It reminded me of the last time I worked at a language school actually.
First of all, I have to say that I am NOT against language schools. Most of the owners do give their life in there, fighting as teachers, as administrators, as accountants, as everything...
But...
Let me take things from the beginning...
At the very first moment of the job interview, I knew it would be a challenge... The boss seemed like a really "strong" person and I knew that a lot would be demanded from me...
That's why I accepted the job... I am not afraid of hard work... I love being in a classroom...
What I experienced of course was something very different.... Yes, A LOT was demanded from us teachers, yes, the control was unbearable, written reports every single day, comments on students every single day, meetings every week, staying up late almost everyday, phone calls at midnight to organize the next day's lessons, too much material to be covered, very competitive colleagues, no co-operation whatsoever.
NO SPACE FOR CREATIVITY...
NO TIME for personal life (not that I have that much of free time now but it is different)
YES at the end of the year, they let me go... (I was too expensive and too rebelious they thought)
YES I would have stayed, because I work for a living, I needed the money....
YES it did me good to leave, good for my sanity...
I miss working in a classroom.... but I think it was the right move to work independently for a while.
What happens now? Well Nobody can predict the future...
Be well...
5 comments:
Dear Theodora,
I love the honest expression in this post. I can feel how torn you were (and maybe still are a bit) because of the pressure and your love of the classroom. I can also hear how much you value your happiness. This post is a wonderful example of giving yourself self-compassion. Would you mind if I added it to the #redthumbforlove Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/redthumbforlove and our Tumblr blog http://redthumbforlove.tumblr.com ? And I also wanted to thank you for your support of that page. <3
Thank you Josette!! I only write how I feel... that's why I am terrible at academic writing (LOL)!!! I'd be honoured if you include me to your pages!!! Take care and thanks!
Great! I have a feeling that your blog will be featured on #redthumbforlove quite often if you are known to write this way. Keep it up! We love it... and you!
This is a very passionate post, Theodora. And I'm not surprised; I think you experienced a strong version of what most teachers encounter every day - the lack of respect and gratitude for what you did for the school and the students. And I understand this is something one simply cannot forgive. This is something that usually sticks with me for a long time as well. The problem is that bosses often forget that they are dealing with people (teachers) who also have to deal with other people (students). They don't realize that to do our work properly, we need to be valued and treated with respect because this is one of our basic needs and it’s also something we want to pass on to our students. So yes, I see why you don't regret anymore that they once let you go... Maybe, if they hadn't let you go, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to fulfil your dreams and achieve all the wonderful things I've been a witness to recently. This is the power of letting things go - you think you're losing but you eventually gain more.
Thank you for your answer dear Hana. We have to realize that we work for a living and we don't live to work! Although I do love my job and I could not imagine myself not teaching, I expect from the "boss" to let me express myself and not push me to the limit, if this happens, I don't do my best, this means, my teaching suffers... Anyway... Let's hope things will get better in the future!
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