Job Discussion Forums

[bailemos]

Have applied to several conversation schools - Nova, AEON, ECC. Have heard on the grapevine that some schools have longer working hours and more classes to teach than others ... Can anyone enlighten me on the above schools and whats usual !!!

Thanks a bunch

b

[in_japan]

It's really impossible to give a direct answer. Just luck of the draw really. Even within the different Eikaiwa timetables vary greatly.

I know some AEON teachers whose busiest day is four classes, whilst others teach 6 or 7 classes a day/five days a week.

ECC teachers usually start about 3-4pm and finish up about 9pm. AEON teachers usually start a little earlier midday-1pm and finish up at 9pm. In addition ECC teachers have considerably more holidays than AEON teachers.

If your looking for the least hours/work sign up with NOVA on a part-time contract.

[Glenski]

The average eikaiwa runs from noon or 1pm to 9pm.

Some have 8 classes per day, EVERY day.
Some simply have enough classes to give you 100 hours per month (roughly 25 hours per week) IN THE CLASSROOM. I used to work at a place that had 2 to 4 classes per day.

A lot also depends on how LONG each class it. Mine were 80 minutes each. I think NOVA offers classes 40-45 minutes long.

There are other duties that you may be asked to perform:
interviewing prospective students
meetings
attracting students by chatting in a lounge
handing out flyers

[bornslippy1981]

Nova lessons are 40-minutes long. The afternoons used to be 45-minutes until last year when they had some problems with the government health insurance issue, and made lessons shorter, while calling all non-titled instructors part-time workers.

The work day is the same, but the breaks between lessons are 15-minutes. Plenty of time to chat, work on a crossword puzzle, smoke, use the bathroom, etc.

If you're on a full-time contract, you'll work 5 days with 8 lessons/day. If it's a larger school, 1 or 2 lessons could be kids classes, and another 1 or 2 could be "voice." Some days I teach 4-5 kids classes, which is fine, as I don't mind them. Since many students have not bought more points, as they've found new schools or hobbies, there are often a lot of empty lessons. Three days a week I work at a place where I teach 4 lessons (if that) with one "lucky" student (as they didn't book a MxM lesson, so it's considered lucky that they didn't get even more ripped off), and have 4 lessons with no students. During the time I usually take a nap, study Japanese, read a book, etc. It's a small place, and even though I always ask the staff if they need help, they never do.

However, not all Nova branches are like this, and now these types of places are closing. Even bigger schools have 1-2 students per lesson. I think it's a sign that retention of students is really low, and they're struggling to stay above water. Not wanting to show up one day with a sign on the door that I can't read, but the lack of lights means I'll never get paid again, I'm out of that place next week and headed towards greener pastures.

[Dipso]

At Aeon, foreign teachers are on 29.5 hours per week contracts - 25 hours of this being teaching hours. As lessons are generally 50 minutes long, this does not mean that you will have a maximum of 25 lessons a week, however.

Most teachers work from Tuesday to Saturday, although a few have Saturday off instead of Monday. The last lesson finishes at 8pm on Saturdays and 9pm on weekdays in my area. You can generally expect to start work at 1-2pm on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays.

There are also lots of meetings and training sessions to attend at Aeon, often at the regional head office. If you are the only foreign teacher at your school, you will be going to head office training sessions twice a month (before school properly starts for the day), which can really be a drag at times, especially if you are out in the sticks.

[in_japan]

So I met up with a couple of friends tonight. Both work for AEON. One taught six classes today, the other only taught one. They both work at different schools. They're both on the 29.5 hour contract.

[womblingfree]

[Dipso]

I think Aeon teachers with light schedules are in quite a large minority -most teachers I know do five or six lessons a day. I would love to be one of those under-utilised teachers, naturally. I did use to be an ALT, after all!

[bailemos]

Thanks for all the replies - I have a query about the 29.5 hours a week contract, does this mean teaching hours/classes or total working time at the schools ... I have heard of people who do alot more than this - (29.5 hours a week) and dont get paid overtime. Is this the case with most schools esp the bigger ones ?

Muy gracias

b

[bornslippy1981]

29.5 hours is teaching time. The time in between lessons is "free time" because the larger companies don't consider this teaching time, and thus avoid paying into the government health plan because you're a part-time employee.

You'll probably be there 40 hours per week. 45 minutes - an hour will be break, and the time between lessons are short breaks.

Although they're short breaks, expect staff to run to you after somebody's first English lesson and cheerfully say, "How was she?"

[Dipso]

I am at Aeon. I am on a 29.5hr contract, but spend at least 45 hours a week at school. There is always work that needs to be done, be it planning or counselling or preparing for one of the many head office training sessions. I have never had a lunch break that has lasted longer than 15 minutes - I just have too much to do.