Avantages

They are trying to help teach English to people who can't usually afford it. Wonderful idea on paper, but is this really the goal? Is Gustavo genuine?

Inconvénients

Lack of communication. They are overly aware of the high turnover of teachers and I feel this leads to a severe lack of compassion

Conseils à la direction

Treat the teachers as human beings who are drastically out of their comfort zones as they come to a foreign country to try and make a difference, as they are.

Avantages

The students are wonderful. The other staff members who are from around the world too are wonderful people.

Inconvénients

Practically everything. I arrived thinking I was going to help at a social business and cotnribute to improving Brazilian education. Instead I feel like i've been duped and this terrible organization should be on a watchdog TV programme. CENTRAL OFFICE/ADMIN STAFF: -Any interaction with the Central Office is a painful procedure. Dickensian. It's meant to be a social business and they laud it up in one of the most expensive parts of the city. They also never visit the staff they're meant to be managing. -Horrible timetabling. No breaks between lessons. Concerns about this met with "we'll deal with it later". This organization is 6 years old and apparently no one imagined breaks between lessons, even of 5 minutes, might help! -No professional development. Lady in charge more concerned with posting pictures of her dog on instagram. -Contract was late and incorrect. No English version provided for reference. -They developed an app, but this was untested and completely broken. Yet we were constantly told to use it. Constantly received conflicting information about its functionality. Deflected when asking about it too, often rudely. New methodology they used meant NO students were evaulated properly for 4 MONTHS. -Management refuse to accept responsability for their failings. Every request for help or problem brought was treated as if it we wanted confrontation. People were made homeless by the host program and the staff do not care. Apparently someone being left on the street in a dangerous country did not require immediate action -No idea if you are doing good or bad. No feedback ever received from students or "pedagogical team". After 4 months, no one had ever observed my English lessons. I was threatened with dismissal, however, even tho I had never received any information about a disclipinary procedure. They don't even have one. -Even when trying to help, i.e, offering help with administrative tasks, the management don't respond. -The CEO is deluded, more likely to accept praise on TV than run his company properly. He has no idea what is happening and when informed just brushes it off with fake apologies and false optimism. He lives in a dream world. -No hierarchy. If you have a complaint or even query as a staff member and the response was unsatisfactory (which is almost guaranteed), then you're out of options. Everyone in central office is completely free of accountability of any kind. -RUDE STAFF again. -Every problem/failing is responded with "we're an NGO"... -The fact that basically the staff are employed illegally. You arrive on a student or intern visa, but in reality you are neither. If you complain too much they threaten to de-register you and have you deported. METHODOLOGY -The methodology is horrible for basic students. We all agreed this but were then told "its up to the teachers to make it work". It's basically a vanity project of the pedagogical team, who by the way HAVE NO TEACHING QUALIFICATIONS. -ALL the teaching material is littered with spelling mistakes and lexical errors, especially all numbers are written in European style. -"Feedback" on the methodology is basically proofreading. Any actual feedback or constructive criticism is instantly deflected. Even when native speakers and experienced teachers offer advice to the ped. team (who have hardly taught anything and are not native speakers).

Conseils à la direction

Stop flying all over the world boosting your ego and actually run your "company" properly. To the staff: you need to learn how to deal with human beings. Stop deflecting your failings back at us. It's your colleagues in central office's mistakes that mean we are so exhausted and angry. You are literally some of the worst people on the planet to interact with.