Alphaville. Banqiao.
Big school, looks nice, but Sandra, the director, demands “demo” classes of 30 minutes (more like free work, I think), refused to hire people who would only demo with teachers roleplaying, and wants to hire regular part timers off the books.
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Avoid, avoid, avoid.
[quote=“Sleepyhead”]Alphaville. Banqiao.
Big school, looks nice, but Sandra, the director, demands “demo” classes of 30 minutes (more like free work, I think), refused to hire people who would only demo with teachers roleplaying, and wants to hire regular part timers off the books.
tealit.com/ad_categories.php … anguage=en
Avoid, avoid, avoid.[/quote]
Even though it puts some foreigners at risk to demo in front of a class, this is pretty common practice in Taiwan. I don’t see where any harm has been done to the OP. Does this school really deserve to be blacklisted? If you don’t like the interview tactics of this school, then just opt to look somewhere else, no harm done.
Those aren’t earth-shattering complaints to be sure. The demos are illegal, but “Blacklist” suggests something more substantial to me. I’ve taken this out of the blacklist and started its own thread.
I subbed there a few years back in the upstairs department. It was OK except the books were for American kids and not good for ESL. The bosses were nice enough, but I was transitory.
I have heard that the bossed are crazy. Control freakiness, yelling, demanding, etc, but some of this came from people that I would assume were a bit lazy, late, not on the ball, etc.
Another thing is that they always seem to be hiring. To me this says there is likely a problem.
Who cares about the demo? That’s how you get a job and negotiate for more money.
Most of their hours are in the Kindergarten AFAIK, which could get a guy into trouble if not careful.
Off topic:
The reasons for all the part time -off the books hours available IMO is that a lot of schools are getting whittled down economic ally and only have 2 hours in the afternoons/ evenings. Having 5 classes all going from 4:30 until 6:30, and then no more classes means that a lot of folks can get those hours. Even if they have six hours a week for you, why go through the trouble of getting an ARC with them when you are most likely looking for more hours? This works both ways, I think.
Some of the replies to the OP here use a typical Chinese trick: respond to a “straw man” issue that is not the complaint instead of addressing the complaint. It is true that anyone can pull this trick, not just TWese/CNese. It is also true this trick (among others) is encountered more often here or in CN.
The replies say it is common to have to do demos. Doing a demo is not the OP’s complaint and those here responding to the OP know this is not the complaint. Everybody agrees a demo is required to interview a teacher, a singer, a car mechanic, a doctor, a plumber, an engineer, etc. Harping the point is thumping the straw man.
The OP likely suggested using teachers to role play to accomodate the request for a 30 minute demo without teaching for free.
Asking someone to do a 30 minute demo is a [color=#FF0000]red flag [/color]that the boss is a fraudster. Accommodate the fraudster during the interview process and you won’t be surprised she is later trimming your hours when you’re not looking.
Yesterday, I was asked to do a 45 minute demo(why not a 1 year demo?).
Interviewing teachers is for the most part like auditioning actors. Is the person interesting to watch, organized, can manage the class, and does she know the material? One needs about 2-4 minutes to assess this. Nothing more is needed. Schools looking for 30 minute demos or 45 minute demos are tricksters and flagging them is a service to the community. Not flagging them, remaining mute when speaking up is needed, disserves us all … and bolsters the tricksters. Some folks might think 5 minutes is too short. Maybe they are right. But a half-hour? Or 45 minutes(Leader school in 內湖)?
This trick is like the interviewers looking for a writer … and … they request several stories/articles/essays/exam-question. The stated reason for the request is allow the TWese interviewer to check the candidate’s work(as if the interviewer would no good english from bad). Later, lo and behold, you find your sample in the next edition of their magazine/catalogue/book, etc.
As important as it is for the school to assess the teacher, it is important to know whether the interviewer is honest.
For what it’s worth, admittedly very little, I don’t think anyone responding is Chinese, though I could be wrong.
I take issue with characterizing any of the above posts as “strawman” arguments–the OP only mentions the idea of “free work” as an aside, while relatively strongly emphasizing that the demo had to proceed in front of actual students, and could not be done as a role play.
By the way, don’t be racist lol, I’m perfectly capable of making a strawman argument, there’s nothing Chinese about it.
Finally I disagree with your main point. Personally I would characterize what could be learned about a teacher in 2-4 minutes as “nothing.” Thirty minutes might seem long to some but is not crazy as far as I can see. It’s definitely not any kind of “red flag” of dishonesty? Just for a laugh how would a school possibly capitalize on such a deception.
[quote=“Tempo Gain”]For what it’s worth, admittedly very little, I don’t think anyone responding is Chinese, though I could be wrong.
I take issue with characterizing any of the above posts as “strawman” arguments–the OP only mentions the idea of “free work” as an aside, while relatively strongly emphasizing that the demo had to proceed in front of actual students, and could not be done as a role play.
By the way, don’t be racist lol, I’m perfectly capable of making a strawman argument, there’s nothing Chinese about it.
Finally I disagree with your main point. Personally I would characterize what could be learned about a teacher in 2-4 minutes as “nothing.” Thirty minutes might seem long to some but is not crazy as far as I can see. It’s definitely not any kind of “red flag” of dishonesty? Just for a laugh how would a school possibly capitalize on such a deception.[/quote]
I agree with Tempo Gain’s points and I am certainly not Chinese or Taiwanese either.
IMO the schools are at a disadvantage when hiring a teacher without a demo. Sure, you give them your CV and you talk your way through the interview, but how can the school really know how well you are with students and the material being taught? One solution is doing a demo. A short 5 minute demo can’t really show anything other than you are able or unable to handle the class for 5 minutes. A longer demo for the length of the class is more accurate.
The problem is getting caught doing a demo without proper forms for legally working for that school. It happens, not often though. IMO the system / laws need to be changed allowing for the assessing of potential teachers. Until then, to get the job you have to play the game.
Being tested for a job is normal part of life here. Although I don’t teach I have been tested for various writing positions. It’s the best way to gauge how you perform in a real life situation.
[quote=“Sleepyhead”]Alphaville. Banqiao.
Big school[/quote]
Big in Japan, maybe. 
Sorry about that. I’ve had 80s songs on the brain lately. :loco:
I’ve never ever done a demo. I answer questions on my CV. A demo would be unheard of in a non buxibanny scenario - people just trust my previous employment history. A demo only gives info about certain things. Red flag for amateurish showboat establishment. Sorry if this steps on anyone’s toes, but a DOS who knows anything about anything can pick out someone far easier by asking questions than by watching someone in the classroom. A teacher can also manipulate the whole thing very easily. Its much harder to bs your way through an hour long interview…
I had to do a bunch of language tests and assignments for my current non-teaching job, but that’s acceptable for someone with no track record in this industry.
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They are scheduling – 1 week in advance – 1 hour ‘demos.’
This school is a :no-no:
I dont know if this is true or not, but one of my acquantinces told me that this school requires the teacher to pay a deposit when they start work there. They’ll get it back at the end of their contract, but still this is questionable. I forgot what the figure was, but I think it was around 20k nt. This seems pretty weird so I don’t know if its true.
I see they are ALWAYS hiring. Not a good sign; especially if they are trying to get excessively long demos and asking for deposits. Allegedly.
I split some posts to a new thread, [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/demo/54937/1
Been working at Alphaville for 10 years now.
Most of the foreigners who passed through Alphaville’s doors in the last decade would only leave this school to go ‘home’. None left to find greener buxiban pastures…
Salary is great, work schedule is flexible and independent. Lots of foreigners here too.
And by the way, they pay for the demos… most demos are 30 minutes long.
Also, we don’t advertise because there’s a high turnover rate. In fact, most teachers have been at this school for at least 5 years.
We advertise because the school is big, and often we need subs as our teaching staff takes time off. Subbing is a way to get your foot in the door.
Sounds fantastic.