Korrnell Academy FAQ

Pros

*Decent Pay for Taiwan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *20+ vacation days (more if licensed) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Reasonable Foreign Dept. Management ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Opportunities for promotion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Opportunities to branch into new areas of interest ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This school has had lots of negative press for a while. The reviews for Korrnelll Academy are also mixed up with the kindergarten reviews. I've been working here for 2 years and haven't experienced anything near the levels of hatred that some of the other reviews convey. A few years ago there was a major shift in management and company ideology. This has created a positive work environment. An example of this is while the contract hours are high, the actual teaching hours are around 24 (40min) periods a week. As of 2022, the number of vacation days was also raised for all teachers (not just licensed). There is very little friction between the staff of the foreign dept. staff and for people who don't speak Mandarin, the school offers great teacher support for interactions that require Mandarin (telephone, apartment rental, taxes...). Not all of the Taiwanese staff speaks English, but the interactions between the foreign and local staff are generally civil and often friendly.

Cons

*Odd system of payment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Large class size *Occasional 12hr days on holidays ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*English level of material doesn't necessarily match the level of the students. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The single largest complaint currently at Korrnell is the size of the classes, which is typically between 28 and 34. Classes this size, can be unwieldy and limit classroom instruction style. This large class size also contributes to lots of grading. If you aren't organized, this can be very time consuming. Salary wise, the school always pays on time. The odd part comes in with the schools system of raises and bonuses. You could get a pay raise in the form of a meal allowance. You get random bonuses on various monthly cycles. You can always ask what different things are and where you get paid for what, but it's generally impossible to say exactly how much you will get paid each month. The other major complaint is that the school likes to parade its teachers around during various holidays. The school on Halloween, for instance, requires their teachers to wear Halloween costumes, put together carnival games and work a 12hr day. In the context of Taiwan though, this isn't all that uncommon. The other major complaint is that the English level of the students is often below the content of the text books. This creates a situation where the teachers need to create supplementary language support for low level students. In a class of 33 students, that can prove to be quite difficult.

Advice to Management

Raise tuition, lower class size.

Pros

Salary, some students, nice campus, good colleagues

Cons

Awful, incompetent management; micromanagement; stingy; talk to you like you are a cockroach they’re trying to squash; fights over basic things; school too mean to have AC on in May lower than 28 degrees: it’s HOT in those classrooms, and kids cannot concentrate. Everything a show, in particular the American textbooks used which are culturally and linguistically out of our students’ range; far too many activities at the expense of classroom learning; managers who refuse to negotiate with their teachers - my way or highway approach; emails sent to teachers to nitpick and annoy, deploying threats and insults. Same occurs at the weekly meeting. Teacher turnover extraordinary high; dark, depressing school to work in. Staff are sad and overworked, and most just cannot wait to leave.

Advice to Management

They should retire.

Pros

The pay is "good" if you can stomach the awful working environment.

Cons

The head teachers are idiots who have worked here for long enough to be promoted. Almost none of them are qualified teachers in any way shape or form. It's a boys club, so there are plenty of sleazeballs who've been using their position FOR YEARS to hit on young Taiwanese coworkers. The hours are long. The amount of grading is out-of-control. The class sizes are ridiculously large for a "nice private" school. There will be NO SUPPORT if you have class management problems, which you will, given most classes have 33 overworked, exhausted students. STAY AWAY!

Advice to Management

Get some training in education, stop allowing sleazeballs to work for you, it's not acceptable to "tell off" adult employees like they're children, and if a teacher has a problem, help them instead of belittling them or threatening to fire them.

Pros

Salary, some students, nice campus, good colleagues

Cons

Awful, incompetent management; micromanagement; stingy; talk to you like you are a cockroach they’re trying to squash; fights over basic things; school too mean to have AC on in May lower than 28 degrees: it’s HOT in those classrooms, and kids cannot concentrate. Everything a show, in particular the American textbooks used which are culturally and linguistically out of our students’ range; far too many activities at the expense of classroom learning; managers who refuse to negotiate with their teachers - my way or highway approach; emails sent to teachers to nitpick and annoy, deploying threats and insults. Same occurs at the weekly meeting. Teacher turnover extraordinary high; dark, depressing school to work in. Staff are sad and overworked, and most just cannot wait to leave.

Advice to Management

They should retire.

Pros

None that I'm aware of.

Cons

Work your behind off for nothing. Worst management ever. Resources Minimum. Poor incentives.

Advice to Management

Attend English classes to improve English communication skills. Enroll in an English management class - thus can only be beneficial to you.

Pros

It's a school. They pay you on time.

Cons

Chalk another comment for staying the hell away. I worked for 1 1/2 years. I got sick of the pedantic management style (yes, even for foreign teachers) which required things like weekly marking checks (they tried a bi-weekly check, and claimed you’d get a bonus for good marks - guess how that worked out!), surprise/out of contract field trips that came back late, monthly weekend work, and some of the unhappiest Taiwanese co-workers you can imagine, knowing they get paid half as much and work twice as hard. I was also once yelled at for not using a red pen. Another time, I was told I was using the school books too much. Then told the opposite later.

Pros

*Decent Pay for Taiwan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *20+ vacation days (more if licensed) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Reasonable Foreign Dept. Management ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Opportunities for promotion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Opportunities to branch into new areas of interest ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This school has had lots of negative press for a while. The reviews for Korrnelll Academy are also mixed up with the kindergarten reviews. I've been working here for 2 years and haven't experienced anything near the levels of hatred that some of the other reviews convey. A few years ago there was a major shift in management and company ideology. This has created a positive work environment. An example of this is while the contract hours are high, the actual teaching hours are around 24 (40min) periods a week. As of 2022, the number of vacation days was also raised for all teachers (not just licensed). There is very little friction between the staff of the foreign dept. staff and for people who don't speak Mandarin, the school offers great teacher support for interactions that require Mandarin (telephone, apartment rental, taxes...). Not all of the Taiwanese staff speaks English, but the interactions between the foreign and local staff are generally civil and often friendly.

Cons

*Odd system of payment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Large class size *Occasional 12hr days on holidays ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*English level of material doesn't necessarily match the level of the students. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The single largest complaint currently at Korrnell is the size of the classes, which is typically between 28 and 34. Classes this size, can be unwieldy and limit classroom instruction style. This large class size also contributes to lots of grading. If you aren't organized, this can be very time consuming. Salary wise, the school always pays on time. The odd part comes in with the schools system of raises and bonuses. You could get a pay raise in the form of a meal allowance. You get random bonuses on various monthly cycles. You can always ask what different things are and where you get paid for what, but it's generally impossible to say exactly how much you will get paid each month. The other major complaint is that the school likes to parade its teachers around during various holidays. The school on Halloween, for instance, requires their teachers to wear Halloween costumes, put together carnival games and work a 12hr day. In the context of Taiwan though, this isn't all that uncommon. The other major complaint is that the English level of the students is often below the content of the text books. This creates a situation where the teachers need to create supplementary language support for low level students. In a class of 33 students, that can prove to be quite difficult.

Advice to Management

Raise tuition, lower class size.