Avoid this nightmare - Anonymous employee Jadeclass Employee Review

1.0
18 Mar 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pay is on time. That's it.

Cons

The worst of the worst of Chinese run and lead ed biz nonsense. 1. Let's start with the Singaporean dictator that runs the place, can't teach, can't lead, and the kids find boring and useless. I've worked in three schools with Singaporean leaders in three countries and they are all the same; tyrants validating the Peter Principle while thinking they are God's gift to the world. 2. Then we move to the people who work with foreign teachers who lie through their teeth. 3. Their curriculum developer lead is completely inept and when you bring up problems with their "curriculum" (which appears to be designed by fools), you get bullied and gaslighted. 4. The rooms are anti-septic, sterile, and do nothing to help education. 5. Teachers get NO time off for lunch or a place to each. Enjoy doing it in your jail cell . . . I mean classroom. 5. Enjoy being on camera from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. 6. Stray off a little being a professional educator and the higher ups will have conniption fits. 7. Local staff is beyond useless. They are only there to spy on and report on the foreigners, barely speak even basic English, and act as if asking them is a burdensome annoyance while doing it means the foreigner owes them something. 8. Parents do nothing but complain and, since it's a business, they are always right and the foreigner is in a constant state of self-defense. Don't worry, those that run the show won't listen to you. They get the complaint, look for evidence to back it up, then give it to the teacher with both barrels. 9: Communication is terrible. . .worse than most places educational sweatshops in China. 10: Students are spoiled that do very little work, expect high marks, then complain when they don't get it. Again, the company will hang the teacher out the drive. 11. If you like polishing a chair with your backside, you'll love it here, because you will do that a lot most of the time. If you keep up the appearance of doing work, they might leave you alone, or they might burden you with more work. 12. I hope you enjoy working nine hours a day on weeks with a one hour (well, make that 45 minute) lunch. And if they provide lunch, it will be barely enough to fill a cavity. If you have dietary restrictions, they don't care. 13. Turnover is insane and the leaders don't seems to understand people don't leave jobs, they leave supervisors. 14. Shanghai superior attitude is everywhere. You, as a foreigner, are beneath them. And they will make you know they don't care about you after about a week. 15: Don't help with housing. Don't have housing reimbursements or subsidies, don't care if you live in a box under a bridge. 16: There will be a foreign head teacher. When I was there, he was useless, incompetent, a terrible teacher (but the fact each class has a set curriculum, he didn't have to think or improvise), and was nothing more than an ax-handle polisher and water-carrier for the hostile leadership. Teachers

Explore other reviews about Jadeclass

4.0
1 Nov 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good students, well planned lessons, no requirements to do anything outside of regular work hours.

Cons

Very basic office, not even a break room, no team building.

5.0
27 Nov 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I work as an English teacher at the Shanghai office. I teach mostly in-person classes (maximum 6 students) and occasionally online. One of the best things about working here is the organized teaching material. Every class runs for around 17 classes, and each lesson is already fully prepared with teaching materials. As a teacher, you just need to check the materials, make sure you understand it, and you’re ready to teach! The classes cover interesting topics (eg. Creative Writing, World History, Shakespeare) so it’s nice having discussions in the classroom. The students are awesome. The company does a great job admitting students (students will be turned away if their English/academic skills aren’t good enough) and students are carefully placed into suitable classes. I’ve never found myself in a situation where a student has no idea what’s going on, as can happen at some training centers. Since most of the students come from bilingual and international schools (and have been selected based on ability), the level of English is very high. As a teacher, you don’t teach basic ESL, and are never asked to sing, dance, or overly-praise students. In fact, you can be quite strict as a teacher, and if a student is underperforming, parents will be informed (they don’t want to be pandered to, they’d rather know the truth). I think this company is suitable for teachers who want to take a professional and academic approach to teaching. Teaching is done on Saturdays and Sundays, and occasionally Friday nights. During the summer, the schedule switches to Monday, Wednesday, Friday teaching (with weekends off). Away from teaching, the rest of your time is spent in the office, usually grading or developing/updating materials. A lot of the homework is graded by a separate team (the “Grading Department”), but usually foreign teachers need to grade the higher-level essays from the classes they teach. It’s quite a small office, and there can be opportunities to get involved with the company outside of teaching. Finally, the pay is very good! It’s always been on-time.

Cons

Not so much a negative, but just be aware the company doesn’t have the same level of support services compared with big companies like EF. For example, if you’re new to China the school will introduce you to some housing agents, give advice etc., but ultimately, it’s down to you to organize your living arrangements and life outside of work. That being said the company will do their best to help you with any problems/issues you may have.

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