Waiting in the office with no classes

[clarky cat]

Why is this done?

 

Told to wait until 4-5pm with nothing to do, whilst Thai teachers go home early, yet they make a fuss if their spy informs them you've left early

 

What's the logic behind this? especially end of term when students have already finished and there is no work to do.

 

 

[Swimfan]

I think it’s called racism 

[Odysseus123]

11 minutes ago, Swimfan said:

I think it’s called racism 

I think it's called "Us against them" which may,or may not be, racism.

 

Either way I would never be employed by a Thai as their top down approach generally is..

 

"If I look down I see smiling heads and If I look up I see only rectums.."

 

Which is about the only thing you really need to know about Thai culture.

[BritManToo]

50 minutes ago, clarky cat said:

Told to wait until 4-5pm with nothing to do, whilst Thai teachers go home early, yet they make a fuss if their spy informs them you've left early

If you're desperate for the job you obey, if you're not you go home, and let them do what they want.

I've never been a good employee, never wanted the job that much.

[fruitman]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If you're desperate for the job you obey, if you're not you go home, and let them do what they want.

I've never been a good employee, never wanted the job that much.

I've had IT-jobs where all the talented guys had to sit in a library , their suitcases on the desks and their head in the open suitcase while they all were asleep. We had to wait there untill the IT-company could place us (we were consultants) at a customer, for months in row.

 

When i asked if i could go home because i didn't want to spend my days like that and would rather study at home they sacked me. 

[FritsSikkink]

Are you getting paid for these hours?

[FritsSikkink]

3 minutes ago, fruitman said:

When i asked if i could go home because i didn't want to spend my days like that and would rather study at home they sacked me. 

Rightfully so.

[fruitman]

Just now, FritsSikkink said:

Rightfully so.

So you think it's good to let the most talented newly graduated IT-professionals do nothing all day long ? 

[scorecard]

6 minutes ago, fruitman said:

So you think it's good to let the most talented newly graduated IT-professionals do nothing all day long ? 

Are you employed in the IT field, or teaching IT, or teaching English, or?

 

[scorecard]

What might be part of the picture is a previous of a farang(s) who proved unreliable, had poor attendance / time keeping and therefore mpoloyer has concerns about all farang on these points. 

 

I'm guessing other employers have had bad experiences like this, I certainly did. 

[Odysseus123]

9 minutes ago, scorecard said:

What might be part of the picture is a previous of a farang(s) who proved unreliable, had poor attendance / time keeping and therefore mpoloyer has concerns about all farang on these points. 

 

I'm guessing other employers have had bad experiences like this, I certainly did. 

Strange stuff...

[Puchaiyank]

Seems like a fair question.  Why don't you ask them?

[thequietman]

On Saturday, go to the local computer repair store. Buy the shell of a laptop ( has keyboard & screed, but nothing works) for a few hundred baht.

 

Also take a jacket to school. Put jacket on back of chair, open laptop on desk and add some books and paper. Go home.

 

All they want to see is something that indicates that you might be still there, but out of the office briefly. It works. ????

 

When you come in the next day, remove laptop and then replace again when you are ready to go home. ????

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, fruitman said:

So you think it's good to let the most talented newly graduated IT-professionals do nothing all day long ? 

No, you should study at work.

[FritsSikkink]

5 minutes ago, thequietman said:

On Saturday, go to the local computer repair store. Buy the shell of a laptop ( has keyboard & screed, but nothing works) for a few hundred baht.

 

Also take a jacket to school. Put jacket on back of chair, open laptop on desk and add some books and paper. Go home.

 

All they want to see is something that indicates that you might be still there, but out of the office briefly. It works. ????

 

When you come in the next day, remove laptop and then replace again when you are ready to go home. ????

Pff and people complain that Thais are lazy.

[thequietman]

3 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Pff and people complain that Thais are lazy.

They ain't got nuttin on me! ????

[thequietman]

5 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Pff and people complain that Thais are lazy.

Not being lazy, just using my time more constructively elsewhere.

 

If they want you to sit at a desk "just because" and give you nothing to do, then alternate arrangements need to be made, that keep the plebs and you, happy.

 

It's called initiative. ????

[ChipButty]

More fool you for sitting there

[fruitman]

18 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

No, you should study at work.

Studying behind a crappy desk 8 hours in row doesn't work, better study at home in relaxed clothes instead of a suit. And taking a break when you like, people can concentrate much better after that.

 

But we were already graduated and just waiting for a customer.

[from the home of CC]

22 minutes ago, thequietman said:

On Saturday, go to the local computer repair store. Buy the shell of a laptop ( has keyboard & screed, but nothing works) for a few hundred baht.

 

Also take a jacket to school. Put jacket on back of chair, open laptop on desk and add some books and paper. Go home.

 

All they want to see is something that indicates that you might be still there, but out of the office briefly. It works. ????

 

When you come in the next day, remove laptop and then replace again when you are ready to go home. ????

hence the scrutiny..

[puchooay]

4 hours ago, Swimfan said:

I think it’s called racism 

That must be the funniest  saddest comment I have seen on TV for many years.

 

All teachers will have been told to stay until the same time. The difference is that most Thai teachers are employed by the government and thus cannot be fired by anyone at the school, not even the director. Any dismissal proceedings will take forever and thus are rarely gone into.

 

Foreign teachers are hired directly by the school and can therefore be sacked by the director at the drop of a hat. The OP has the same choice as the rest of the teachers. Stay and face no consequences or leave and risk it. The only difference is the level of risk is higher for those employed directly by the school. Many schools will have some direct hire Thai teachers and some student teachers from the local Rajaphat. The same rules will apply to these teachers as they do to the foreigners. Hence, you are likely to see at least a few teachers knocking about the school until the official leaving time.

[Number 6]

9 hours ago, BritManToo said:

If you're desperate for the job you obey, if you're not you go home, and let them do what they want.

I've never been a good employee, never wanted the job that much.

 

This is just a horrible attitude for a teacher. It's obviously just A JOB. Pity the students, I really do.

 

Or do the right thing and find a new job because you're unhappy with the requirements. But if you've never had a job with responsibilities and understand the person that pays you sets the rules then just be threatening and leave.

 

Next post will be: my employer fired me after three years of great service (lol), how can I sue?

[Number 6]

8 hours ago, thequietman said:

Not being lazy, just using my time more constructively elsewhere.

 

If they want you to sit at a desk "just because" and give you nothing to do, then alternate arrangements need to be made, that keep the plebs and you, happy.

 

It's called initiative. ????

 

It's entirety obvious you care nothing about teaching, your students or the school.

 

Yes, but you're drawing a salary. You don't have the right to be elsewhere. Thai teachers just leave mid day or early?

 

The plebs? You're the pleb. They are paying you some paltry salary. You accept the wage knowing it's what you're worth. What a narcissist. If you're in school as little as possible and out using your time *more constructively* how are you becoming better at what you do? Answer: you're not.

 

I suspect with that attitude you've not done much of anything constructive in your life. You don't seem to know the difference between salaried and hourly employee responsibilities. Hunch is you've never been a salaried employee until now

 

It's almost trollish but I know you seriously don't care.

 

[Scott]

My work was primarily in the administrative area and I supervised a large number of teachers at several schools.   Years ago, the director of the school was easy to work with and she had the authority to release the teachers at the end of the year when I recommended it.   I simply told them that if all paperwork --lesson plans, evaluations, tests and grades were submitted -- they were done for the year.   That had to be from all teachers.   My life was much easier if they worked hard, got everything done and were gone.   No one bothered me as I got report cards ready and finished up other necessary work.

Then the owner of the schools got involved and started deciding when foreign & Thai teachers would be released.   Foreign teachers get a better deal and a released about a week before Thai teachers, but they are still left with virtually nothing to do for about a week.   A few just drag out finishing the grading, which makes my life more difficult.  

It's a management type of thing and they are paying, so they have the right to keep teachers on the premise.  Some have a store of movies they watch, a few have a book to read, and others just sit around talking.   It's demoralizing, but that's the way it goes.  

[Number 6]

To the OP

 

Nothing to do? Sounds like a great time to plan your next year, tighten up those lessons that weren't 100% on the money, read something related to your avowed *profession*, see if any students need additional assistance, ask your HoD if there's something you can help with. Become better at MS Office. Organize the paper in around your desk. Ask to see if new boioks are coming in assuming you are powerless and wouldn't know. Dig in. Explore Educational technology. Teach yourself to write a better learning objective. Find new resources for whichever skills you *teach*.

 

When you read r/teachers on Reddit or teachers blogs the constant refrain is never enough time in the day, week, year. Yet, here you sit with no idea of what to do. I'm constantly busy and have never been bored of my job going on seven years. I work with a few teachers that cannot leave fast enough.

 

If you are not training yourself up and doing the same thing day in and day out. You will not be a better teacher merely through time, your doing the same thing in the same sad little school. You are arguably becoming a worse teacher as time goes by. No personal growth, increased responsibility.

 

What if they offered to let you go but without pay?

 

Clean the office.

[Scott]

3 hours ago, Number 6 said:

To the OP

 

Nothing to do? Sounds like a great time to plan your next year, tighten up those lessons that weren't 100% on the money, read something related to your avowed *profession*, see if any students need additional assistance, ask your HoD if there's something you can help with. Become better at MS Office. Organize the paper in around your desk. Ask to see if new boioks are coming in assuming you are powerless and wouldn't know. Dig in. Explore Educational technology. Teach yourself to write a better learning objective. Find new resources for whichever skills you *teach*.

 

When you read r/teachers on Reddit or teachers blogs the constant refrain is never enough time in the day, week, year. Yet, here you sit with no idea of what to do. I'm constantly busy and have never been bored of my job going on seven years. I work with a few teachers that cannot leave fast enough.

 

If you are not training yourself up and doing the same thing day in and day out. You will not be a better teacher merely through time, your doing the same thing in the same sad little school. You are arguably becoming a worse teacher as time goes by. No personal growth, increased responsibility.

 

What if they offered to let you go but without pay?

 

Clean the office.

The problem for the staff I supervised was that for the upcoming year they had no idea what subject/classes they will teaching.   They also don't know what books will be ordered for the upcoming year.  

 

If you are lucky enough to work in a positive environment, it makes some of the nonsense a little easier, but when teachers get burned by doing senseless tasks, they tend to get intransigent .  One year, the teachers were told to do worksheets for the upcoming year.   Once they had finished preparing them, they were told that because of the cost of copying, they could not use worksheets.  

 

I tried to schedule some training sessions, using teachers that had expertise in various areas to provide training sessions.   These were generally well received, but again, we'd book a large enough room, everyone would show up only to be told we can't use that room.   So, a presentation which required a screen was no longer available and we were relegated to an outside canteen without even a microphone.  

 

Some teachers were better at dealing with the situation than others.   They were quite happy to show up and collect pay for doing little or nothing.   Others were more negative.  

 

[new2here]

7 hours ago, Scott said:

My work was primarily in the administrative area and I supervised a large number of teachers at several schools.   Years ago, the director of the school was easy to work with and she had the authority to release the teachers at the end of the year when I recommended it.   I simply told them that if all paperwork --lesson plans, evaluations, tests and grades were submitted -- they were done for the year.   That had to be from all teachers.   My life was much easier if they worked hard, got everything done and were gone.   No one bothered me as I got report cards ready and finished up other necessary work.

Then the owner of the schools got involved and started deciding when foreign & Thai teachers would be released.   Foreign teachers get a better deal and a released about a week before Thai teachers, but they are still left with virtually nothing to do for about a week.   A few just drag out finishing the grading, which makes my life more difficult.  

It's a management type of thing and they are paying, so they have the right to keep teachers on the premise.  Some have a store of movies they watch, a few have a book to read, and others just sit around talking.   It's demoralizing, but that's the way it goes.  

I agree. While I am at the university level where this issue is, as far as I know, isn’t very prevalent, I have seen it first hand at several larger government schools, including a Satit that I am familiar with.

 

i think some of it is repercussions due to a minority of former teachers who, essentially abused the free-in, free-out policy that was previously in place... so now everyone pays the price for it, by a strict set in and out time.  
 

But I do agree with Scott in that the management style is a big, if not the biggest part... while I’m at the university level, we have had cases of foreign instructors (all on contracts) who’ve left early (meaning didn’t fulfill their required/posted office hour days/times)..  but.. in those cases, the issue was dealt with by one of the Associate Deans, and only with the offending teachers... they were given warnings and anyone who continued to do so either was put into the discipline process or made to “sign in/out” at the main office daily... everyone else who was doing right, was left alone...  so rather than a one-size-fits-all solution, it was only imposed on those who didn’t comply.. 

 

so, I agree that management style plays a big role in how issues are dealt with. I think a good management style knows when uniformity is the best course of action and when individualized actions are more appropriate.

[Snackbar]

Lots of MOCC’s to occupy office attendance regimes.

 

[sead]

17 hours ago, fruitman said:

So you think it's good to let the most talented newly graduated IT-professionals do nothing all day long ? 

Well this professional could go online and learn something more about his   speaciality....... Be productive.  Show that work is work

[SiSePuede419]

Ahhh, so what?

 

I had a job six weeks had no work to do.

 

Spent the time reading Technical books on related subject and then googling things to make it look like my search history was work related.

 

Boring, but it paid the same as actual work.

 

It's all good. ????