Job Discussion Forums

[runeman]

But we come back to the fundamental question of this thread. Who exactly are the founders of English Time and its subsidiary companies?

Enlighten us with a little more detail, ye who are in the know!

(Jokes elswhere.)

[runeman]

dmd said:

[FGT]

My pay scale would be as follows:

1) Illegal (ie no degree, and/or TEFL qualification), if employed by the school, first year, untried/tested etc 14 ytl

2) As above, but the school likes them, trusts them, students ditto. 2nd year at same school. Or ditto with experience from elsewhere + good reference: 15 ytl

3) Qualified teacher (degree or equivalent + CELTA or equivalent), no teaching experience, or illegal as above on third year contract, 16 ytl

4) Qualified teacher, one year's experience (good reference) 17 ytl. (Previously employed unqualified teacher need not apply - they should have got qualified by now)

5) Previously employed at this school, with basic qualifications or teacher new to this school with at least 2 year's experience (full qualifications) and glowing reference, 20 ytl

6) Qualified and experienced teacher + loyalty factor, or several years experience elsewhere + glowing reference (exceptional circumstances only) 23 ytl

7) Teacher new to the school, qualified, with relevant experience and extra to offer (could be management skills/MA/Dip etc), or continuing employee + management/other skills/Dip etc 25 ytl (loyalty bonus + 1ytl)

8 ) DOS and other senior posts, salary on application.


All teachers to be offered free, shared accommodation or a housing allowance of 250 ytl pcm.

These rates apply to Izmir only. Other rates in other cities may(not) apply.

If I had a school, I would only employ legal teachers so the first two categories wouldn't exist.


The reason for the different rates is that you can't employ teachers who all have the same background, teachers with experience/qualifications demand/expect financial recognition. I know I would.
Students also recognise this. Give them a non-native teacher and they soon demand a discount. Unless the teacher delivers the goods, they soon suss the untrained/uncertain etc

Ref Runeman:

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

[yaramaz]

They live with their parents, don't they? Or live in a flat owned by family. Or they have a spouse who can supplement the income/support them.

[tekirdag]

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

[dmb]

[Baba Alex]

[lovelace]

I don't necessarily think that new teachers teach worse lessons than some qualified and experienced teachers - the newbies are sometimes so damn worried and scared about messing up that they work super hard, particularly outside the classroom, planning and finding suitable resources.
When I was a new teacher it was plain that I was in some ways a better teacher and cared a whole lot more than a few people who'd been doing it for years, thought they had nothing more to learn and were just going through the motions.
Having said that, I still believe more experienced and better qualified teachers should be paid more - but it should be fair, based on a published scale, not at the whim of management.
The idea of students deciding what teachers should be paid based on their performance has been discussed before and appalls me. Of course schools should encourage student feedback and make sure a student is comfortable. But in Turkey personality often counts for much more than performance in students' eyes. We all know those teachers who pander to a class so much that their students love them but who are actually too lazy or rubbish to teach them anything of value! It's only when the students get to the next level (if they get to the next level) that they realise they were conned. Regular observations and feedback to teachers about their performance (assessed by more senior teachers, ADOS or DOS) would help sort that out.
And we should remember in all this that while there are some students working desperately hard, there are others who only turn up occasionally and never do homework or open their books between classes. Should they be assessing my 'performance'? I don't think so..

[Shaytess]

Please let me offer the examples of my 2 ET-to-British Side friends.

ET: They worked 35 hours a week for 15 YTL. They wanted to teach about 24 hours but had no choice in taking the extra hours because 'it's in the contract.' They were constantly stressed, exhausted, and burned out from the teaching load. Nobody (at their branch) had time to prep or grade carefully - even though ET has a whopping load of tests for students to take.

Meetings and trainings were unpaid as 'it's a professional obligation.' Teachers complained because they were often forced to go, unpaid, to these meetings and trainings on their valuable days off.



British Side: They work about 14 hours a week for 35 YTL per hour. Prep and grading are also unpaid, but with a workload of 14 hours, they have plenty of time for this. As a result, they can prep and grade much more carefully, write their own supplementary materials, create games...and they do, because they love their jobs. They would have done this at ET if they weren't so overworked.

Meetings and trainings are paid as teacher development is considered beneficial for the school and worth investing in.



Finally, an important question is, how much are those extra 21 hours a week of NOT working worth to a teacher? I would argue that NOT working 21 hours a week (the hours gained when my friends left ET) is extremely valuable. My friends can (and do) have time to take lucrative private lessons, take Turkish lessons, RELAX, and enjoy this amazing city that we inhabit! I think that teaching 35 hours a week is an insane load... how can teachers be expected to do all the necessary out of class work when teaching itself takes up that much time?

[Baba Alex]

[dmb]

[Baba Alex]

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]