Job Discussion Forums

[brewsterbudgen]

Thewphaingarm School, Bangkok.

I've searched the Forum but can't find anything about this school (I may well have spelt it wrong!). Does anyone have experience of working here? It looks very professional (from the website).

Thanks

[joe beets]

I have no axe to grind here. I used to work with someone who used to work there, and he had no complaints.

I did run across this particular piece of prickly prose and thought I might steer you in its direction. Hope this works -

http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=127&mforum=tswmk2

jb

[joe beets]

I have no axe to grind here. I used to work with someone who used to work there, and he had no complaints.

I did run across this particular piece of prickly prose and thought I might steer you in its direction. Hope this works -

http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=127&mforum=tswmk2

jb

[brewsterbudgen]

Thanks Joe. As a Newbie I find the many negative posts quite concerning, as virtually every school seems to get them! I'm beginning to wonder if I've made the right decision in heading to Thailand. I'm holding out on the thought that none of the happy, content teachers can be bothered to post positive reports about their schools! Wishful thinking perhaps?!

[Stosskraft]

Don't hold off !

Go and interview with as many places as you can. Make sure you ask a ton of SPECIFIC questions. Ask to see a copy of the contract before you sign it, go over it with a fine tooth comb. Many people jump at the first position offered and then get upset when things they didn't expect (or ask about) occur.

Do a search on this forum, I remember reading a really good comprehensive list of questions to ask a school. But I have forgotten, where exactly it is.

Good luck in Thailand, I'll be joining you this February.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hi brewster!


Don't panic!

This may be an oversimplification,

but here's what I tend to think:


If you were to poll 100 people

at random at any given job,

20 people would say they loved it

20 people would say they hated it

50 people would say it was 'OK'

and 10 people wouldn't reply at all.


Research shows that those who hated their experience ...

are simply more likely to tell others the nitty-gritty details.


TEFL is no different, really.

When I taught in Japan, I had an absolutely great time,

but my colleagues were constantly about this or that.


We come to these TEFL positions in strange lands with vastly different expectations,

different attitudes toward work, different life experiences that colour our perceptions

and different ways of coping (or not coping) with a particular culture.


To be fair, TEFL also has its fair share of "Cowboy Schools" -

those that treat teachers like disposable lighters, to be blunt.

At the same time, TEFL also attracts its fair share of "Cowboy Teachers" -

complainers, slackers, playboys on holiday, social misfits and drunks.


Given this reality, it's highly doubtful that any school

would come out smelling like a rose 100% of the time.


So ...

If I come across a couple negative comments about "School X"

I don't get too excited about it or rush to hasty conclusions.

If I read 6 or 8 negative comments about "School X" -

well, you get the picture. A red flag is a red flag.



luv your avatar!

[bluffer]

As the posts on thaischoolwatch indicate, there are a couple of programs there.

When they were advertising in earlier this year in March, I applied for a job, got an email reply asking me to phone for an interview time.

I phone back the next day but the guy said he was busy and he would call me back. He never did. I called about 2 days later and he said he would call me back, he didnt. I called back the next day and he said "Oh, I have filled all those jobs now"

2 months later he was advertising again. I think that tells its own story.

And by the way, the guy was an American. Apparently he runs the place like a little army camp. ( thats the discription by a friend who started there at the beginning of March and left in May )