[Connexions]

Here is an analysis of a business in Kobe, Japan. We have had various complaints regarding this business and we present a summary below:

(1) At interview Mr. Miller seemed calm and professional, but it is with regret that after having worked there for 2 months I feel compelled to write to you with concern regarding the professional conduct of Mr. Miller…Mr. Miller’s business, which he holds out to be a learning venue, is a genuinely cheap and shabby little place and a vehicle for his intolerable ego.

(2) The gap between the physical reality of Mr. Miller’s business and his over zealotry is the widest I have ever seen anywhere and at any time. I have found Mr. Miller to be least able of any I have encountered in terms of his daily conduct. Further his business certainly doesn’t resemble any place of learning that I could imagine.

(3) His remarkable personality issues do lend themselves to a lively lesson as he bizarrely dances around in his ill equipped, and cheaply furbished rooms. I was shocked to see him throw himself off his chair and onto the floor on one occasion while I observed how he would like his lessons to be conducted. The carpets are stained and noise travels around the small space often making teaching impossible. His administrative procedure is meaningless and badly designed. Mr. Miller does concede that it is all work in progress, however he has been in business for more than 6 years and still has less than 100 students. One could almost believe that his business is nothing more than a playground for his rampant ego. Resultantly, he is an elementally rude and arrogant individual who has absolutely no respect for those unfortunate enough to work in close proximity. It is actually very difficult to express his unsuitability to assess others.

(4)... doesn’t appropriately plan for lessons, preferring instead to go in with a hastily typed primer. He declares that his business is for those ‘who can think on their feet’. His business is an unhealthy cult of personality which unconvincingly pretends to be a constructive learning centre. His style completely defies the student centred lesson they should be given. There is no structure, no textbooks and no clear direction. Further his clearly ailing experiment creates unique and insoluble planning issues for anyone that tries to deliver a meaningful lesson. In summary these are as follows: he allows students to arrive for lessons without any pre-booking, so it is impossible to know how many students are coming. In addition students can arrive up to 15 minutes late so even when the lesson has begun the dynamic can change completely. The necessity to give students learning tasks while not having a central text means that many lessons are insufficiently resourced as a result of this complete lack of forewarning. Further, should planning take place prior to a lesson it is often completely wasted as students simply don’t come, and there is no way of knowing if this will happen. So few students regularly attend that lessons are often empty, however if they do come unexpectedly you are required to rush around photocopying materials during lesson – something that is strictly prohibited there.

(5)...there are prolonged periods of inactivity that Mr. Miller seems to think should be filled with a range of tasks that he has posted on the notice board, lesson planning not being among them. Unfortunately, this means that lesson planning or even something as fundamentally necessary as relaxing are very grey areas and are areas which he often exploits to his own ends. Another issue of concern is that students are absent from the school for months at a time and allowed to return at the same level they left without any level checking. Naturally when they return to take a challenging lesson at their former level they are unable to contribute at all.

(6) He is an interesting character but his demeanour is in general extremely problematical on an inter-personal level.