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Working conditions vary from one situation to another, and
so the following is only a guide to what is typical. The
majority of the English Language schools in Greece are small
and privately owned. The pupils attend the local state
school in the morning, and so the English schools operate in
the afternoon and evening. Most schools employ only two or
three teachers and have one or two hundred pupils.
Attendance at such a school is the norm for children from
all kinds of social backgrounds. They usually begin at the
age of eight, and continue until they are at least fifteen.
You would not normally expect to teach the youngest
children, unless you happen to speak Greek, but you might
teach children of ten upwards. Classes last for one or
sometimes two hours, and for the older pupils there is a
strong orientation towards exams such as the Cambridge FCE
and CPE. Depending on their age and level, most classes have
lessons for a total of three or four hours per week, so you
would be teaching several different classes. For most of
your classes, you will be their main teacher, but they will
usually also have one or two hours per week with a Greek
teacher, mainly for grammar.
Most of the children are enthusiastic learners and classes
are usually reasonably small, with perhaps ten or twelve
members, so conditions are good, and discipline is not
usually a problem. However. like teenagers everywhere, our
students can sometimes be boisterous, and so you will need
classroom management skills. You can expect to work with a
high standard of materials and equipment.
Hours of work are normally between three and ten p.m. Monday
to Friday. Some schools also have classes in the mornings,
especially the larger schools in the big cities, which cater
for older students, and it is possible that you might be
required to work on Saturdays. You would normally teach for
about twenty-five hours per week. Even if your teaching
hours are less than twenty-five, this is normally the
guaranteed minimum for which you will be paid.
In addition to the hours spent teaching, you will also have
to spend the proportionate amount of time planning lessons
and correcting written work. This varies according to the
kind of teaching, but we generally estimate that 25 hours
teaching equates to a total working week of 40 hours.
You won't generally need to create your own materials, as
each class will be working with a course book that provides
all the activities and exercises for the lessons. The bulk
of your preparation will consist of studying the materials
in the course book and the accompanying teacher's guide, and
planning how to do the lesson according to the needs of each
group of students. You may also like to create your own
supplementary materials occasionally, and in many schools
you will be required to devise additional exercises, such as
vocabulary quizzes based on the course book.
Classrooms are equipped with cassette recorders and videos,
and about half of the schools use computers. Most schools
have a secretary, and facilities are available for
photocopying.
Contracts generally run from September to June. If you
decide to stay in Greece, your experience will be a valuable
asset, and we will find you a new position in the location
of your choice.
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