Oxford Study Centre : DOS's response

[eliotwright]

I would like to say a few words about Oxford Study Centre in response to negative opinions posted on this website. I am currently the DELTA qualified DoS with ten years experience in the EFL profession in a variety of schools and countries. I have worked at OSC for 2 years now.

First, I would like to state that no job is perfect and that there are always some procedures, rules and systems that we as employees may not see eye to eye with but accept because they are necessary for the running of the school/business. I do not want to paint a picture that there have not been some problems, misunderstandings and other difficulties in this school’s 13 year history but then tell me of a large organization involving so many people which has not. However, I seriously believe that the positive points I will mention below outweigh the rather vindictive comments that appear on this website from time to time.

Teachers get more professional support and help here than at any other school I have worked for. There is always an experienced line manager available to offer help, guidance and sometimes just a person to off load any stresses you may have about teaching, classes, students etc. All teachers have their own professional development plan and this helps to improve them as EFL professionals and will immensely help him/her when he/she comes to looking for future employment and maybe a move up into management. There are weekly training sessions as well as an observation procedure. I personally feel that I have seen teachers develop rapidly in what is the short time of 1 academic year.

A few comments have been that teachers work harder here than at other schools. If you are a teacher who wants to arrive at school, pick up the books and go in and teach with only 20 minutes of preparation then I understand that this is not the school for you. However, if you genuinely care about providing good quality lessons and professional education for Polish people then we are. Teachers are required to be on site at 13.30 but all teachers finish at 19.00 at least once a week and usually twice. The time before 15.45 (the first lesson) is spent for preparation, meetings with the 3 DELTA-qualified managers, liaison with colleagues, professional development etc etc.

For native speakers the package here (for Poland) is impressive especially when you consider that some teachers are fairly new to the profession. I know the EFL market pretty well here in Poland and I know for a fact that the all round package here of salary, flat, flights, bonuses, paid holidays, overtime pay etc compares favourably with many other language schools. This is even more apparent when you consider the fact that Radom is one of the cheapest cities to live in in Poland. As well as that, for native speakers who lack the language (like me) the help offered by the owner of the school and the always helpful secretaries is greatly appreciated. They are always happy to find out information and help you in all those difficult areas that we as foreigners experience when living abroad.

My last point is that I have never worked at a school which cares so much for its students. All of our efforts are aimed at improving our learners abilities and consequently this can be very rewarding for the teacher when he she receives positive feedback from a student, a parent or a manager here at the school.

So to finish, yes I agree OSC is a fairly demanding school to work for and there are others which will expect less from their teachers but if you are serious about teaching and your future within the profession this is a very good school to be at and one in which you will get all the support and help in both your professional and private life

[bearcat]

Eliot,

You state that you are responding to issues raised by other posters on here about the center.

This is the post I found concerning the center:

Originally Posted by abba2006

This school is not one you want to take a job at!

They treat their native speaking teachers like prisoners, and at best like petulant children. They give you one contract before you arrive, but then present you with a second agreement after you arrive that includes all sorts of stipulations not included in the original agreement.

For example, you are required to have the school cleaning lady clean your apartment and she also reports back EVERYTHING to the school director. A teacher this year was planning on leaving and the director found out because the cleaning lady told her that she had found packed boxes in the teachers apartment. (The teacher had purposely put the boxes in a hiding place to avoid this situation) If you call in sick you are forced to go to the doctor with the head teacher (the director's daughter) so you basically have no privacy in regard to your health. You also have to rely on the translation abilities of your mandatory doctor office escort, and this should not give you peace of mind that your medical concerns are being adequately conveyed. There is also no personal privacy observed in the work place. The director freely divulges personal information about employees to other employees. One teacher was having personal problems and the director told other members of the staff that the teacher was having mental problems and had been offered psychological assistance. In the case of any disagreement, Threats are commonly used as a way of controlling and manipulating employees.

The school also advertises itself as being affiliated with Oxford Study Centre in Oxford, England. This is not the case as the affiliation was dropped a number of years ago. The entire native speaker teaching staff quits year after year after year.

Beware! I would strongly recommend that teachers looking for work avoid this employer at all costs.

Unless I am mistaken, you did not actually respond to any claim made by this person. Instead you spoke of unrelated points.

[polska]

just googled my old school and pleased to see this is the first link that appeared, I completely agree with abba, avoid at all costs, there are a million schools to choose from, so why not choose a normal non exploitative one. incidentally, good legal advice would get you your money back if you're willing to follow it through (any fellow ripped off teachers!)