Warning: Long post ahead
Hello everybody,
I’m just feeling a little frustrated and I’m wondering if this is a case of being set up for failure and if I’m justified in feeling that what I’m experiencing is unfair or if I have genuine shortcomings as a teacher. I want a little more perspective.
In mid-August I started working for this preschool/Eikawa and I started on a Wednesday. This school has a specific follows a specific Phonics system that also has hand gestures that can get more complicated as you get deeper into it.
For that first week/ 3 days, I was “observing/assisting “ the more experienced people on how things go. The week after that, I continued observing/assisting. Please note that these 2 weeks/ 8 days were the special summer school program, so I’m not experiencing the full extent of the lessons/day yet.
On the 10th day mark, the management people started pushing me to take over classes. For that class on that day, I was informed last minute. While the teachers training me were expecting a co-teaching situation. As expected, my first few full classes were full of mistakes and awkwardness.
They sat me down and commented how there was a 3 month probation period(I am aware of this) and that 1.) I should have perfectly memorized the routines and hand gestures at this point in time (it’s been 10 days!!! Not even 2 weeks but because I started in the middle of the week, they’re counting it as the 3rd week at this point) and to improve my “Genki-level” and have more “passion”, they felt I wasn’t an appropriate teacher for students of the ages and levels there.
Then there is this week, where I have managed to be more familiar with the kids and the system but on Wednesday they still sat me down to say they have seen my hard work and improvement but the kids’ parents are complaining that the kids don’t like the new teacher(me) and I still haven’t perfected the hand gestures and routines. So I’m in a dangerous predicament for the probationary period. They will decide in 2 weeks whether to keep me or not. Also, suddenly they decided to give me that time to observe and co-teach the Eikaiwa classes again. They have also mentioned a date for me to stop working if ever they decide to dismiss me.
So some of my own thoughts, they are rushing me. And I am aware I am not that company’s first choice of teacher. When speaking to the other teachers, it feels like the standards that I have to meet initially are significantly higher than the usual. With regards to the kids, I have some Eikaiwa experience before this and one thing I learned is that Japanese students don’t take to change easily, so of course they’re not going to enjoy me being their teacher at first.
I feel like most of my awkwardness stems from being new and being given time will help me get used to things. I’m a hard worker and I respect contracts and the responsibilities of being a teacher. It’s just frustrating that I feel like I’m not being given a fair shot.
5 comments
I feel your pain. I’ve been at my company for 8 years and remember what it was like to be new. I was horrible…Now as a leader by default. My mission is to not make the perfect teacher but to grow them to the best of their ability. They are part of the team so why not try to help them instead of giving them a hard time.
**Of corse not all people hired are willing to try or care. But in your case it seems as if your willing. So hopefully your company will support you and help you grow.
I’ve worked for the same company ( the hand-gestures gave it away lol). All I can say is run away and try to find a new job as soon as possible…
If you wanna stay, don’t worry too much about learning the system and stuff. Just by having to do it every day you will eventually pick it up…
Let’s parse this out.
They hire an inexperienced person who has no background in child development and no teaching qualifications, and expect this person to learn how to teach flawlessly in less than two weeks.
Yeah, nah.
This industry is beyond ridiculous. I mean no insult by this, but if you really aren’t cut out for teaching, the interviewer should have been able to see that during the interview and you should not have been hired.
They are bumbling around like idiots – they don’t know how to interview, they don’t know how to train teachers, and they don’t know how to help a teacher who is struggling. That is not your fault. Instead of threatening to fire you, they should be giving you the extra help and training you need to catch up.
The next week or so you should give it your best shot, but you should also consider whether this job is really for you. If given time, do you think you could learn the system? And would you really enjoy it? If not, then it might not be such a bad thing to have your probationary period just end, and go look for another job that suits you better. Sometimes being let go is a good thing.
Sounds like a bad job.
Other comments are excellent, just wanted to add. This goes beyond just this situation too:
If at any point you feel like your company is going to fire you, immediately start looking for something new and jump ship ASAP. Even if they don’t fire, this type of stress is extremely difficult to transform into a healthy work situation. There is no shame in recognizing a place is not for you and packing up, even if it has only been a few days, weeks, or months. Best of luck OP, sounds like you’re really going through some bullshit.