Job Discussion Forums

[greygalah]

I wont rant, but just give facts.

Because this was an IH school (and for a whole bunch of other reasons) i applied and got offered the job.
1. they stuffed up the visa documents delaying my arrival by a month.
2. It was agreed that i'd be allowed to return home for personal reasons (about a week). Three days after i provided my itinerary, i was told that they coudn't pay my contracted salary, but offered two thirds of it. I agreed so long as i only did two thirds of the hours promised - including all the additional stuff i was doing.
3. Ten days after returning they made me redundant due to the collapse of the Russian Ruble and a lack of students.
4. This is Siberia, mind.

The other teachers are really nice. The students are great. The facilities are fine. The town is fairly uninteresting and small, but i guess if you liked snowboarding or wanted to immerse yourself in the Russian language, it sounds ok. However, there's the matter of contractual obligation cited above.

And the IH world investigation for the purposes of ongoing facilitation happened while all the above unraveled. Yes, i did tell the investigator. oh...hum.

This is my fifth IH school. I'd say 40% where good. One was ok. The rest...

[kidTEFL]

Out of interest which IH were the good ones?

I know IH do focus a lot of teacher development, which is good, but I find schools like this usually have a lot of other bullshit that goes with it. Mostly paperwork and the 'right way of doing something'


I know each school is different with a different reputation, but I'd be interested to know the ones to look to and the ones to avoid.

[greygalah]

IH San Jose de Costa Rica was great, but the owner closed the school. I thought IH Kharkiv (Ukraine) was good. I never had a problem with IH Moscow. However, I worked in a satellite school (2007) that's no longer there. Friends who worked in Moscow only ever complained about a lot of traveling.

There's an old blog called the teflblackllist.blogspot.com (2008) that talks negatively about a few.

I've heard good things about IH Madrid, but not all schools - even in the same country - are necessarily the same. Being affiliates their methods and behaviour differ broadly.

I think if you want to work at one, you must choose the country first. I mean, that's where you're going to be living, right?