Job Discussion Forums

needtaask · Joined: 14 Apr 2007 Posts: 11

Hello to you all in Turkey.
I'm new to this -- the job forum not working in a foreign country. I'm currently working in Central Europe. I've gathered some of the basics about living and working in Istanbul by checking the threads here. Am basically glad to know that the issues of big city life Turkish style are predictable -- it can be frustrating but has its rewards and that where you work heavily impacts which dominates.

That's the kicker. Where you work....I have recently been offered a job with Bilgi University in Istanbul. Does anyone work for them? Can anyone tell me anything more about them? If you had a choice would it be Bilgi or Bilkent?

The interview questions have led me to anticipate having to deal with some apathetic students but I can only hope that "university" indicates they're old enough to have stopped spitting at teachers.
Thanks

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

If Bilkent were in Istanbul, then Bilkent without a doubt ... but it's not ...

As for spitting, at least they're at the age that you can give them a good wallop in reply ... ideally with your car bumper while exiting the car park - the action of pedagogical choice in that you're not doing it in front of their classmates ...

needtaask · Joined: 14 Apr 2007 Posts: 11

Thanks -- so Bilkent is better but Ankora can't tip the difference. Is there anything else you can tell me about Bilgi? I doubt I'll have a car bumper to do the deed in or out of anyone's sight.

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

I'm rather out of touch ... so things may well not be as I remember ... still I can't imagine it's turned into a model centre for learning in the last 6 years ...

... I'm sure the others will soon be around to help you .. when they've dragged themselves out of bed ...

yaramaz · Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:21 am Post subject:

I didn't renew my contract there after last year because it was driving me batty for a large number of reasons (and I am not naive about Turkish kids, having spent 2 years in a kolej). I just ran into an ex colleague from Bilgi last night at a party and she said I made the right move in getting out of there-- the workload is insane, the hours have been increased, the testing and curriculum depts don't exist anymore so the teachers are now responsible for what those depts used to focus on full time. And the person running the whole program still has a screw loose.

If you have your MA TESOL, try for their First Year English (FYE) program, rather than the prep. The prep is not a fun place.

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

i sympathize with the prep school kids.... 6 hours of english for an 18 year old... every day..... wow....

i try and have fun with them a don't take them too seriously...
just make a few sex jokes and the class goes like magic

yaramaz · Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:56 pm Post subject:

The kids were fine. I liked them. It was the management that drove me batty.

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

understandable.... how many hours did you have???? 20?? were they grammar or skills lessons????

yaramaz · Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:24 pm Post subject:

16 teaching hours plus 2 tutorials. It was skills and grammar, integrated. Team teaching (ick). If i could have just got on with the teaching it would have been okay but the mind f*cking got to me. Most of the kids were alright but the politics floating around were pretty unpleasant.

needtaask · Joined: 14 Apr 2007 Posts: 11

Yaramaz, good to hear the kids are okay. Can you say anything more about the politics? Are they institutional or program specific?

From the sounds of it, the job isn't in the prep program but part of the freshman year. Does that change anything? The woman who interviewed me described it as a new program. I'd be teaching academic writing.

I currently teach writing. Most days are sane but when students are struggling or worried and when papers come in -- they can be pretty long. I am trying to get out of IEP and into "content." The gigs generally seem a bit better but that usually means writing.

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

i'm not exactly sure how anyone can get around office politics... my way is just not to care what people are saying about.... everyone is always gossiping and i'm not going to go through life worrying about it all the time.
people do tend to gossip a lot here...

"the only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about"
Wilde

yaramaz · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 5:44 am Post subject:

It wasn't gossip that was the problem- it was the complete denial that anything might be a problem that bothered me. As soon as you made a suggestion or asked a question or showed a sign that the classes or the program weren't 100% perfect (ie sometimes we had poor attendance in the last lesson of the day, or some of the materials were boring or irrelevant or contained errors ) then it was assumed you were a crap teacher who must be monitored closely and critically and condescendingly. This happened to a lot of people, and the air of paranoia was pretty heavy. Everyone learned to keep their mouth shut, even though there were a lot of things that should have been brought up, discussed, addressed, fixed.

The kids in the prep were pretty much like the lise kids I taught before- basically decent people with very little interest in being there. However, you can't just go in there and do light and fluffy games because some kids will complain that you aren't serious enough; if you do more serious work (ie things that involve work for them) then others will complain that you are too hard. No matter what you do, someone will go to the director to complain and it'll all be taken extremely seriously, even if it is contradictory.

By the way, the first year program is much better. A friend transferred there after 5 years in prep and she is ecstatically happy.

needtaask · Joined: 14 Apr 2007 Posts: 11

I am used to gossip - it can bite if people are bitter or malicious but I usually manage by also not really caring much. I also tend to keep personal and professional life as separate as possible. It can be a bit lonely in a new place at first but it works out eventually.

I like what I do and don't mind working hard when left to do my job. It's when office politics actively interfere with my job in some way that I hate them. I have worked at places where the politics of flattery and obsequiousness took precedence over skill and support. I have also worked for administrations that were borderly schizophrenic- mandating program changes on a whim, offering no guidelines or hints about the new direction beyond the new "title" then blaming teachers after about 3 months for not creating and implementing the desired program. It's these crazy making politics that are hard for me to take.

yaramaz · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 6:18 am Post subject:

billybuzz · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 219 Location: turkey

Yaramaz , good to hear you were able to make a move elsewhere .Living in a place like Izmir the options are limited .A lot of people are just hanging on here hoping for a change in the way the place is run ,I think they will be disappointed and any new place that comes along will poach those who want to move and do the same to them . All a bit depressing really .