Job Discussion Forums

[alex1]

Hi

Another IH Q!

I've been offered a job at IH Torun and wondered if anyone had an experience of this school and living in this city.

I've seen the comments on other IH schools.

I'm a newbie - Celta qualified this year and will have some teaching experience over summer before heading to Poland. The training aspect and Poland are what interest me. Less about the money (but need to survive)!

Thanks.

[biffinbridge]

I know Poland well and know much about IH Torun as I know several of its previous DOSs, in 96 I worked for IH a few miles away in Bydgoszcz and I've actually worked in Torun.IH always sell that teaching development thing.You'll get it there for sure but you can also get it at alot of other schools in Poland.Most Polish EFL teachers have an MA in EFL or Applied Linguistics so you can learn quite a lot from them.Also just cause someone only has a CELTA it doesn't mean that they can't give you more help than an IH DOS.IH tend to pay for their DOSs to do the Dip on the condition that they stay at the said school for ages.The result of this is that you get DOSs who are often very good in that particular school but very blinkerd in their approach to things when viewed from an outside perspective or when they go elsewhere.When I was in the Gulf,two former IH DOS's,(one from Torun and one from Bydgoszcz) got laid off and a third came close to getting fired while I was there....'nuff said.My point then is this;by all means look for teaching development but don't just look at IH as they generally pay well below the market rate.I think they pay about 1,800 ZL a month plus housing and that is rubbish.They also make you sign contracts which require their permission for you to teach elsewhere,ie privately.No point in going to Poland if you can't afford to have a good time.What will 60 ZL a day get you?Well I was in Poland 6 weeks ago.If you go to a cheap restaurant like 'Sphinx',(there's one in Torun) a Kebab/burger ,fries and a beer will cost you about 20 ZL.A trip to the internet cafe will set you back about 5ZL.Cigarettes will set you back 6 ZL.Beer,(same price as juice0, will set you back about 5 or 6 ZL.Levis will set you back about 300ZL.A night in a hotel won't cost less than 100ZL.A train ticket to Krakow will set you back about 100ZL and phone calls (you'll pay the bills) cost a fortune,(more than the UK).Low wages mean that you can live.Don't expect to travel much,buy clothes often or go to nicer restaurantsAs the money isn't good .....I'd look elsewhere for the teaching development even though the school has a good rep and teachers often stay there.

[biffinbridge]

I know Poland well and know much about IH Torun as I know several of its previous DOSs, in 96 I worked for IH a few miles away in Bydgoszcz and I've actually worked in Torun.IH always sell that teaching development thing.You'll get it there for sure but you can also get it at alot of other schools in Poland.Most Polish EFL teachers have an MA in EFL or Applied Linguistics so you can learn quite a lot from them.Also just cause someone only has a CELTA it doesn't mean that they can't give you more help than an IH DOS.IH tend to pay for their DOSs to do the Dip on the condition that they stay at the said school for ages.The result of this is that you get DOSs who are often very good in that particular school but very blinkerd in their approach to things when viewed from an outside perspective or when they go elsewhere.When I was in the Gulf,two former IH DOS's,(one from Torun and one from Bydgoszcz) got laid off and a third came close to getting fired while I was there....'nuff said.My point then is this;by all means look for teaching development but don't just look at IH as they generally pay well below the market rate.I think they pay about 1,800 ZL a month plus housing and that is rubbish.They also make you sign contracts which require their permission for you to teach elsewhere,ie privately.No point in going to Poland if you can't afford to have a good time.What will 60 ZL a day get you?Well I was in Poland 6 weeks ago.If you go to a cheap restaurant like 'Sphinx',(there's one in Torun) a Kebab/burger ,fries and a beer will cost you about 20 ZL.A trip to the internet cafe will set you back about 5ZL.Cigarettes will set you back 6 ZL.Beer,(same price as juice0, will set you back about 5 or 6 ZL.Levis will set you back about 300ZL.A night in a hotel won't cost less than 100ZL.A train ticket to Krakow will set you back about 100ZL and phone calls (you'll pay the bills) cost a fortune,(more than the UK).Low wages mean that you can live.Don't expect to travel much,buy clothes often or go to nicer restaurantsAs the money isn't good .....I'd look elsewhere for the teaching development even though the school has a good rep and teachers often stay there.

[alex1]

Thanks - I've pm-ed you.

[Harri]

I also worked for IH in Bydgoszcz and I can tell you that the two DoSs that he refered to - one left to earn more money as he'd just got married and the other left for very good reasons. Also, you can travel while you're there if you're not too worried about travelling in luxury - in the four years that I worked there, I visited Lithuania for a long weekend, Gdansk, Krakow and Prague loads and even managed to get to Madrid!! He is right that the money isn't fantastic by European standards - it isn't worth diddly if you take it back to the UK but while you're there, it isn't too bad.

[mike10]

[elblagski]

Iv'e heard this school is a load of w**k.

Get this. They have training sessions for teachers all over the place nearly every weekend and expect you to pay for travel and accommodation.
Ever spent 6 hours on a train to Wroclaw? Then listen to some IH crap for a day then 6 hours back to Torun and paying for this so-called privelidge?

IH need to learn a thing or 2 about:

1 Paying peaple a decent salary (1500 a month is crap)
2 They should not assume they are even close to being the best
3 TEFL teachers talk to each other and use forums like this one.

Elblagski

[Kevin Fletcher]

Interesting