Life on the dark side

I used to work for an Eikaiwa in Sendai city. It is a medium sized school and Barten makes reference to it in his previous post. If any one cares to know its name I will gladly share it. This school on all appearances seems friendly and proffessional but I want to share with you its dark secrets...

It all started innocently enough. I started as a part time worker and the boss took a shine to me. Soon I was asked to do extra work (with pay) despite that there were other capable full time employees at hand. I soon found out why. You see they have a research system there. This is part of their sales pitch to the students. The students can evaluate the teachers and thus the teachers can improve their skills and the students get good lessons. Sounds great doesn't it?

Well not for long...

Needless to say my research results was very good so I was asked to become a full time employee. As you know when you are on top of the pile nothing can get you down. Yes, I heard the other teacher`s complaints but I figured if I work hard I won`t have those problems. This positive thinking actually worked! I was promoted to Chief Instructor within a year. I even got my own business cards...boy was I stoked! And this began the inevitable downward spiral...

My duties as Chief Instructor was to train new teachers, help with sales and take care of any special lessons or troublesome students . This was an excellent experience and also a very good challenge. I truly felt part of the company and I was the boss`s bridge between the Japanese and foreign staff. At this point I must write in detail how the research system works...

After a lesson the Japanese staff will enter a classroom with a slips of paper. On these papers are the names of the teachers and a scale of 1 to 5 to check off. The students are then encouraged to rate the teachers and write any comments they might have on the bottom of the slip. The data is then compiled and averaged out thus providing a rough estimate of the teachers level. The minimum average for a part time teacher is 4.1. Anything less than this would mean a meeting with the Japanese chief of staff. On the whole, this system is fair and and to a certain extent accurate. So now lets slip the dogs of war...

As Barten pointed out, the turn over rate of teachers there is quite high. There is a certain miasma pervading throughout the entire school. There are many reasons why but in this diatribe I wish to focus on one key reason...the research.

You see, in my position as Chief Instructor I was allowed to see the research. I not only saw it but I had to coach other teachers on how to improve on the points brought up in it. The research averages were pretty reasonable. I mean if a teacher sucked then his average was low. So even a good teacher can have low research from time to time but when all averaged out, one could tell who was a teacher and who was next for the slagg heap. However, the boss felt that it was not the average that mattered but the comments that the students wrote that were of the most value. His motto is " If one student wrote it then 4 others think it but they are too afraid to write it" . This meant that even if you have high research you will still have a meeting with the Chief of staff. Now...you may ask....what was so bad about the comments?

Granted there was the occasional intelligent comment such as " The teacher talks too fast" or " The teacher uses the text book too often" but that wasn't what was usually written. You see the Japanese staff collecting the research makes the students stay after class and forces them to write something. And they stress that the students must write complaints never compliments. Then they collect the slips in such a manner where they know who wrote what and they record it in their research book.(Despite all claims that the information gathered was volunteered autonomously.) When they get a complaint that they deem is problematic they have it out with the teachers. For the sake of integrity I will quote only some of the complaints I have received. I am not exaggerating any of these...

1. He is too smart to talk to.
2. He looks scary.
3. He looks tired.
4. He doesn't look like a native speaker.
5. He is cold.
6. He is too professional.
7. and lastly my personal favorite....... We are personally incompatible.

These comments were the ones I received as Chief Instructor. Please remember we are asked to correct these problems. And the best/worst part is that the teacher is never told who said these complaints. So the teachers go around shooting blind.Hoping they can make the mystery person feel better. Talk about stress!

But wait! There's more! The boss then uses the research as a popularity contest. If you have the highest research you win a prize! Not only do you get more work but you are also saddled with the most difficult students who are sure to bring your research back down! And if your research is low...He treats you like the scum of the earth even though last month it was the highest. As Chief Instructor I averaged 4.3 for the the last year I was there.(This was after 3 years of busting my butt) The boss was quite angry with that! He said that in my position I must be better than that. Mind you I single handedly created the children's classes and made the TOEIC course. But I digress...

So for all you brave people who have read this far be forewarned. Firstly, stay away from that school. It is a good place to go there part time and make a quick buck (Many Jets do) but don`t get sucked in. I still believe the research is a great idea. If there are real criticisms then any professional teacher should be willing to take them into consideration. However, when the research is used to launch personal attacks or when petty comments are treated as universal truths then it is time to go some where else. I did!