Job Discussion Forums

[laugh2]

Any advice on the following would be helpful.

I have two offers from Poland for my first ESL position. Which do you think would best enable me to get a better job my second year of teaching? Or does it matter much at all? Both schools teach children, teenagers and adults - general and exam English.

One job is in Szczecin with ELS-Bell, the other with Lektor School of English in Mragowo (population 22,000) in the Lake Region. The hours and pay are better in the small town, but there is nothing in the way of teacher development. The only other native speakers will be the one or two other teachers. The former teacher testimonials on the school's web site positively gush about their experience there.

What I like about the city ELS-Bell offer is, of course, all that cities have to offer, plus, frequent teacher input/development. But teaching 4 classes on Saturdays is mandatory and it looks like there's potential to have to teach close to 30 or more hours a week.

I'm a spanking new teacher with no experience and will be a newbie abroad. I'm concerned about handling the workload without losing my mind, so the small-town job with less hours but no training appeals. But the city offer, with a large, professional-seeming school that gives support - maybe 30 hours of teaching wouldn't be so bad.

Any thoughts? And, again, might one or the other job better set me up to get a better job or one in a city I prefer the following year?

Thanks.

[Stosskraft]

Go for the small town and less hours hours. Walk before you run.

Once you have a year of experience, then maybe look at bigger and better things. 30 hours a week is alot of teaching when starting out, Plus you may find living in a small town more to your liking.

[spidey]

I tend to agree with Stosskraft.
If you start out at 30hrs a week, you might possibly burn yourself out before you even get started. If you have a choice, try not to put yourself into a "negative first impression" situation that you may or may not recover from in the future.

IMHO of course.

Take your time. Baby steps.....

S

[Gregor]

Spidey and Stosskraft are right.
30 hours a week is stressful for many experienced teachers. A newbie, who requires more planning time, might be put off the job forever with that kind of schedule. Take the easier one.

[Sweetsee]

I definitely agree with Stosskraft, Spidey and Gregor.

Would you want to learn to swim in a pool or in the sea?

Good luck to you mate and let us know how things work out for you.


Enjoy yourself,
s

[valley_girl]

It seems unanimous - the small town job sounds much better. Don't work Saturdays on your first job. In fact, try to avoid working six days a week at any point in your career as an EFL instructor. It can be a pretty draining job and you'll want some 'down time'.

Good luck!

[Chasgul]

I already replied on the Newbie version of this but here goes again:

I disagree with the previous posters. Having people around to help you out is more important than sitting around all day. In a larger school, where people know you are new to the game, you can expect them to give you advice and so on if you ask them for it. Don't push it, or you'll look like you aren't up to the job, but sometimes more experienced people are a lot of help.

I also think that taking on 30 hours a week will push you and force you to develop your teaching skills a lot faster and a lot better than if you have the opportunity to spend hours and hours on each lesson plan.

But then again it looks like I'm the only one here who thinks you should jump right in. The option is yours: learn or enjoy the scenery.

[Chris_Crossley]

[spidey]

[Justin Trullinger]

I hire teachers, and I guess if I saw either of those schools on your CV, I would think, "_______ years teaching experience. Good!"

As neither I, nor many other people, have heard of either of the schools in question, well, how do we know which one was "better" experience. We'll only see how much experience you�ve had. So please, go for whichever one you think you'll enjoy more.

Regards,
Justin

PS If it were me, smaller town, more immersion in the culture, and more money would win. And I am not convinced that your teaching skills will be improved by not having enough time to plan properly in your first year. Sometimes the variety provided by a busy schedule gets you into the swing, but for a first year, I would want to take my time, and have a good time.

[denise]

I agree with the posters who�ve suggested the smaller school. The only thing I can add is that you can never tell exactly what a school means when it says it offers professional development. Sometimes there will be regularly scheduled meetings at which different teachers will present their own ideas or materials, but sometimes schools will say they offer such-and-such but never actually deliver it. No meetings, no observations, etc. If "professional development" is one of the reasons you�re considering the larger school, try to get as much specific information as possible about what they actually do. If you want or need help, even the smaller staff at the smaller school should be able and willing to help you.

You can really find opportunities for professional development just about anywhere--I get a lot of ideas just chatting with other teachers over a drink or on the ride out to class.

d

[VanIslander]

Okay, here are two ways to swim.

One way is to flail about in the shallow end for a while and then afterwards take a class, line-up and await your turn to get one-on-one instructions from the swimming coach, followed by practice.

The other way is to be thrown into the deep end and paddle like crazy as the naturally-swimming infant we all are, supported by caring elders who help us and teach us as we are lapping about.

Which way is the best way to learn?

This dual choice was set up for us on day one of my CELTA course by a tutor who recommended the latter as the best way: get directed assistance at the very start of one's teaching.

I agree with Chasgul.

Take the ELS-Bell job in Szczecin if you want to learn more.

More importantly, the teacher development, the heavier workload, brandname franchise and six day workweek, all will count in your favour when you apply for a better job after a year. And you said you wanted to know which job to take to, and I quote you: "best enable me to get a better job my second year of teaching."

You know the answer.

Don't take what seems like the easy way but is really a recipe for mediocrity in boonyville. I know. I spent my first year going that route and ended up taking the CELTA afterwards to get the sort of development training I had been missing: I still have bad habits that I have picked up on the job. Wish I had had proper support from the beginning.

After the year is over, you won't regret it.

[Sweetsee]

Development? What is all that about?

We are not reinventing the wheel here, not brain surgery.

[VanIslander]

[Sweetsee]

Dead serious. Just trying to imagine the development/input process taking place in the conversation schools here or there.

Then again, perhaps you know more than me, quite possible.