Job Discussion Forums

[soapdodger]

Another of the legion of mentally disturbed EFL teachers has hit the headlines. Go team!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=C2GCU3DLYAL5XQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/22/wteacher122.xml

[squindia]

wow.


just out of curiosity, soapdodger do you think there is a high instance of craziness in our profession as opposed to other work? I seem to hear this a lot lately and am wondering if its a commonly held belief about EFL teachers.


this article reminded me of the astronaut in the US that drove from Florida to Texas wearing diapers (so she wouldn't have to stop) in order to confront her love rival.

[soapdodger]

After over 20 years in this game, take my word for it that it is seething with, shall we be polite?, misfits. Not all of course, but a surprising number of practitioners range from mildly disturbed to barking. Worse than any other job? ( Notice I didn't say profession, professions by and large filter out the walking wounded by their very nature) Possibly not, as the general standard of mental health in the developed world is alarming. If I ever have enough money to return to higher education, I think I would quite like to study psychiatry....I've done the fieldwork already!

[asgerd]

Wow is right. It's like the result of a (not very good) exercise that went like this....

Write a story involving the following random elements:

a Chinese student in Italy
a broken foot
an underground parking garage
hypnotherapy
a stun gun
Margate

[ls650]

[spiral78]

I dunno. I think there's a relatively high percentage of nutcases in every population...

Maybe they're better-tolerated (and therefore - encouraged to become even more extreme? ) in our field.

There are people on the board who feel strongly that 'interesting characters' make the best teachers. I don't necessarily agree, but there's probably some support for craziness within some kind of acceptable range.

[SueH]

Another team member here - about 150k west of the Kentishman (or is it man of Kent)?

I think you can probably get away with different behaviour abroad; it's just ascribed to you being foreign, and not to the fact that, by any countries' standard, you are barking. So, as a result of last Saturday's encounter with my only English (and non-teaching) friends the local bar perhaps thinks dancing on tables is a common occurence in 't' north in England. As I'm a shy southerner I only danced on the chair.... The local mountain people drink just as much, but are perhaps less demonstrative.

Perhaps we should have a league table of countries for unstable behaviour. Although I'm quite competitive I still think China, Thailand and the Magic Kingdom are way ahead of Italy in the barking mad stakes: more rabid I'd say.

[jonniboy]

The reason's a simple and obvious one. Most other professions are static and so anyone who's a looper will end up known as such and thus unemployable in their home town. In TEFL they can easily up sticks and find the next bunch of victims in a new town with a completely clean slate.

[soapdodger]

Yes Jonniboy, I agree. Combine the fact SueH mentioned about foreigners ascribing warning signs to cultural difference and most "schools" being run by people who are themselves on or over the edge, or so concerned with profit that whether their staff are a potential danger doesn't concern them, and you have the core answer to why EFL has more fruitcakes than a Danish Pastry shop. The general lax standards also insure it is a great bolthole for people on the run from crime and other murky things.

[phantombedwetter]

What gets me, is why schools employ these cretins?

I have a procession of criminals and retards stumbling into my school on a regular basis usually stinking like a white board marker because they have been on the p*ss all night.

However, some schools offer them work, incredible!

My favourite was some buffoon who offered to "Do me a favour by doing some hours for me".
At the same time he looked like he got his clothes out of a dustbin, had never heard of a razor, was shaking like my granddad when he had Parkinson's and no qualifications.

Amazing

[Stephen Jones]

[soapdodger]

Hello Stephen! Good point, but the comparison still works. Perhaps to highlight the extent of the problem I should have said " more fruitcakes than Harrods at Christmastime...". Incidentally, I don't patronise a Danish pastry shop, the only things I patronise are non-native teachers of English ( heh,heh,heh!), and, interestingly, they are mostly Cadbury's Fruit and Nut too!!!

[TheLongWayHome]

There no other 'profession' quite like TEFL that allows you the time, space and stunning international locations in which to 'lose the plot'. The profession does attract more than its fair share of nut-jobs but also those that are on the edge seek out where to fall off.

A colleague once said that everyone in TEFL was running from something, someone or perhaps just themselves. Which are you?

[soapdodger]

None of the above. Somewhere. Britain has always been a bit of a dump and by mid-Thatcher regime it was definitely a place to leave. I think inquiring minds quickly tire of what's on offer at home and for some EFL is a fairly convenient way to see more. So, they say, are the forces. I knew someone who fell for the Royal Navy's slogan Join The Navy, See The World. He ended up spending 3 years in a nuclear submarine under the polar icecap! Maybe EFL isn't that bad after all!

[gaijinalways]