In the classroom - Teachers
teach 17/18 classes per week, which is seven different
groups of a maximum of 14 students, meeting two or three
times a week. The classes last an hour and twenty minutes
and students are expected to be speaking English for
the vast majority of their class time. Although classes
are offered from 7:30 in the morning until 9:00 in the
evening, teachers are not asked to teach a split shift
and the norm is to teach late afternoon/evening classes.
Out of the classroom - Aside
from the classroom time, teachers are expected to spend
adequate time planning their lessons - researching and/or
creating suitable supplementary materials. These lesson
plans are to be written up in case of sickness, etc.
Other duties include grading student's tests and assessing
student's spoken and written English.
During orientation week, amongst other
things, new teachers observe classes and are given a
Teacher's Manual. Teachers are expected to supplement
their classes with suitable communicative activities
(similar to what they would have seen during their peer
observation). Teachers are also expected to adhere to
the guidelines laid down in the Teacher's Manual.
Placement Tests - Once teachers
have become accustomed to the different courses available
they are trained for Placement Testing of prospective
students. Teachers conduct a short oral interview with
guidelines indicating the prospective student's level
from their written test score.
Saturday Duties - EF occasionally
organizes group activities for students which take place
on a Saturday. Teachers are occasionally asked
to supervise these activities, which last for about
2 hours.
