Job Discussion Forums

[Phil_K]

[davidmsgi]

Please don't start guessing, because in just a few guesses my school can be identified by process of elimination.

If I say you're wrong, you'll guess again until you get it right.
So I won't respond to any probes for my school's name.

Let's just say that Franchise offices can be a disaster without strong corporate oversight and constant quality control, and leave it at that.

It's not fair to the company that you identify with your 'guesses', because they appear guilty by implication if I don't respond with a denial.

Obviously, we all know the identities of the 4 -6 'chain' school operators in Mexico.

Here's my response to all 'guesses' - YES, IT'S ONE OF THEM.

[mejms]

Does it really matter if we know which franchise it was this time around?

Every franchise has its horror stories, and there are no lack of poorly managed schools in Queretaro.

It's no news to most of us that most language school management, foreign or national, are people who couldn't hack it in the US or other more developed markets and barely get by on the low standards and acceptance of the status quo here.

After working for several of these places, I got tired of the circus and went off on my own. My salary tripled, I got rid of the hassles and incompetence of "management," and I do what's best for my clients without trying to meet the empty requirements of a lackluster school.

Job security is much better than when I worked for schools because I've got my finger on the pulse of my clients and I know if there's going to be a change. I'll never work for a language school again, and my standards for any employment in Mexico are at a whole different level than a few years back. It really is night and day.

[BadBeagleBad]

[davidmsgi]

One of the things that amazed me was my school 'culture' where the teacher is a disposable and interchangeable resource, simply a 'spoke in the wheel of the system' - it felt like a communist political system.

I was admonished repeatedly by my management for consistent requests from my students for 'repeat' classes with me!

To my school, this was a BIG problem. They didn't want a teacher to stand out, but 'blend in', so that the students did not perceive any difference, no matter what teacher was assigned to their class. My students consistently requested repeat classes with me, and I was told that this was completely unacceptable, and that I was not doing my job properly if my students felt that their teacher was a factor in their advancement or instruction.

What ever happened to striving for excellence?

My students loved my classes and wanted more - and my management resented hearing these requests, and told me I wasn't doing my job.

It was a relief to resign - I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone!
Everything was upside down. It was George Orwell, 1984!

"Don't be too good - that's bad."
"We don't want your students to like you too much - that's not good."

This is a true story - can you believe it?

[BadBeagleBad]

[Isla Guapa]

[davidmsgi]

So, what is a teacher to do?

I had no control over any contacts, conversations, or requests being made by my students to my school's management.

What's the lesson here?

DON'T be a good teacher?
Or - mediocrity equals job security?

[BadBeagleBad]

[davidmsgi]

I believe that satisfied students refer other students - TO THE SCHOOL.

If I'm a popular teacher, it's a positive reflection on the school that employs me, isn't it? If students believe that I'm an excellent teacher, it becomes a credit to the school Director who hired me, doesn't it?

What do happy students tell their friends?

"I have this terrific English teacher WHO WORKS FOR school xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. If you take classes with school xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, you can get this teacher, too."

If I am generating referrals, and I work for a school, those referrals go to THE SCHOOL, don't they?

So now I have left the school due to being chastised for doing a great job, and my former students are con