TEFLWatch Has Been Forked
Filed under: Information, Protect Yourself, View from the Watchtower
All good projects eventually get forked. If someone stops a project or abandons a project, there will always be someone there willing to take on the project, if the project is a good one. The change allows a group to take this project off in a new direction and it allows me to ensure that teachers are looked after.
The new project is called TEFL School Reviews. It is very much a work in progress and a lot more work needs to be done on it. Thankfully, it will not be work that I have to undertake.
The new project has already put up a forum, The TEFL School Reviews Forum. They were given a database cleaned of personally identifiable information and they are running that ship. They were also given access to the rate this school posts, ratings and comments. I’ve always made it clear that if something happened and I was unable to continue this site, for whatever reason, I would make sure the community could continue it. And that’s what I’ve done.
What lies ahead for TEFLWatch? I relish the opportunity to get my opinion out there on TEFL issues without being the spokesman for a TEFL blacklist site. I may come up with opinions that run counter to the new project and they may have some very negative opinions of me from time to time, but that is part of moving forward. Helping teachers in dealing with bad schools is a project much bigger and more important than I am.
Get Pesos
Currently, I am busy moving over some of the unique forum posts from the TEFLWatch Forums over to my new Get Pesos Forum. My goal is to move just about every pertinent post over to Get Pesos where the information can reside for as long as it needs to. This is good news to anyone interested in making sure that information stays available.
I am still not certain how I will classify a post as pertinent, but I guess I am the only one who can make that call at this stage. It should be good.
At The End Of A TEFL Career
I am saddened by news reports that I have been reading lately concerning former TEFL teachers ending up in bad situations. They invested years of their life in teaching and now are left penniless, without a pension and with very little hope for the future. Some have even resorted to suicide. It’s a very sad thing indeed.
It’s easy to say what they should have done to avoid the problems, but should have done is cold solace when you are at the end of a TEFL career. I wish there was something I could say or do, but about all I can come up with is to advise TEFL newbies to take a long hard look at the end of a TEFL career before they start in one.
Is There Life Still Left In The TEFLWatch Forums
After closing the headache that was the TEFLWatch Forums, I have been asked on a frequent basis if there was any way that I would restore the forums for teachers to share their experiences. I have mostly answered that I am unable and unwilling to restart the forums. The truth is simple, they caused a lot more problems than they were worth.
But lately, a couple of users have approached me about helping them start up a TEFLWatch type forum site. It is intriguing. I wouldn’t have a part in the new site, but I would be able to ensure that information got out there and that teachers would have access to the information they need.
Hmmm, maybe there still is life left in the TEFLWatch Forums????
Put The Pressure On Them
It’s tough sometimes to deal with an employer who has been less than honest with you. I know when I was teaching TEFL, I had to deal with more than a few employers who were less than honest. This made it very difficult to get a fair shake and led to me founding this site. It is still something I keep in mind all the time.
I am asked to give advice to teachers from time to time who have had problems with their employer. They might not be getting their salary or they might not be getting the things promised in their contract. I advise them to put the pressure on the schools. They should be unrelenting in their pressure until such time as the employer relents.