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Alternative management scenarios
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Wed, 03/18/2009 - 01:05
I do a lot of good thinking walking the dog, and this morning was no exception. It is probably because it is the only part of the day I have to myself. Anyway, it occured to me that most of the posts I have read in this forum have implicitly considered ELT management as something involving a permanent base where the students, and teachers, come to you. My experience is, however, almost exclusively not been in this situation. Normally, I have been working for a "school", but teaching in businesses often large distances from the school. I might not even see the owner/manager for months on end. Do people see this situation as involving different "challenges"? What other scenarios have you been involved with?
Regards,
Kevin
Wed, 03/18/2009 - 19:34
#2
Dear Andy,
I think a lot depends on the trust or lack of which one has as a teacher towards one's superior (and vice-versa). When I was working for a small language school doing in-house training in a firm, we (the boss and I) did most of our communication via emails because we never saw each other. There was also a sort of "letter-box" in the firm, in which both sides could leave messages or things to correct or whatever. From time to time it was, however, necessary to meet up in person because there is a limit to what you can express in an email (when it is not your native tongue, to boot).
And of course when there were divergencies or even conflicts, a phone call was the least one could do, and normally a face to face meeting was required to clear things up. I would say having hundreds of kilometres between boss and teachers won't work in the long run.
Diana
Wed, 03/18/2009 - 20:15
#3
Thanks for the responses. I was interested to see that the potential problem of maintaining standards hasn't been mentioned so far. Also, how can you be sure the teacher is being an ambassador for the school and not potentially taking your clients?
Kevin
Thu, 03/19/2009 - 07:33
#4
Well, Kevin, you must now tell us what you mean by maintaining standards? Standards of what? Who has to maintain them and how?
Are you referring to the standard of English which the students should reach by a certain time? Then we would be onto a topic which I think has its own forum (Testing, Evaluation and Assessment) - exams and so on.
- as an aside: Heavens, I haven't got round to looking at this yet - this site of ours is turning into a full-time occupation...-
Which aspect of Testing, Evaluation and Assessment is particularly pertinent to ELT management?
Other users - please comment!
Diana
Thu, 03/19/2009 - 14:03
#5
No, I meant the standard of teaching, appearance, materials, etc. I.e. the professional conduct of the teacher expected by the school. In other words, how do you ensure that the customer is getting the type of service that you want them to have and have promised them?
I will leave it to others, preferably on a new thread, to answer the question about testing etc.
Kevin
Fri, 03/20/2009 - 08:19
#6
Dear Kevin,
O.K., so this is not about the academic or linguistic standard the students are to attain, it is the other side of the coin, the standards the language school wants to make sure the teachers maintain.
You say, "the standards of teaching, appearance, materials etc". I would interpret the first as meaning didactics and methodology and the third as having to do with the books, worksheets, digital resources etc. provided for the students.
But what is "appearance". The appearance of the language school? You said in an earlier posting that there is often not a "centre", it may be in-house training etc., so you can't really mean a room or building.
So perhaps you are referring to the dress code of the teachers?? That famous first (professional or otherwise) three-second impression the teacher makes on the students when he or she meets them?
Diana
Fri, 03/20/2009 - 10:40
#7
I'd guess the image of the school that the client receives through its representative (the teacher). In terms of "appearance" that might include the way the teacher is dressed (and as we know there is often a different expectation here in teaching corporate clients than in general English classes), but might also include other aspects, even down to the way that any photocopied material is presented.
In general the idea of quality assurance (if we can call it that) is a great challenge in the situation Kevin outlines. If the classes happen elsewhere, how does the school ensure the quality of the service?
Mind you, I think that there is also a question about how you assure quality even when classes happen at the HQ of the school itself. How do we judge the standards of teaching for example, and how could we? (I'm not convinced that regular observations by the DoS, for example, are useful in assuring quality)
Sat, 03/21/2009 - 02:04
#8
You got it exactly Andy. And I'm not sure about the "even" before "how the photocopied material is presented" :-)
In many ways, this is the main thing. Students are often pretty easy to satisfy from a pedagogical aspect, but the appearance of the teacher (not necessarily suit etc.), the visual quality of materials, time-keeping, etc, etc. often make a much bigger impact.
Kevin
Sun, 03/22/2009 - 16:45
#9
Dear Andy, dear Kevin,
I've just had an idea about this "quality assurance", the "maintaining of standards". On our other thread, where we are now talking about student feedback, although originally it was about Conflict Management, Maureen said the following:
http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2009/forum/managing-conflict#comment-810
It occurred to me (although not having a dog to walk is a bit of a handicap) that the dentist image fits here, too. The outward appearance of the surgery, the cleanliness, the attractiveness of the nurses (!), the (lack of) smell in the treatment rooms, the quality of the magazines in the waiting room - are these not all factors which influence our perception of how good the dentist is at his job? So afterwards we are going to be pleased with the result?
In teaching terms- the pleasing layout of the handouts, the polite welcome to new students, the smooth organisation, the smartly-dressed (attractive, young ??) teacher who is already waiting for the class in a light, airy, quiet warm room - are these not all things which if O.K. go a long way to satisfying the customer, be he a company or an individual student?
Of course, this brings up a rather heretical question: If the the packaging is just as important as the content, where does good teaching come into it??
Diana
P.S. Should one of you perhaps start a new thread on one of the various aspects raised; our forum has not all that many yet and it might make things easier to find and look after..
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 21:45
#10
Diana,
This all might warrant a new thread, but am at a loss as to what is should be called - so, in response to the above ...!
Dress code - so what is a teacher supposed to look like or wear? I'm in The Middle East and this has come up at several institutions where I've worked. We all know about the cultural norms and conform to them - and times are a-changing here, so maybe we can be a bit more relaxed. However, I've been faced with dress codes where some kind of mismatched, uncoordinated bag-lady look was desirable over whatever more tight-fitting colour-coordinated attire I was wearing. Then there are practicalities like heat and the fact that teachers are active in a room so a restricting jacket is difficult to cope with. The students just seem to appreciate that you have made an effort to create a look and that you vary what you wear...
I believe that behaviour and body language and personality and approachability are possibly more important - as is being organised and well-prepared.
Creating a supportive classroom environment is another sign of quality - and the classroom environment itself (appearance) is something to be considered if students spend a long time in the same room - no amount of technology can compensate for a cheerful, welcoming, clean, comfortable environment - IMHO.
Heather
Tue, 03/31/2009 - 07:29
#11
Dear Heather,
You're right, I don't think many (female??) users wanting to talk about dress codes would find their way to the ELT-M forum or even to Alternative Management Scenarios, which is a bit of a pity. I'll try to attract them to a new thread called "Professionalism".
Diana
I think it definitely does involve different challenges, Kevin. I've worked with a few managers and teachers in the situation you describe, and it introduces a whole new set of factors to consider - how do you have staff meetings for example, when the staff never come to the main office (or indeed in some cases where there is no space in the HQ for such a meeting). How do you foster a sense of community and togetherness among staff who rarely (or perhaps never) see each other? From the teacher's perspective - how do you feel part of a team in such a case? I'm working with someone at the moment who runs a language school which is focussed on corportae clients - she is in the capital city, and some of the teachers and classes are in that city too, but many others are all over the country, hundreds of miles away. It's definitely a different challenge to manage an organisation like that, and of course a different challenge to work for such an organisation!