RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

During my first year, at a school I no longer work at, I was told to come in on a day when a typhoon was raging through the city; I'm talking about trees falling on cars and every other student and
teacher, save yours truly, was instructed to stay home by a particular asshole of a principal. To be clear, I wasn't forgotten, I was specifically told to come in.
Last year, my wife had to deskwarm, till 4:30, after camp, at a school were the principal allowed every other teacher, aside from her, to leave early. Only the janitor was the other soul in the entire building. These are only 2 examples of similar things I've heard of and personally experienced over the years.

I'm not seeing the "equal treatment" or "fairness" you mentioned and another thing, Korean HR teachers get PAID a lot more than we do to put up with that crap.

Furthermore, you forget a huge distinction; a Korean HR teacher gets paid to teach, do admin and put up with crap from parents. We are paid to teach AND live away from our homes, families, friends etc. Korean HR teachers get paid more than us and have admin work to do as well.

You know want to know why the majority of NETs end up "giving up" or becoming flaky teachers? Well, it's pretty much the exact same reason Korean teachers give up and why I've got a class filled with a dozen 13yr olds who've never been taught how to hold a f*cking pencil properly; teachers, in Korea, get little to no support.
When have NETs, or representatives of NETs, been called in by the POE to discuss curriculum? asked to select or appraise textbooks? asked for any thoughts at all?

I literally watched the zeal of 3 brand new Korean teachers (fresh out of college) diminish, week by week, as they realised that efforts to help a student/do their job, was usually met with fierce resistance instead of support and they'd eventually adopt the attitude of ambivalence I've come to know from so many Korean teachers and NETs.
A girl doesn't know her ABCs, I try to get her HR teacher to help me give her extra tuition, particularly as I'm not there 5 days a week. I was willing to sacrifice my deskwarming time. Nope, HR teacher is "too busy" and so is the girl. Parents complain if I give homework or discipline a kid for showing the finger to my CT. Spineless VP always takes the parents side.

Everything you describe is desk-warming poorly executed, not desk-warming being wrong period.

What's the alternate system you say? Let NETs go home. We aren't paid by the hour.

I'd be fine with staying home and not getting paid period. Would you? No Pay Jan 25-Feb 25 and No Pay in summer.

I don't need to make a case, the proof is around us. Teachers (Korean and NET) are slacking because the higher ups basically give us a big FU instead of support and we respond in kind.
Teaching is a thankless profession, no need to make it harder, particularly when the reasons are completely unnecessary.

Again, if you've ever been in management, you'd know that the slacking and thanklessness goes both ways and that managers often stick their necks out for the workers or do stuff and never get thanked or just blamed for stuff.

But there's a serious level of selfishness here- I mentioned that in employees who insist on the contract when it comes to attending a special school event on Saturday, then whine about having to follow the contract when their principal says they have to desk warm. You can't have it both ways.

I don't know who you're trying to impress, but when you constantly sh*t on NETs for being lazy, entitled or whatever, it really doesn't make you sound humble, honest or virtuous. You think showing that you're not afraid to put the nature of your livelihood down makes you an objective person?
Nobody is impressed.

I don't shit on NETs. I shit on people who are here as NETs and are literally complaining about getting paid money to do NOTHING. Like, that is so mind-boggling I cannot wrap my head around. If you've ever had to scrap save and fight for a job or do something involving intensive labor or your livelihood depending on getting enough hours and tips in a work week, the idea that you would complain about getting paid decent money TO DO NOTHING is just so flabbergasting. I mean, there are 4 billion people who would literally give their right kidney to have such a job. "Paid money to watch Netflix? Seriously???? You mean I don't have to stick my hands in the meat grinder or inhale black soot or be out in 35 degree weather or spend 8 hours bent over? The only health risk is carpal tunnel from playing online games?"

I'm sorry, but I will call that out as entitled because it is 100% true. Did you sign the contract? Yes or no? Yes? Then effing show up and be grateful that all you have to do is watch TV. 

This isn't about impressing anyone. There's a basic fundamental sense of right and wrong about this. You signed the contract and agreed to work those hours. Not only that but the people complaining will bitch and moan if their employer doesn't exactly follow the contract. When your CT or principal asked you for a favor, did you do it? No? And now you want a favor from them?

Now, I for one, agree with the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours", let's work this out approach rather than getting all legalistic. And if I'm doing favors or overlooking stuff in the contract but you aren't upholding your end, well then screw them and yeah, gripe about desk-warming all you want. That's fair. That's being abused.

But with some standard public school job where things are relatively smooth, just go in and desk-warm. Seriously. It's on the level of being given a free car and complaining that you don't get to choose the color. That level of entitlement and lack of perspective.

can't be arsed to use quotes so i'll just use numbers

1. that's not what i'm saying. it's just a silly regulation. that's literally my whole point

2. it was fine for the first 2 years i worked at public school as i had after-school classes. they got cut in the last year i worked there, and then i realise how awful desk warming was

3. in that case, most schools exercise desk warming poorly, or they'd be no complaints. well, actually, that would mean the concept of desk warming wouldn't even exist (by definition it's sitting at your desk doing nothing, right?). if you were sitting at a desk, not teaching but doing work, it would just be called "working"

4. 2.2m for an 8 hour day is still low. 2.2m for a 6 hour day is much more "reasonable". wages haven't increased for 15 years, plus bonuses/benefits have since been cut from the contracts. just saying it might be a good idea going forward. if the MOEs aren't gonna increase wages, why not reduce hours instead? seems like something they should consider

5. being able to plan effectively and quickly doesn't mean you have a poor work ethic. you could spend 5 hours on a single lesson plan and it could still be terrible. or you could spend 5 minutes on a lesson and it could be a huge success. time spent on planning =/= good teaching/good lessons. one of the first things they teach you on your CELTA course is "work smarter, not harder"

6. that's why i found another job. that's something like 960 fewer hours every year needlessly sitting at a desk (while earning more money)   

For some ridiculous reason I don't understand, the principal at my main elementary school has shortened the summer holidays. This school ended classes around the same time  as all the other elementary schools and starts classes 2 weeks before any other elementary school in the city, everyone goes back to school on Wednesday.

Seriously, f*ck that guy. 

there are 4 billion people who would literally give their right kidney to have such a job.

Then let them teach for an entire year.
Oh, I forgot...Koreans only want blonde female American to teach.


I agree wholeheartedly with oglop that no school nor principal should ever dare to instruct me on how to manage my afternoons or free periods  between classes. I'd probably sue them. First bury your teachers under a huge workload and then also tell them to stay at school? How about I quit and the school needs to find a replacement? You can tell that expensive sub (110 euros p/hour) to stay at school while I'll collect my job seekers allowance!
At home!

.  everyone goes back to school on Wednesday.

That sucks, but surely  you will get them back one way or another, perhaps 3  weeks of Christmas holiday and cheer or... 2 months of Summer recess?

1. that's not what i'm saying. it's just a silly regulation. that's literally my whole point

But it's NOT a silly regulation. Again, you are not looking at it through the perspective of someone who has to implement and maintain a working system that is fair and subject to regulation. There's lots of rules that are "dumb" from an individual perspective, but when you think about things systemically, they make sense.

and then i realise how awful desk warming was

If your definition of "awful" is getting paid good money to just watch movies, you have no clue what awful is, and it shows what a privileged, sheltered life you've lived.

I might call desk-warming tedious or somewhat lame. But awful to the point of complaining about getting paid money to watch movies? Seriously?

that would mean the concept of desk warming wouldn't even exist (by definition it's sitting at your desk doing nothing, right?). if you were sitting at a desk, not teaching but doing work, it would just be called "working"

You couldn't update your PPTs? Find some new materials? Sort the books in the English library? Open the English library and read stories?

2.2m for an 8 hour day is still low. 2.2m for a 6 hour day is much more "reasonable".

Reasonable is what the market is and what you're willing to sign for.

wages haven't increased for 15 years, plus bonuses/benefits have since been cut from the contracts. just saying it might be a good idea going forward. if the MOEs aren't gonna increase wages, why not reduce hours instead? seems like something they should consider

Again, you are only looking at things from the perspective of you or the worker. . At higher levels your focus isn't just Native English Teachers. It's the entire educational system with 20 different areas all competing for money and YOU competing with the police, health care, the military, infrastructure and transportation, social security, etc. for money. You can't just print money on your own and give more money to teachers and schools.

being able to plan effectively and quickly doesn't mean you have a poor work ethic. you could spend 5 hours on a single lesson plan and it could still be terrible. or you could spend 5 minutes on a lesson and it could be a huge success. time spent on planning =/= good teaching/good lessons. one of the first things they teach you on your CELTA course is "work smarter, not harder"

The number of people who are working less and telling themselves they are working smarter vs. the number of people actually working smarter is wildly disproportionate. You might actually be working smarter, but the odds are against it. Again, this is something that being a manager will teach you. That the bullshit employees believe about themselves is often not true.

For starters, it's highly improbable that every time you create your lesson you have achieved perfection. Now you may have a great, smart system for consistently creating 94% effective lessons, thereby allowing you to function efficiently during the school year. Desk-warming is the perfect time to go back and increase their effectiveness to 97% or higher. In this case, efficiency and balancing time is not so much of an issue. You can be "inefficient" and spend more time to increase effectiveness by small amounts.

that's why i found another job. that's something like 960 fewer hours every year needlessly sitting at a desk (while earning more money) 

I support this. Go and do what's best for you and if the contract is more beneficial, do that.

For some ridiculous reason I don't understand, the principal at my main elementary school has shortened the summer holidays. This school ended classes around the same time  as all the other elementary schools and starts classes 2 weeks before any other elementary school in the city, everyone goes back to school on Wednesday.

Seriously, f*ck that guy.

Aren't the teachers upset? I mean, wouldn't this violate the CBA the school system has with the teacher's union? Surely there has to be more to this.

Then let them teach for an entire year.

Oh, I forgot...Koreans only want blonde female American to teach.

Or Filipinos for 1/2-2/3rds the cost.

I agree wholeheartedly with oglop that no school nor principal should ever dare to instruct me on how to manage my afternoons or free periods  between classes.

Seriously, the level of ego behind that statement is mind-boggling. Dude, you aren't the boss. You signed the contract, you agreed to be hired under someone, function within the system.

Of course if you were ever in charge (and judging from the attitude, you've never been in charge of anything of any significance), you'd soon realize that yes, employees are subject to oversight and directives from management, because employees left to their own devices, can start to significantly decline in performance.

How about I quit and the school needs to find a replacement? You can tell that expensive sub (110 euros p/hour) to stay at school while I'll collect my job seekers allowance!
At home!

Or fire you for cause. Or even worse, see if you actually do leave work unauthorized or have signed anything falsely, and then throw the book at you.

1. do other countries require their teachers to sit doing nothing for 4 hours a day?

2. if i finish my duties, why am i still there? anyway, just because other people have worse jobs around the world, it doesn't make desk warming less rubbish. you could apply this to anything, ever:

"this lunch isn't good"
"are you kidding? so many people around the world don't even GET to eat lunch"

"i'm tired"
"well, at least you slept in a bed. many people don't even own beds!"

"these working conditions aren't great"
"what about people who don't have a job? or people who have to work 16 hour days"

3. yes. none of those things take 20 hours a week

4. that's true.

5. eh, just saying if they don't want to increase wages, reduce the pointless desk warming hours. was just an idea off the top of my head

6. eh, whatever. i got a Pass A on my CELTA and always received good feedback from open classes. i'd argue there's such a thing as over-planning, anyway. besides, after teaching the present perfect for the 100th time, you really don't need to plan much, as you generally know what works and doesn't work, and what the best activities to use are

7. it's a shame there aren't regular training days during desk warming hours. going to watch another person teach, getting some ideas for activities, or being taught some teaching methodology. those are the things that would have helped me most when i started teaching, and would have made me a better teacher.

Seriously, the level of ego behind that statement is mind-boggling. Dude, you aren't the boss. You signed the contract, you agreed to be hired under someone, function within the system.

1) My point is that you guys are sorely mistreated and exploited. The contracts I see here are absolutely revoltingly abusive. If that makes my ego seem extraordinarily bloated to you, perhaps yours has been beaten down to a pulp so much that you are willing to defend such institutionalised abuse.

2) I have several positions within my school, among one of them is trainer. You misunderstand or are completely ignorant of how a school is run in the west. We as a team fulfil all positions, also the managerial ones. Most teachers, except for starting ones, are in charge of a team like mine or a specific orthopedagogical project. Being in charge of a team is nothing to relish, one does it as an 'extra' because one is asked to do so and quite often people run themselves into a burnout and then revert back to teaching responsibilities, letting others take over the extra workload of managing a team. 

employees left to their own devices, can start to significantly decline in performance.

Do you know that you always arrive at the same talking point? Namely, that people are sinners and ought to be punished severely, lest the rule of law and people's authority is challenged by this or that ominous group.  But this time we are not talking about uncontrollable hapless teenagers with cell phones, this time we are talking about us, TEACHERS. Do you really believe we are not to be trusted because if it were left up to us we would party like it's 1999? At all the schools I have worked at, managing teachers in the way you hint at, does not exist, perhaps only in Asia. And it had better, because if anyone would ever act as you described we would have a month-long nationwide strike. You simply do not treat teachers with such mistrust. We are teachers for crying out loud, how would you envision the Education dept. instructing us to sit randomly at a desk because we are 'getting paid' for it? How about the 30-odd extra unpaid hours per week we end up spending preparing lessons and representing the school in all our communications with people? I think the minister would even lose his job if he were ever to tell us teachers to deskwarm needlessly. How on earth would you be able to retain your staff?

What you perhaps do not get is that the primary role of a manager is to help and assist the team. Not to tell colleagues how to do their work, because we all believe and trust each other that we will always strive to get the best results for our students.

Now coming full circle here: Marty, if you love people and trust them, they will return that favour. Treat them with mistrust and punishment and they will not listen to a word you might have to say. You work at a school and you are a teacher, get with the programme, mate, this certainly can't be your first year as a teacher so clearly you must have seen this, too. We should always make that first step in trusting students and helping them. Trying to exert control over people with punishment is counter-productive and quite frankly, shows a limited range of negotiation skills.

@echo off
Print "x"

x= Why am I wasting time writing a op-ed piece to marty in the ranting thread at 1 am!!! 

/end rant

Desk warming is pointless. You aren't working, nobody's supervising you to get anything done, you're just existing in a space because some people complained about not being able to go home when others were able to. Making everyone have to stay is kinda dumb considering that, unless you have camp, you're literally doing nothing.

There are better ways to spend time.

The point is that it maintains order, discipline, fairness, accountability, responsibility, and equal treatment.

Discipline for what? You're not being supervised.

Fairness for what? It's only fair because EVERYONE has to do it.

Accountability for what? There's literally nothing to be responsible for.


If anything you could argue it makes people LESS responsible when left to their own devices without supervision. But hey, it's a part of the contract, so...

The point is that it maintains order, discipline, fairness, accountability, responsibility, and equal treatment.

On a somewhat related note, Tino.

You should remember that many of the NETs here aren't actually on holiday. They're desperately trying to save. pay of loans, make a living and do their job well.
I don't know who you're trying to impress, but when you constantly sh*t on NETs for being lazy, entitled or whatever, it really doesn't make you sound humble, honest or virtuous. You think showing that you're not afraid to put the nature of your livelihood down makes you an objective person?
Nobody is impressed.

Insufferable as usual, and he forgets that this is a 'Ranting/Venting' thread where people should be allowed to do just that without some 12-year old  teacher's pet coming in and writing pages and pages of smarmy nonsense hoping to get a pat on the head from the teacher.  If he wants to 'lord' over others (who have way more professional and work experience than him) for not liking desk-warming, then I suggest he makes a separate thread to do that and leave this thread to serve its purpose.  Maybe the heat and humidity is getting to him this summer. 

1. do other countries require their teachers to sit doing nothing for 4 hours a day?

Other countries require their teachers to work a specified number of hours and specified number of days per year. As I showed in the link, South Korea overall requires their teachers to work far fewer hours than many other countries.

, it doesn't make desk warming less rubbish.

But desk warming isn't rubbish. You are getting paid money to do nothing. If anything the rubbish part is you getting paid. In reality you should be dismissed during those periods without pay. And if that's fine with you, great. Maybe you'd rather have the free time. But I'm pretty sure there are other people who would rather take the money and just watch Netflix for a few hours.

eh, just saying if they don't want to increase wages, reduce the pointless desk warming hours. was just an idea off the top of my head

What incentive are you offering as an employee, either individually or as a collective?

it's a shame there aren't regular training days during desk warming hours. going to watch another person teach, getting some ideas for activities, or being taught some teaching methodology. those are the things that would have helped me most when i started teaching, and would have made me a better teacher

That's a good idea. I do agree that desk-warming is poorly executed.

1) My point is that you guys are sorely mistreated and exploited. The contracts I see here are absolutely revoltingly abusive. If that makes my ego seem extraordinarily bloated to you, perhaps yours has been beaten down to a pulp so much that you are willing to defend such institutionalised abuse.

Lol. You get paid a decent wage and are provided housing. Wage enough that you can afford to vacation twice a year.

Institutionalized abuse? You don't even know what abuse is. Just the latest example of stuff that would have been a 2 on the trauma scale 75 years ago is now a 10 for some.

You misunderstand or are completely ignorant of how a school is run in the west.

My mother was a state-certified public school teacher for 30+ years. She was at her desk even when classes had finished and at times during the summer. Now, I don't know whether that was because she chose to balance her time a certain way or whether she was obligated. I was 8 and more concerned about playing Oregon Trail on the school computers than the nuances of teacher working duties, but yes, things like specified hours and days are part of the collective bargaining agreement.

Namely, that people are sinners and ought to be punished severely, lest the rule of law and people's authority is challenged by this or that ominous group.  But this time we are not talking about uncontrollable hapless teenagers with cell phones, this time we are talking about us, TEACHERS. Do you really believe we are not to be trusted because if it were left up to us we would party like it's 1999?

Is it your assertion that EVERY teacher would not engage in inappropriate or potentially illegal conduct if things were left entirely up to them?

The majority would not. However, rules and laws don't exist because of the majority (in some cases, speeding for example, shows that everyone breaks the law and cannot be trusted), they exist because of a minority.  And if they go unpunished, that minority can become a majority quite rapidly.

You simply do not treat teachers with such mistrust. We are teachers for crying out loud, how would you envision the Education dept. instructing us to sit randomly at a desk because we are 'getting paid' for it?

Time sheet. You sign in, you sign out. You work a specified number of hours per year and a specified number of days. How you choose to distribute those is up to you. However, for contracted teachers that are not tenured and part of the teacher's union, you might specify things differently with a different contract.

What you perhaps do not get is that the primary role of a manager is to help and assist the team. Not to tell colleagues how to do their work

It's both. If you believe employees, even new ones, need zero instruction or correction, then you're incredibly naive.

Now coming full circle here: Marty, if you love people and trust them, they will return that favour.

You can't be serious. What a privileged existence you must have led to think that. There are people out there who do not give a f. They will take and steal from you without a second thought. You show them love and trust and all they see is weakness and opportunity.

We should always make that first step in trusting students and helping them. Trying to exert control over people with punishment is counter-productive and quite frankly, shows a limited range of negotiation skills.

Have you ever had to fire an employee for theft? I have. Multiple times. One time for stealing, not from the store, but from another employee who showed trust to other employees by leaving some of his CD collection at the store for employees to use on the store radio.

Not only did I have to fire him, but because we didn't have any direct evidence, I had to manipulate him into confessing, which he did, therefore providing us with a record and cause to terminate him immediately.

So no, this idea that employees and workers can always be trusted and just show them love is utter nonsense. Sure it can work with the right people in the right situation, but that is situation-specific, not systemic. For an entire system, you need oversight and regulation.

Also, you seem to ignore the fact that you are dealing with taxpayer money and government appropriations. People will inspect and audit things and look for ways to cut the budget or transfer money elsewhere. Having zero record of employee's working hours and little oversight would draw auditors to an institution like meat to maggots.

1. yeah, and when they're done with their duties, they can go home. and i bet they don't have to come into school when their aren't any classes (or students) and sit all day

2. you're getting paid to teach. silly to make someone stay if they have done everything required of them. especially during vacation periods

3. again, it was just an idea. i know hagwons sometimes offer this instead of giving a pay rise

Desk warming is pointless. You aren't working, nobody's supervising you to get anything done, you're just existing in a space because some people complained about not being able to go home when others were able to. Making everyone have to stay is kinda dumb considering that, unless you have camp, you're literally doing nothing.

No, you choose to do nothing. You could be doing something, you just choose not to. I agree it's dumb to pay you money to do it.

Discipline for what? You're not being supervised.

Fairness for what? It's only fair because EVERYONE has to do it.

Accountability for what? There's literally nothing to be responsible for.

Organizational discipline. Systemic fairness. Organizational accountability. Again, you're only looking at this through your own narrow, selfish perspective.  You are not thinking of this systemically and from the standpoint of management and oversight.

How would you handle this? What's your alternative system? Let you go home whenever you want, even though you are under contract to work those hours? Restructure the contracts to hourly pay or pay by the class? Those are all reasonable alternatives and might prevent desk-warming, but they also could have unintended consequences, like reduced pay. Obviously you need contracts that specify hours and working days.

It's staggering how much you fail to consider how all of this looks to accountants, auditors, consultants, and other people who look for workplace inefficiencies and ways to trim money. You see "The school is keeping me at work, when they should be letting me go and play. I'm just sitting here wasting my time." They see "This person is getting paid to do nothing. Either we don't need to pay him or we don't need this person. Let's take a closer look during the next round of budgeting."

Raising a stink about deskwarming and getting paid to do nothing is something only the foolishly naive would do.

But hey, it's a part of the contract, so...

Exactly. You signed it, live up to it. You want that contract to work for you when it benefits you, well then you have to follow it even when it's irritating.

1. yeah, and when they're done with their duties, they can go home. and i bet they don't have to come into school when their aren't any classes (or students) and sit all day

As I said, my mom was a public school teacher and she (and other teachers) were definitely at the school during the summer even when there were no students. Now, as I said, I don't know why this was. Some of it was obviously mandated days, but also I think some of it was just her way of pacing out the workload and getting stuff done, and whatnot, so I don't know what was her choice and what was the school's.  Heck, I'm pretty sure some of it was just her taking advantage of the free A/C and higher-speed internet and watering her plants.

So I agree that there can certainly be some flexibility for tenured teachers, but there will still be some minimum number of working hours and days, because you simply need that specified in order to have a workable contract in order to collectively bargain.

you're getting paid to teach. silly to make someone stay if they have done everything required of them. especially during vacation periods

You're also getting paid to prepare content. You might also be getting paid to "facilitate English education" or whatever, which could mean having the English library open for student access, which in turn requires student supervision.

If I was in charge, I'd be sure to have that English library open and air conditioned as a welcome place for students to relax during summer classes. It was at my school and the books actually got some use out of them instead of just gathering dust. Now granted, the kids gravitated to either easy picture books or English-language Slam Dunk, One Piece, and Naruto, but hey, at least it's exposure.

again, it was just an idea. i know hagwons sometimes offer this instead of giving a pay rise

Hey, I'm all for whatever people choose to negotiate. Me personally, I'd take the money for doing nothing. On the other hand, if you have substantial savings or simply are fine with having reduced pay and more free time, more power to you.

1. that's great if you actually have stuff to do. i wasn't allowed to turn the A/C or heater on during vacation desk warming periods - as it was a "waste of electricity" because i was only there by myself. nothing says "we do not respect you" quite like that

2. i'm pretty sure NETs are considered more of a headache than a commodity at most elementary schools. a lot of of complaints on here about their public school jobs is that they're under-utilised

Cheese and f*cking Rice, you guys, start a thread.