When the (not so) meek shall inherit the TOEIC class...

Another interesting trend at work is the increase in what I can only call formalism. Major position and role changes have occurred in the organisation too since I left. Those with responsibility are often still grasping what their role is, and what it entails.

It is strange to be, objectively speaking, an administration outsider. Formally, I was part of the open-committee style discussions by the former class administrator and the other teachers. Now, because I am technically only a casual staff, I really have no right to be a part of the tricky administrative issues that have arisen recently.

Really, I am chomping at the bit to have my say, but have refrained from doing so because no-one has seen it right to ask me. The person who is now entrusted with class-administration is an introvert with certain communication issues. That is not to say anything bad, but just that he still has a lot to learn.

The issue today which I secretly observed every part of was the claiming of the TOEIC class (a crappy English second "English proficiency test" cousin to IELTS, that some employers like). Due to the sudden influx a new person was taken onto the staff to allow more flexibility and simultaneously running classes. He has taught TOEIC before (as he did today). This afternoon, a long term employee suddenly found that with several new courses starting and none of the new students being attracted into her class, she became unemployed in the afternoon. Usually quiet, usually meek, she extended her foot and put it down. She would teach TOEIC and bent the arm of the class-administrator with calm logic to allow her to do so, stripping the new teacher of his afternoon class over the phone (as he had already left with all the TOEIC texts). But she doesn't know anything about TOEIC yet...

These are very understandable issues from both sides. The meek one's frustrations boiled over onto other issues too, which were also easy to see. She puts in lots of hard work and is not remunerated the same as those who formally put hard work into curriculum development. This is even starker when another worker does little preparation and takes advantage of those who make the curriculum, coasting in and out of work within a short time of the beginning and ends of class, and technically is rewarded the same as the meek one...

So, now it is all in the court of those who administrate to resolve the insoluble. To be diplomatic and pragmatic, as the importance of clear communication mounts higher.