Job Discussion Forums

[sarahbrom]

I need some advice on how to work out whether a school is a good one or not. I'm in England and currently looking for jobs in Spain. If I get offered jobs or invited for interviews, how can I suss out whether the school is one I'd actually want to work at (especially before having visited it)? Any tips? Are there any tell tale signs I should look for that a school isn't much good? What makes a school good or bad?
Thanks ever so much! All this is a daunting process!

[Spainish]

Considering most schools in Spain won't hire at a distance, you should probably just save up some "getting started" money and head over here so you can check the schools out yourself. Tell tale signs become very obvious once you get to visit their facilities of course. It can also depend on their rate of pay and number and type of clients, again, things you probably wont learn about until you are actually here in Spain.

If you have enough experience and/or are certified you shouldn't have a problem finding work anyway (especially in Madrid), so you aren't really risking much by coming over without a job first (especially if you come over at the beginning of the school season, such as mid-September and October).

Spainish

[Moore]

I second Spainish�s advice - get a job on the ground, you�ll be fine if you come at the start of September.
Once you�re here, look at wages (15 euros an hour for business, 12 for academy in-house stuff, MINIMUM!), and also look at the recources they give you: if they are prepared to give you a copy of the textbook (some places don�t, and expect you to come in and photocopy the bits you need which is ridiculous considering you�ll be running around enough as it is).
The standards of schools here in Spain are the worst I have ever experienced in my (way too long) teaching career, but I suppose it has the advantage of them not expecting all that much of you either.
The only decent schools here are the British Council, International House, and Vaughn systems, but they do take themselves rather overly-seriously.
Personally I work for a small company run by a couple of women who were p*ssed off with being exploited themselves and pay well and leave me alone to do my thing: I just had a good feeling about them and it turns out it was right, something you�ll only get "on the ground".

[CairoMig]

Ask to see the school. Cr*p school have few resources, the resources they have are generally old books and nothing you can photocopy legally or usefully. Think about the questions they ask at the "interview". Most cowboy schools ask you to say the difference between the third and second conditional, but more important is how would you illustrate the difference to a student. In the end you can prepare classes and learn the difference at home if you had to.

Look at the classrooms. So many people I used to know in Madrid complained they were conned into working for a cowboy outfit. You used to see the classrooms - empty bedrooms with a black board and some chairs. What did they expect? If they can't be bothered to invest in the resources for their customers, they aren't going to bother about the teachers.

Look at the teachers working there. Do they smile and say hi or talk to each other? Or do they thump books on staffroom table, look miserable and sit in silence? Usually teachers give "signals" to prospective teachers so take notice of them.

You might even ask to see a bit of a lesson. If they find this totally appalling well they don't know much about professional development. Peer obsevations are fairly central to it. Just look at a couple of mins and see what they get up to.....