As a prospective teacher, I found the interview process surprisingly adversarial and, at times, insulting. The woman who appeared to run the English program seemed to treat me less like a qualified educator and more like someone who might threaten her position. The emphasis also seemed to be on memorizing a textbook rather than actually teaching English. Some of the examples she gave reflected such a stylized, formal version of English that they sounded more suited to fictional characters in a royal drama than to contemporary English learners.
The proposed compensation was equally troubling. The position involved teaching 13 beginning students for one hour, four days a week, yet the teacher would be expected to prepare supplemental materials and do substantial work outside the classroom without compensation. With an undergraduate degree in education and a master's degree from a top Jesuit university, I found the terms extraordinarily low for the level of professional responsibility being expected.
I recognize that some teachers may have little choice but to accept conditions like these. But it raises an important question for parents: What are you paying for, how much of that tuition reaches the teachers actually providing the instruction, and how do those working conditions ultimately affect the quality of the educational experience for your child? read more
