Wego Elementary (薇閣小學) - tossing up, any info?

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

Hi,
Does anyone here have any first hand or hearsay knowledge of what Wego Elementary School is like as an employer?

I’m working in a pretty good cram school, which DOES appreciate me, - that is, they say thank you and please and sorry as appropriate, and give the odd bonus for extra duties - and I have a good number of hours a week, in nice blocks, with weekends and Fridays completely free. They value my input, and listen to my ideas, and generally give me what I ask for in terms of classroom management and curriculum planning. Sometimes they make noises about taking me on in a more management type role… but even if that transpires, I think I’d be a naive idiot to take it up. My job is nice because I don’t have to deal with much of the inevitable politics.

The downside is that, of course, I do far more hours in planning and meetings than I ever get paid for, growing all the time it seems. I’m only allowed to take one week’s (unpaid) holiday in a year, just after New Year when plane tickets are too expensive to go anywhere anyway, and there is no job security. Sick, on holiday, downturn in students… I’m back on my own.

I’m also getting to be “of an age” where it’s not going to be so easy to pick up new teaching jobs. I’m forty-five this year :noway: . I can still turn on the energy and enthusiasm at the moment. However, there is a perception among hirers that older teachers aren’t going to provide the right “fun” image for young learners. And also… hate to say this… but I really don’t think I DO want to be leaping and clowning and singing around like a stage performer till I drop anway. :s

I’m a going to be a lifer here, so I’m trying to figure out a long term plan.

It seems like I may have an opportunity for a full time job with Wego in their kindergarten department. If I made the change, it would be in the hopes of getting better holidays, pay generous enough to afford them, and a pleasant and more stable place to work.

I may be tossing up between the not so awful devil that I know, and the possible devil I don’t.
Any thoughts?
Specifically, I’d love to hear any info on conditions at Wego - holidays, pay, happy quotient.

Thanks!

2

Hey,
How did it go at Wego? I think I am in a pretty similar position to you. I’m 40 years old, married to a Taiwanese with two lovely kids and I’m thinking of taking up a position at a private elementary school in Taipei.
Good luck!

3

I just noticed that this is an older post…but it’s good to note that a foreign teacher has suffered a stroke at Wego Elementary this year just after Chinese New Year, and it sounds like overwork… It sounds like the school’s second brain injury in 2 years…so you may want to think carefully about working here. Everything I have heard shows there is a very protected public image and a rotten undersurface with high staff turnover. I know his name but I will try to get his permission before posting it here. He may be open to talking about his experiences…

4

I would like information about this school.

5

Valkyrie did you work here yourself? How old was the person who had a stroke? Do they have a healthy lifestyle or are they another older overweight foreign man I see everywhere? What makes you think the job caused the stroke? I think there are many other factors.

6

Valkyrie did you work here yourself? How old was the person who had a stroke? Do they have a healthy lifestyle or are they another older overweight foreign man I see everywhere? What makes you think the job caused the stroke? I think there are many other factors.[/quote]

Stress can cause overweight especially around the body-trunk. High stress causes a higher level of cortisone-like hormones which are responsible for this kind of body fat.
Also, if your life is depressing and your working place might play a big part on that, it is more likely to gain weight.

Teaching English is a very unhealthy job. Anyone saying anything else, either got lucky with the establishment he/she is working for or is still too young to notice its effects on the human body.

7

Sorry…been busy. No, I didn’t work there myself. I cannot post information about another person, so I will try to contact him to see if he wants to share his side of the story. I’ll try to track him down this weekend. Cheers

8

The person in question has no other heath risk factors than over work. They are young and fit. Anyway, most of the Wego teaching staff will turn over again this year. So, best of luck to any suckers who sign up to take the punishment and any parents who subject their children to their inferior education. The administrators and employees who stayed are inept, uncertified and unqualified. They are Non educators who were desperate for work and accept the abuse.

9

OK…finally got my old account to work…it’s kind of important since this thread is about me. I really don’t know if I should be saying much but I am really frustrated and angry! …yes… I work at Wego…yes… I am still recovering from a mild stroke. My left side still feels “off” NO…the school has NOT done anything for me other than distance themselves from the issue. Of course, I am angry and frustrated and it doesn’t help when my issues are trivialized and written off as another overweight foreigner. Am I overweight? Am I in shape? Probably the most honest answer for both is “not really” . Yet, my old job allowed me to go to the gym 4 times a week, this one doesn’t. Also, I am still active playing hockey and hiking. As for risk factors, the doctors can only identify 2… If you want to be worked hard, go to Wego; if you really want to test your body’s limits, be a grade 5 &6 teacher there…Any more questions?

10

I had a job interview there the other day. I don’t know how much of an impression that is to give of the school, so I won’t say much of that. The school seemed to be typical of a Taiwanese school. The teacher who talked to me seemed to stress that it was not an English school, really, but a Chinese school first. She gave me the constructive criticism of my demo lesson that I should allow the students to move around more and be creative with interaction, which I would rather not do in a demo lesson for a bunch of students I don’t know. In the same minute she also said that as a chinese teacher she had the students recite and memorize literature. The pay structure seems pretty okay, but there are no holidays, and the days off are very few.

11

Can you give us more information?

12

My attitude is that any job, no matter how shitty, is worth trying for a year. Wego is famous, says my girlfriend, not for its curriculum, teaching, or any of that, but simply because it’s so expensive. But the management there is poor and the teaching style is the typical “drill until you drop” bullshit that characterizes your typical Taiwanese school, private or public.

13

This is an awful job. The Taiwanese teachers are very disrespectful and the director sits at her computer all day doing nothing while making the teachers do the job of 2 teachers. The pay is not enough for the amount of work you need to do. Be prepared to teach 32 periods a week with no prep time and no vacation time. Plus they add a bunch of other work on that isn’t stated in your contract. The job is very abusive and the director lacks empathy to her teachers health and well being. She thinks if you drop dead you are easily replaced. Also good luck taking a day off for anything even a sickness. You get no sick days and no personal days. If you are sick go to work and wear a face mask. Also be prepared in staying until 7:00 every night because you have mandatory afternoon classes that you need to teach. Also, there is no discipline in this school. This school and job is a joke.

14

Mike, I will PM you.

15

British Guy 83, Are you saying that a teacher didn’t get a stroke in your school? You work there…right? What’s wrong with friends that support someone in need? Why shouldn’t we listen to them? Shouldn’t your amazing school be looking after this person? BUT maybe there are no issues in the school…and teachers just get strokes at your school… 2 in two years, right? Granted the other teacher was Taiwanese, and they work themselves to death…but something just doesn’t add up with your argument…

16

Mike…I was wondering would you be open to talking about your story in a more public fashion. I am an ABC, and I’ve been talking to some media friends and they seem interested in your story.

17

Hard for me to pity anybody who gets a stroke from “overwork” at an 8-5 job with 2 months of paid vacation… Just saying. If indeed the school is to blame, I hope that the fellow who suffered the stroke will come out and explain exactly what was going on to cause it.

18

Wow…that was a revelation…a teacher works 8-5. Hmmm… I never knew that, being a certified teacher and all. Your knowledge of the profession seem ill informed, especially when it comes to Taiwan. Just saying…

19

I don’t think discussing things in the media at this point in time is proper…the school has been distracted with other pressing issues…but then again maybe they will leave me hanging…who knows but I need to rest now…just got back home and I am too tired to deal with this right now…

20

Seriously, WTF? Maybe at your sticky-ball chucking school you end your day at 5, but most of us have papers to grade, lessons to plan, curriculum to write, literature to read to better our skills, emails from students and parents to respond to, course materials to update and maintain, and more that keeps us busy and “on” until the late hours of the night. A stroke is a fucking nightmare no matter how someone gets it, and they deserve pity no matter what they do. Who gives a shit if it was overwork or not. And when the hell did this thread become a dick-measuring contest about who works the hardest, and how many hours of work constitutes a “real job” worthy of your pity?