Job Discussion Forums

[Samantha]

Wouter wrote:

[Wouter]

Hi Samantha,

You are right that we had to take it up with the teacher and we did. Of course he knew that this is not done. Besides this I think it was not nice from Greg as he was the person that approched our teacher.

Yes we had several teachers that moved on for several reasons. Lately all the teachers that we have are with us for over more than a year.

About lesson plans. We ask from the teachers to make lessons plans when they start with teaching at our school. After a while they dont have to show us their lessons plans but we know that they still do as we have weekly meetings. Also i think that if you have been giving lessons from the same book for over a year you dont really need the lessons plans any more as you know the book by heart. We are very lucky with our teachers at the moment as they are really motivated and come up with many different ideas every time and the good thing is that we have a book where they can share their Ideas.

I think lessons plans can be a lot of work especially when you have to make them for every lesson with a discripton of every five minutes that you have class. What I understood from the teacher that worked there is that they had to turn in all the lesson plans for the whole week on monday which I think is kind of difficult to do as there can be changes during the week. I dont know if this is still the case but I dont think this is a good method.

I think most of the teachers leave after a while because they come more for the experience than to stay for ever.

It is right that the things that I wrote comes from more than one teacher.

I think one of the main reasons that our teachers stay a long time because we give them all the benefits that a school should give. Helping out with their FM3, giving them healtinsurance, Infonavit and pension without they having to pay for it and of course aguinaldo, vacaciones and pri vacaciones.

I know many teachers at other schools and it often enoys me that they dont get this. This is something that they should get and also makes it unfair competition. If a school cant make any profit with offering these benefits they should close. These are not optional benefits. These are benefits by law. Often teachers are told that if they dont like this they can leave. This makes it really hard for teachers to make a living.

I heard as well from situations where schools take part of wages from the salary from the teacher for health insurance but they never get their pink paper that you should get if you are getting healt insurance. This sounds to me like a scam to cut the wages.

Wouter

[Samantha]

There certainly is a lot of "hear-say" in your post. But I am trying to figure out if you are attempting to turn Greg's post about Culturlingua's history, which he made in response to someone's question, into an advertisement for your own school or if you are just taking out a personal vendetta against Greg.

[Wouter]

Hi Samantha,

No I dont want to turn Greg's post about Culturlingua's history in to a vendetta against Greg. I think his post is a great post. Good information.

I dont want to advertise my school. There is no reason as we have great teachers at the moment. We had a teacher that worked at our school that worked before at a Culturlingua school but not at the one that Greg is running.

We had also another teacher that worked at Gregs school and worked for one our in the evening at our school. She was told that it was not possible to work as well at our school so she quite working at our school.

Later we had a teacher that worked at our school and started working at Gregs school as well. We had no problem with this as we can only offer 5 hours a day and understand that some teachers want to make some more money by working some where else. This is quite common I guess and we had several teachers doing this. In the end it turned out that he took some students from our school to Gregs school and than we decided to tell him that he couldnt work at our school any more.

We dont have a teacher any more that worked at a Culturlingua school. The last teacher that worked there and later worked for us left to work in Japan as the wages are much better there and she was studying Japanese as well and was always here dream to go to Japan.

The reason that I mention the stuff about the benefits is that I think a lot of teachers dont know about these benefits and dont know that they are entitled to this. I must say that we didnt know this either as being an employer. Especially the aguinaldo (chirstmass bonus) is something that doesnt exists where I come from (the Netherlands) and as far as I know also not in the states. As this is a lot of money (15 working days of your avarage salary pro rata). In the netherlands the employer is free to give what ever he wants.

Wouter

[Wouter]

Also what i forgot to tell is that if somebody is interested in teaching at a Culturlingua school it would be interesting to know if these benefits are also offered by Culturlingua schools. Mabey Greg can answer this question as he is a director of one of these schools.

Wouter

[gregd75]

Wow! I haven't taken a look on the message board for some time, and now that I have I am... interested (i think is the best word) to read the posts.

I think I MUST reply to the information posted here, but I want to be careful that people reading this will understand that, as a director of Culturlingua, I am a representative of the brand, the school and everything we stand for- which was my original objective of posting before.

Wouter has made a number of postings, and I think that my reply is warranted, however, I want to keep my posting professional, as I believe it should be.

Firstly, the history... Culturlingua Tlaquepaque (located in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco) opened in April 2004. Wouter's school- Guadalajara Language Center (also located in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco) opened some months before Culturlingua. We are in direct competition with each other, and this has led to a number of disagreements between the two schools. But I think this is normal in an environment of competition.

I advertise Culturlingua Tlaquepaque as the 'best' school in Tlaquepaque because I always ask our students to complete a questionairre around mid semester, it asks our customers if they are happy with the school, the classes, the price, the courses and asks for suggestions on how we can improve the service to our students. My claim is based on the results of these questionairres. My students are very, very happy wth my school, and as such I feel I can make, and substantiate my claim (to Wouters disagreeance)

The situation Wouter describes concerning the Spanish teacher was correct. I did ask the Spanish teacher to teach me privately. At the time, I WAS NOT the owner of Culturlingua Tlaquepaque, and indeed the teacher had become, and remains a personal friend of mine. I need to EMPHASIZE that the teacher NEVER received a contract with Wouters school, therefore he never knew that he coud not take private classes. IN FACT, I checked with the Spanish teacher BEFORE we started classes that he was not contractually restriced by the GLC. This 'incident' happened in 2005 and Wouter talks about it now. I really feel that the past should be in the past.

As for all the other teachers that have come here and then moved to Japan etc. Again all this happened over 2 years ago. I can say, however, that in the past year I have had a teacher working for me who was not happy about submitting lesson plans every Monday. He didn't take a TEFL/TESOL qualification and was strugging in general to teach. I noticed this in the lesson plans and was able to help him.

I offer two defenses concerning my insistance that teachers submit lesson plans;

1) When I recruit a teacher, from the very first contact they have with Culturlingua, I emphasize that I require lesson plans to be completed and submitted. I ask if they are happy with this before I even continue the recruitment process. I assume that if the teachers say they are aware of this requirement and want to continnue the recruitment process, then coming to Culturlingua and submitting lesson plans won't be a surprise.

2) I 100% agree with Samanthas posting... I believe lesson plans are essential for a good teacher to teach.

Now, as Wouter is writing postings on supposition, I can gladly confirm that, although the lesson plans are required for the forthcoming week, I accept that classes are fluid and may move faster or slower than planned, and my team can adapt these plans as they see fit, but I strongly believe that 'failing to plan is planning to fail'

Its lesson plans at Culturlingua or no job at Culturlingua. The teachers know this, and, so far, I havent had one single teacher unhappy with this.

With regard to the contracts we offer teachers, I speak on behalf of an organization with OVER 20 YEARS teaching English. We offer a semester based contract, and offer fully furnished accomodation to our teachers.

I do not want to enter into a fight with Wouter about what is right or what is wrong. I understand what is being said on the posting and I just want to say that the package we offer teachers is the package available in all Culturlingua schools, from Uruapan to Periban to Tlaquepaque.

Wouter said in his posting that he knows me. I haven't talked to Wouter for 2 years as our schools are in direct competition and I have no need or desire to talk to him, so please, readers of this board, please take the two schools positions into account when you read this.

Finally, I want to leave this post by actually agreeing with Wouter. Any person wishing to teach should do their research into the location and the name of the school. I am very proud to have two schools under the Culturlingua name and I believe what Culturlinga offers students is a great environment with great teachers and classes at great prices. The whole team is happy at Culturlingua- the students, the English teachers, the Spanish teachers and the co-ordinators, so how can I possibly apologize for offering a great service to students with great classes in a great school at a great price?

[Wouter]

Thanks for the reply Greg. Some small notes about your reply.

I think no school in the world would allow teachers to take students away from do school to give private lessons. It is absolutely right that at this time when we started the school we didnt have contracts for the teachers but any teacher would understand that you cant take away students from the school to give them private lessons. I must say I think this was not fair from you to put the teacher in this position but I also have to say that it was more the teacher who was wrong here.

We do actually the same with the questionairs for the students and most of the students are very happy with our school as well. I think their have been students that switched schools from the school from Craig to us and the other way around. I think that this is very personal and some students like one system and some another. The englsh expresion horses for courses would be in place here. As there are more schools in Tlaquepaque then just the two from me and craig I dont think any school good claim that it is the best but this is a marketing stragegy and I understand.

[Wouter]

Forgot to write this.

[Dragonlady]

deleted

out of date

[Wouter]

I dont understand the difference. With contract workers you mean people that work for them selfs and are freelancers? If this is what you mean than I think it is different. In this case the person him self have to be registered with the Hacienda (tax office) and have to be registered with the IMS. This is for teachers not very common because because of the low salaries it is expensive. Also I think it is more difficult to get an FM3 because you are not working for a company and you have to prove that you have more clients then one. I dont know if you are a freelancer if you have to pay your self Aguinaldo. Dont think so.

Some people think that if you have a contrat for example 28 days you dont have to pay income tax. This is not true. Every company that offers you a contract has to register you within 5 days with IMS. To see if they really did you will get a health insurance number. With this number you can go to a public hospital and you will get a sort of book in the size of a passport.

It can be that I didnt understand what you ment with contract workers. In this case explain it please.

Wouter

[gregd75]

Wouter,

The situation with the teacher happened TWO YEARS ago. Why do you talk about it now, when this discussion, if I am correct was about the Culturlingua chain of schools?

If you remember, two years ago, I, and then later another teacher was working at our school and we came to teach at your school privately. We did this because the owner of Culturlingua (then), and now I, do not restrict our teachers to working in one school.

In fact, I positively encourage teachers to take private students IF it doesnt incurr on the teachers responsibilities at Culturlingua.

Wouter, you wrote-

about being professional you should have thought about this when you approached our teacher. Doesn�t look like very professional to me-

did you, or did you not approach ME to work for you while working for Culturlingua? Did you, or did you not then take another teacher from Culturlingua to teach classes at your school?

What is the difference between you taking teachers to teach and me taking a teacher to teach? Tell me please, because if you are accusing me of being unprofessional, then you are admitting that you too are unprofessional. The diference is that we tell our teachers that its OK to teach, as long as it doesnt infringe upon their responsibilities here.

Horses for corses, I think is the quote you wrote. Its a two way street

I do not think it was unprofessional of me at all.Maybe you should clarify with your teachers what they can and cant do. Maybe you already do this, as this situation you talk about was TWO YEARS ago.

I really do not think you know me at all. I have grown and learned from my experiences. I am making a school in which my students are thoroughly enjoying classes. I am not looking into the past.... unlike you.
But I do want to remain professional. I feel this is a personal attack by Wouter on me, and I do not want to enter into this type of posting here, or anywhere else in fact.

My intention of posting was to help people understand Culturlingua.

All I can say to readers of this post, is that I believe my actions to be moral and professional, and, as we are in competition with the school Wouter owns, I hope readers may see the advantage Wouter is trying to gain by dirtying my name and reputation.

I readily admit that a position at Culturlingua is for a newly qualified teacher, and we give a great experience to our teachers. This was mentioned previously in this posting and I agree with this posting.

With regard to teachers, we advertise on our website the package available at the school, and I emphasize this is for ALL Culturlingua schools. Upon interview for a position, benefits and responsibilities are clearly taked about. This is not the correct forum to discuss individual contracts.

In answer to your question about contract workers, there are two types of people, in the eyes of Mexican law. An accountant can explain this quite easily.

[Wouter]

[PlayadelSoul]

Here is what I have learned from this thread.

1. Both schools think they might be the best. They are not sure, however.

2. They both have no qualms about poaching teachers from other schools.

3. One school may or may not pay nomina to its teachers. The other does and takes great pride in the fact that it follows labor laws (the fact that this is a source of pride is disturbing and shows just how shady our business can be).

[Wouter]

Good reply. One small comment. I have no idea if we are the best and defenetly are not claming to be the best. We just do our best

Both schools dont mind if teachers teach at both schools only that they dont interfere with the school and dont steel students from the school.

Defenitly right about the nominas. This is more important for teachers than for schools actually and as a teacher you always have the right at health insurance even if the school didnt offer you this. If anything happens to you you can always claim heath insurance for free. The only difference is that the school pays a big fine when they didnt offer you this. Health insurance covers as well medicine.

For me as a school owner I think it is unfair competition if schools dont offer this. On the other hand a school can of course decide for it self if they want to take the risk.

Wouter

[gregd75]

Well, as a final thought to this thread concerning Culturlingua, I want to re-interate that the situation about the Spanish teacher happened two years ago. The Spanish teacher is a good personal frined of mine, and I appreciate it must be difficult to accept losing money from a paying client.

As it was two years ago, and I have learned from my experiences, I wholeheartedly apologise for the pain and grief this has obviously caused you Wouter.

As for taking / poaching teachers from each school, I think we can both agree that neither school has taken teachers for 18 months or so, and I do not have any intention of doing so in the future.

Once again, I think its best for me to apologise for what happened a relatively long timeago in the past, and to confidently say in this forum that I have learned from my mistakes and experiences and am a better person, and employer for doing so.

Please, readers of this post, do not think that Culturlingua is a bad place to work, as I totally believe that teachers and students do, and will continue to enjoy being with us. And this was my original intention of posting here in the first place.