McEnglish for Academic Purposes
Well, here goes for another week at Global Education Inc. There are two more weeks of teaching, and another of marking. Bizarrely, we don't get paid for that final week of marking, but, we're now told, we had an extra couple of quid on the hourly rate - which should just about cover it, we're told.
There was a meeting with the MSU big cheeses last week. Another shoulder shrugging, nervous laughter affair. We established that there's something called "a zero hours contract" whereby you have a contract, but no guaranteed hours. Which sounds pretty ropey. Unfortunately, that's NOT what we're on, but what we might aspire to. We have no kind of contract at all, we're rented by the hour.
It was during the course of this meeting that any shreds of glamour attaching to working for MSU were blown away by the realization that as I push 50, a few months away from getting an MA in TESOL, and with ten years really good experience, I'm still just a TEFL tart, with no employment rights whatsoever. What a bloody barmy profession this is.
There was a meeting with the MSU big cheeses last week. Another shoulder shrugging, nervous laughter affair. We established that there's something called "a zero hours contract" whereby you have a contract, but no guaranteed hours. Which sounds pretty ropey. Unfortunately, that's NOT what we're on, but what we might aspire to. We have no kind of contract at all, we're rented by the hour.
It was during the course of this meeting that any shreds of glamour attaching to working for MSU were blown away by the realization that as I push 50, a few months away from getting an MA in TESOL, and with ten years really good experience, I'm still just a TEFL tart, with no employment rights whatsoever. What a bloody barmy profession this is.
Bloody barmy but occasionally glorious.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Despite my disillusionment, not to say bitterness, I can't picture myself doing anything else now.
ReplyDelete