Pull the Other Leg!
By Oliver Geronilla
After months of giving a series of lectures, facilitating endless group activities, comes a lull– a welcome respite, at least for me–but not for many aspiring teachers who are now at their jumping-off point for a career in ESL teaching.
It’s a catch 22 for these aspiring teachers. In order to get hired, they need to have a teaching experience. To have a teaching experience, they need to teach!
But how? Simple. Many language school managers provide this opportunity by accepting greenhorns to work as teaching staff with a paltry salary. “Never mind,” says Jerome Vidal, a “conversation” teacher at Han Maum Academy. Shooting from the hip, he continues: “What is important is that I know that my students learn from my classes. What’s more, I get to learn the ins and outs of teaching ESL through the Teachers’ Development Program, and I get to validate and practice the theories we learn in the training sessions.”
That’s a give-and-take relationship. Both parties benefit from each other. But the doubting Thomas in me tells me otherwise. Having served as the head of research and development of ECI Manila and the school director of IEN Monol International Baguio, two of the biggest language schools in the Philippines, I have fully come to terms why this happens; hence, every time I see promising teachers being asked to go on an unpaid leave of absence after the “peak seasons,” my heart bleeds.
That’s usually the case among many neophyte teachers who are tapped by English language schools run by Korean nationals to meet the demands of having temp and stand-in teachers for the peak seasons—the so-called English summer and winter camps. The sad part comes when these camps are over.
I believe that no one really benefits in the long run. While it might sound wise to save money by hiring teachers who cannot ask for the moon, personnel managers do not realize the negative impact that it creates in the company. Having a fast turnover of teachers results in poor camaraderie and loose organizational cohesion.
Institutions, we have to remember, are made by people– people who are not scared of “change,” people who have unquenchable thirst for knowledge, people who nurture and care about the values of professionalism, accountability and esprit de corps. These ideals are ignored all in the name of avoiding responsibilities.
I have heard countless times how teachers are deprived of their right to the benefits mandated by law such as medical insurance, social security, etc., to name a few. Perhaps, I am lucky to have been given such wonderful employers like Mr. Kim Kwang Il and Sung Bok Choi who have never forgotten their duties despite the financial challenges they have experienced.
The academy where I am currently teaching suffers from the same dilemma. The teachers whom I train with the help of my dedicated colleague, Mr. Roderick Toledo, “come and go.” The best ones look for greener pastures; the mediocre stay on for theirs is akin to running the risk of shooting themselves in their feet if and when they leave. And the bad ones? Oh well, they “die a natural death.”
By the law of averages, it’s impossible to change horses in midstream. So the cycle goes on: Welcome new faculty members, see them persevere, and bid them goodbye.
oliver geronilla
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