Job Discussion Forums

Shaytess · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 65 Location: Berlin

B Side asks for 2 years experience (although some teachers were hired with less) and CELTA or other certificate, like a TESOL Cert. Part timers make 35 YTL an hour and, yes, 40 for a DELTA. And it's nice that teaching only 10-14 hours a week, you can make a living (maybe not enough to support a partner and child) and still have plenty of time left over to do privates or teach somewhere else...

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

So why this *HUGE* difference between British Side and ET? How long has British Side been around? If ET's relatively poor compensation for teachers is just "good business," then can British Side really last?

Shaytess · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 65 Location: Berlin

British Side used to be the British Council, which was a very well-established school here until they decided to close their teaching program due to security reasons. Four former BC teachers bought the school building from the BC, hired back many BC staff members (as well as new people), and are teaching the same curriculum and with the same style. So, the name is new but the people have been around a while.

I would say that the school's quality is much higher than ET - the books, the teachers, the management, the Turkish staff, the level of care and concern for students. We are also only 1 branch, not a whole chain, so quality control can be maintained much more easily. Many BC students have re-enrolled at British Side, and so far we have grown every term with new students.

I guess we will see how things go in the future. I know I'm biased, but I think that we will continue to attract students who don't mind paying a bit more for a high-quality education.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Is the rumour true about the BC returning to Istanbul? I applaud what Sally et al have done with the B-side. However, I do wonder about the Council re-opening.(I hear somewhere in Maslak when the metro gets that far)

yaramaz · Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 4:32 pm Post subject:

It'll be awful chilly teaching after hell has frozen over. Will the school be heated?

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

why do ET advertise on tefl.com and not here??? Very Happy

do the savings on wages (15 per hr) mean that the school is cheaper for the students compared to the other schools???

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

tararu · Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 494

Hey Shaytess, What is the end of contract bonus and flight allowance like for full-timers and part-timers at British Side?

Baba Alex · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411

Baba Alex · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411

lovelace · Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 190

Quote:
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.

Poppycock ... most teachers in their first couple of years are so hell bent on examining their own performance that they have neither the time nor the inclination to examine their students' performances ... which should be what informs their decisions of the direction of future lessons ...

Quote:
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.

Don't be so hard on yourself ...

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I said they don't necessarily teach worse lessons than some experienced and qualified teachers. Actually, maybe I should limit it to some experienced teachers, as qualified normally means that you care enough about development to get yourself an extra qualification.
And I stand by that part - new teachers don't always give worse lessons than the handful of jaded, cynical or utterly complacent teachers that some staffrooms contain. They might be better equipped than the newbie to see what students need but they also might not be arsed to do it. Doing the job for five years doesn't always mean you do it better than the person who's been doing it for five months. I think we would do well to remember this - and include myself in that. And yes, I was better at the job than those teachers and I still am. But there are others better than me too and generally I still want to try and learn from them. So nuuurr...

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

Well now we're getting somewhere ... you mean that not all new teachers are as bad as the small element of (experienced) wasters that don't do their job properly ... loafers who wouldn't have a job if you or I were boss ...

Though I'm not sure that much is proved by comparing new teachers to that sorry lot ...

But while we're at it, how do we know that someone who is a jaded cynic in the staffroom is also a jaded cynic in the classroom ...

And what type of teacher would you want if you were the fee paying student ... the no nonsense self-contained cynic or the children's birthday party facilitator ...

Baba Alex · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411

tararu · Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 494

Actually, a lot of students complain because their teachers don't jump around like bloody idiots. Basically, they want a stand up comedian to teach them English.

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

Hurrah ... TEFL bitten on the bum by the monster it created ...

I suppose that's what you at ET get for using teletubbies in your advertising push ... good job you didn't use your alien namesake ... you'd be over-run with some real fruit cakes ...