Jamie White
- 2011-12-22
Here's an interesting development: I gave 30 days notice, as required by my contract. In the past weeks, the director has literally refused to speak to me. At all. I have taught the last month, and turned in all paperwork, to find out that I am not getting paid for my last month. The director left a small fraction of my fixed monthly salary, which they asked me to come pick up, conveniently, the day the director left the country for his holiday in Paris. I am stuck here now, with absolutely no one locally to even approach, as the center is closed for the holidays. Please do not work for the ALC Tetouan. I've heard and I believe that the other American Language Centers in Morocco are just fine, but do not come to this one, especially without an open return plane ticket. The director will do anything, including not pay teachers, to suit his vindictiveness.
San Migs
- 2011-12-11
Some things do not change. Neither can a leopard shed his spots!
I was going to ask you two questions, but it is too early for all that malarkey.
so only 1:
If I am a leopard, then what kind of animal are you? A grovelling one ?
sentinel
- 2011-12-11
Judging by this post, and your other recent ones, it's painfully apparent you've come back from HK as delightfully charming, if not more so, than you were prior to your midnight run from the employer you were originally teaching for. Some things do not change. Neither can a leopard shed his spots!
San Migs
- 2011-12-11
That rubbish Zhuhai place needs to be shut down at once!
Then I found Zhuhai to be a very GW type city anyway, crappy beach, crappy sea, and the city is full of whores and scammers and thieves.
Wouldn't even touch that global liars village with a long bargepole!
foxy
- 2011-12-11
I think it's the responsibility of the provincial education bureaus to verify academic qualifications, and then issue an FEC to degreed foreigners. Without an FEC, it's impossible to obtain a work visa.
I know some PEB's either take backhanders from Chinese school/college directors or simply do not check up whether the degree certificates are legit. The latter is hard to do, as western unis won't assist them in that process, so I'm led to believe. It could also be that in some underdeveloped provinces that have difficulty attracting foreign teachers, the PEB's compromise the regulations in order to accommodate the schools. I'm not sure how strictly said regulations are meant to be applied, and the other thing is there's often no rule of law in China.
In Taiyuan, I know for a fact an Aussie with a two-year college diploma and a separate one-year one got an FEC after the school's director wined and dined the local PEB. He'd been teaching on an L visa for two months, and then did the HK run. I also know there's a guy without a degree teaching in a Shanxi backwater at a normal primary teachers college. He's been there for five years. It's said he's well in with one of the PEB. Another lax province in this respect is Jilin, but Sichuan is strict, as is Shandong now - that one never used to be. Inner Mongolia Autonomous region gave an FEC to an old alcoholic ex farmer some years ago. He only had a certificate for attending a night class course for six months! They even accepted a letter from his solicitor in the UK stating that he was a person of good character instead of insisting on the enhanced disclosure police check from the UK police! That's an extra hoop for foreigners who want to teach there to jump through!
So, it seems some officials aren't doing a good job. Anyways, it doesn't affect me as I have a real university degree.
Dragonized
- 2011-12-11
This is a sad case which happens in so many countries. The locals have good intentions, but when an egomaniac comes along they spoil all of the fun. I think the world has too many western egomaniacs and not enough decent teachers who want to stay in one place due to these types of people. Hope he gets fired soon!
The Druide
- 2011-12-11
when you apply for the work visa process, how do they know or verify if you have an honest degree or a khao san rd copied one?!
Unfortunately, they do not check, and they do not have a proper procedure nor the means to do so. But it could well be that they will have such a thing at some point of time in the future.
In this respect, there are two kind of foreigners teaching in China:
1. Those with regular appointments at a reputable university in the West who are sent to teach in China for one or 2 semesters via an exchange programme to a Chinese partner university. Such foreigners are well-known at that Chinese partner university, their reputation is beyond doubt, and thus the Chinese partner can be 100 % certain that such a foreigner does come with a real, honest and not with a fake degree.
2. All those coming to China on their own after finding a school that will employ them - that is the majority of FTs in China - degreed, non-degreed, degreed in a major relevant to their teaching task or not, those with or without a TEFL cert. Among them, there a few working on fake degrees because they could make a few bucks more. An it is the latter that will give all decent FTs a bad name - like that hot dog vendor at GLV Zhuhai.
San Migs
- 2011-12-11
Of course, here in Chins you can teach without a degree, or with a forged one
I often wonder about this...when you apply for the work visa process, how do they know or verify if you have an honest degree or a khao san rd copied one?!
Do they check up?
foxy
- 2011-12-10
He has insulted my teaching style (he has said my class isn't joyful, I don't connect with my students, my activities aren't fun) without ever really offering constructive, specific feedback, or for that matter, paying attention to my actual students or classes. I realize this may look to the reader like I'm a bad teacher with sour grapes. It has taken a lot to keep myself from believing that, too. But I can't believe that I'm a bad teacher, because my students respond quite positively, and I'm constantly self-evaluating and adjusting based on classroom needs. When I expressed dissatisfaction with his methods, he literally ignored me.
Very bad crack, it sounds just like how a western DOS at a Chinese training center would behave. Of course, here in Chins you can teach without a degree, or with a forged one, or with the wrong visa, even at a public high school/college/uni. You don't need a TEFL certificate or crap like that either! You'll be treated a whole lot better in the public education sector than in the private sector, as a rule.
I heard that in Morocco, a country of abject poverty, they wipe their asses with one hand, and eat with the other. Also that child beggars have irreversible injuries inflicted on them by their parents to arouse extra sympathy, and thereby encourage alms, from tourists. Is that still the case?
I'd like to post a warning regarding specific experience at the American Language Center in Tetouan, but only specifically about the director, Joel H[edited], and not the institution itself. Let me say this first: the students there are warm, motivated, and bright. The Moroccan teachers working there are friendly, capable, and interesting. The manager who hired me seemed very personable and dedicated.
However, there was a change in management, and first-time language-center director Joel H[edited] was my manager. I would strongly advise communicating with him extensively before accepting a TEFL job under his management. I suppose some workers might be compatible with him professionally and personally, but please understand that some teachers, especially women, may find his "management style" unbearable.
He's a megalomaniac with moderate teaching ability but zero management ability. He routinely treated women employees, Western and Moroccan, with much less regard and respect than the male employees. He even fired a female student worker for "not taking enough initiative" within his first month here.
He has insulted my teaching style (he has said my class isn't joyful, I don't connect with my students, my activities aren't fun) without ever really offering constructive, specific feedback, or for that matter, paying attention to my actual students or classes. I realize this may look to the reader like I'm a bad teacher with sour grapes. It has taken a lot to keep myself from believing that, too. But I can't believe that I'm a bad teacher, because my students respond quite positively, and I'm constantly self-evaluating and adjusting based on classroom needs. When I expressed dissatisfaction with his methods, he literally ignored me.
When I scheduled a meeting with him early in my stay here, and sat down with organized and professional requests for support: finding housing, transportation, visa paperwork, etc. He literally began yelling at me and blaming me for "not following up" with him on my visa paperwork, for not reminding him about things he'd promised. Now, three months later, with no transportation, no visa, no health insurance (which was promised and I have been paying for), and very expensive housing with no alternative, I have decided to leave.
There is no joy, no sense of community, and no support for foreign teachers under his management. Moreover, especially for women, you will not be heard when you speak, only condescended to. He has, on several occasions, talked about "firing the whole Moroccan staff." Which is ridiculous. They are progressive, experienced teachers, many who have had experience teaching in the U.S. on Fulbright scholarships.
Again, perhaps just being sure to ask plenty of questions during an interview with him may prevent frustration. You may find him a suitable manager for you. Professionally, I find his micromanagement, overwhelming negativity, and a lack of any logistical support completely unacceptable, especially in a learning environment.