Job Discussion Forums

[CECTPA]

Thanks to everyone who had something constructive to contribute to this discussion. Anyone else have any observations? I am primarily interested in schools in Istanbul if that helps.

[TeachEnglish]

Teaching in Istanbul can be an interesting adventure to say the least. Berlitz can be an OK place to work if you have nerves of steel and just try to not let the management bother you.. or get to you when they pick you to be at the top of their s*it list. The owner of Berlitz is more than unreasonable to deal with and as time marches on, he seems to get more and more crazy.
I have a friend that works at Yeditepe and she is learning all sorts of interesting things about management and the prep students are really tough. She says she feels like she is teaching at a reform school for juveniles. There are students in the prep school that want to learn.. but they have very little chance due to the discipline problems of the idiots that are there to be disruptive, talk in class while the teacher talks, play with their electronic toys and just are a waste of sperm and egg.
Another place I am familiar with is Wall Street. I hear mostly good things about it. I hear the teaching method is not difficult, the hours are typical - working 6 days a week and atleast one must be weekend - and the pay and benefits, if you finish a contract, are not too bad.
Good luck

[Mark Loyd]

But our friend and academic Iman H spent so long trying to convince us all that there is nothing wrong with private unis and that Yeditepe was so great.

Wall Street has a method? Pray tell, what is it?

[justme]

My private uni students are, behavior-wise, little smiling angels. Not that they're learning English all that well, but that's another discussion.

[ImanH]

Thanks Entrailicus and justme for some perspective.
What fascinates me is how anyone, least of all an English teacher, can conclude from anything I have written that I think private universities are �great�.
Of course, one can�t. It is simply another attempt to misrepresent or antagonise a complete stranger on a public forum whose only offence was to not agree whole-heartedly that the Turkish education system and everyone and anything associated with it is crap.
What is interesting in all this is that under normal circumstances I would be in complete agreement with any poster�s sentiments regarding workers� rights. However, what I find so galling about the crusade one is subjected to on the Turkey forum is that it smacks so much of both imperialism and of double standards. All the moaning and whinging that goes on relates simply to the loss of one�s own privileged status as the Turkish business class recognises that they no longer have to pay premium prices for foreigners who differed only from their equally well-qualified Turkish counter-parts in that they were native speakers. If these complaints had gone hand in hand with a history of (or even a current nod in the direction of) challenging the inequities that exist for Turkish teachers in this system, the campaign not only might have some credibility but might have stimulated some good old-fashioned workers� action to challenge the increasing de-professionalisation of an occupation as something which has historically gone hand-in-hand with employers� attempts to chip away at pay and conditions in many sectors. However, little mention is made of these other inequities; inequities that have been benefited from for years and only now that there is a lose of those benefits do the flaws in the system suddenly become visible.

[calsimsek]

So ........... Yea what ImanH said........

What you got a say 31/Mark.










sorry but this has to be good for a laugh.

[ImanH]

[corall]

ummm... just to respond to the op...

i work at one of those �zel schools - which is basically a kolej/lise but not really a business. i love my job but i do work a lot of hours (8-4 and 3:15 on fridays, weekends off) but i only have 16 contact hrs a week and the paper work can be a bit much at times (the bf can attest to helping me mark assessments). the pay is alright - not up there with enka schools but pretty close, but they try to provide other benefits to make up for it - excellent health insurance, good school lunches including salad bar and diet menu if you want, transport, support for extra teacher training (i am currently doing a course with iti and my school is paying for most of it), good housing allowance too, resources, really good teacher support and a departmental academic advisor (who actually knows what she is talking about). so its not too bad. it's things like when we have late meetings (which are rare) they have sandwiches made for us and free tea and coffee. the main reason that i accepted the job there was for the holidays though - a week in october, 3 weeks in jan (one week is for the bayram), a week in april and about 6-7 weeks ın the summer (all paid of course). so if you like to work with kids in elementary, middle or high school, that could be a good choice for you.

i don't know much about language schools in this city but i do know more about kolej schools in the city. whatever you do don't work at kultur 2000 - very disorganized, not really great atmosphere, not a lot of support, longer hours, and they owe me some summer pay. not to mention the pay is terrible. although there are some nice teachers, the admin is completely lost and the principal is terrible. but i hear that kultur koleji isn't so bad to work for...

ps - Iman - i agree girl well said

[Mark Loyd]

[scb222]

hi, im currently working at a private school in istanbul, but really have had it with the management and the bratty kids. wished id just signed up with an institute like ET to begin with. sadly now i have a work permit etc with my private school so cant easily leave without having many hassles with border officials etc if i wanna jump ship and head to ET. am really interested in joining ET next year though. I am university qualified and have 4 years experience in 2 different countries apart from turkey. to be honest i have never heard anything bad about ET persay, esp. from those first hand. what do you know of the sirinevler branch?
thanks.

[Mark Loyd]

Out of the frying pan....

[tekirdag]

[Mark Loyd]

You are in luck because they are advertising for another 35 hourly paid workers. Of course it must be because they are expanding and not because the ones they lured a few months ago have done a runner. I hope they will be picked up at the airport and get paid in full.

Bad lises are hell but at least you get a regular salary.

[VoxiBurchenau]

My experience is only w/TEFL here, but lay your cards on the table first meeting so you don't waste your time which they'll inevitably try to do anyway, but hey, listen to the people on this forum, within reason, these schools still have bad reputations and have no incentive to change. The Wall Street post may be mgmt., because experience, degrees mean nothing you're just paid nothing and as long as you don't complain about the money missing from your pay envelope they'll treat you like nothing. A lot of the staff are top-notch but, it's a business, and is therefore predisposed to raising your blood-pressure. The facilities and the students are excellent, but the pay is beans for many. You may want to try Dilge new school but with a Callan method which is not easy to digest, but for 40hrs a month at 20ytl to start you can get used to a lot, evening classes good if you have other opp.s during the day and don't need to support yourself w/this school.

[tekirdag]