Some of these schools do not appreciate what they’ve got. You are obviously dedicated, professional, and well worth the bucks. These are hard times, and sometimes schools need many teachers at peak hours. They end up having to give lesser teachers some other (your?) hours, so they have enough to live on. However, offering more to a newby than to a tested pro that brings back students, is unforgivable.
Just because someone came into the room and asked if an applicant could get NT$25 more than you’re making, doesn’t mean they even considered it. Most schools have clear policies about pay. Now, if you see a pay slip, that’s another story. I’d double check that anyone is really making more than you for the same kind of classes first. Maybe someone makes more for a writing class, or another class that requires more prep or outside grading time.
Anyway, if you are sure about the pay problem and what clearly sounds like discrimination, I’d start looking for another job while holding this one.
Good luck.
Meet the old boss!
Same as the new boss!
And I get on my knees and praaaay!
I won’t get fooled again!
Hey! I can’t quite understand when you say that you have, “three friends who told me what they were offered before they walked.”
Are you telling your friends to come in for a job interview; and when they find out that they’ll get as much as you (or more?), they refuse the job?
[quote=“almas john”]Hi ImaniOU,
Good to see you posting. Sorry to hear about your troubles but you must know that experience and abilty county for little. The newer teachers might be getting your classes because they are cheaper? That’s the problem with getting a raise at a school!!! The boss will often give hours to a crap newbie just to save NT$50-100/hour.6)
Yip, I call this economic trend in Taiwan the “Maple Leaf-Saffie” paradigm. That school owners in Taiwan are readily impressed by the hard worth ethics, malleability, and drive of the new arrivals (not to mentioned their heartlander home stories --yes they really do enjoy listening to descriptions of the social networks in Bumfuck, Yukon), they are quite willing to sacrifice their wiser older beer-drinking veteran talent.
[quote=“almas john”] Aren’t kids that young pretty much colorblind? [/quote]It’s definitely not the kids. It’s the parents. If the kids payed the tuition, it wouldn’t be an issue. In this case, however, if the students retention is as good as she says it is, and I believe her, the issue lies with the employer, IMO. Having read her posts for nearly half a decade in this fora, I can confidently say that it’s a damn shame.
[quote=“marboulette”][quote=“almas john”] Aren’t kids that young pretty much colorblind? [/quote]It’s definitely not the kids. It’s the parents. If the kids payed the tuition, it wouldn’t be an issue. In this case, however, if the students retention is as good as she says it is, and I believe her, the issue lies with the employer, IMO. Having read her posts for nearly half a decade in this fora, I can confidently say that it’s a damn shame.
marboulette[/quote]
Possibly, though it just sounds like yet another excuse. I doubt the parents really care one way or another as long as their kids are happy.
There have been a few heavy straws, but I’ve got thick skin and a strong back so I take it, but the fact that I’ve been living hand-to-mouth and knowing that others who have similar hours (and only work for the school with no side work) are taking elaborate two-week vacations (and considering one has to miss work and not get paid for time taken off) is really getting to me. The lack of appreciation, the comment about the kindy class, and the whole carrot-and-stick sans carrot method applied at the school does not help matters. Personally, I don’t care about the pay per se, but I do care about the fact that I am struggling financially.
What else is new. Schools bow down to the parents unflinchingly. They have no guts to stand up for their teachers and no brains to see the long-term financial benefits of keeping good teachers in good graces. And if course if you have any kind of dark skin, you’re expected to take more, and you’re the one who’s supposed to be so grateful that they hired you in the first place.
The sad thing is, if these schools actually did have the guts to challenge the parents on any issue (be it the ignorance over skin colour or something as simple as teaching technique/curriculum/booting horrible kids out of the school), they would definitely see the benefits. A friend of mine runs a bushiban in Taipei and he takes no crap from no parent. He tells the parents this is what your child is getting here, this is what they get at the no-guts bushiban next door, if you don’t like what he’s serving then beat it. And they do not leave.
I feel for you Imani, even as a whitey who is fairly satisfied with his school, it still gets to me when I see management lying down on the floor for absolutely anything the parents say. The fact is, the only thing that gets them to stand up for their teachers (if they have any brain activity at all that is) is the threat of someone well-liked by the kids leaving. Maybe you should do your best to find anything else to fall back on and then make a stand. It’s unfortunate, but the reality of business culture here is that you don’t get results by asking and trying to have reasonable conversation. You get things done by letting people know what you will accept and what you will not accept, and pushing back.
Obviously this is easier said than done, I’m in no position to judge the difficulty level you have in finding new work, or how your employer will actually react. I’m just pointing out if you’re that unhappy, you have to make some sort of effort to make a stand for yourself and draw a line, or they will only suck more from you, and rub it in with a smile.
That’s an awful bind, particularly given your years of experience, and one you really have to find a way out of. Too little to stay, too little to accumulate enough to leave. Surely there are decent employers still about somewhere?
--yes they really do enjoy listening to descriptions of the social networks in Bumfuck, Yukon), they are quite willing to sacrifice their wiser older beer-drinking veteran talent.