A word to wise, and for new English teachers!

[Expat_teacher]

Pan para hoy, hambre para mañana

Hiya everyone! WoW! It has been AGES since I have been on here! Rebecca, sorry to have disappeared like that. I was feeling kinda burnt out and had to take a break from the teaching scene for a while. I took a sabbatical and was traveiling a bit.

I have been back in town for a few weeks and have been busy reconnecting with my clients as well as meeting up with the "old guard" teachers here in Madrid. I am going to contact you for a java and chat if you don't mind!

Anyhow, while meeting with some of my colleagues, I was surprised at the desperation in their voices when they talked about the lack of professionalism in the current market of English teachers. This is something I HAVE to post here because there are so many new teachers in Madrid now.

Pan para hoy, hambre para mañana is a Spanish saying that bascially criticizes those who chase the money today because they will be left without a job tomorrow. A couple of my colleagues were lamenting how unprofessional prospective teachers were by not returning phone calls or when contacted directly asked how much the job was paying before even being interviewed!!! WHAT?!!

Call me old school, but in my world we always got the interview first before asking about the financial conditions. You can't even decide if a job is well paid without knowning what the job is...and not all teaching jobs are the same!

In case some of you didn't know, there is a black list of teachers that is passed from academy to academy. Legal? I don't know, but it exists. The director of studies  from different academies do talk to each other and make referrals of teachers.


If you are new, or old be careful not to burn your bridges and treat all phone calls like gold, even if you aren't interested in the job or aren't available you never know who knows who!

Thought I'd share that tidbit with y'all since that is what I am hearing from the highers up.

[SRedw]

Expat Teacher,


It's great to see you back and what you are saying here is nothing new at all.  

The lack of professionalism has always been there and it's not just teachers, but also academies, who treat teachers like crap, so it works both ways.  Let's not forget this little bit of information.

Back to what you say about teachers.  Yes, some of the newer ones are very unprofessional and they think that they are in the US and things are done the same way here as they are there.

We can also blame the message boards as well because many people write that a person should not take a class for less than 20€ and if one has no experience, does he or she really think that they can get a class for 20€ and hour, without experience?

Some of my thoughts.

Shawn

[RebeccaG]

Oh Expat Teacher! You are back with your pearls of wisdom! Where did you travel to?

It's funny that you should mention the lack of professionalism of the new wave of teachers here. I have experienced it first hand and either I am VERY OLD (which I choose NOT to think) or universities are not preparing their graduates to behave properly and with business etiquette when contacted about jobs and interviews.

Shawn, you are so correct with your comment about the expectation to earn 20€/hour "por la cara" without due experience. People need to wake up and smell the coffee. I tell you, I have gone through a number of interviews these past few months, and I tell all the candidates when they come in that they MUST bring in a lesson plan that they prepared and gave and be prepared to discuss it. Some people have been taken aback on the phone. Others have outright asked me how to prepare that lesson plan!! ¿?¿?

Anyway, I have determined that it's just best not to let it get to me and only lead by example.

Expat Teacher, it's nice to see you back here!