Eat your McEikaiwa kids...or we`ll shove it down your throat

[JCE]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Eikaiwa, where pandering to idiotic mothers takes precedence over actual teaching. That's one of the reasons I enjoy running my own show. If the mothers don't like it tough, that's the way I do it. If it isn't satisfactory they can fuck off to peppy Kids club or some other fucken place.

Valve Bouncer,

As if we don't have enough child abuse going on in the world ...

...why is there that awful picture of that woman kicking that child under your name on every message you post?

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't have a sense of humor. I just don't share your sense of humor. That vid is totally disgusting.

[Thanatos'_enbalmed_botfly]

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't have a sense of humor.

Pregnant pause.




Silence becomes somewhat awkward.













Man clears throat in row 17.









Crystal clear silence.








Thread resumes regular service.

[Smurfette]

No, I think JCE has a point. Every time I see that obviously untouched, unedited video of a woman place kicking a child, I feel like I need to go do it, too. Posting that avatar on this forum really will contribute to child abuse in the world. I would sit here and be disgusted, too, but I need to go dig my soccer (okay, you Commonwealth people, football) cleats out of the closet and head on down to the park. It's a beautiful day!

[Samurai_Jerk]

If everything people saw on the internet inspired them to do something people would be having sex on the streets and listening to music all day everyday. If only... If only...

No shit. I'd actually get to have sex sometimes if that was true.

[plaid_knight]

Guys, the lady isn't kicking a kid. They stopped the video when the grandma
got close to the kid and replaced the kid with a dummy. They then
started the recording again.

Remember that just because a video looks real, it doesn't necessarily
follow that it is real.

[LeBlueBoy]

Remember that just because a video looks real, it doesn't necessarily follow that it is real.

I've been saying that about the moon landing and the Kennedy assassination for years. People are so gullible.

[Smurfette]

Umm...my reply was supposed to be sarcastic. I seriously doubt that anyone here believes that it's real.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I'm glad you cleared that up for me plaid night. I was going to call the FBI and have them investigate.

[angryboy]

Latest update.
Arrived at work yesterday and there is a message on the file that the slags want the boss to teach for a short while in order to hurry them through the book so we would team teach.Not on.
I let my feelings be known.I said I wasn`t happy with the mothers calling the shots and making uneducated ignorant judgements.I especially stressed that I was extremely unhappy about being ambushed with the video.Apparantly Keiko spoke to Harumi who had spoken to Yukiko and she said that Michiko`s son in another class is up to page X in book X so she got together with Akiko and together they decided that their boys are much smarter so therefore they should be at least up to the same stage.
Of course the boss defended them and the decision.
I stopped short of resigning but I did say that I may not be able to teach that class knowing that they will be conspiring with other mothers and deciding how good the kids level is.Boss is awaiting my final word.I will let the line dangle as it suits me.

[plaid_knight]

I'm glad you cleared that up for me plaid night. I was going to call the FBI and have them investigate.

Glad to be of service.

[Melodious_Thunk]

Well, there we have it. If the students in the other class are further ahead in the book, the teacher must simply be better. Either that or your incompetence is making the mothers look bad to the other mothers.

I read an article a while back about how some schools had adopted a rule stating that children's bentos could only contain white rice. The reason was that if children were allowed to eat other foods, the mothers would compete over their children's lunches. You're dealing with the same asinine mentality.

Even more than I pity you, I pity those poor kids whose only purpose in life is to validate their mothers' parenting skills.

[angryboy]

Even more than I pity you, I pity those poor kids whose only purpose in life is to validate their mothers' parenting skills.

You said it MT.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Even more than I pity you, I pity those poor kids whose only purpose in life is to validate their mothers' parenting skills.

As bad as it is in Japan I think it's worse in Korea. I have a lot of Korean students here in the US and it's amazing to what extent parents want to micro manage their adult childrens' lives. I have students in their 30s that get almost daily calls for their parents who want to make sure they're studying enough and not drinking too much. Their parents get after them about the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, and just about anything else you can think of. And there is amazing pressure on them to get married (especially the sons). I know guys that have no girlfriend and no desire to get married anytime soon but they feel they have to find a wife within a year to make mom and dad happy. Of course the parents are usually bankrolling them while they study so I guess they have to put up with it. I have to say, out of all the nationalities I've had to deal with so far, Koreans are the hardest to understand and the most different.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Having Korean in-laws who are old school country folk from Korea

Holy crap! After the stuff I've seen I don't think I could ever marry a Korean girl unless her parents were dead or she was estranged from the family. If you're handling that well you've suddenly gained a lot of respect from me.

I had a student last year who, at the age of 19, felt like she was a failure because she had only made into Korea's 3rd best university and not the top one. She said her mother had already voiced her disappointment in her.

[allblacks]

Samurai Jerk

Where did you get the Ganguro pic? Did you take it yourself?

AB's

[DragonEagle]

Hey, the manager's twice a year bouses probably depend on how many students the school has and how satisfied they are. Do you really think he will fuck up his bonus to stick up for a teacher who may or may not be there next year anyway. You gotta understand where he is coming from, so then you can start to stand up for yourself too. Remember, you have a bit more power than you think, if you quit they are really in a fucking bind until they get someone new. If you are the profit machine that you say you are, they will at least bend a bit on some things. At my old school, I was the best interviewer and got the highest percentage of students to sign up (mostly because I could make them feel at ease) and this led to the managers really appreciating me. I got my schedule changed from tues-Sat to Mon-Fri and a few other benefits. Sit down with your boss and try to work something out.

[Examination_Hell]

....son in another class is up to page X in book ...... they decided that their boys are much smarter so therefore they should be at least up to the same stage.

But of course!!

Of course the boss defended them and the decision.
I stopped short of resigning but I did say that I may not be able to teach that class knowing that they will be conspiring with other mothers and deciding how good the kids level is.Boss is awaiting my final word.I will let the line dangle as it suits me.

Dude your boss is not gonna back you up. At the very least he/she should have mentioned the fact the reason the children are better is because they've spent more time on certain parts of the book in stead of rushing through it.

Since your boss is not gonna back you up, and you're thinking of going, why not go for broke and approach the mothers directly and explain it to them; that it's not how much of the book they've done, but how much they've gotten out of it and how much they know/can use.
What've you to loose?

FWIW

Cheers,

EH

- P.S. If you do decide to approach the mothers directly I'd be interested to hear their reaction(s).

[Ojii]

...Apparantly Keiko spoke to Harumi who had spoken to Yukiko and she said that Michiko`s son in another class is up to page X in book X so she got together with Akiko and together they decided that their boys are much smarter so therefore they should be at least up to the same stage....

I think these mothers believe your language school is structured as a Kumon juku. If you ever have the opportunity to visit a Kumon school, do so. The drills are good, some say, but one can give Kumon credit with its method of separating students very effectively, according to their level and progress. If you are familar with the Kumon method, you can understand what I'm saying. Well that being said, Kumon -- good or bad -- can be bad, in a sense of creating an atmosphere of competition between the mothers. I know of one child, 4 years old, who has mastered enough Math to confuse your average American college graduate. The mother is very proud and she likes to brag all day long. The price of this, her daughter has no friends and she only has time to do homework, locked in her room all day and night.

It's sad that angryboy's boss lacks both a basic understanding of language education and the basic principles of loyality with his teachers, but I guess those are the qualities that are too common in the eikaiwa business.

By the way, could you give your students an English proficiency exam? How about an eiken (STEP) test? I'm sure your school has some exams on file. Well, if your school wants a true assessment of their level and progress, it should conduct one. Progress on a certain page in a book means nothing. That only depends on the teacher's style. Some rush, others slowly cover the material.

[Melodious_Thunk]

Since your boss is not gonna back you up, and you're thinking of going, why not go for broke and approach the mothers directly and explain it to them; that it's not how much of the book they've done, but how much they've gotten out of it and how much they know/can use.

I can almost guarantee that the mothers aren't going to go for it. It's a competition to see whose kid can get through the book the fastest. They need something objective and empirical with which to look down on their "friends."

[Samurai_Jerk]

Samurai Jerk

Where did you get the Ganguro pic? Did you take it yourself?

AB's

I wish I could say I did. I lifted it off of some guys webpage that was linked to on Fucked Gaijin.

[amerikajin274]

At least in Canada and America you can try to talk some sense into the parent. You don't always win, but at least your point gets across.

Here we live in a society in which everyone's obsessed with rankings or scores or some sort of quantifiable "progress". No matter what you say, your qualitative defense of your teaching methodology won't register. The parent is trying to prepare the child so that they will succeed at the art of digesting large volumes of information so that they'll be prepared when it comes time to take their college entrance exams. This mentality continues into their adult lives as well.

Part of my job is to assess students so I can figure out where to place them when they first start taking lessons. I once had a guy complain about the level in which he was placed and I have no doubt that he eventually got what he wanted and the company placed him in the desired level - despite the fact he was grossly unprepared for it. The customer's always right.

I won't say I've stopped caring. I continue to be as conscientious as I can be given the situation. But suffice it to say, I've learned to take these matters with a grain of salt and most of the time, these things are borne of frivolity. I'll always listen to legitimate concerns or complaints, but I won't waste my time worry about someone else's stupidity.