Job Discussion Forums

[Geetus]

I worked for SHANE English School in Chiba, then Tokyo in 2004/05. Fresh from doing a Cert Trinity TESOL it was my first (real) teaching job. I had been on the JET programme in Fukuoka for one year in 99/00.

I found SHANE good in that it was able to be fully-arranged outside Japan, in fact, by the English language school that hosted the Trinity course. Also, they meet new teachers at the airport, which is more than my present school in Prague did. However, finding your way from A to B on the Japanese subway is virtually impossible for the fresh teacher arriving at Narita Airport, and taxis impossibly expensive, unlike Prague.

I soon came to see SHANE as a post-cert training organisation, rather than a serious education provider. Scheduling was rather higgledy-piggledy, sometimes up to 10 different classes in the 6-hour teaching period. Chiba is traditionally a district hard to recruit to, meaning many days like this - rushed.

I will briefly speak about the three different DOS's I had, before briefing you on the financial shenanigans.

The first DOS was great, professional to a fault, empathetic despite the sometimes impossible task of assigning staff to back-breaking contact hours, and a good sense of humour. She up and left suddenly when her district was merged for cost cutting reasons, delivering two districts into the hands of a merciless SHANE warrior.

The fellow was well suited to wielding a stick, had no real social skills to persuade teachers to work the endless standby and cover days required for a short-staffed district, dismissed a teacher with great prejudice who had only been in the country two weeks for not being able to teach to the required standard (usually a DOS would take a personal interest to coach, you would thinl...) THEN proceeded to allocate the poor guy four weeks of continuous cover while he completed the final month of his six weeks employment! Like me you may ask yourself which case it was - he can teach or he couldn't teach??

Finally, at the end of 12 months in Chiba, I managed a transfer to the West Tokyo district. Great DOS, relaxed school and even scheduling. You will see some postings on this site on how the quality of DOS can affect your stay, bear it in mind.

This is not meant to be a diatribe against Chiba district. It is just that I had such different experiences in the three areas I worked in. After merging, a few small problems popped up with the salary payments. Outlines as follows:

1. Sometimes the extra 'standby' hours I worked were not included in the monthly salary calculations.
2. Three times the 5,000 yen 'cover' day bonus was not included at the end of the three month calculation period.
3. When I moved out of the SHANE apartment, the staff took out double the amount for final power and gas bills.

OK, so maybe not 'shenanigans', but yes, you should be careful to check salary payments and keep utility receipts. SHANE does like to keep all their employees, teachers and office staff alike, nice and busy, so possible that mistakes would occur.. However, you see, these were never in my favour, and a few others made similar comments.

SHANE teachers were a great bunch generally, and very social. And teaching at SHANE was never inane as what goes on at the big four factories - with SHANE you can relax, chat, have fun with students, put into your lessons as much as you like. Japanese like happy happy friendly friendly, much more than my students now in the Czech Republic that often have the 'no smile' thing going on...

Outside your classroom, working and social life for many Japanese is very boxed in and tough. At least SHANE gives you the freedom to jazz things up a bit. But see it for what it is, a punch-drunk, cash rooting, commercially-charging bull. The money supply is screwed down so extremely tight, and the fat man has a truly gasp-worthy array of tactics to get teachers into working like little trojans for little recompense.

The Czech Republic - great teaching life, lots of free time between lessons to wander around beautiful old Prague, great cheap beer, real teaching. I have just finished one year and recommend CALEDONIAN School. They, like SHANE, recuit from overseas, if you like to have that security, as I do.

[Glenski]

[Khyron]

[Geetus]

[quote]And teaching at SHANE was never inane as what goes on at the big four factories [/quote]Interesting comment. Have you worked for all of the Big Four in order to compare?[/quote]

The Big Four shenanigans are well documented. Imagine if we all had to experience first hand in order to compare...!

[Geetus]

Due to the amount of private emails I'm still receiving, asking about Shane, I'll bring this thread back up to date. Caveat Emptor - as far as I've heard, things have detoriated even further with this particular 'British English School in Japan' (see above : Khyron) - let the teacher beware !!!

[Odango]

I've got an interview with them on Monday!

I've heard mixed views about them, from dreadful to actually one of the better places for teachers.

[Sour Grape]

[flyingkiwi]

This is exactly what a few teachers should do instead of complaining that they have got screwed over.

[Odango]

I've recently been accepted for work at Shane.

Who currently works at Shane? Do you find it troublesome or a benefit that you have to teach in several different schools a week?