Job Discussion Forums

[scot47]

Inverts ? Lots of perverts too ! And reverts !

[Griff-James]

"Inverts ? Lots of perverts too ! And reverts !"

Aye Caramba!

[Balzac]

[quote="blackcorsair"]

[redeyes]

The Walter Mitty fantasists don't only exist in TEFL -- they are in every job. Don't you know 9to 5 office workers back in the West who also dream away their time by planning "that novel", or claiming to mix with "up and coming" musicians etc in their free time ? Don't you know those bored office workers who claim they are just about to begin "that PHD" in obscure Lit, or are just waiting to be finally "discovered as a musician/artist?"

It's not only an EFL phenomenon.

In my experience, almost all the "characters" one meets in EFL -- you can also find in other walks of life.

The heavy drinkers ,the office back stabbers, the office gossips, the dreamers,the wannabe intellectuals and artists -- all there in other jobs -- and often much worse in other jobs too!

All I look for in my work mates these days, is that they are basically easy enough to get on with in the staffroom whilst I do my prep/photocopying and make a coffee, and are good people to exchange easy words with on a morning -- I am far too busy thinking of my family/life plans and prepping to do a good job in my classes to worry over much if X, Y or Z used to have a drinking problem years ago, or is exagerrating about his social/intellectual life back home.

[redeyes]

( PS I have just noticed that I have inadvertently revived a thread that has been dormant for a year!)

[sheikh radlinrol]

[redeyes]

Agreed, Sheik ! It's an interesting thread.

Comparing EFL types with other careers -- I remember many years ago, when I was a student, doing lots of temp office work in London. A lot of the people I met were far,far worse than EFL "weirdos" : A guy who sat next to me day in day out constantly rapped on the phone in an intentionally loud voice about "selling the rights to his movie script" which was going to be a Hollywood epic. So....you see, he wasn't really just a lowly office worker -- no, he was a movie script writer. And, some of the back stabbers in those office jobs made our TEFL wannabe conniving Macchiavellis look like Sunday School teachers or Girl Guides.

Don't get me started on the office macho behaviour, the boasting about other banalities such as the cars they (apparently) drove, the clubs they went to, and the guys who were convinced they were going to be "the next Alan Sugar/Richard Branson" in those offices in London....

No -- compared to a lot of those people, the EFL 'ers aren't always so bad...

It's true that in EFL you DO meet a lot of teachers who feel they are ( for example ) "the only ones who REALLY understand Post Modernism, Nietzche and Kant", and they will soon make that incredible insight clear to the world in a masterwork which is certain to be published.....and you DO meet a lot of teachers who feel they know "what really happened on 9/11"

Some of them are certainly pretentious and irritating but, they generally aren't so bad imho.

[Sheikh N Bake]

I'd rather spend an hour listening to an EFL Walter Mitty than one of those maternal schoolmarms who live only for the classroom, for teaching and protecting their little darlings and spending all night making cute little paper cutouts for the next communicative exercise in modals.

[scot47]

We have at least three colleagues who claim to be "under deep cover" for MI6, the CIA or the Intergalatic Intelligence Service. There is also one who is "a close personal friend of King Bhumipol". We also have many authors of importants tetxbooks which are "not available in the the Middle East".

[Cleopatra]

[johnslat]

I actually have worked with such individuals - here in Santa Fe at the local community college, teaching ESL.
Their dedication to teaching, the hours (and money) they spent on making sure their students had everything possible to assist learning, blew me away.
I might not want to spend an hour listening to them, but I admire their commitment.
Regards,
John

[Sheikh N Bake]

That's all fine and good. I think it's unprofessional to be too maternal with the students who range up to 26 years of age. Personally, I am not their mother or father. I can be a role model if I'm lucky but being a parent figure to men of 21-26 is not necessary in my particular region of the world. Some of the instructors I know are arrogant about their brilliant schoolmarmy teaching and waste 45 minutes or an hour of a two-hour housekeeping meeting endlessly bragging about it and making condescending remarks about others' teaching. They also bribe the students daily with cookies and chocolates. One of them showed me a lesson of his/hers and when I asked to take a second look at it, I got yelled at and accused of being lazy and wanting to copy it for my class. I work in an incredibly uncollegial program. It may sound bizarre but then it's far away from the Middle East, or N. America or Europe, in an oil company in a developing country, so different cultures and rules apply. We're going under new management so I hope things change.

[johnslat]

Dear Sheikh,
Have you ever noticed how, when someone says, "That's all fine and good"
they really mean that it's not.
It's rather like "Ma fi mushkila." Whenever I used to hear that, I KNEW there was going to be a problem.
Regards,
John

[Mia Xanthi]

[Bebsi]