Job Discussion Forums

[Kootvela]

And it takes more than a teacher's licence to extract money from teaching, anyway

[maruss]

And when the people there realise the truth,there is going to be one hell of a backlash!!(or have they become so used to it that they don't care anymore???)

[mdk]

You see yourselves as altruistic teachers but how do the Russians themselves see you?

Perhaps that landlord whom you claim is mistreating you or that school director used to be a good physics professor or mathematician who now has a crowded apartment and/or cruddy job at BKC so they can support their family.

Will they see you as qualitatively different than, say, Shell Oil? I hear the oil companies yelling foul (in the west) because Putin revoked the sweetheart deals that were made under Yeltsin. Is he a bad man or a good Russian?

My question is this, "Does BKC and/or the school directors see you as altruistic professionals or as a bunch of people who are only there bacause they couldn't get a better job elsewhere?" After a year of sitting around various BKC teacher rooms, I know that sometimes its the former but most often...."

[canucktechie]

[jpvanderwerf2001]

The better teacher you are + the more students learn = More demand for your services + more money. Seems a simple enough equation and winners all around. Where does altruism come into play?
BTW, I had a good life going in the States before I chose to be a teacher. Not everyone is an unqualified goof.
I really must see these places you find yourself teaching in, mdk. (I guess it's just as well I don't!)

[RQRose]

mdk: Saying that a Teacher who would like to at least be offered a living wage is trying to 'extract money from Russians' is a Gross MisCharacterization of the ENTIRE teaching profession and utterly astoundingly

You have managed to insult the entire English Teaching community in one sentence. Your basic premise is that we as English Teachers are not teaching them a valuable skill, but rather we are simply trying to 'Extract Money' from them in mafioso fashion.

[mdk]

Touched some nerves there I guess.

It's just that in reviewing this thread, I see lot's of what the ex-pats think about teaching at places like BKC. They all seem to have a view of themselves that reminds me of the lady at church that Robert Burns wrote about who couldn't see herself the way others see her. The question I am raising is this, "What do the Russians think of them, the BKC teachers?"

Whatever your opinion may be of me, I taught alongside Russians earning their salary for three years before I ever taught at BKC. There are two sides at least to the issue and it is unfair to say that the BKC teaching staff is being taken advantage of by a bunch of wascally wussians.

Frankly, taken on the whole, I liked (and admired) the Russian teachers lot's more than the ex-pats. You don't see them represented here, and I thought, I'ld chip in with what I thought they might say.

[expatella_girl]

So mdk, you go to Russia to work, and support yourself with savings from America because you don't make enough money teaching to survive in the RF.....and then go on to accuse teachers who expect to make a living wage teaching English in Russia to be "such ninnys" and " people come to Russia to extract money from the Russians".

Um, teaching is a craft and a profession yes? From which one expects to eke out a modest living yes? Or do you expect that folks garnered training as teachers so that they could give their services away for less than a living wage around the world? Just for fun?

Oh why not?! Teaching for money is such a scam! Only the incompetent expect to be remanded for their expertise, real professionals give it away at their own expense. Of course.
Who works for and pays for an education, expecting to be compensated for their proficiency? The idea! The audacity!

Parasites, the lot of them. Expecting to be paid a living wage for their work and their skills........

mdk, has it occurred to you that the Russians (sweet docile pussycats that they are) have been using you for everything that they can get and laughing all the way home?

[Sashadroogie]

Xa xa! I was wondering why this thread was re-activated, so I sneaked a peak. Poor mdk! I think he has already been scolded enough for some poor word choice. Remenber the topic of this thread is that BKC are certainly out to extract all they can from you, the professionals. Blood from a stone. A better, more worthy target than other fellow teachers, perhaps?

[maruss]

-or the site for a political debate but:Putin is definitely not a good guy for the simple reason that the KGB now FSB, does not value qualities that make people what most of us would term 'good guys!!'The way he ruthlessly clamps down on political opponents and has virtually gagged the media are surely a good indication of what his mindset is?He also has billions stashed away safely abroad,ready for when the wheel turns against him,just like the rest of the corrupt and obnoxious elite that rules Russia.Mind you,I wouldn't be surprised if Medvedyev isn't forced out before he is,especially with some of the latest public statements he has made that clearly show he disagrees with 'Vlad!'

[mdk]

Teaching's OK. I did it for something to do while I was there in Russia.

You see, I taught so I could go to Russia because I like it there.
I didn't go to Russia so that I could teach or "make a decent wage"like I am reading in this thread from you "professional teacher" wallas.

That is a fundamental difference, I think..

I'm not going to take money from some man, and then turn arouind and run him down behind his back. The Russians were kind to me and I was their guest. They are very good at spotting foreigners who have come there to carpetbag on them...and treating them accordingly..

I didn't do that and so I think my time in Russia has always been more pleasant and satisfying.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

I ama professional teacher (funny you should put that in quotation marks) who came to Russia because my job...wait for it...is teaching English as a foreign language. Therefore, the best markets for my skills are...wait for it...foreign, non-English speaking countries.
I'm afraid you had a bad sampling of EFL teachers, mdk. Or you have been sorely misinformed about what Russians think about teachers of any stripe (perhaps I have some insight since I'm married to one?!).
I enjoy Russia. So much so that I've started a family here and have residency. I will be here a long time. Why shouldn't I be able to provide the best I can for my family financially while living here?
I'm sorry, mdk, but your posts sound so condescending and pollyanna that they must be lambasted.
You were lucky that you didn't have to "make a living" while you were here. Sounds a lot like a vacation, doesn't it? Aren't vacations generally "more enjoyable" than working day-in and day-out? That's why they're called "holidays", and that's why you had such a pleasant time. Don't give me all this about you knowing "what the Russians think", or "how the Russians view us".

Your quote: I'm not going to take money from some man, and then turn arouind and run him down behind his back. The Russians were kind to me and I was their guest. They are very good at spotting foreigners who have come there to carpetbag on them...and treating them accordingly..

I simply can't believe you...

[rusmeister]

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Rus,
I meant pollyanna in the sense that mdk's posts read so unfailingly optimistic in terms of the motivations and expectations of Russian students. However, his experiences in Russia do seem to have a very different nexus than most who come to work here (altruism vs. making a living).
Not too keen on the word choice?

[mdk]

Making a living is OK, but are we talking about making a Russian living or an ex-pat living?


In other words you and I enjoy the happy circumstance of having learned English at our mothers' knee. We didn't sweat for that. How then do we deserve better compensation than a Russian who has maybe put in years of study to teach English?

Now obviously many ex-pat teachers feel differently than I do. So what? I am here to point out why some Russians may feel unfairly treated when they see BKC pampering (by Russian standards) a bunch of foreigners who aren't "narod". Right or wrong -- it is what it is.

Curious as it may seem, Brits and Yanks have their little cultural foibles, as do Russians. When you go to Russia, you should take that into account and not lay a bunch of poor mouth on your hosts because they aren't a bunch of cocker spaniels.