Job Discussion Forums

[irieteacher]

Some folks asked me for feedback on ET.

I worked there for two years and can give you some pros and cons.

Pros:

1. They pay comparatively well if you are exprienced. Around 16 MTL or more per hour.

2. You get an end of contract bonus US $12 00.00;
$700.00 as a bonus and $500.00 for your plane ticket.

3. The teaching Assistants (Turks) are very helpful. They will even give you assistance in personal areas, eg. turkish conversation on the phone etc.

4. ET Taksim is a busy school and you should get sufficient hours. Perhpas in the summer there might be a few odd slow weeks, but this is true for all of Ist.

5. Molly Farquason (sp) is the Director for ET. She does not deal with teachers directly, however, if you have a problem she will do her best to assist. She's a decent woman, who appreciates teachers who are there to teach. However, she has no time for teachers who just show up and expect to be paid because they are foreigners.

Cons:

1. ET tolerates a lot of rubbish in their classes because the students pay.
The TA's as nice as they are don't have the authority to do anything. Rather than pass along the problem to someone who does, they do nothing or try to solve it at the teacher's expense.

What this means is that they will listen to you complaints, say and do nothing - although you may be one of six teachers complaining about the same student/class.

One student tried to sabotage my class so he could fail and repeat for free. After constant disruptions of the class and his rudeness, I asked him to leave. When he refused, I stopped teaching until the school made him leave. The Manager and Head Teacher weren't there that day. So 24 hours later when the Head TA showed up, her response was to ask me to leave the class. You could imagine the shock of the students and myself. When I realized how much money I would lose, whilst I waited a week for a new class, I went balistic and told how silly it was.

To make matters worse (I was asked to grade his class), I passed him and they failed him. He then gave his new teachers constant problems for two months, complaining that the class was boring and walking out. Or just plain disrupting the class.

Whe the teacher complained, the same TA who asked me to leave, had the audacity to tell her he was missing his friends from the other level. (Note this is just ONE example of this kind of nonsense)


When you have this kind of problem it's best you complain directly to the Head Teacher or the Manager. Half the time they will still do nothing. Usually everyone's style is to wait for a new teacher to come along and then pass that problem class/student along. The poor teacher has no idea, complains and the staff just gives their usual comatose stare.

2. ET's brilliant Upper Management has decided that it would be best to have white people teach Eng. They believe that the students think of whites as the best speakers of Eng.

Now I am from Trinidad of East Indian descent. Ninety nine percent of my students wanted me for their following classes. In addition when I taught the classes of other teachers, it was common for their students to ask that I be their regular teacher. My race was never a factor, as ET's "clients" all clamoured for my classes.

They are also making an Eng. instructional video, and we were told quite frankly in the meeting that Upper Management wanted only whites in the video.

This is a school with branches in England and Toronto, they should really take a look of the cosmopolitan nature of the countries that their teachers come from and EDUCATE their students rather than perpetuate such ignorance.

HOWEVER, Molly, Great Director that she is, has made it clear she will not hire people based on race. There was recently an African American teacher added to the video. Many belive this was at the behest of Molly.

3. The new Head Teacher is Karen, the consensus by the staff is that she is "cleaning house." That meaning she is rehiring and hiring particular staff that will not complain too much as ET goes forward and continues to make its changes.

4. When I finished my contract at ET, I took a six month break and returned in July of 2004.

Karen told me (in May) that I could not be rehired at the Taksim branch because she didn't need anymore teachers. I of course knew this to be rubbish.

I was told by Molly that I could work for the Esentepe or Kadikoy branches. However, the Head Teachers at those branches would not give me a figure.

I had planned to come to Ist. anyway, so when I arrived, the Kad. branch offered me a much lower salary.

Later, when I was at the Taks. branch speaking to some friend, Karen, took me aside and told me that Management had no intentions of hiring me. They had duped me for six odd weeks, and then deliberately offered me a lower salary.

Bear in mind I had never been late for a class in two years, and had an excellent reputation with my students. Yet this is ET's "professionalism."
Of course no one had the courtesy to tell me why. I pointed this out to Karen and never bothered to ask. Quite frankly they aren't worth the bother.

When Molly came back from her holiday and heard what had happened, she was furious because Management had told her it was OK to hire me.

Had she been there I still may not have been hired, but I would have been treated with great courtesy.

Well that was quite a mouthufl, I hope it was useful to you.

Regards,
Irie

[irieteacher]

Sorry I forgot to mention that when you make a Visa Run, ET will remiburse you up to US $95.00 of your expenses.

The problem is that they implemented a new system last year and you now have to wait around two to five months to get your money.

In comaparison to the old days when you were reimbursed around two days or less after coming back, this has become quite an inconvenience.

Regards,
Irie

[molly farquharson]

No clever nicknames for me...

I want to respond to Irie's post, since I am involved in it. I may be English Time's apologist, but at the same time I am quite aware of its failings. However, there are a few things that Irie did not understand correctly or misinterpreted. I appreciate his kind words about me, for sure, but as the director of English Time, I need to set some things straight.

For the factual things Irie was mostly correct, except the bonus is about $750 and the travel depends on where the person is from (with teachers from N America and Aust/NZ obviously getting more). As far as pay goes, it is hovering around 14-15 million/hr and some people who were at the very high end of the range actually took a drop in pay when they renewed, maalesef. However, all things considered, it is a good place to work.

Karen is sort of cleaning house, as she has high standards, which, as Irie commented, I have also. She has to work with the teachers and on one level she should be able to choose who she works with. She does not necessarily choose teachers because of their pliability. However, she is committed to a high level of education, and is working hard to implement and facilitate it. I think that is entirely appropriate.

What happened to Irie is regrettable and since I was not in the country at the time, it happened without my knowledge or input at that time. By the time I could give input, the time was past and I'm sorry for that. I think to some extent his posting was venting about that, which is understandable but, as I said, I want to set some things straight.

The racism issue is the gravest one to address. ET is not racist. There are people of all shades, countries, cultures, religions at ET. However, those of you who know ET know it is very image-conscious. That image is of North Americans, and most people here (as in Turkey) think of N Ams as blonde and white. We are teaching them that North America and the world are much more colourful than that. To give them credit, it was their idea to have the African-American teacher in the video. Of course I supported it. It shows that we are all learning how to navigate in this culture that has its own colour.

ET is not heaven on earth. It has warts. But we are trying to make it better, sometimes with and sometimes in spite of the management. I am part of the management, don't forget. But I am also a teacher, or was. I am always sorry when things don't work out for teachers one way or another, but as you know, sometimes it is from their side and sometimes from ours.

History is personal, so this is my version-

Now I am curious to see what postings will follow...

[irieteacher]

The drop in pay is a curious statement.

I know some teachers at ET Taks. who are making over 15 MTL/hr.

Only one of them had his salary decreased when he renewed his contract and that was under old management. (back in February, after they had verball promised him he would earn the same money should he renew). To my knowledge the teachers (who I've spoken to) under the present management - who have renewed their contracts - are making in surplus of 15 M, with no drop in pay.

Regards,
Irie