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Q: Running your own school - what'd you do differently?
This is part chit-chat and part research as it's something i'm considering for the future, but if you were in the position to open your own English training school, what would you do differently to the ones you've encountered in your time here.
10 years 28 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
The treatment of the assistants is a number 1 priority. From my experience the assistants are treated and paid poorly and in my opinion if you have these people onside and loyal you will have consistency and longevity of your staff. Parents hate seeing constant changes in teachers, especially if you have a good one in your team.
Next, the teaching material. Some of the books are pretty outdated and the English in them is not how we speak these days.
Next, introduction of electronic aids to present the lesson. Capturing and holding the attention of the students is one of the hardest things to achieve considering they have already spent a day at school and on weekends also have other classes they are pushed into. Make it exciting and interesting.
I'll leave others to give more ideas. These are just some prelim thoughts.
mArtiAn:
Electronic aids? I think I caught that once sitting bare-arsed on a photocopier. Fnarr.
dom87:
poor payment is relative... they often get 3000+ paid for translating abit of your lesson and except that they have nothing to do. paying more your school often cant afford. It is very easy to say: "I would pay them much more" but in the end you have to make profit
but i agree you should treat your staff good
The treatment of the assistants is a number 1 priority. From my experience the assistants are treated and paid poorly and in my opinion if you have these people onside and loyal you will have consistency and longevity of your staff. Parents hate seeing constant changes in teachers, especially if you have a good one in your team.
Next, the teaching material. Some of the books are pretty outdated and the English in them is not how we speak these days.
Next, introduction of electronic aids to present the lesson. Capturing and holding the attention of the students is one of the hardest things to achieve considering they have already spent a day at school and on weekends also have other classes they are pushed into. Make it exciting and interesting.
I'll leave others to give more ideas. These are just some prelim thoughts.
mArtiAn:
Electronic aids? I think I caught that once sitting bare-arsed on a photocopier. Fnarr.
dom87:
poor payment is relative... they often get 3000+ paid for translating abit of your lesson and except that they have nothing to do. paying more your school often cant afford. It is very easy to say: "I would pay them much more" but in the end you have to make profit
but i agree you should treat your staff good
Great answers above. I'd also have regular communication with the staff members, and not the pointless meetings about how great the boss is, but talking about student progress and any problems. (I recall demon children from my training school days) Also an update with parents: get them involved with the classes: again during my training school teaching time, some of the parents were actively involved and their child made great progress when they saw their (usually father) take an interest and practice with them. One extremely shy girl became quite outgoing when she saw her father also was trying to learn what she learnt, and some parents asked what they could do at home.
Staff support and rentention.
Less emphasis on sucking up to the parents at every turn and telling them how great their child is when the teacher can barely cope with them.
More honesty with staff and customers.
Better teaching materials.
Staff development, not this stupid 'training' which sees them just performing for a bunch of their peers.
Quite a few others, but it's early and I am tired.
I never liked school. I was my high schools bad boy. I'd turn the school into a front for a massage parlour.
hoping your own school is very very hard. dont expect you get customers just because it is a foreign run company. Also the government makes it very hard for you, they dont like education out of their hands.
what i would make different?
Maybe not only trying to rip off the parents but probably the parents wants to get ripped off and they dont care anyways what their kids actually learn.
I would definitly change the whole curriculum cause is mostly sucks ass and often has no system at all. I also would probably let the foreigner teach writing and grammar as oral and written english is connected and shouldnt be separated.
btw its also a difference if you mean opening a international school or just another of 1 billion education center
Sit the parents and students down at beginning and tell them, if the kid does not conduct himself as if he is a professional student who wants to learn. Then he will be removed from the classroom . Focus on quality and not quantity. Be Princeton not Rutgers.
