Job Discussion Forums

[Industrial Helix]

I've just started with a new eikaiwa and this is my first experience teaching abroad. So let me preface by admitting my ignorance. I also do not wish to be a complainer and a negative person, but I'm somewhat disillusioned. More than anything, I want a better understanding. If I'm being a wimp and need to grow up, then so be it, but some other opinions would be helpful in determining this.

Here's my situation: When I took this job I was told 30 hours teaching a week and up to 40 hours working. This is the exact wording: "Full-time, 40 working hours/week, 30 teaching/class hours/week." This was repeatedly reconfirmed over interviews and communications with the employer.

However, I find myself teaching 40 hours a week and at the school, roughly, 48-50 hours a week. I say "at the school" because often there is a gap of 10-15 minutes between lessons which I use to prepare and refesh, ect. I've not included periods where the gap between lessons is more than 45 minutes as I can then leave the school, get something to eat, ect. It's more break time than work time, even if I must return at a later time.

So, I'm finding myself a little surprised at teaching 40 hours a week and at the school 50 hours a week. I don't feel that I was properly informed of this situation before I came to Japan and am frustrated. After teaching so long in a day, I feel my lessons suffer at the end of the day. I worry about how the future will be at teaching 40 hours a week and wonder if it's something that is even feasible.

So I'm seeking other opinions to know whether I'm being selfish or stupid or irrational. I just feel somewhat deceived and perhaps it was my own naivety that caused it. I want to resolve this somehow in a way that benefits myself and the employer. I don't want to be a jerk about it, but I must admit, I feel this is a problem.

So, all you experienced teachers out there, what do you think? What should I do?

[seklarwia]

[Industrial Helix]

::Sigh::

This is where my naivety really glows and I'm quite embarrassed because I hadn't seen it before. I'd never had an employment contract and the warning signs I read about didn't mention this. Thus, it's a lot of my own fault, making it an even more of a problem.

The section in my contract says, "Work hours depend upon weekly schedule.
From Monday to Saturday"

[rtm]

Well, 40 classes a week times 45 minutes a class (going on your description of having 15 minutes between classes) comes out to 30 hours a week in the classroom. So, I guess they weren't really lying (although it is a bit deceptive).

Are there other teachers that work there full time? Do they also teach similar numbers of classes?

Is there any preparation needed for the classes? Do you need to plan out each lesson from scratch, or do you have a set curriculum that you follow each class? If you have to plan a lot of the lessons yourself, then that seems like a lot of classes. If you don't have to do any lesson planning, it might not be so unreasonable. Are these classes with adults or children? (personally, that number of classes with kids would wear the heck out of me, but with adults it might be more manageable)

[seklarwia]

[Industrial Helix]

Here's some answers to posed questions: There are a total of 60 students at 56 lessons that I am responsible for teaching. Most of them are children and some are adults, roughly 8-10. Class time runs 30 minutes to 45 minutes for children and 60 minutes for adults. There is one adult who runs 90 minutes. When added up minute for minute, the teaching time comes out to 40 hours.

I have not been given a curriculum to implement and was asked to devise one. There are text books the previous teacher used and I have been asked to follow them, though no lesson plans or written curriculum have been provided. So, in essence, I have been asked to devise a curriculum based on available textbooks.

So preparation time varies. So far, i have been rehashing the same general lesson plan for the kids and picking up where left off with the adults.

My "at school" time amounts to roughly 8-10 hours a week and is mostly comprised of 10-30 minutes breaks in between lessons. So its not enough to leave school but some time to prepare, tidy up, find/print materials, ect.

It also amounts to 6 days a week. I feel it might be manageable if it was evenly spread over 6 days, but it is often 12 hours one day and 5-6 another.

I was given a copy of the contract which says:
"Work hours depend upon weekly schedule.
From Monday to Saturday"

-----

From what I understand based on comments so far, the visa application should specify my actual working hours or at least the total amount of working hours?

[seklarwia]

[fluffyhamster]

Even with it in a contract and in black and white, it is still their word against yours (if you choose to take this further than politely renegotiating with your employer). And even if you can convince the authorities of your plight and get redress/recompense, doing so will 99% likely make your postion at the school untenable in certainly the long-term (but would this from the sound of it be a bad thing?). So the best thing in these sorts of circumstances is to cut your losses and seek a new employer, whilst perhaps warning others off of the old if possible. (It's always tricky though deciding whether it is worth giving and working the required notice or not, because there may always be a chance that you will not actually get paid for it and thus be out of pocket for not only the final month worked, but also that extra month of living expenses. Some teachers therefore decide that the best option is to pull a good old-fashioned "midnight runner" right after the latest payday, however much the then definite loss of the next month's income and indeed current job/livelihood may rankle).