"LTC Eastbourne. Just don't work there. The place is a mess. The principal is a bully and hated by all the staff.
In summer school you are overworked for no pay and the place is a mess.
It's full of racist middle-aged teachers who are bitter about failing in life and graduates who don't have a clue and spend all their time drinking.
You get no support from management either and the photocopier never works meaning you have to do lessons off the cuff every day."
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Inspector McHammered of the Lard in Pamplona, Spain
2 comments:
I'd have to agree. Not the best school to work for the summer.
I haven't had any problems with the principal but I have heard a lot of rumours that he isn't the most understanding of people.
They have just got a new photocopier though.
To my knowledge, this is the first time I have been slagged off on the internet. An interesting experience, but not necessarily one that I would recommend.
I think many of our staff would have a pretty good idea who posted the original blog. I am sorry that this person feels this way, though I suspect the reasons are not entirely the result of his or her experiences at LTC. I hope in time this person is able to move on and find a place in life that suits him or her.
To reply to some of the points in the blog:
• Yes, some of our teachers are middle aged (not a crime), but it is very unfair to paint them as bitter failures. Some are long-standing TEFLers (nothing wrong with that); others have come to TEFL after successful careers in other walks of life. Together they bring a tremendous wealth of life experience to our school.
• Racists? This is unfair. Our staff are no less open-minded than teachers in any other EFL school.
• Yes, some of our teachers are young graduates, and like many young people, some of them may occasionally drink a little more than is good for them. But it is grossly unfair to paint them as clueless drunks. They bring enormous energy and enthusiasm to the school.
• The school is a mess? The school has strengths and weaknesses. In the last two years, we have made considerable progress in dealing with some of our weaknesses, though I will accept that in the process other problems have emerged. In our defence I would say that we have a strong team, many of whom come back year after year (as do many students and group leaders), so we must be doing something right.
• We have a crappy photocopier. This is fair comment, though this problem has now been addressed.
• I am a bully and all the staff hate me? I credit myself with a degree of self-knowledge, and I would say that there are many things I can be accused of, but being a bully is not one of them. Whether everyone hates me I do not know. As Robbie Burns (?) said, it is not given to us to see ourselves as others see us.
I have no idea who the person who commented on the blog was, and I am sorry they didn't enjoy their time with us. I am glad this person had no problems with me. I can guess what the rumours about me were, though I may be wrong. It is the fate of managers that people can go round slagging them off or spreading inaccurate rumours about things that have happened, but the manager is unable to give his or her side of the story because of confidentiality issues. As they say, it goes with the territory, so I have learned not to lose sleep over it.
If this person or anyone else feels I would benefit from having my awareness of my failings raised, please feel free to email me on paul@geos-ltc.com or paulclark42@yahoo.co.uk. I will read what you say with interest and do my best to take it on board, though I may not be able to reply fully for the reasons given above. (You can easily email me anonymously by setting up a bogus Hotmail or Yahoo account.)
Paul Clark, Principal GEOS-LTC
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