Cornered - the Experiences of Freelance Business English Teachers in Europe

Sheila Vine Valentina Dodge

Sheila Vine is based in Germany and Valentina Dodge in Italy.

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Introduction
The shape of the freelance Business English teacher
Partners?
Cutting out the negotiator
Some replies

The freelance English language teacher in many European countries is in a difficult position. Where the number of freelance teachers is very high, as in Germany and also many other European countries, the language 'schools' or agencies have access to many teachers. Companies who instruct the language agencies, also have many agencies to choose from, all of whom are fighting for the available work. This can result in the DOS (Director of Studies) of an agency making promises to a company that may never be conveyed to the teacher or have never actually been discussed with the student.

It is a similar situation when a company looks for temporary office staff through an agency in the UK, the agency will always say they have a perfectly qualified person, but in fact they will send whoever is available. In a similar way, the language agency will say of course it has a native speaker experienced in accountancy or personnel, or someone who does not speak the students L1 but is experienced in marketing and also a trained teacher. In reality how many of these people exist, never mind actually available to teach. This can result in the teacher going into the situation unprepared, and the principled teacher, whose teaching is as the result of conscious and informed decisions, Gabrielatos, C.¹ is literally cornered. He or she is in front of a group of students trying to teach one thing, when what they were expecting is something else. The teacher may also be pretending to be someone he/she is not.

The following elements were established in our analysis of how jobs are found, contracted, and carried out in the freelance Business English field in Europe.

Element one: the "Director of Studies" (DOS) (the initial contact person) - main decision-maker on length/cost/time schedule
- concentrates on the profit motive
- a negotiator and bargain maker
- often not a trained teacher
- wants the course to continue as long as possible while the company is paying

Element two: the principled teacher (the tool)
- should be involved at the needs analysis stage to tailor the course to a particular company
- applies experience and knowledge of language field e.g. suitable books or course material
- often prepares own material
- needs to make optimal use of working time available
- builds a relationship with the student

Element three the student (the target)
- has external motivation (company expectations)
- internal motivation (own interest and wish to do job better)
- needs a relationship with the teacher and a fun and relevant class
- expects teacher to be the expert
- does not want to waste his time as he is often being trained in his own free time

Element four: the company (the moneyman)
- pays for course
- determines participation by selecting employees to be trained
- expects DOS to be the expert and provide experts
- can be easily swayed by the DOS into a certain course of action
- wants the students to be trained as economically and efficiently as possible

On first sight these look like four equal partners each with an equal stake in the development of the course, however in reality the teacher is powerless because of lack of communication and knowledge about the company and the student's expectations. Teachers know only as much as the DOS is prepared to reveal, and the teacher's interests do not lie completely in parallel with those of the DOS.

The teacher's first-hand knowledge of the students' needs will ensure interest and motivation. His or her experience and motivation will ensure the success but if his/her degree of dissatisfaction with the circumstances is high, this reduces motivation.

The company's demands should be respected; they are the true end customer they pay for the course.

The students' language audit or needs analysis gives their ability level but their motivation depends on the relevance of the content and trust in the teacher.

DOS's limited or incorrect knowledge of the student's needs and focus on monetary gains immediately distorts the balance.

It is possible to liken this concept to Grabielatos' ²model where he proposes the equilateral triangle as a metaphor for the benefits of well- balanced development; he cites personality, methodology, and language as the harmonious elements depicting a teacher's effectiveness. When the three elements of personality, methodology, and language knowledge are utilised to their full capacity there is the maximum effect. If one element is, more or less developed, then overall effectiveness is reduced.

We have four stakeholders in the learning process so we can take the square as our model. In our new square model, each side represents a stakeholder in this process. Maximum effectiveness occurs if all stakeholders are equally involved in planning and communication. However if one stakeholder is withholding information or actually lying to other stakeholders then the square goes out of shape and the effectiveness of the teacher is reduced, as it impossible for a good learning situation to develop.

Naturally, the DOS is in a difficult position. If the teacher creates the warm and engaging relationship that is healthy and encourages learning, then there is always the risk that the company representative may wish to start 'transacting' directly with the teacher in the future, "cutting out the middleman" and saving the company money. (This is why many agencies do not allow the teacher to communicate directly with the training department.) The only equitable way to avoid this is for the DOS to offer a fair share of the lesson price and legal contracts to the teacher; this will of course entail a reduction in the agency's profit margin. The DOS must take a more honest approach to discussions with both both teachers and training departments. Alternatively, they risk being cut out of the transaction all together as happened in the example below.

"24hours - English for busy People" was set up by a partnership, over ten years ago, in the south of Italy. Its purpose was to provide a more accurate and tailor made service for local business clients in the Campania region. The main drive behind this choice was to avoid the points listed above and 24hours, a small co-run company was able to "cut out the middleman" and negotiate directly with companies and carry out a detailed needs analysis and meet those needs by offering a specialized service.

The packages they offer to managers of local enterprises (for example the Port of Salerno), require great flexibility, as timetabled lessons can start very early in the day, and lunchtime slots are the most popular. In addition, the partners have had to enhance their knowledge of the specific field as well as English for Business. The enterprise has been successful and the experience has been highly motivating because the receipts relate directly to the work input.

When teachers have a financial stake in the business and are treated as an important commodity, customized lesson planning can be included in the contractual arrangements and the teacher will then receive a reward commensurate with the effort expended. A satisfied teacher is a motivating teacher because they can feel good about themselves and the job they are doing and this enhances the learning situation.

In Gabrielatos' article on principled teachers, he talks about principled teaching being the result of conscious and informed decisions. Of course, he is talking about decisions about methodologies, but this is also true with regard to other decisions teachers have to make. They need information, training, and trust from their employers to do a good job. Teachers are in general principled people; however, they are often working without the trust and support of their employers

Just as a final piece of evidence, here are some emails ³ written to a teachers Yahoo group in March 2005, which talk of the life of an EFL teacher.

'Don't forget that a great many teachers work for such irresponsible money-grabbing organisations that they are not in much of a position to treat the job that seriously (or at least get zero support from their employers). '

Reply 1 'the cowboyism was certainly prevalent in private language schools 20 years ago or more….. I can't say if it was better or worse than now as I haven't worked in one since around 1980, thank goodness.'

>Reply 2
'most of the larger language schools rely on the fact that there is no union, so they can set the wages very low. I think that many of these schools regard the teachers as the lowest rung on the ladder and refuse to offer proper contracts and decent hourly rates. There is a very much "divide and conquer" mentality in the TEFL world, and many teachers are even restricted contractually from speaking about their own employment. In my opinion, TEFL teachers in Germany are low paid and exploited. The perception of some students is that we get paid very well because they have spent enormous amounts of money on their courses. In a country were unions are quite powerful and workers rights are well respected this is unacceptable,

This situation is negative for all concerned ad until it can be resolved, freelancers in our profession will not be respected, and students will lose out. Who should control this, in reality this sort of situation cannot be left to the market to resolve, some input from government may be necessary.

Notes

¹Gabrielatos,C.( 2000-2002 ) Shopping at the ELT Supermarket, Principled Decisions and Practices
² Gabrielatos,C.( 2002 ) The shape of the language teacher
³ Emails from Yahoo group, writers name removed for privacy reasons

Please check the Certificate in Teaching English to Business People course at Pilgrims website.