Job Discussion Forums

[newyorker]

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[oracle]

I worked for Regent for one semester in '03 after working elsewhere in Poland. Unfortunately, my previous postings were deleted presumably at management's request. I offered a balanced and rational perspective which would be helpful to prospective teachers. I have no axes to grind, no interest in slander, and nothing to hide. For any information on Regent, please contact me at [email protected]. Dave's ESL Cafe remains a valuable resource and forum for teachers.

[Aussie Chick]

So schools can request that Dave/the moderators delete information about them that they don't like???

[newyorker]

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[Lucy Snow]

The forum deleted my posts about Regent School in Elblag. I imagine the owners of the school weren't too thrilled to hear what I had to say and put pressure on Dave, but that would be impossible to prove.

If anyone's interested in what my experience with the school was, feel free to PM me.

[theos.sophos]

I'm not really sure why everyone is so down on regent...I have to say my experience with Regent was quite different. Though things were a bit hectic at the beginning of the year (with books, schedules, students, etc), this is quite normal. I have taught in many schools and it is always this way. However, after the first week or so, things pretty much fell into routine. The students are a pleasure to work with, especially those at the college. The pay is nice. The accomodation is also very comfortable. And the staff is generally very helpful and friendly. Comparing Regent to other schools, I'd say they are far more organized. I also find the administrative staff to be quite flexible with regard to rescheduling lessons for whatever reasons.

Elblag is also a very quaint little town; large enough to remain anonomys, but small enough to feel personal. Its also quite close the the Baltic sea.

[newyorker]

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[oracle]

Any prospective teacher and Regent employee posing as one are welcome to contact me at [b][email protected][/b].

Any worker in any industry who is concerned solely with benefits and accommodation and evaluate institutions on just those criteria are setting themselves up for frustration and disappointment. I enjoyed teaching at the NKJO six years ago in Bydgoszcz despite making 1200PLN for 18 hours work and living in an awful apartment (which was ridiculed incessantly by my students). Although there were times when things were poorly planned or chaotic, most of the Bydgoszcz NKJO administration had years of experience in education. It was not continually chaotic. Granted it is a public institution and the incentives are different, but the experience and interpersonal skills of the administration matters. Some administrators have soft skills and are able to create more effective HR tools for recruiting and retaining workers and some don�t. Please note that the pay at the previously mentioned institution has not kept up with inflation, perhaps influenced by a greater number of EU teachers applying for positions (driving down labor costs).

Most Human Resource professionals who work at institutions with low turnover relative to the industry average may have implemented a few things like:
� Brief weekly meetings to update staff on certain problems, issues which may come up in the near term
� Monthly breakfast or lunch meetings to welcome new employees or to highlight an individual�s effort to finish a difficult or complicated project by a certain time.
� Periodic staff training to increase worker productivity and to make staff reflect on their work techniques
� Educational assistance (paperwork or financial)

Granted certain people could have made better connections with their colleagues to prevent getting broadsided, but clearer, more direct communication could have mitigated negative feelings. It is important to remember that any business looks to increase their margins by raising prices or expanding their market. If they couldn�t do either, the company may eventually go out of business as an agile competitor would enter that market and offer that service. And we know what societies look like when they ban private endeavor.

Bad Management exists everywhere and is certainly not limited to public and private education in former communist countries. Some questions�.

� Is it acceptable that a company would send one contract in one language to a prospective worker to be signed and then force that employee to sign a different one in the native language without the help of a translator?

� Is it acceptable for a senior administrator at any educational institution to barge in 30 minutes into a 90-minunte college exam and order everyone out (with no semblance of an apology) without informing the professor so that the institution could set up a reception?

� Is it acceptable for a school�s administration to ask a new teacher on Friday at 3pm to teach six consecutive 90-minute classes the next day starting at 8am without offering any preparation materials?

� Is it acceptable for a school�s administration to severely restrict the instructor use of resources given the school is well funded by its owner and its clients?

� Is it acceptable for a senior administrator to refuse to give hard-working employees who received good reviews a reference when these employees have decided to move on?

� Is it acceptable for a senior administrator to go around a room at a reception and note the native staff�s education and then deliberately not recognize a native English speaker with a PhD? [For those who don�t know, titles and formalities matter in Poland.]

Very curious to read your responses�

[theos.sophos]

First of all, I have not been planted by Regent. Second of all, I am not only interested in money and accomodation. Thirdly, I have been teaching English for 5 years, 4 of which were in Poland. My past experiences with regard to pay and accomodation in Poland were not optimal, so I am happy to be in a situation where this is not an issue.

I am posting only to provide a balanced, persepective to what seems to be a disgruntled former employee or two...or perhaps not. Things have likely changed if your experience was not pleasant. Change is good. People make mistakes, interpersonal styles do not always mesh, and communication can be misunderstood. If one finds that s/he doesn't know all the infomation in a given system, it is easier for that person to invent conspiracy theories rather than to evaluate his/her own interpersonal stye. The function of a good teacher is to be able to adapt to these situations and learn from mistakes. It is similarly the responsiblity of an educational institution. Arguably, it is the goal of every human being. The only mistake is to make the same mistake twice.

My experience at Regent has been, overall, very positive. My primary motivation in coming to this school was the opportunity to teach college students. It is also one of my reasons for staying. The school has been extremely flexible with regard to scheduling conflicts. Both the teachers and the faculty from Gdansk treat me with respect. I also find conversation with them pleasurable, intellectually stimulating, and effective in producing results. I am a person who calls it as he sees it...and I have never had any problems with regard to logistics, curriculum, or quality that wasn't resolved with a firm honest appraisal of the situation. I have been to numerous teacher trainings and seminars and have also received educational assistance to improve upon my qualifications as a techer. I am a valued employee and I am viewed as an asset and investment. Students are givent anonomys evaluation forms to rate their teachers. There are regular meetings to ensure that student interests are kept at maximum levels by making necessary adjustments with regard to the teachers, materials, and/or students. Overall, my experience at regent has been very rewarding.

With regard to long and detailed posts that have been removed, it is generally (not always) those who have had bad experiences that run to places like this to seek some sort of refuge for their negative experiences. People are generally (not always) motivated to action through the occurance of negeative events. So, I'll bet that one can find more negative opinions about a given school rather than positive ones. People seek to change the bad more often than they seek to praise the good. And people take pleasure in righteous indignation.

To respond to each or your semi-rhetorical scorned sounding quetions:

-Any institution which provides you with a copy of the contract in your native language has most likely rendered it via a certified translation of the original. In this case, a translator is redundant. If any questions regarding the validity of the contract received and signed in your language occur, it can certainly stand as a sufficient document to prove your case in a court of law.

-No it isn't, and a similar situation happened to me. But it was nothing major. Perhaps you weren't informed in advance. I was, and only forgot that it was inevitably approaching. Don't take interpersonal styles personal (? that sounds funny).

-Again, the answer is no, it isn't. However, you didn't have to say yes. How hard is it to teach the first conversation class anyway? Students are sufficiently interested by your foreign nature to be stimulated to converse for at least one session, if not two. Given that you didn't teach the same group consecutively for 6 sessions this shouldn't have been much of a problem. However, if you did, I find that there is always something to talk about. The universe is full of interesting and debatable topics. It is also full of uninteresting topics that can be made interesting with a bit of personality and perspective.

-Yes it is acceptable if the institution deems that the material which one is using is not in the interests of his/her students However, I have never been censored with regard to my topics and/or material and have used numerous resources to implement my lessons. This includes film, music, poetry, philosphy, literature, myths, short stories, newspaper headlines, my own personal ideas, theories, anecdotes, and experience...to name only a few. And I have also taken advantage of the numerous resources which exist at the school

-Yes, it is, if the circumstances surrounding one's departure was in some way related to the quality of his/her work, and not just the quantity.

-And finally, WTF? Titles?? I think a more appropriate question is, does it matter to you? I guess titles are important. But really, its your person, not your title which proves your education. Do you want respect simply because your a PhD? That sort of respect is insincere and unimportant. Titles smitles...who cares what the poles think in that regard. Let your actions speak for you, not your title.


In the end, I will work at least one more year at Regent. And I am happy about it. I found it to be an invalaube resource in my personal and professional developement and look forward to the upcoming academic year.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at [email protected] and i will speak to you frankly about my experience at Regent. Howeve, I do not have any regent horror stories. And as mentioned in my first post, and this one, the only problems encountered by me were minor in nature and easily resolved.

[theos.sophos]

and a note to my first post...i ALSO said the students were a pleasure...and the staff and faculty were friendly and helpful...so please, do not represent me as sounding like a materialistic secret agent from Regent who is only interested in money and accomodation...

[newyorker]

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[theos.sophos]

First I was a plant, now I either dont work there, or I come from Gdansk University...lol...consipircy theories are abundant...

Just look at my tidbit of information on the regent homepage if you wish. I'm the scruffy unshaven one at the very bottom...the one without a title...hehe...I'm at the school everyday and I probably spend more time there than anyone else. I live in Elblag...is it really necessary for me to prove my case?

hehe...this is funny...

It's easier to believe I am a liar than to believe that you are not universally correct...eh?

[oracle]

After all the accusations, heated debate, and bruised egos, I would like to share some things I have learned�some take-aways if you will. OK class, here we go�

Defensiveness
It is much easier to get defensive and use words/phrases like:
Don't talk to me about�
You don�t know the first thing about me�
Please don't tell me about my job.
than to actually refute the logic/argument of another participant.

On the other hand, Theos Sophos is adept at turning the conversation around and not answering the question posed�an important characteristic of any effective politician. Have you ever considered running for Congress or Parliament?

Sandbox Etiquette
It is poor sandbox etiquette to impugn someone�s integrity or to accuse someone is an informant or a spy. Theos Sophos, please accept our most sincere apologies for suggesting that you were either. Please understand that certain individuals with something to gain could deliberately misrepresent themselves on this forum.

References
As someone who has �buggered off (in reference to a previous posting by biffinbridge;)� long ago from Poland (someone has to be self-deprecating in this forum), I received a key reference from a former employer in Poland to land my current job which has nothing to do with teaching English. So, that reference from TEFL actually meant something. I also know other people who got key references for non-TEFL jobs when they returned home. So, my experience was not an exception to the rule. I was never under the impression that the Regent administration would give me a reference for there is no financial benefit to them. If anything, it consumes something really important-their valuable time. That said, EFL is indeed a transitory business (particularly in an emerging, rapidly-changing country) and many schools don�t exist. I never considered management�s feelings when I informed them that I wouldn�t sign up for that 2nd year. Though, I probably did say some cynical and sarcastic things which would offend them. Interesting to note that certain people on this forum are promoting fraud (�Just make them up and use your friends. 90% of the time no-one even checks them in this business.�) I guess better to deceive people in TEFL than in mortgage lending/investment banking.

Imperfect Knowledge
Theos Sophos knows the circumstances regarding the departure of previous Regent employees after discussing this with one person.

Is it acceptable for a senior administrator to refuse to give hard-working employees who received good reviews a reference when these employees have decided to move on?
-Yes, it is, if the circumstances surrounding one's departure was in some way related to the quality of his/her work, and not just the quantity.

It would be so cool if Theos Sophos could predict the future as well.

Human Resources
Indeed it is �not the teacher�s job to worry about the organization�--however disorganized and poorly-run they think it may be. However, organizations which have poor human relations skills will be at a comparative disadvantage, even eventually big fish in a small pond. Gone forever are the days of twenty percent employment (in Poland; in FR and IT it is probably an attainable goal.)! And please remember that bad management is not country-specific! Though there may be more of it per capita in Elblag.

Unexpected Improvements
�So be amazed...latest editions of all titles, multiple copy machines, a computer lab with about 25 laptops, several projectors and laptops for teacher use, a state-of-the-art sound system in a classroom with a ceiling mounted projector and screen as well as a large television, televisions and dvd/vcr players in most classrooms, an interactive whiteboard (yet to be used), and yes..even paper!�
The person who provided the capital for this operation is very knowledgeable on economics and most likely an astute investor (as if their margins weren�t enough). Between 2005 and 2007, the WIG (stock market) has outperformed the FTSE, DAX, and CAC-40 by some margin. What is surprising is that a certain manager would actually

Clouded Perceptions
And yes, one�s salary and housing situation cloud the evaluation of a school. When I taught at Regent, the housing and salary were good. So how dare I be so critical! Blasphemer!

Vocabulary Check
I am not clear how �conspiracy theory� came about? I shall refer to the most proletarian dictionary on the web to inform certain people of the meaning---Wikipedia:

A conspiracy theory attributes the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually political, social or historical events), or the concealment of such causes from public knowledge, to a secret, and often deceptive plot by a group of powerful or influential people or organizations. Many conspiracy theories imply that major events in history have been dominated by conspirators who manipulate political happenings from behind the scenes.

Where and when did NewYorker and I suggest a conspiracy theory? May I suggest you have watched too many Oliver Stone films.

The Fairer Sex
�You're in Poland cos of the chicks I bet.� I could have never known how beautiful and voluptuous Polish women (younger than 35) were back in the day as I never ordered my mail-order-bride catalogue prior to departure. I never even got a memo. Interesting how one never hears, �I bet you�re in Poland for the guys.� So, could that quote be construed as a sexist comment?



Forum Discussions
�Forums such as these are often for those who have had bad experiences that run to places like this to seek some sort of refuge for their negative experiences. People are generally (not always) motivated to action through the occurrence of negative events. So, I'll bet that one can find more negative opinions about a given school rather than positive ones.� Nooooo you don�t say�.These forums are self-selective�.really?

Year Zero
�I taught zero year students. And by the end of the year, they were discussing topics that 3rd year students were afraid to touch.�
All Hail Theos Sophos and proclaim his greater glory! Have you ever thought that students� willingness to discuss certain topics depends as much on their personality and morals as on their vocabulary and linguistic aptitude(not to mention their instructor)? Shall we infer that you are single-handedly the reason for their improvement? If so, I am sure management rewarded you with a big raise. Good job!

Stating the Obvious?
�The function of a good teacher is to be able to adapt (to these situations) and learn from mistakes.� Couldn�t one say this about most positions or successful person?

Ulterior Motives
�I have been to numerous teacher trainings and seminars and have also received educational assistance to improve upon my qualifications as a teacher.�
So, the trainings and seminars were conducted by representatives from Oxford (Press) and Cambridge (Press). I am sure they were there for truly altruistic reasons. I thought coming from the world�s most commercialized society, you would have created a BS filter for marketing campaigns. I hope they gave Regent a reduced rate for you to attend after buying so many new books and multimedia teaching materials.

Assessing the Power Structure
�But I had extensive email dialogue with the Director of Studies, who was quite nice, and I came to Elblag for an interview to see the living arrangements, school, and meet the owner and Director. I am usually a good judge of character.�
But evidently not one of organizational power as the DoS is a figurehead. [Does anyone hear the rubber stamp?] Oh right, all language schools in Poland are like that, silly me.

Reach for the Tissues!
�But let�s not discourse on the creative mystery and power of words.� Damn, that�s beautiful! I haven�t heard a line like that since I was dragged to a chick flick by my wife. though isn�t the difference between a good word and the right word everything?

Culture Knowledge Check
If you think that titles are not important in Poland then you don't know Poland very well
and you certainly don't know the role of certain people at the college (even though a car was purchased for them; talk about a perk! Wonder if the cost of petrol was covered?). In response to those who have referred to people from Elblag as "the proletariat," I have been to both Glasgow and Boston and I can most assuredly say that the proletariat has either emigrated or drowned in the River Clyde or Boston Harbor! There is no proletariat in these cities! (sorry inside joke)

Reactions
�I'm only defensive to the extent I feel I am being accused...�
In summer 2008, you feel accused. In summer 2009, you will feel blindsided. May want to improve your work radar.

Biases
Isn�t it disingenuine to proclaim the Regent Paradise when there are certain exogenous circumstances in your life which may have altered your perception of reality? I mean everyone is biased, but�

Mr. Speaker, I yield my time.

[theos.sophos]

I appreciate that you find me adept at manipulating a conversation. However, do not mistake my words for sophistry. Please, if I was ambiguous in my response to any of the questions posed, please clarify which questions those are and I will be more direct. I did not quote the actual questions in my text, but I responded to each of them in the same order they were raised in previous posts. Perhaps I accidentally switched the order on one or two of them. I did not fail to answer any questions...and I despise politics...

I also appreciate your comments and, as I said, I respect that your experiences are different. Also, thank you for your apology. I employed the term 'conspiracy theory' in reference to the notion that I was not actually a regent employee and that the actual causes of my posting on this forum were concealed from public knowledge. Also, at one point Newyorker mentioned that many details were concealed from him and that the faculty and staff at Regent exhanged important information behind his back.

Are motives really that important? Who cares if publishing houses sponsor training events to promote titles and make money. Unfortunately, the world is more and more capitalistic. With regard to education, I feel a utilitarian model is more effective in appraising the situation. Look at the result, not the reason. In the end, publishers make money, teachers learn skills, and students become educated. In some way, your point seems to smell of Red Herring. In what way and why should free training be ignored just because it also serves to generate public awareness with regard to a marketable good or service? (You did the same thing before with all the blah blah blah market stuff. Who cares if someone invested, there are materials which can be used and exist in contradiction to Newyorker's belief..he himself said that he would be amazed.)

Regarding my year zero classes, I did mention that I was perhaps tooting my own horn a bit...

Again, you are trying to relate two unrelated points and cloud the issue. In what way does the utility of the post DOS relate my comment in the context in which it occured. I was responding to the fact that I didn't read any posts before accepting the job, I actually came to the school to meet the people and see the place. So, perhaps the DOS is a figure-head, or not...How does that speak anything to my situation or comment?

I feel that I have responded to each of the points in each of the posts which merit or ask for a response. In the end, it seems you are more more adept at avoiding the points or questions at hand...or rather, at introducing irrelevant points...at any rate, I did not post on this forum to end up in a flame war...I find that Newyorker's posts are much more to the issue than your beat-around-the-bush whatever it is...he actually raises issues that present problems for prospective teachers...and I have answered these from my experience.