I can't believe I'm getting the shaft from my new school

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

I work for an outsourcing company that provides teachers to private and public schools. I’ve started working at a new school in September. With a new job location, I knoew that I had to be the best I could and follow everything by the book. As an experienced teacher of 5 years, I applied all of my experience and knowledge to perform my teaching duties as best I can…After the first month, some feedback came my way and it was mostly good exept for a few things that needed improvement…nothing alarming, just the usual “no compliments to the new guy” rule…as I knew from previous experience, an action needed a reaction…so I turned my game up to it’s absolute best…I mean, I have been really set new standards for my teaching quality and standard…

My work etiquette is flawless…I’m always on time, wearing the proper attire…polite with everyone in the office…I have good relatoins with teh students and always as professional as one can be…

…but today, I went for a meeting at the outsourcing company and I was told “the school is still not happy”.!!!..WTF???..How can this be?..Well, it appears that someone is saying something, but there’s nothing specific to point out on why they are unhappy?..Now, i’m baffled at what to do…I’ve been as crisp and high standard about this job that I know i’ve found my limit…and now, I have no idea what to do next?..

I’m the only teacher(out of 5 foreign teachers) in our department that comes from my company…could those other teachers be trying to flush me because they are afraid the company I work for might manage more teachers there next year?..could they be jealous of something?..

Or could it be some administrative person with something to prove?..

My boss at my outsourcing company will try to get to the bottom of things and suggested that I keep things cool for now…I will do just that until further instructions but in the meantime, what would some if you do in this situation?..any suggestions or advice is welcome…

Cheers

2

I will be the first to admit that I am not the best teacher, nor do I like teaching, but in the present situation I have no choice… Although, when I do teach, I will brag a little and say that I am a great teacher, the kids love me, there are no problems, and most important, the kids learn more than I am suppossed to teach them.

This is where I start on the firms/agents you are talking about. Once, about a year ago maybe more, I decided to use an agent, 10,000 NT to find the job, which I thought was great considering I didnt have to do all the searching. She found me a school, an easy, glorified babysitting school which I personally did not like due the forementioned title I gave it, but anyways, the children were great, they sincerely listened and learned from me more than they had previously.

After a month though, to my suprise, the agent came and told me that I was no longer wanted. I was completely shocked. The reason being, listen to this, is I did not sit properly while teaching. Damnit, the chairs were minatures and my legs would not fit under the desk. They also said my legs shaked which was due to the discomf. trying to sit properly in a chair for a four year old.

I was raging at first since I knew I was doing an excellent job teaching and had nothing but compliments from the other schools I taught at and am teaching at now, but that is where I learned the trick of agents/companies.

They act like they are helping you, but in truth they are against you, you gave them their money, and now they want turn around (actually found out from one of the chinese teachers later that this man/agent was saying bad shit about me in meetings with the school) to make more money since when you are fired they say right away they can get you another job for another 10k agreeing that the schools decision was wrong…

and on a side note, a friend of mine just used an agent, worked at a school for two weeks, and on monday he came in and found out he got let go due to a consolidation of schools, and this was after he gave the agent 10k and then she said for another 10k I can find you another job.

I learned my lesson, dont deal with an agent. Plus the schools they usually work for are nothing but babysitting jobs, which I hate. If I have to teach, I want to benefit the child, not the agent.

Dont worry… It happens here.

3

The problem with the Taiwegians, and why no matter you do they will never be satisfied, is THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT!

4

Thanks Monk…and that very lucid comment from Dr Zoidberg…I should mention that the comapny/language center I work for don’t operate like those agencies you mention. Instead of me going through this company to find a job, it’s the company that finds the teachers…it’s not the type of place that they’ll take anyone who’s looking for a job…I also havn’t paid them any fee for anything…

…however, I can see a close relation to what you describe and the possibility of that being the problem now…\

…I’ll see how things go this week and make decisions accordingly…

5

I wouldn’t pay the blindest bit of attention to the “reason” a Taiwanese company gives you for sacking you. It’s not very likely they’ll tell you the real reason. I’ve heard of the following reasons:

Too old
Too young
We wanted a woman/American/Canadian
Too expensive
Students don’t understand you
Talk too quickly
Sit down too much
Stand up too much
Can’t read your writing
Lessons progressing too slowly/quickly
“Not happy with your work” (i.e. can’t even be bothered to make up an excuse)

6

Skylarkpuma I don’t really know the answer to your questions, but following the agency theme it may be a problem with money. In most cases the school pays the agency. If the teacher doesn’t work out within a short time frame then the agency either has to replace the teacher at no charge or refund some of the introduction fee. I am not sure how your agency works, but if it is the latter then maybe the school has found another teacher on their own and now has to ditch you to make way for the new teacher and get some of their money back.

Puma, wouldn’t, or possibly shouldn’t, your situation be similar. If you are paying for the introduction service on a job that doesn’t work out so soon then surely you are entitled to a replacement position free of charge or partial refund. I realize that this is not a given and would need to be stated in an agreement between you and the agent, but it might be an option that you could pursue. Certainly if you were going to do the same thing in the future it might be a good idea to clarify this upfront, but of course you might be best just looking for a job yourself now that you are here.

7

:notworthy: :bravo:
You must know my wife. :laughing:

8

No, but I do know my wife, and they are all the same in that respect too.

With regards to the Taiwegians, I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets conflicting statements from their laoban:

We don’t require you to punch in.
Here’s your time card, make sure you punch in.

There’s no rush to get through the lessons, let the kids go at their own pace.
You have to complete one lesson per week.

You’re boring them, you need to have more activities in class.
There are too many activities, you need to do more teaching.

And the list goes on… :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: