Hi, I ve been living here in thailand for 18 months now, and have just completed a 130 hr course, so now im looking for work. i've read that you have already worked here for some time before so wanted to ask you a few things.
one of the first things i found out from a employment agency in Bangkok was that although most jobs require TEFL teachers to work 15 - 20 hours per week, they also require that the teacher stays in the school 8 hours per day, as the lessons could be spread over the entire day, first lesson at 9am last lesson mid-afternoon. This was a big disappointment for me to hear as i thought i would only be working either mornings or afternoons or would at least be able to leave the school between lessons. Is this how it was for you ? and do you know of what type of schools or organisations i should be trying to contact, if i only want to be in the school for the hours that i am being paid for.
Im also told that schools ( or any other type of Thai employers ) do sometimes take the P*ss, by trying to get teachers to do too many extra chores.. I know quite a bit about Thailand the culture etc as ive lived with them for 9 years and know many people here including Thai english teachers, and it is expected that they should do extra tasks for free, if asked. But having to stay in the school for 40 hours while only being paid for 15 - 20 hours is a bit too much to ask from me.
I would be interested in your experiences and any advice you could give.
Thanks paul
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Oh, and my contact hours are about 32 per week, with the possibility for more if someone is sick etc.
I work 9-6 and still have enough time for a social life in a different city. Although I'm tired when I get in, I'm not so tired I can't do anything. Even when I was working a split shift (which was way more tiring) I still had time for a social life. I also teach mostly kindergarten, which is, arguably, the most tiring age group (my last job I taught everyone except high school students). Anyway, yes, teaching English is a job. It is a job that is actually pretty hard work, but there are definite benefits. Whether the pros outweigh the cons is for you to decide. To think that there wouldn't be any cons at all, shows rather astounding naivety, especially as the person who replied to your last note actually hinted strongly at long working hours. Even 5 minutes on Google with the vaguest search terms will turn up countless websites that will tell you all about the working conditions you are likely to expect, "no one told me" isn't really a good excuse in these days of the internet.
Teaching of any kind involves loads of extra work - marking, planning, meetings etc, that's teaching! Here in Madrid I travel so far between jobs I am always exhausted when I get home and it is quite stressful, which is why I'm moving to north Madrid, where most of my classes are.
You will have to work hard at this! It's up to you to re-arrange your life in order to get the most out of the place where you are. My leisure time here is great, and I could move to any other part of Spain or many other countries in the reasonable certainty of finding a decent job on arrival - not many proffessions offer that, so try to see the bright side.
You seem to be having trouble getting your head around what TEFL actually involves. Contrary to popular opinion, TEFL is actually a job as opposed to one long sun-drenched holiday with a couple of classes thrown in for good measure. And no matter where in the world you are, it involves more than just teaching.
Here in Poland I have around 22 contact hours a week. On top of these I have to spend time planning (although that's hardly unexpected), attending compulsory teacher training sessions, doing admin-related duties and any other duties required of me (exam invigilation, placement testing, etc). This probably brings my total working hours up to around 32 - it all depends on how long the planning takes me.
Jobs are advertised with an emphasis on number of contact hours since that is what most people want to know. But just because it says 15-20hrs does not mean that that is all you are expected to do. Then there are the split-shifts. Some will also say "split-shifts possible/inevitable", many will not. I had four split-shifts in Vietnam (despite the advert having said "split-shifts will be avoided") and one here in Poland (where there was no mention of any split-shifts). It's all part and parcel and the job.
The kind of hours you end up working will depend on the type of you school you are working in, e.g., International schools will have normal-ish days (somewhere between 07:00 and 16:00ish) whereas private language schools will work around the students' full-time education or work and thus will involve early morning starts and late afternoon to late evening finishes.
In case it wasn't obvious, teaching is definitely NOT an easy option. For the right person however, it is very rewarding and every day brings something new.
Hi Briona,
Although some of what you have said is correct about here in Thailand, im a bit peeee'd off to find out now after i have completed the course. The romantic idea of teaching in Thailand for 15 - 20 hours a week is being sold, without ever telling people that actually their going to be working 40 hours a week, and probably coming back to their room so knackered that they wont feel like going to the beach or riding an elephant., if they are lucky enough to be within 100 miles of such places.
You also said that this is a problem which is TEFL specific rather than Thailand specific, so that would mean that this is a problem that would be the same for any country that anybody wanted to work in. .. Oh great !!
You mentioned that it could be 'split shifts' problem.. NO, the work here is not advertised as split shifts, its very simple, the jobs are advertised as 15 - 20 hours per week, but you will actually be required to be there ( in most cases ) for 40 hours per week.. ( 9 to 5 job) i never throught it was a 9 to 5 job, 15 - 20 hours a week implies that its a 8am to 11am job or afternoons it would be prohaps midday to 4pm. At least this is how it is advertised.
There is a big difference between being told you'll be working 15 - 20 hours a week, and then finding out that actually you'll be putting in, at least 40 hours a week. I feel as if important imformation has been with held..
Paul
Hi there,
Though I haven't taught in Thailand I felt compelled to reply to your post since the issues you're coming up against are TEFL ones rather than Thailand-specific ones.
Firstly, it's important to understand the difference between CONTACT and CONTRACT hours. Contact hours are the number of hours you're actually teaching while contract hours are the total number of hours you're working (teaching, planning, training, admin, placement testing, exam invigilation, etc). Having 15-20 contact hours does not mean that you're not working outside of this time - you will be expected to do some planning or admin tasks, to attend teacher training sessions, etc. Some schools will insist that you spend this time on-site, others will not. In any case, your hourly rate will include a sum of money for this 'extra' work - you don't do it for free.
The other thing I would say is that split shifts are very common in the world of TEFL - it's about as far from being a 9-5 job as you can get. Be advised that as an inexperienced newbie you will more than likely get given the worst shifts. The best shifts will always go to the longer-standing or more senior members of staff.
Briona
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