, and an exercise in role-playing to prepare, of dubvious political correctness, using phrasal verbs.

Not only are these three days not paid, but you are required to pay 20 euros for the didactic material they give you the first day, but "(a tal proposito riceverete successivamente regolare fattura di quietanza)." If my Italian is correct, this means you will subsequently receive regular bills!

An email requesting information regarding Terms and Conditions, hours, salary etc, before committing myself to a day's preparation work, 3 days workshop with no guarantee of actually getting the job, and risking wasting both my time and theirs, has up to now, been ignored.

I telephoned and was told that the lady answering did not know anything about salaries, but was very well informed regarding the 20 euros contribution and no guarantee of employment.

I would love to have anyone's thoughts on this - am I being too demanding, is it just the usual cavalier attitude to our profession, or is this some kind of scam?

Oh, by the way, I had already had an interview back in December.

FrankS
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2014 5:14 pm

Post by FrankS » Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:55 am

Personally, I have a policy not to trust any school until they prove themselves trustworthy. They want you t o take three days without opay and pay for material that they have produced and yet they do not want to tell you what you will be paid? I think not.

Let me give you some stories I have from these trenches.

First was a small school that offered me work on an ad hoc basis. When they found I had qualifications, and knew how to build a syllabus and a course, they asked me to go to a large organisation, do a complete needs analysis, create a course and select materials to be used. Al this would be compensated for when the course was running, I was told.

The owner told me the course fell through and so there was no money for me. I met one of the people I had worked with in the organisation. She showed me a printed version of my report used to seal the deal with them and told me they were running some thirty groups. I worked as a freelance, so they were not obliged to work with me, but I found this stealing of my work rather distasteful.

Next was an international school that I worked for. They phoned and invited me to their "free" trainings. I said I was always interested in trainings and then they asked if I would be prepared to do the presentation for this week''s training. I said I could not make that day, but asked about previous and future trainings. It turned out that this was the first of the series and they had nothing lined up for the future. There were no more training days while I had classes with them.

Some years ago, out of pure frustratio9n with what was available, I wrote a book on telephone English for people who did not speak English. It covered all of the problems. It covered the problems my students had encountered frequently and a few things that I thought were very badly done everywhere else.

I made the mistake of telling a school I went to touting for classes (I am freelance), and, since I had recently finished the book mentioned it. The director said he thought he could give me some work using my course...on the proviso that I let theschool have the book for their use. They were also not forthcoming with the rates they were going to offer, save for the use of the book. That was to be in return for undetermined hours at an undetermined rate.

Moral: If the school wants you to pay in services or cash, be very, very suspicious. Many are used to gathering any number of suckers into their clutches. If it looks like it might be something bad, it usually is worse than you can imagine

elaine.adams216
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:50 pm
Location: Rome, Italy

John Peter Sloane, Unpaid training, abuses etc

Post by elaine.adams216 » Thu Sep 25, 2014 7:16 am

I share your frustration.

Needless to say I did not persue this "opportunity". Since then I have encountered 2 other schools that required the same unpaid training period.

Jeez, even McDonalds train you for free!

(By the way, "training" is always singular buddy! To make it plural you can say "training courses"

I would love to hear if anyone out there works or has worked for JPS - is it worth the investment of time and money? He certainly seems to be making a fortune!

FrankS
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2014 5:14 pm

Trainings

Post by FrankS » Thu Sep 25, 2014 10:30 am

Actually 'training' is also a noun (modern usage, of course) and therefore when being used as a noun it does require the plural 's'. As for using it as n adjective, you are quite correct, but the usage, as in "traing course" is becoming rare unless you are trying to differentiate between a variety of courses.

I am bothered by many of the ways language is changing as well, but I feel I have to be reasonably current for the situations I find myself in; this is a case where the colloquial overtook us completely. For me the penny dropped when the Economist, in particular, started to use the plural noun on a reasonably regular (but not exclusive) basis. I was a late hold-out as well.

I do wish you luck.

My own opinion of schools is very low. Few of them are aware of business practice beyond simple marketing, sales and the collection of fees. They understand only their own bottom line...with glaring exceptions, of course.

The best business training is the training you get from keeping your ears open in the classroom. The students will tell you exactly what they need and want, sometimes even the HR people know! After that you "only" need to develop methods to fulfil those needs. yes, that is quite a lot of work, but the needs are so often repeated that it is well worth the effort. Teaching is a creative profession, but so is learning. Most of my best ideas come from the students (although I always take credit) and what I get from the agents (schools, usually) tends to be so much rubbish.

Any valid training proogramme will give you a list of alumni that you can speak with. If it is professional training, then they should have a list of clients that you can check with. This is indeed a dream that very rarelycomes true. If you are a professional, then you have the rights of a professional. Very few schools come up to the mark of skilled amateurs. Most would be more honest if they used a clowns face as a logo.

When you think of in-house training, especially if it is unpaid or expecting a fee, start associating it with muggers on the street and let them prove otherwise. They rarely do. There are still plenty of "suckers" out there. The job has low levels of professionalism because the industry would have to change its paradigm to continue if it did. Putting in an English speaking cadaver with an overpriced book is much more profitable

It has been a very long time since I have been able to vent, So few of us stay around long enough to know what I am talking about. It feels good! Very good indeed!

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