Job Discussion Forums

[santi84]

[Lack]

Well, I think the trick to part of this problem is to go work in out of the way or unknown cities or villages. May not be your ideal places, but you'll have tons of job security.

I'm still in my first EFL contract, so I can't speak from lots of experience, but when I first got here I was very frustrated that I couldn't just go in and teach my way. Thing is, most of us are working for companies (definitely not schools, although they try to resemble schools...heh) probably and so they are selling a "method" or a "program" to the parents. So these companies want to mold teachers into little drones who do things exactly how the company wants. After a while, you may gain more freedom depending on circumstances (it sure was nice when new teachers started showing up...) Problem is, these companies don't really know much about teaching.

Although they are great at marketing...

[Coolguy123]

[spiral78]

[Sashadroogie]

Tru dat

[sparks]

I wouldn't worry about it terribly much. It sounds like you just need some more experience. It's too bad that your school didn't support you very well. Everyone feels horribly stressed and out of their element the first year or so. You need some time bang it out. Of course training courses help but nothing is like teaching a regular schedule, being responsible for taking a group from start to finish, meeting objectives etc. This takes time. You will be able to teach your own way but you have to get comfortable enough to figure out what way that is and to be able to defend and support what you do. I'm sure that the first class I ever taught was ridiculous, plus the guy who had the group before me had years of experience and a teaching degree from the U.S. Be calm, it will get better

[JustinC]

My first gig was really out of the way; sometimes I wouldn't see another foreigner for three weeks. The school was very supportive, helping me with accommodation, teaching and other issues. I was a real oddity in the area, leading to slightly annoying staring and pointing but, ignoring that, it was fascinating being in a community where many had never seen in real life, let alone spoken to, a white guy.

I totally panicked in my first observation (me observing a lesson, before I'd even taught for one second), and was convinced I wouldn't be up to scratch. The school, as I said, was very supportive and provided excellent co-teachers, a chalkboard and chalk. In the classrooms I had no access to a computer, projector, whiteboard, printer... nothing except a piece of chalk and a willingness to learn my craft (and probably look like dimwit).

Luckily, as I had done no research at all, I was put in a great school and had a fantastic manager. That was 6 years and 5 countries ago and I've seen/heard/experienced the whole gamut of standards of support in schools. Don't give up and just put it down to experience. Teachers are sometimes born and sometimes made.

[Coolguy123]

[JustinC]

[Coolguy123]