Shane English Schools, Japan and China

[dragon777]

Margy, you sound really young and inexperienced to be giving this kind of advice to people. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? How long have you been working in the ESL industry?

[Margy]

You want to know how old am I? Well, if you look at the title of this thread, you will realise it's not about how old or experienced I am. It's about Shane English Schools. So how about divert your discussion to the topic like I and others have.

Forums are about opinions. I didn't realise we needed to take a test in order to express ourselves here.

[dragon777]

Nothing is about how old you are Margy. It just sounds like you are sticking up for the enemy, that's all. From your answers you have experienced pain and dilemma in the ESL world as well. Why are you sticking up for big guys when you should be defending the little people?

[Margy]

We shouldn't stick-up for the little guys just because they are little. And also we shouldn't stick-up for the big guys just because they are big. We should stick up for who we feel is right - size should not play a role in this.

[dragon777]

True! But it won't get you any where! Not in the world of ESL. Do you know why? Just ask me???

[rooboy]

Well I worked for Shane for one year in Japan and found it OK so I want to defend it a bit based on my experience ( I know there are many varied experiences).

The basic pay is pretty much the same as anywhere else. If you are starting at a new school the pay is gonna be pretty standard anywhere. But I did lots of overtime at the school and got well paid for it.

Also I requested to work close to where I was living and they allowed me to work at a place a few minutes walk from my appartment for two days a week.

Another good thing about Shane are the holidays. You get a lot of days off. Much more than a regular company in Japan. Only problem is you can't choose when you want to take your holidays they are set out in the schools yearly schedule.

My main gripe with Shane was some of the scheduling. There were often many lessons in a row with no break.

A good thing is the variety of classes - I was teaching business english, doing culture classes, teaching privates and a whole range of kids and adult classes. ( Although this variety and some tight scheduling made planning lessons hard and caused some stress initially)

Anyway Im now back in Australia and I miss my time at Shane and think back to that time fondly.

[exported_kiwi]

Ummmmm, since when did age count here?If someone has experience in a place, as most here do, then it's that which counts. Being pedantic about age isn't the way to get the info you need either. Somebody may well be only 22 yrs old but has worked in a certain palce for a few years, which gives that person knowledge, and it's this what counts! Also, without sounding smug or arrogant I hope, if you look at Margysa ID, you'll see that she's posted a few posts now and is rated as a guru here.......sometimes if you read all that's written, you'll get the information you need without belittling either yourself, or someone else.
Just my 2 cents worth,peace y'all!

[Liam67]

I have recently left my job with Shane English Schools Japan. I was working in Chiba Prefecture, and although it is my first ESL Job and I was admittedly very naive in accepting the first job offer in Japan I got, i have to say that I was totally disgusted at the way I was treated.

The management structure of the company is an absolute joke, with a non-existent cover system that not only means that teachers have to work their days off, but also that the teacher who has called in sick then has to call said teacher in person to tell them they are working, which of course further damages the already pitifully low staff morale.

The textbooks in the schools are falling to pieces, as are some of the schools themselves.
Before signing up, in the highly deceptive and, I believe potentially illegal, sales pitch we are given about all the bonuses we can earn, they neglect to mention that said bonuses are infact impossible to earn.

Then there's the exorbitant fees for apartments which are usually in the middle of nowhere, I had to walk 25 minutes to the nearest train station. The only redeeming features of my time there were the very helpful and friendly Japanese school staff I worked with and also the students themselves. Of course they are the biggest losers in all of this as they have no idea how much they are being ripped off.

So in short, do not go near Shane Japan, they are a cowboy outfit and if things continue the way they are going, they won't be around much longer.

[thai fox]

Originally Posted by suggs

DO NOT TOUCH SHANE WITH A BARGE POLE!

I work for Shane in Japan and without a doubt they are a bunch of cowboys who ride their staff for every yen that they can get. They basically employ every single trick in the eikaiwa handbook of skanking your teachers. Some highlights include-

Overcharging on their apartments by up to 25,000 yen (250 dollars) per month.

Schools up to 2 hours away. This includes claiming that commutes over 1 and a quater hours away are paid over time yet only including time spent RIDING trains - discounting getting to/ from stations and waiting on platforms - inshort, no overtime payments.

Not employing cover teachers and expecting staff to cover on their days off. This is combined with a hideously complicated overtime system which allows people to work all but three or four days a month and not recieve any overtime.

Sending people to schools 2 hours from their homes and not paying time spent not teaching (because of course, you can pop home on a ninty minute gap between lessons.)

Up to six hours of teaching daily with only 30 mins paid prep time.

A (personally) highly misleading recruitment policy - I was told a lot of things that turned out to be different when I arrived in Japan - but then again, if they told the truth, nobody would work for them.

Rock bottom staff morale - they are heamorraging teachers. People regularly disappear the day after pay day (if you give due notice, they will of course take every yen they can any way they can) and in some areas there is a staff turnover of 20 percent PER MONTH. They are heamorraging teachers because they offer the worst working conditions in Japan - you are better off working for NOVA!

I also worked for Shane Schools in Nagoya, Japan. I have to totally agree with the above post. The manager of the Nagoya branch exhibited the most incompetence that I have ever come across (and that really is saying something since I have been in the teaching business for some years). The recruitment of the company is VERY misleading, to the point of out and out lies. To any potential teachers out there............BEWARE!!!!!!!

[Ace]

If you ask me, making the sick person call their replacement is a good idea - I would definitely only call in sick if I was really sick if I knew that I was the one who was going to have to tell someone else they had to work on their day off. It makes people take accountability for their actions.

However if someone called me on my day off and tried to get me to work, I would most likely say no, unless it was a friend or someone I owed a favor to.