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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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 Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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It's not good business sense to treat skilled labor (and Spiral is highly skilled) as if they were an easily replaceable resource, unless their skills are not essential to the success of an endeavour. (ie, if you treat people like they don't matter, they are likely to leave- so you shouldn't do it unless it's okay for them to leave.)
My experience in teaching is that it ISN'T okay to chase your staff away. Program quality deteriorates, student satisfaction plummets, student enrolment and re-enrolment drops, educational outcomes drop, grants and institutional clients go to higher quality providers.
THis will kill your business.
Can I copy my employer on this? We've (it's obviously not just me) been trying to convey these relatively simple messages for 18 months, to no avail. 
Sadly, I think they will have to see the proof.....sad, only because good teachers must relocate for the wrong thinking to have its inevitable result, and course changes to be made back in the direction of rationality. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:28 am Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
| Circumstances: we have busy periods and low ones. 'Busy' is when we have large first-year faculty courses on top of regular work. |
I understand you are a PT worker, but I do not understand how you can have 8 classes per week at one time of year and twice that at other times.
Sorry for being so dense. Your contract doesn't state the number of hours per week or month? Or the number of classes?
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| Yes, I'm substantially over-hours just now. |
Part-timer or not, where you work doesn't take that into account for overtime pay?
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| So, busy period, picture us in class 8.30 - 18.00, with 30-minute breaks in between four classes. The majority of these classes will be repeats: I might teach the same class 5 or 6 times in the week. So, less prep for those by definition. |
Yes, I agree.
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| However, a cut in the prep rate does not value the idea of more students = more questions, more emails, more marking. |
This is where we disagree on the definition of prep time. I know I wrote "homework" as part of prep time earlier, but it is also just part of the job.
Don't like so much homework to deal with? Don't assign so much. Change your lesson plan strategy.
I've had classes with 90-120 students in one room. It was a combination listening & reading course. The homework could have been incredible, but I toned it down for my sake and the students (who didn't do homework anyway). I still had lots of stuff to grade for in-class work, but that's where you have to look at things in a way that benefits students instead of just gives them something to do/practice. Not everything done in the classroom needs to be done for a grade. And, not everything done for a grade has to be done for a highly scrutinized corrected score; just a "done vs. not done" completion speeds up correcting. Also, if the course permits it, having students do work on a computer where (like in Moodle) the teacher doesn't even have to correct it, is a great time-saver!
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| On one of our big faculty courses, on which I might have as many as 120 students (for one course in 6 classes/groups) I can easily receive up to 25-40 emails over the course period, each requiring time to answer. |
What does "in the course period" mean? During the 2-hour lesson? If not, and if you mean from one lesson to the next a week later, that is still part of the game that you have to allow for as I mentioned above.
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| Another time-consumer in such a period is monitoring, being monitored, and briefings with newbies on the course. Again, not directly related to 'prep' for this course. |
Yes, not related, so don't mention it here as part of a thread on prep time. Not fair.
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| Paid prep time. I happily work weekends and evenings when needed. But how much remuneration is standard for this? |
None that I know of. Again, it's part of the teaching game. Accept it. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 5:22 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski, we teach on different planets. |
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artemisia
Joined: 04 Nov 2008
Posts: 875
Location: the world
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:32 am Post subject: |
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In my current place (a tertiary institution) where I teach ESOL, I�m not really sure how the ratio between the teaching hour and paid prep time breaks down. In fact, in general, I�m not sure. I know in high schools it is considered to be 1:1 but in the English language teaching industry? In the bog standard average language school you�d be lucky to get paid prep of any ratio.
It�s often a sore point between those who teach academic as opposed to general English programs because the sheer amount of marking is far greater in academic or exam classes (such as IELTS).
Re: definitions of �prep�
Spiral78 posted:
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| One employer wanted to require that teachers actually spend the time in the office. |
This is a ridiculous requirement and I�m pleased to hear it was vetoed. It�s not that unusual though, I�ve heard a few recent murmurings about ESOL teachers skiving off early (the old green-eyed monster rearing its ugly head amongst other staff). Often it�s about keeping tabs on teachers for no good reason and could be a warning sign about that employer.
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| True, if I have taught the same course ten times before, I may really not need 1:1 for prep for that course. However, I've earned that bit of a break through past energy and dedication, and I consider this a fair distinction between 'newbies' and experienced teachers on any given course. |
I�d agree with you but teaching the same course many times does not, as you�ll know, automatically mean a straight repetition of what you�ve done before in any case. You may know the material but still have to respond to individual class needs, as well as possibly introduce new materials, expand upon or change your teaching approach/ techniques and so on. You may end up putting just as much time and energy into classes. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:46 am Post subject: |
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I�d agree with you but teaching the same course many times does not, as you�ll know, automatically mean a straight repetition of what you�ve done before in any case. You may know the material but still have to respond to individual class needs, as well as possibly introduce new materials, expand upon or change your teaching approach/ techniques and so on. You may end up putting just as much time and energy into classes
Yes, exactly. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:47 am Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
| Glenski, we teach on different planets. |
Probably the least helpful statement I've seen on forums in quite a while. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:50 am Post subject: |
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| Sorry you see it that way. The thing that floors me for now is trying to explain how we teach. When I've time, I'll put together a course map that should describe the situation more clearly, but can't do it just now. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:34 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski, I've sent you a pm to describe the kind of work and the way it's set up here. I think my work colleagues might object to my making that public, so a pm is probably more appropriate. I hope it might illustrate my idea that our teaching situations are very diverse. Maybe I'm mistaken - but hopefully you'll at least have a better idea of what I'm trying to get at in this thread.... |
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