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funkystuff
Joined: 21 May 2008
Posts: 62
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 Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:37 am Post subject: Sino-British College looking for teachers again . . . |
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Recently I was looking at the new jobs up for grabs at MOD EDIT and found that the Sino-British College(or Shanghai British College) were advertising for teachers once again:
MOD EDIT
Tread very cautiously when dealing with this organization and particularly Tracy Zhao because some have claimed it to be a scam. There are several good threads here at Dave's about SBC, including this one that I'm very glad I started many months ago:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=68106&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 |
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Laladui
Joined: 23 Mar 2010
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:07 am Post subject: The Sino-British College - New Management |
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Dear funkystuff..
Its not a scam .. My husband is working there now and all is good.. SBC is now under new management and things are a lot better. Kaplan used to run it, but they are now out of the picture. The new principle is Ian Gow OBE who used to be the provost of Nottingham's Ningbo campus, he has a lot of experience running universities in the UK and in China. Things are on the way up for SBC and it is not a bad place to work at all. It may have a bad reputation due to Kaplan, but its much better now. Things do change over time... Thanks |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 4946
Location: Blabbing
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 3:25 am Post subject: |
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| Sorry, but from an outsider's point of view it looks as though you joined this forum for the sole intent and purpose to say good things about this school. |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:50 am Post subject: |
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My boyfriend (and quite a few of my friends here in Shanghai that I met through him) work for SBC. It's not a scam, as far as I can tell- the pay is really good and summer and spring festival breaks are fully paid, no complaints about anything except for the usual personality clashes between management and teachers (and in the year my boyfriend has been there, he says it's been fine for him but others have had problems) or between teachers and spoiled kids (a lot are really rich and not motivated, but not all). If it's a scam, I'd say it's a scam for the kids and parents, not the teachers. Can somebody who is there now actually identify this scam? Seriously, I'd be interested in knowing, since we have a vested interest in it in our household.
I don't work there and don't plan to work there but from what I've seen, I wouldn't discourage others from applying. |
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Laladui
Joined: 23 Mar 2010
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:40 am Post subject: |
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Someone needs to defend the untruthful things said on the internet...
Teachers work hard at the Sino-British College and are dedicated to their students... I have seen this first hand.
Anyone who thinks the college is a scam should go check it out for themselves. It is not a scam for teachers or for students. I also have friends who are students there and they count themselves very lucky.
It is a shame the college still has bad things written about it because of some things that kaplan did a few years ago. The bad press will only be harmful to SBC's teachers in the long run. There are over 90 foreign staff at SBC and the ones I know all seem very happy. |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:01 am Post subject: |
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| Laladui, exactly! Everyone that I know who works there is a hard working, extremely competent and experienced teacher. I can really only speak for the EAP program (I don't know enough about the subject/content departments). I have yet to see a scam-- was this something from the past? |
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nigel2
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Posts: 18
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 10:51 am Post subject: |
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| My husband's wife's brother-in-law's cousin thinks a PR job is in progress here. |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:09 am Post subject: |
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| I'm not a PR person. I just live with someone who works at SBC. |
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El Macho
Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:14 am Post subject: |
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| yaramaz wrote: |
| I'm not a PR person. I just live with someone who works at SBC. |
I've actually applied to SBC, looking forward to hearing from them. If you don't mind me asking, yaramaz, what qualifications does your boyfriend have? MA? |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:41 am Post subject: |
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He has a BA and CELTA and about 8 years EAP experience outside of China. The teachers there range from PGCE schoolteachers to MATESOL- and DELTA- certified teachers. I'm working in a similar setup (joint venture) elsewhere in Shanghai and have similar qualifications to my boyfriend's.
One thing worth noting is that SBC has offered re-signing teachers the chance to do the DELTA for free, if they want. I think that shows they are serious about the quality of education.
I really don't know what happened before to earn them such brutally negative publicity (this thread, for example, and the other one that started this time last year--- which came out just as we were flying to China for my boyfriend's new job at SBC, which really made us question our decision to leave Turkey). Whatever happened, it hasn't affected us (or the teachers I know there) yet. |
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El Macho
Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Cheers for the response. It's good to know that they're supportive of teacher development. I've only got ~2.5 years FT teaching experience, but am currently in the midst of a (residential) MA in ELT that I hope will give me a leg up in the application process. |
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funkystuff
Joined: 21 May 2008
Posts: 62
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| If it's a scam, I'd say it's a scam for the kids and parents, not the teachers. |
But this was acknowledged in a previous thread: "The issue is not that English teachers are being scammed, but the parents of the students who are attending SBC. According to information that I've received, the recent attempt to hire more teachers with better qualifications is a simple exercise in 'impression management'. Apparently many students complained that their English teachers were unqualified, tardy, unorganised, and spent the duration of classtime showing dvds that had no relevance to their studies. Parents of course started to complain, some even pulling their kids out of the program. Now SBC is attempting to rectify this problem by upping the pay in order to attract a few specialists and experts. What these new employees don't realise at this stage is that they'll probably be responsible for the in-house training of more than 30 other teachers whose qualifications and experience are not commensurate with the princely salaries they are taking home. All I can say is look before you leap: The big salaries might hide the fact that you're gonna be doing a lot of overtime bringing up to scratch the classroom skills of those beneath you."
Having said this, I'm happy to hear that SBC is under new management. Anything is better than Kaplan, who are a scourge on the face of the ESL industry, along with other corporations like Study Group and INTO. These corporate operations are spreading like viruses all across the world, eating up English departments and stamping their own inferior brand on the dying TEFL world. The captains of these corporations know very little about education or the needs of international students, but insist on charging these same students astronomical fees for a foundation course to oblivion. That's the scam!!! |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Ok, but from what I can tell, no one there right now is the dvd-showing, inexperienced type who needs to be shown what to do. Year One is a very structured and rigorous program, from what I can tell. No room for slack teachers. The guy who is running the EAP department is pretty strict as well. Maybe things have changed? |
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Kipling
Joined: 13 Mar 2009
Posts: 371
Location: ...Ah Mrs K peel me a grape!!!....and have one yourself!!!!
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| Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:22 am Post subject: Where's the beef |
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Hi
The link you provided doesn't work but I remember reading it a while back and found it a very strange thread indeed as anyone who reads it in its' entirety may also do. I seem to remember that it began with a general inquiry about the place by Funkystuff which then turned into a total condemnation of the place by the OP and ended with some confusion with an outfit in Dalian.
Funkystuff have you ever worked at or been considered by SBC??? Can you give first hand on the job examples of any problems or is what you say second hand from disgruntled ex employees or just hearsay.
Nothing against being disgruntled or ex employees venting but haven't seen too many posting 1st hand info just a bit baffled by your motives when most posters seem quite happy at the moment.
As for corporate employers such as Kaplan nobody forces you to work for them, it's your choice and as someone somewhere else says '
'Choose your masters well'
Every Day
I am Mr K
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NumptyDevine
Joined: 06 Jun 2009
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 3:37 am Post subject: |
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| MOD EDIT Appalling badly managed outfit. You have been warned, apply at your peril. |
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