Job Discussion Forums

[Lynn]

About 2 years ago I was at Banana school, a typical student visa factory school. There were 3 intermediate level classes. Krissy, Donna and I taught them. Somehow rumor got out that I was the "it" teacher. My class filled quickly, and many students complained to the director that they wanted in my class. When my bosses saw me in the hall they would praise me on how popular I was and that noone wants to be in Donna's class. I was neither flattter nor impressed. "So, what is this? A popularity contest?" I asked quite frankly. The bosses said that the students complained that Donna's class was boring.

Yeah, right, whatever! I saw Donna prepare for class and her lessons were very interesting. I can honestly say that I was not a superior teacher, I think I just got caught in the rumor frenzy. I saw Donna in the stairwell a week later. She was very upset. She had just been told that her class was closed. Little did she know that the students had complained that she was boring and had all temporarily transferred out until a new teacher came along.

Hearing this really struck a nerve with me. I realized how cruel the ESL world can be, and how childish adult ESL students can be. I really wanted to know how all this happened. I ended up quitting a few weeks later, and I think that batch of students probably went back home.

Now I am on the other end. I left to Japan for a week to stay with my Japanese husband's parents and to take care of some paperwork. I wasn't allowed to tell the students I'd be gone for a week. So, I left on a Friday with a lesson plan for the substitute.

I came back last night(Sunday) from Japan, ready to get back to work and full of stories to share with my students about Japan. We had a lesson about weddings before I left and I was going to share with them my experience. I had also brought back some Japanese candies. Well, I got a call from my boss telling me that I don't have to come back to work tomorrow because the students want to stick with the substitute for a few more weeks. (a nice way of saying, don't come back at all)

Need less to say, I was extremely upset. My boss doesn't know the full story, whether it was one student or what the deal was. He said he'd get back to me. I am so upset on so many levels. One is that I really connected to some students and now I'll never have a chance to say goodbye. Of course the other is betrayal. Last night I coudln't sleep at all. I kept going over things in my head. How they raved I was such a good teacher, how they liked me so much, blah, blah, blah. I fell for it.

Anyhow, I should be at work right now, but someone else is teaching my class.

[shmooj]

[Capergirl]

It definitely is a popularity contest and it's pretty ridiculous. My boss was telling me on Friday that all the students "wanted the blonde" (i.e. me) to give them their oral interviews. Why? Probably for the same reason I filled every class I had in Korea and Taiwan. The whole thing is so superficial, universally, that we can't help but be appalled by it and yet we can't expect things to change. Such is life in the world of ESL.

My students are in for a shock today, though. I dyed my blonde hair dark brown this weekend. No more Barbie hair! Should be interesting.

[khmerhit]

I lost a job because the office manager didnt like me-- i didnt kowtow sufficiently. He told the managers the students had complained about me, they told the dos to fire me. He hired someone I knew to replace me who was then told by the students that they hadnt complained about me (perhaps they lied) and that they were surprised to hear I had been axed. At the same time, I was working at another school where I was quite popular.

I suppose it is the personal aspect that makes a teacher vulnerable to the slings and arrows of outrageous popularity contests. I got slagged by some Brazilian students (none too slim themselves) who said I was too fat, etc etc, and before you could say "Jack Robinson", had lost another job. Needless to say, my immediate predecessor had been popular and pretty.

If its any consolation, Lynn, remember that people in industry get dumped unceremoniously all the time. I worked for a publishing company in the UK.
They hired a new director who was gone within three weeks. He was given fifteen minutes to clear his desk under the gaze of security guards who escorted him to his car.

So there you go. Happy hunting! Maybe you should dye your hair blonde-- or blonder. I notice Capers is going for the Christina A look-- 20s flapper brunette. Can we have a new avatar, please?

[Mouse]

I'm sorry, Lynn. I don't have anything clever to say, I'm afraid, but for it's worth, your story made me sad. I hope your next boss appreciates you more... For now, you'll just have to content yourself with setting fire to the school...

[denise]

Lynn, that's awful. The way your school treated you makes me ashamed of the field. You'll find something better, I'm sure. Good luck.

d

[johnslat]

Dear Lynn,
Whatever you do, don't let it affect your estimate of your worth. Unfortunately, jerks abound and the ESL/EFL field has its share of them (especially, in my opinion, among the administrative branches). So, if you do decide to take Mouse's suggestion:

"you'll just have to content yourself with setting fire to the school..."

just remember to make sure the boss is in his office first. After all, he fired you and so there's a kind of poetic justice there, wouldn't you say?

Just kidding, of course. It'll be crueler to let a twit such as that live, anyway. But, speaking from lots of experience, I promise you that something much better is in your future.
Regards,
John

[markoinbangkok]

It seems to me that you are a sensitive person who has taken this rather too personally.

Teaching children is a popularity contest for sure. (It's not a disgrace as one poster seems to think. Just that the business of entertaining kids is best left to entertainers not educaters. And often that comes at the expense of education!)

It is easy for an entertaining substitute who is there just for a few weeks to come off as being a thoroughly good teacher. That person may or may not run out of ammo pretty quickly and you'll be back where you left off!

I wouldn't worry too much about saying 'tatty-bye' to your kids though. They will have already forgotten you by now.

Good luck as you move on and rise above this incident. Collect your final paycheck with your head held high and find an institute of learning worthy of you.

[woza17]

Don't take it to heart Lyn from your post you seem to be pretty level headed and know the score. What is sadder and really pathetic is the ESL teachers who believe all the bu,,shit about about how good and popular they are, until someone funnier and prettier comes along. As soon as a FT starts ranting about how wonderful they are and how much the students love them ect I am off to the bar for another drink and a new conversation.
I agree something bigger and better will come along, tell us about it when it happens, so we can say I told you so.
Cheers Carol

[ntropy]

My consolations. That was totally unprofessional and unethical. Have you seen your local labour standards office about whether they owe you anything? After all, minimum notice standards or a payout are de riguer in most parts of the industrialized world.

My "worst" sacking involves my British boss while working in the ME. While he deserved to be let go for job performance issues, the manner was unnecessarily embarrassing and stressful.

The man, a bigamist who was married in the the UK and ME despite not telling either wife, was met at the office when he arrived in the morning by thhe company's security manager and two armed guards. They gave him 15 minutes to clean his desk, then drove him to his apt where he was given 30 to pack and then driven to the airport. He was put on the plane and his work visa was then invalid as the company wouldn't sponsor him back. His local wife was left to fend for herself without so much as a goodbye from him. he was crying the whole time. Surely there was a much better way of handling that.

[Capergirl]

[Gordon]

I don't know what to say, Lynn. That's terrible. One thing I wouldn't do is let your boss off the hook so easily. Go to work at a busy time of day and demand your 2 weeks' notice/pay. Then tell everyone what happened. Try not to get upset because that won't help. Have you ever thought that this sub is cheaper than you and this is a financial decision? Then start looking for a new job.
I feel sad for you. This is a crummy business.

[struelle]

[Sherri]

Lynn
I am really sorry to hear about your situation and I think you have got lots of good advice from everyone here.

You wrote:
Well, I got a call from my boss telling me that I don't have to come back to work tomorrow because the students want to stick with the substitute for a few more weeks. (a nice way of saying, don't come back at all)

Remember, this is just what your boss said, it doesn't mean it's true! Maybe the new teacher is working for lower wages, is a personal friend or relative needing work, or maybe the boss promised the new teacher a certain amount of work. Sounds like an excuse to me to buy some time. I'll bet the students never said anything of the sort.
Sherri

[Laura C]

Lynn,

Really sorry to hear that.

Perhaps your boss is a jerk who, as Sherri suggested, got someone cheaper to fill your classes. Then, because he's a jerk, he told you it was because the students liked the sub better.

I agree with Capergirl as well -- you can't be told that you took this too 'personally' or that you are being oversensitive. That just means you feel bad about the original thing and then bad about how you didn't handle it the way others say you should!

Check your legal rights. I'd be taking your boss to the cleaners in every way I could, however obscure.

Bonne chance.

L