HZ

I think where the problem often lies, is in the fact that many FT's seem quite happy enough to sign any peice of garbage that calls itself a contract, and then wonder why the roof caves in and that they're suddenly suffering a living nightmare.

I find it better to try and avoid having to up sticks every five minutes, by taking as many steps to prevent this happening in the first place.

The first thing I do is ignore the small private schools and franchises altogether. Nearly all of these it seems are concerned with nothing else but making money and don't seem to care who they hurt in the process.

I'm sorry if that's to sweeping a statement but it seems that, that's where ninety-nine percent of the REAL problems of exploited and seriously put upon FT's transpire.

I find it much safer and agreeable to deal with government schools or huge established private schools that teach the whole curriculum to students who live on campus.

I think this is often the crux of the matter.An FT might reason that a small private school or franchise means more stress and is risky, yet more money can be made in such places. Talk about juicy steak-baited traps in the jungle, waiting for the poor unsuspecting FT to walk right into them!

I take your point about leaving if your school gives you any crap, but we're often doing ourselves more harm than good by bouncing around more than a superball from school to school every month or so.

First of all the poor students are suffering by having new teachers every five minutes. They probably don't get much further than being able to say 'Hello...er! ....goodbye again teacher!'

Then we have to think, how the hell are we going to grow and develop our teaching skills and careers if we're hopping about more than a frog on heat!

Also, it's obviously going to hit us in the pocket, thus again hindering us from being able to buy onto courses that give us opportunities to grab those extra qualifications and degrees that can give us greater opportunities to work at better schools with better pay, conditions and students.

So every time we sign a peice of paper in a private franchise after only a cursory glance, we are surely shooting OURSELVES in the foot. BEAT ME! BEAT ME!, make me sign bad contracts!

After the mandatory initial checks of the school by scanning the internet for reviews, making general inquiries and checking out foreign teachers who either work or have just recently worked at the potential school,it's time to hop on a train and check it out.

I've usually already got an understanding of pay, how many hours I want to work ,and all the other basics, already. The bottom line is, don't sign the contract until you've gone over it with a microscope, never mind a fine tooth comb! Make sure there's no invisible ink! Only joking,I hope!

That's actually step one. Step two is to not sign that contract until you are TWO HUNDRED PERCENT satisfied and happy with it.If you're not happy with it and they refuse to adjust it, THAT'S the time to walk .BEFORE you sign the contract.BEFORE you start to suffer.BEFORE you even waste one WEEK, never mind one month in unhappy cicumstances.

In most cases we FT's turn up at the school around five to seven days before our classes start.
This should give us ample time to size up and get a feel of the school, staff and management as well as our living conditions.

Once we're satisfied to the best of our ability with both the school and the contract, we then need to make sure that we have in our hands a copy of a signed by BOTH parties, and sealed contract that's translated into both English AND the native language.

Now here comes a sticking point for many FT's,which I believe is responsible for much suffering by many English teachers. Certainly in China anyway!

It's the refusal to agree to the clause that stipulates that the foreign teacher must pay a breach penalty if he breaks the contract.

Now I personally am quite happy to sign this clause as long as it mentions that it applies to BOTH parties. Whatever you do don't sign it if it's only in the schools favour!

The reason I sign it is because I believe it protects ME too.Naive you might say,but I tell you in all honesty, it has helped me to bring pressure on two schools, who both attempted to break their contracts with me.Because, THEY KNEW I WAS RIGHT and I had it in black and white and they knew that I KNEW I had the proof in my hand, they both backtracked!

I don't worry about that clause. In fact I'm HAPPY it's in there.I only sign six month contracts anyway.If both parties are happy after that I can always sign for another six months.This ensures that if there IS a problem then I won't suffer too long. Anyway if I check the school out well enough beforehand and have this clause in the contract, there should be NO problems!

The point is I don't sign the contract until I'm happy with it, and secondly that clause makes it more than a peice of paper that they think they can disrespect if they want to give you any crap. They know they will lose financially and you can walk with all your pay ,bonuses,and a nice tidy sum from the breach penalty.

There are actually many private schools that are happy to have a high turnover of teachers, so they can hold back salaries,airfares,bonuses and travel allowances.

They are often happy to see us leaving after one or two months. In this way they can actually save a lot of money by stalling on processing legal work permits.Believe me we often play into their hands by 'doing a runner', every month or so.

If you follow these steps you will almost certainly have no major problems with your employer, be able to have the time to develop your teaching skills,and give yourself the means to obtain further qualifications. You also will get the time, peace of mind and opportunity to really improve the English level of all your students.

Sincere, best wishes to all FT's.Wherever you are!