a disgruntled former employee
- 2015-11-24
This school has a lot of pros and cons. Most of the cons far outweigh the pros. Minibees does provide you with a lot of helpful tips for successful classroom management and you always get paid on time, but you will be lucky to receive the salary stated in your contract. I worked here a few years back and at first the owner of this company seemed like a really chill guy. I did not mind putting in extra hours to improve my teaching, it really helped out in the long run. I ended up leaving this company after a few months because I was pulled aside one day by the owner after work and told that someone had been interviewed for my position as an ESL teacher but they were not hired because they put a minimal effort into their sample lesson plan. At this point I thought about getting a new teaching gig in Guangzhou. Shortly after this the owner of the company tried to get me to agree to accept a salary that was several hundred RMB less than was stated in my contract. I realized that I had to leave this company as soon as possible. I ended up taking another teaching gig in Guangzhou and only gave Minibees a very short notice about it. Apparently I was correct in my assumption that my time was more than up here. I collected my last months salary from the owner two days prior to starting my new teaching gig. The owner asked me if I was leaving his company. I stated that I was and that he had mentioned to me that his company wanted to replace me. He burst out laughing and stated "we never wanted to fire you." I reminded him about the conversation that I had with him about the guy who put a minimal effort into his sample lesson plan. He immediately told me that he had never said that while looking directly at the ground and not at me. He told me when I left his company that leaving his company would invalidate my visa, which it did not. Although this school provides a lot of support to the teachers that it employs they will work you to death and come up with numerous excuses why they cannot pay you the salary stated in your contract.
It is always hard when a school and an individual just aren't the right fit.
That is to say, that I feel I was a square peg in a round hole, this happens and is a fact of teaching, especially abroad.
I know that there have been some negative reviews about this school in the past, but I would like to share my positive ones in some small effort to say thank you to Min and Brian, the owners and operators of this school.
I have mainly taught College and University, as well as business students, and to go from one style of rigid professionalism to teaching in a Kindergarden environment is a shock to the system. HOWEVER, I will state this, I was not unprepared. Brian was very forthright when training began about what we were in store for, and phenomenally he armed us (my training group) well for the rigours ahead.
The style of teaching is unusual, and as a structured teacher it was, at first, a very alien concept. I will admit to many times sitting there wondering what the **** he was on about, but as the week progressed, it started to make some sense... that small ingot of sense was gold when it came to actually getting into the classroom. No, forewarned and forearmed I was ready, I thought, for day one...
Yeah, no, no one is ever prepared for little babies wailing.
To be specific, as it needs to be said, it's week one day one for the kids too, I remember when I first went off to Kinder, I was screaming my head off every day for about three weeks. It takes phenomenal patience, and perhaps a few cigarettes outside of the school on your break, to steel the nerves for another hour or so in class.
No, my problem came in the form of a bum knee, I am simply not active enough to be able to keep up the pace needed to engage, and properly teach a class of children that small. Give me a classroom of young adults, no problem. I have an affinity there, faced with the little ones, I felt completely useless.
Now here is the part that makes me want to write this review.
Most schools, when faced with a teacher that is obviously not a fit for the school, they would simply get rid of the problem as quickly and as efficiently as they can. Not here, Brian was on the phone nightly making sure that concerns and problems were addressed, and Min (his wife) is like a mother, just a genuine kind soul who feels for her teachers. Problems, as soon as they arose, were dealt with in a courteous, considerate and fair manner. (they are a business, and they do have a bottom line to meet, but their reputation is important, and the respect they earned is well deserved).
I should also point out that the Cadre of TA's with the school are amongst some of the best I have ever worked with. Efficient, diligent and on the ball... discipline is never an issue with them around, in fact it is one of the key strengths that Minibees has over most schools (in my opinion) they have control over classes, and they equip the teachers to have that control as well.
There are issues of communication, no school is without them. That's part of the Chinese experience, but I found the staff more than willing to quickly rectify any confusion that arose. Something I really appreciated.
I think I want to make it clear, amidst all the negative reviews out there for different Chinese schools, that I believe that were you interested in this school you will find it a challenging, engaging and fulfilling placement *if* you are suited to Kindergarden.
I was not, but I fully endorse this school, and I am more than willing to allay any questions personally if you contact Brian and ask for my email.