Job Discussion Forums

[Gomez]

Hi. Does anyone have experience with Bilgi or Yeditepe? Good or bad? I haven't heard much about them except the usual info about private schools and teaching prep class students. I've checked them both out and liked the places, but I wondered if anyone had problems with the admin or staff, or if people had a wonderful time there. Any nightmare stories out there? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Bogazicibaby]

I taught at Yeditepe's prep-school for a year. I can say that the students were without a doubt the worst behaving ones I have ever experienced in the 3 years I have worked here.

Having said that, if you can find a way to get the students to understand that you care for them and want them to learn, working with them can be much easier. If you have never taught Turkish students this can be difficult to do.

I found my fellow colleagues there to be wonderful!

My situation with the director on the other hand was not pleasant. I don't know if it is the same as when I was there or not. She had decided that I wouldn't last the year and said many nasty things behind my back. I was asked to teach summer school and then when the time came for summer school I heard nothing. When I called, the director told me that they would not be unhappy if I found other work. The director can be ugly at best.

I did end up getting a call the first day I was at my new job. The secretary was calling to tell me that I needed to report to work in 3 days time. I asked why she was calling me since the director told me she didn't want me. She said that the director never told her anything like that. I think they fell short of instructors and only called me back to have enough teachers for their students.

I thought I had a good relationship with my section head. What I thought was not necessarily what came out of my final discussion with her. I still don't understand what the problem was. A lot of words were said but nothing specific to let me know why she was unhappy. I asked why she never told me anything before. She said she did- but what she told me was that perhaps I could do something with the students to let them know I cared for them. She said this was a warning. Weird kind of warning I think. She always did take my side with students complaints which was nice, but afterwards, it seemed that she just didn't want to hear anything negative from the students- it took up too much of her time or something. I really didn't understand it.

Transportation was provided and it was certainly pleasant enough.

I did have some problems getting paid for 2 months. The problem was related somehow to the fact that I didn't have a social number. I should have had one at my previous employment and they didn't want to pay me until I had a number. I'm not sure that this was the real problem. My husband ended up fixing this for me.

I had a friend who was from the UK and I think he went a very long time without money and the only way he ended up getting money was by speaking to the owner / head of the school. He didn't get money until after Christmas. I have to admit that his problem was related to lack of work permit.

Most people are only offered a part time contract. It tends to work into a full time work, but still part time contract second semester. Be careful about your contract. Things get strange if you end up working full time with a part time contract. IE you get nothing that full time people get but are expected to do the same work.

A part time contract has you working 5 days a week for 3 hours. You may or may not get to choose morning or evening.

It isn't a horrible place to work if you get decent students. The students are in class for 6 hours a day and every hour has to be accounted for. I did have horrible students second semester. I came home everyday stressed out and in a bad mood. My poor husband got tired of it.

I probably would have stayed there a second year had things not been ugly with the director at the end of the school year. I'm not sure I could have kissed butt and come running like a dog at the next years phone call though.

I have to say that my current job is much much better! My students are nice and I get energy from most of my classes instead of having my energy sucked away. I could never return back to teaching the energy sucking students there.

Good luck in making your choice. If you want to know more, send me a message.
Maria

[Gomez]

Wow. That's probably the most informative and comprehensive reply I've seen on a message board. Thank you so much for giving all your ideas and experiences. I had my ideas on which of the two I would like to work at and your mail confirmed my suspicions. And it's quite far away. I live on the European side. Thanks again for reply, it was really quite a help.

[Bogazicibaby]

The travel issue is pretty negligible since they provide a service bus for free and the buses leave every hour to a variety of destinations. You don't just have to take the bus that picks you up. The bus drivers speak very little English, but they are helpful and you can always ask some student to help you find the bus that you want. Most of the buses have destination placards in the front window too.

I lived on the European side too and enjoyed the Bosphorus bridge drive every day. I took great delight one day in telling some student who used the excuse that he was always late because he lived on the European side in Maslak. I lived further away and was always on time.

I would check to see who is in charge at the hazirlik these days. It may not even be the same woman. I had heard rumors that she was going to be replaced soon. I hope so because she wasn't a very good people person despite having her degrees in Psychology. I've rarely been to a job interview or in someone's office in Turkey where I wasn't offered a cup of tea. That says a lot in a country like Turkey.

I did enjoy most of the people that I worked with. I still talk to some of them. For the most part, they are good teachers and willing to share ideas with others.

Check a bit further. Very few places are the perfect place to work here. There seem to be many hassles along the way. However, with time and experience things seem to get better. In Turkey, who you know often determines what you actually get to do.

[dmb]

I worked at Bİlgi for a while. It's probably one of the better teaching jobs in Istanbul. The students are ok and there is a lot of support. The salary is also quite good compared to other places

[firin]

What qualifications past a CELTA do the universities usually require from the teachers?

[dmb]

It depends on your timing. I know that one of the aforementioned unis hired someone last week straight of the CELTA. Don't know if they had experience before the CELTA though.

[naf]

Bilgi is another private university and is much the same ae Yeditepe. I've heard the management is worse at Yeditepe and that the pay is worse but these I only know second hand. However, from having worked at Bilgi for a year, I can report that the attitude towards the teachers from the management only pretends to be supportive. When it comes down to it, Bilgi is a private business. Teachers are expendable -with a 20% yearly turnover- and students are clients/customers. I didn't find support or respect from the directors when it came to student problems. "The customer is always right" even if this can lead to further erosion of class morale. This is a totally different gig from adult dershanes where people pay their own money for classes. These kids for the most part have never worked a day in their lives and all the money comes from their parents. Basically you have to be skilled at managing a group of spoiled 18 year olds and winning them on to your side. The management at Bilgi claims to judge teachers by their students' performance. However this is b/s as students with low scores are passed at the end of the year anyway so the school can get their tuition. I found the experience at Bilgi to be low on teaching satisfaction end and rather demoralizing. I also heard a lot of moaning and cynicism about the program among the teachers, especially when hanging together socially.

If you want to go private I would recommend Koc. I've heard some good things about working there.

My new job at public university is much more satisfying. It's like having all scholarship students. I enjoy the dershane work a ton better as well.

good luck

[Faustino]

Personally, I would recommend Bilgi to anyone. I worked there some time ago and still hear positive things from the people I know who work there at the moment.

[Faustino]

Furthermore, I've never heard anything good about Yeditepe, apart from the feeling of relief that people have when they get to leave.

[firin]

Can anyone actually tell me what it's like teaching at university. Lots of you say it's better / worse blah blah. I'd like to know for example how many students you have in a class, how many teaching hours you have a week, is there lots of additional admin work, what are resources like, what are the students like?

I teach at a dershane and really enjoy the students but am getting a little sick of the unsocialable hours.

[Bogazicibaby]

I've been teaching at universities for three years. All very different situations. At a private university, I taught 15 hours per week with a part time contract for first semester. Second semester, I picked up an additional 15 hours but wasn't considered full time- rather assigned extra hours. This year was spent in a prep-school and my classes tended to be around 20-25 students.

As for resources here- I could photo copy anything and as much as I wanted. I didn't really have use of a pc though and I don't remember having an ohp. I would have liked one.

Second year was at a state university and I taught in both prep-school classes and faculty classes. I had a total of less than 20 contact hours per week. I don't remember exactly how many each semester. The prep-school classes had about 15-20 students each. The faculty classes ranged from 25-35 students per class.

Resources here were a bit more limited. I could photocopy and nobody ever said anything about the amount I brought in but there were few utilizing the copiers. I did use a powerpoint one time- but not in the classroom- in a meeting room. I could use my boss's pc- but chose to spend time at home researching what I wanted to use.

This year, I am again at a state university. Right now I have 16 hours per week. 4 of my classes have between 45-55 students.

I have lots of resources here! Technology too.

Prep time really depends on what you want to put into the classes. I tend to put in up to 20 hours per week on top of what I spend in the classroom. More time around midterms and finals and less time for the rest of the school year. The number of different classes that you have to prepare for also make a difference. Some of my classes have more than one session.

I was in a dersane for 2 years. I much prefer working at the unviversity. My evening time belongs to me and I have a social life. Most of my weekends also belong to me. I really like my students and have a great deal of respect for my colleagues. I wouldn't trade university for another shot at working at the dersane.

I guess that it all depends on what your aims and goals are for working. I met some pretty nice students while working for the dersanes. In the end, only you can decide what is best for yourself.

Good luck

[firin]

Thanks for that - that's really useful and honest information