Job Discussion Forums

[desultude]

[InterRick]

[Citizenkane]

The talk of having students choose their instructor gave me a laugh!

In good old Al Yam, last year they introduced a system whereby on registration, students would also choose their teacher, including for the Interlink English courses. So you've got Mr A and Mr B teaching the same level. Mr A is an experienced and dedicated teacher who expects his students to work hard and also expects a high standard of behaviour in class - ie no handing in assignments late or strolling into class ten minutes from the end and being marked 'bresent'. Mr B, by contrast, is happy to show DVDs in every other lesson, have students come and go as they please (and still be marked 'bresent') and all be passed at the end of term.

Realistically, which teacher do you think is going to have the vast bulk of students signing up for his classes?

Of course, in most English programs, the choice of teacher doesn't really make that much difference because they all do the same course and are evaluated in the same exams at the end of term. The thing about the ridiculous Interlink program, however, is that, because there are no exams and no text books (ie, no curriculum at all) a teacher can literally pass and fail a student because he feels like it. Yes, you read that correctly. So, of course students are going to take the teacher who's going to pass them no matter how little they do. If I'm being honest, I'd have to say that if I were 19 years old and in their position, I'd probably do exactly the same thing.

The sad thing is that this stupid commodification of teachers cost some people their jobs. A former colleague of mine was among the group of teachers (referred to in other threads) who was fired last spring. When he asked why he was told "The students didn't like you. Look how few of them signed up for your courses!"

I mean, what can you say???

[ElJuero]

I've recieved a potential contract from Co. For Education & E-Learning and a Mr. Al-Qahtani.
Thoughts? Concerns?

[Mia Xanthi]

[Griff-James 2]

Are recruiters the future for workers in KSA?

[Griff-James 2]

Pay doesn't seem to have moved much in ten years.

[canuckophile]

In Korea, women (in school, university or in the WORKFORCE) are entitled to one day's 'menstruation leave' every month. They are supposed to bring in a doctor's excuse, if you can believe it. (Does the doc really check?)

Does SA have the same system?

Just curious - saw someone mention 'menstration' as absence eggskooz. So is this a legit excuse, as in Korea?

CANUCKOPHILE

[veiledsentiments]

Not for teachers... but female students may try to use it as an excuse for... whatever...

VS

[desultude]

[With Malice Toward None]

[scot47]

Seems reasonable. My students come up with much flimsier excuses. "I hungry."

[desultude]

"I'm tired" is usually code for the girls that means I have my period and don't feel well. It took me a while to figure that one out.

That is, other than the usually whinging "I tired, class finish teacher?

[F1]

[desert_traveller]

in my experience, people who perpetuate the so called native speaker fallacy (http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0209maum.html) are the ones who do not have much going for them besides their 'nativeness', or who have a hidden (and very often unconscious) agenda with their approach to the native/non-native debate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_imperialism), or who have nothing else to advertise their language schools with but their native speaker teachers (most often backpackers with a celta)

obviously, any teacher teaching any language must be perfectly confident and effortless with the language they teach, but whether all native speakers are like that, well, im just not so sure about that. it is true, tho, that well qualified native speakers (in my experience, a bit of a rarity in tefl) will be more LIKELY to be like that

imho and i know its totally off topic