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move
Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 132
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 Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:38 am Post subject: |
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| rslrunner wrote: |
Even though I was the one sent home, I then proceeded to hold AEON at least partly to blame, for this specific reason: I had to provide a full lesson on the second day of training, but we weren't given the script to follow until the first day. Meanwhile, there was a period of months in which AEON could have provided this script and accompanying information, and I would have devoured it.
Yet when it comes to methodology, the only thing provided in advance was a website that required a code. Yes, there were sample lessons. But the specific methodology was never provided.
If AEON really prizes its product, why not provide its hired teachers with the chance to learn the exact methodology that its teachers are required to follow on the second day of orientation?
I want someone from AEON to explain this to me. I really do. |
So you had a whole night to prepare for a 50 minute lesson and it wasn't up to their standards? Could you prepare seven 50 minute lessons for Saturday if you got off at Friday night at 10 o'clock? How about if the other teacher calls in sick and the manager asks you to sub one of their classes starting in 15 minutes?
I don't know how unique Aeon's teaching methodology is, but I'm guessing its standard Presentation-Practice-Production. As somebody else stated, hiring people with zero experience isn't uncommon, but those people can pick up the teaching methods during the training. So why was it so difficult for you? I'm not trying to be harsh here, but perhaps the quality of your teaching was a pretext. Maybe the trainer thought that your personality just wouldn't fit into the Aeon mold.
I've been fired from jobs. Teaching and otherwise. It sucks, but you figured out what you did wrong and move on. Update your resume again, rework those cover letters and carpet bomb em. Ask others for their honest advice. Run through a mock interview with a friend or family member. Start reading up on TESOL methodology. Say to heck with that company and then apply to the other ones. You'll be back here in no time. |
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RollingStone
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 138
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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Assuming Aeon provided a work visa, why did you not stay in Japan and apply elsewhere?
When an employer decides to fire an employee the reason given is not always the actual reason. Getting fired from a conversation school in Japan is like getting fired from any low tier, minimal credential required job. Either you were totally wretched, or there are circumstances which you unknowingly got caught up in.
As move said, a better use of energy is to move on. I mean, who cares right? This is the type of industry where, had you chosen to stay, you could have landed a job possibly the same week you were fired. |
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HLJHLJ
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 1218
Location: Ecuador
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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| RollingStone wrote: |
| Assuming Aeon provided a work visa, why did you not stay in Japan and apply elsewhere? |
I would assume that Aeon's offer to pay the airfare home came with the condition that they left immediately. |
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Solar Strength
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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| move wrote: |
| Maybe the trainer thought that your personality just wouldn't fit into the Aeon mold. |
Yes, I agree. It happens in jobs that range from the corporate world to the military. You could be a world class scholar with a Ph.D, but if you don't fit, or someone who has the power to show you the door thinks that you don't fit, then you're done.
| move wrote: |
| I've been fired from jobs. Teaching and otherwise. It sucks, but you figured out what you did wrong and move on. |
More good advice. People who have a hard time in one school and find things easier and more pleasant at another. It depends a lot on the people managing the branch, both foreign head teachers and Japanese admin and local managers. If they're easy to work with and care about their staff, then life can be good. But since people often transfer in big chain schools, things can also change quite quickly. |
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rslrunner
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Posts: 252
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Um ... if you still have access to some of this documentation, I'd be interested to read it. Just for curiosity's sake, you understand. |
Pitarou, I have no problem in principle doing that. I'll send you a pm about this. |
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rslrunner
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Posts: 252
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
So you had a whole night to prepare for a 50 minute lesson and it wasn't up to their standards? Could you prepare seven 50 minute lessons for Saturday if you got off at Friday night at 10 o'clock? How about if the other teacher calls in sick and the manager asks you to sub one of their classes starting in 15 minutes?
I don't know how unique Aeon's teaching methodology is, but I'm guessing its standard Presentation-Practice-Production. As somebody else stated, hiring people with zero experience isn't uncommon, but those people can pick up the teaching methods during the training. So why was it so difficult for you? I'm not trying to be harsh here, but perhaps the quality of your teaching was a pretext. Maybe the trainer thought that your personality just wouldn't fit into the Aeon mold.
I've been fired from jobs. Teaching and otherwise. It sucks, but you figured out what you did wrong and move on. Update your resume again, rework those cover letters and carpet bomb em. Ask others for their honest advice. Run through a mock interview with a friend or family member. Start reading up on TESOL methodology. Say to heck with that company and then apply to the other ones. You'll be back here in no time. |
move, thanks for the observations.
I have been a teacher before, so I have no problem with putting together lesson plans quickly.
The problem lied with the fact that I wasn't acquainted with the particular method they required, and the number of steps that they asked for, in the period of time given.
Compounding the problem was that I had certain habits as a teacher that they wanted removed, and that "deprogramming" was something that felt uncomfortable for me.
There are a lot of little steps that they wanted, and I was so bunged up in following all of them, the whole process suffered as a result.
Yes, other people picked up the methodology far more quickly. I was going about it the wrong way: trying to internalize it instead of merely copying, as they wanted.
The first lesson was on a Tuesday, but I didn't prepare the previous night because I had a serious flu and jet lag, and slept 13 hours straight.
That bombed, and then there was another presentation the next day on Wednesday, which went far better, but it was clear that the trainers had made up their mind about me. At that point, I came to believe that the fix was in.
The next day, I was nervous, as I was thinking about the numerous steps that I had to follow, which led to mistakes, and....you get the idea.
Yes, I definitely got the feeling that the trainers thought I was suspect as an AEON employee. I was...I am...how do I put this? Set in my ways? Difficult to mold? Full of myself? That term definitely has a negative connotation, and I'm sure that the first trainer felt that way. But it can simply mean that while, yes, I'll follow the procedures, it's simply a means to an end. I'm my own person.
I don't think they want individuals. In fact, I know this. They want drones, people who don't ask too many questions, and accept what they are told. This is a tough assessment, but I think there is a lot to it.
I realize now that the original interview was not a way of testing employees, as I had originally thought. It was a way to determine how much one can be molded into what they think is the corporate ideal, and that was just a precursor for the molding that would continue while in Japan. It was less about becoming a good teacher, and more about being a good employee. Two very different things.
As some time has passed, I am beginning to think that maybe my departure was all for the best. I was never disrespectful, but in my heart of hearts, I didn't simply buy what they were selling, and in subtle ways, that showed.
I will never stop harping on this particular point: if they really cared about making good teachers as much as they said they do, they would have provided far more information about their methodology that they wanted months before I arrived, instead of the first day of training. That's damn right.
I didn't want to stay in Japan after this issue. I wasn't doing well in any sense, Japan is very expensive, and I didn't have enough cash to just hang out for a week and feel comfortable. I came home, and was able to get my new job back. I'm very fortunate in that regard.
I know I can get another TEFL job in many locations. I also know that South Korea could be a decent fit, and I can learn from this experience. There is more about this earlier in the post.
I'm still working through all of this, but it's getting better. It's difficult to have to come home to have to explain to everyone what went wrong. But maybe it's better than being treated as a means to an end, instead of an end in itself.
Thanks to the last four posters for their solid advice. |
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RollingStone
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 138
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| HLJHLJ wrote: |
| RollingStone wrote: |
| Assuming Aeon provided a work visa, why did you not stay in Japan and apply elsewhere? |
I would assume that Aeon's offer to pay the airfare home came with the condition that they left immediately. |
Sure. But who wouldn't have said thanks but no thanks, I'll take the visa and continue working elsewhere. This casts big suspicion on the genki-ness of the OP.
Genki san would have stayed in Japan. |
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rslrunner
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Posts: 252
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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Sure. But who wouldn't have said thanks but no thanks, I'll take the visa and continue working elsewhere. This casts big suspicion on the genki-ness of the OP.
Genki san would have stayed in Japan. |
I'm afraid I do not understand your use of the word genki-ness in this context. Could you translate this for me, Rollingstone? Sorry if I am being thick. |
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HLJHLJ
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 1218
Location: Ecuador
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Enthusiasm, drive, get-up-and-go. |
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RollingStone
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 138
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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| rslrunner wrote: |
| Quote: |
So you had a whole night to prepare for a 50 minute lesson and it wasn't up to their standards? Could you prepare seven 50 minute lessons for Saturday if you got off at Friday night at 10 o'clock? How about if the other teacher calls in sick and the manager asks you to sub one of their classes starting in 15 minutes?
I don't know how unique Aeon's teaching methodology is, but I'm guessing its standard Presentation-Practice-Production. As somebody else stated, hiring people with zero experience isn't uncommon, but those people can pick up the teaching methods during the training. So why was it so difficult for you? I'm not trying to be harsh here, but perhaps the quality of your teaching was a pretext. Maybe the trainer thought that your personality just wouldn't fit into the Aeon mold.
I've been fired from jobs. Teaching and otherwise. It sucks, but you figured out what you did wrong and move on. Update your resume again, rework those cover letters and carpet bomb em. Ask others for their honest advice. Run through a mock interview with a friend or family member. Start reading up on TESOL methodology. Say to heck with that company and then apply to the other ones. You'll be back here in no time. |
move, thanks for the observations.
I have been a teacher before, so I have no problem with putting together lesson plans quickly.
The problem lied with the fact that I wasn't acquainted with the particular method they required, and the number of steps that they asked for, in the period of time given.
Compounding the problem was that I had certain habits as a teacher that they wanted removed, and that "deprogramming" was something that felt uncomfortable for me.
There are a lot of little steps that they wanted, and I was so bunged up in following all of them, the whole process suffered as a result.
Yes, other people picked up the methodology far more quickly. I was going about it the wrong way: trying to internalize it instead of merely copying, as they wanted.
The first lesson was on a Tuesday, but I didn't prepare the previous night because I had a serious flu and jet lag, and slept 13 hours straight.
That bombed, and then there was another presentation the next day on Wednesday, which went far better, but it was clear that the trainers had made up their mind about me. At that point, I came to believe that the fix was in.
The next day, I was nervous, as I was thinking about the numerous steps that I had to follow, which led to mistakes, and....you get the idea.
Yes, I definitely got the feeling that the trainers thought I was suspect as an AEON employee. I was...I am...how do I put this? Set in my ways? Difficult to mold? Full of myself? That term definitely has a negative connotation, and I'm sure that the first trainer felt that way. But it can simply mean that while, yes, I'll follow the procedures, it's simply a means to an end. I'm my own person.
I don't think they want individuals. In fact, I know this. They want drones, people who don't ask too many questions, and accept what they are told. This is a tough assessment, but I think there is a lot to it.
I realize now that the original interview was not a way of testing employees, as I had originally thought. It was a way to determine how much one can be molded into what they think is the corporate ideal, and that was just a precursor for the molding that would continue while in Japan. It was less about becoming a good teacher, and more about being a good employee. Two very different things.
As some time has passed, I am beginning to think that maybe my departure was all for the best. I was never disrespectful, but in my heart of hearts, I didn't simply buy what they were selling, and in subtle ways, that showed.
I will never stop harping on this particular point: if they really cared about making good teachers as much as they said they do, they would have provided far more information about their methodology that they wanted months before I arrived, instead of the first day of training. That's damn right.
I didn't want to stay in Japan after this issue. I wasn't doing well in any sense, Japan is very expensive, and I didn't have enough cash to just hang out for a week and feel comfortable. I came home, and was able to get my new job back. I'm very fortunate in that regard.
I know I can get another TEFL job in many locations. I also know that South Korea could be a decent fit, and I can learn from this experience. There is more about this earlier in the post.
I'm still working through all of this, but it's getting better. It's difficult to have to come home to have to explain to everyone what went wrong. But maybe it's better than being treated as a means to an end, instead of an end in itself.
Thanks to the last four posters for their solid advice. |
It's as I suggested: no genki.
Risking sounding facetious, you essentially discovered a Japanese conversation school required employees to fit a mold. Yes, it is the small-corporate mainstream. One in which the employees typically last all of one year, and tend to come with minimal background. You know little about the industry you were hired to work in, nor the environment nor the expectations and roles of employees.
You did not have enough money to last you a week? How were you going to survive until your first paycheck?
Am very surprised they flew you over. I agree with the first response in this thread. There is more to the picture than just not catching on quick enough with lesson prep. Not when it cost them around $3000 (two way flight) for the privilege of firing you. They must have really not wanted you working for them.
Sounds like you were having trouble AND were not at all enthusiastic about overcoming that trouble. In that case, good move by the manager. No offense. |
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rslrunner
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Posts: 252
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Enthusiasm, drive, get-up-and-go. |
OK. These are good qualities for sure. But AEON clearly wanted me out of the country. I didn't have the resources to stay long-term. Finding another job when the original company that sponsored me had let me go seemed daunting. I hadn't even thought about a contingency like this, it was unthinkable just a week ago. I felt like I had been hit by a truck.
Genkiness was not the right strategy at the time.
I didn't think about staying. The risks would have been large, the rewards uncertain, the unknowables too various to mention and, to be unfair, Japan seemed like a cold, inhospitable place. I know there is so much more to Japan than that. But that's where I was emotionally. |
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HLJHLJ
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 1218
Location: Ecuador
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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You've already expended for more mental effort on this than AEON ever did. You've admitted you gave a poor show and made a number of screw ups, and that for whatever reason you couldn't pick up the lesson structure in the time allowed.
You've had lots of good advice about putting it behind you and moving on.
Yet you continue to harp on blaming AEON for not doing things the way you wanted them done. Along with painting all their teachers as brainwashed drones. It's unfair and an untrue, (at least it's no more true than for any other large language school with an image to maintain). It really doesn't portray you in a flattering light.
At the start of the thread I could understand you wanting to vent and rant, but the longer this continues, the more I get the feeling that the main problem was your attitude. |
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RollingStone
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 138
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| rslrunner wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Enthusiasm, drive, get-up-and-go. |
OK. These are good qualities for sure. But AEON clearly wanted me out of the country. I didn't have the resources to stay long-term. Finding another job when the original company that sponsored me had let me go seemed daunting. I hadn't even thought about a contingency like this, it was unthinkable just a week ago. I felt like I had been hit by a truck.
Genkiness was not the right strategy at the time.
I didn't think about staying. The risks would have been large, the rewards uncertain, the unknowables too various to mention and, to be unfair, Japan seemed like a cold, inhospitable place. I know there is so much more to Japan than that. But that's where I was emotionally. |
Right. Had you included this detail in your original post it would have reflected quite differently. There was clearly more going on.
These things you were not prepared for/aware of are fundamentals. With even preliminary research you would have had a contingency plan. You still haven't answered how you expected to survive until your first paycheck, which would have been in at least 30 days.
Genki goes a long way in Japanese companies. I am certain you could have been mediocre in performance execution but if you exhibited that enthusiasm and drive you'd still be there.
I'd say there were wise decisions all around. The manager for reading the signs and letting you go, and you for being honest enough to admit you didn't want to be in Japan. Perhaps you just felt cold-feet which you could have worked through. But you needed the genki to help both you AND YOUR EMPLOYER through the first, uncertain phase until you found a routine and a chance to adopt a new lifestyle.
I agree with H. In your posts you are coming across as very unmotivated. Which is ok, people change their minds. But I cannot see anything the employer did wrong. It is what it is. Adapt to it or move on. |
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rslrunner
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Posts: 252
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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A few quick points:
The original flight to Japan was paid by me.
I did have enough money to last me another six weeks. But Japan is expensive, and I had to think about beyond that, as I had nothing else to fall back on.
I never said that people who work for AEON are mindless drones. Never. I said that AEON wants people to act and teach in the exact same way, like drones. They don't want any slight deviation from the script that they provide. Drones, in retrospect, isn't even the right word, as it assumes monotony, and the job does require enthusiasm. But AEON wants sameness.
I anticipated, expected and welcomed a fair amount of adjustment, precisely because I thought their methodology had value. I still do.
I underestimated the adjustment I would have to make. RollingStone, to the extent that I didn't understand the environment that I was entering, I have paid a significant price.
I do blame AEON for not providing the methodology further in advance. To that, I plead guilty. If I need to make a presentation on the second day, why provide that lesson plan the day before, instead of providing access to it in the months preceding my arrival, when I already have been hired? I know I'm been harping on this point many times. But to me, basic professionalism requires that employees know exactly what is expected of them further in advance.
For everything else, well, the path is clear, and also laid out by others here: take responsibility for certain things, learn from the whole experience, and move on. These posts do not show me at my happiest, let alone my genkiest. But it has been cathartic. More importantly, hopefully these posts can benefit others, especially if others can avoid what I experienced. |
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OneJoelFifty
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 463
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| Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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| RollingStone wrote: |
Genki goes a long way in Japanese companies. I am certain you could have been mediocre in performance execution but if you exhibited that enthusiasm and drive you'd still be there.
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I think we've just about done this topic to death by now, but genkiness while struggling with the flu isn't easy.
I was wondering, what would the attitude of the company be if you asked to join a later training session, saying that you had the flu? |
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