Job Discussion Forums

Perilla · Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong

Interesting article - here's an extract:

"Some TEFL slaves have been so thoroughly defeated that they don't even realise what has happened to them. I can sniff out the "lifers" a mile off . . . scruffy figures, utterly out of synch with the modern world, any style or sex-appeal they once possessed squeezed out of them by years of drudgery, exploitation and poverty."

A bit over the top (that's how Telegraph readers like it) but certainly some valid points, and an entertaining read:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/3325192/The-slavery-of-teaching-English.html#

refugee · Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 33

Written about 7 years ago. There's still some truth in it, specifically regarding the wages.

BenE · Joined: 11 Oct 2008 Posts: 321

Best thing is I bet the author is now a DOS in some unfortunate school.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

I wonder how much of it is true today.

Perilla · Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong

PC Parrot · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:08 am Post subject:

There was an Italian job posted recently on another thread:

Sef · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 74 Location: UK

Contains a lot of quotes from http://sites.google.com/site/englishdroid2/home which is definitely true Smile

sharter · Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 878 Location: All over the place

Hi Perilla, I read that article and found myself nodding as I recollected many of the situations described. I kind of agree that TEFL is something most people do when something else has gone wrong. Very often, it's the children of middle class Telegraph readers who get into this way of life. In my time in TEFL I've witnessed the following:

1. A man having his door bashed down by the police to check if he was alive. He was found comatose next pills and a wine box. He got deported from Qatar.
2. A loony in Qatar deported after she ran out of medication. I also met the guy who bragged about taking advantage of her while she was very vulnerable.
3-A paedo who thankfully got murdered in Libya last year.
4-Countless alcoholics......too many to even go into details....many of whom got deported or sacked.
5-A mad nympho who slept with every new male teacher.
6-Countless people whose penny pinching had become obsessional to the point of illness.
7-One guy whose only work experience before TEFL was as a human guinea pig for a drug company. He cycled to Poland from Holland...last seen heading south.
8.-Endless spongers and trustafarians.
9-Countless male teachers who bonked their often very young students. Three in Poland spring to mind whose girlfriends were 16 or 17...they were in their mid/late-20's. One later became an IH DOS. Actually come to think of it, the female DOSs in Poland were cradle snatchers too mostly.

And the worst I've seen were all in the Middle East, generally getting on and generally really well qualified.

Then there are the schools and recruitment agencies who are generally nothing but tax dodging sharks...that's often the real reason why the dosh is so low. I n Poland one outfit employed you through a UK holding company but because the annual salary was less than taxable income in the UK, the school avoided paying tax.

Then you have in-company teaching. If you're lucky like me, you work permanently for that firm...I can stay till 65 (god forbid) and am well-paid.

Then there's uni teaching, which can be well paid but often isn't-just depends where you are.

I agree with the tone of that article completely. I got into TEFL to continue partying, boozing and womanising after a couple of dull years in a merchant bank. 15 years later and I'm still here. Superb references, earning good dosh but advising everyone not to do it. In my early years in this slave trade I couldn't have held a job down doing anything else due to the late nights out having fun.......... let's face it; the time you spend in class is rarely demanding and suits people, like me, who have zero ambition as life is more important than work. Distinguishing beteen the McSchhol and the 'Good' TEFL job is like saying Dracula is better than Frankenstein. Saying I'm a great TEFL teacher is like saying I'm a great traffic warden.

Insubordination · Joined: 07 Nov 2007 Posts: 394 Location: Sydney

Although I found the comments about working conditions hit a nerve, I can't agree about the job itself being a boring drudgery.

I have always found teaching English interesting. I'm in my tenth year and thoroughly enjoyed all the classes I taught this week and I'm still learning things all the time. I never seem to get sick of it. Something tells me this writer would be a misery guts even if he/she earned thrice as much.

the_otter · Joined: 02 Aug 2010 Posts: 134

...and after reading that, I think I'm going to redouble my efforts to find something to do next year that isn't TEFL.

riverboat · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 117 Location: Paris, France

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:32 pm Post subject:

Sort of an interesting article- I first read it some years ago, but it pops up occasionally in discussions of English teaching abroad. Here's one from this same forum:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=7416

I taught briefly in Italy, rather longer ago than this article was published, I think. Though I'm known here for being enthusiastic about EFL (it's been good to me, and I enjoy it), I have to say that my experiences in Italy are simillar to those of the author. Porrly paid, poorly treated. It's worth noting though- like the author, I was at that time an untrained, utterly unprepared employee- hardly in competition even for whatever passes for a good teaching job in southern Italy.

Folks I knew then, and some I know now, who work in international schools have it pretty good, though, as do some in universities. (Not ALL universities, though!)

I have to say- I think that Europe is awfully varied. The assumption that a piece written about Italy is applicable to all of Europe is problematic, and even more so if the writing in question is old.

I also think the author of this particular piece has a tendency towards exaggeration, and unsupported generalizations. He seems to think that he has the final word on EFL teaching, when he really spent a very short time doing it, under specific circumstances, in one country only. There are LOADS of people on this board who have a lot more experience of EFL than he does.

His tendency towards hyperbole is fun, though- google him and check out some of his writing. While he was in Italy, he had some sort of a mafia-esque feud with a landlord, culminating in some sort of arson and a police investigation- I can see why he didn't care for Italy.

But...take him with a grain of salt. THere are a lot of crap jobs to be had in Europe, and Italy is notoriously one of Europe's weaker economies. I probably wouldn't work there again- but I'd consider Spain!

Best,
Justin

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Yes, I agree with Justin. Although the article has more than a whiff of truth, it is exaggerated and ignores the point that there are professional EFL teachers who are good at their jobs, enjoy it and have a reasonable if not handsomely paid life.

Zero · Joined: 08 Sep 2004 Posts: 1402

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

This is a good point. However, there are plenty of other jobs which people do for other than intrinsic reasons (I mean boxers may actually enjoy beating the daylights out of each other, but I think money is the key). And if one enjoys teaching, and I do, then there is a congruence between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. In my case, I get to live elsewhere and get the buzz of being appreciated for what I do.