Beware of ‘want to be’ Invading Partners
Today, I will discuss in this very sensitive topic and situation that has happened to me several times during my Private English Teacher Journey. Last week I received a message on a very popular networking platform. I do not want to name this platform because I do like using it; however, I feel that many people on this specific platform have other alternative reasons than job searching.
Nevertheless, I received a text message from an English Teacher in Bangladesh: let us call her Nancy. She asked me if I taught English and other questions related to English teaching. I told her I did in fact teach English. I assumed that she wanted to take English lessons with me, so I gave her my contact details on messenger.
We spoke on messenger and Nancy was very nice, but she told me that she was very happy to speak with me because other teachers would not really speak to her. She stated she is an English teacher in Bangladesh and how she wants to give back to her community because of the government does not a lot of have a lot of money to really properly hire qualified English teachers (I am not sure if that is true or not). Therefore, Bengali students do not get quality English lessons.
Nancy stated that she wanted to rectify this problem by getting training from Native English Teachers, such as myself. She also stated that money is not a big deal for her because she wants to back to her community, which is very poor. As a teacher, I am very empathetic to anybody learning; however, the business person in me tends to get straight to the point.
So, I asked Nancy, “it seems like you want lessons for free? Am I correct?” She said, “Yes I do. I want to take your English lessons for free.” I told her since I am a PhD candidate (and I’m completing my dissertation) that I do not have a problem with teaching her for free. However, I told her that she would need to do something in exchange for me.
I told her I would teacher for free, but she would have to market my services my online services teaching services to people in Bangladesh and then I would trade her for free. I also told Nancy that we could rent a room to teach the children together. I would be the main teacher and she could be the assistant teacher, and we could split the profit.
Very abruptly, she said she would think about it and she got off the phone. Needless to say, I have never heard from Nancy again. I find it very interesting how many people will see somebody as a ‘trailblazer’ and they want to be as successful as that ‘person.’ I do not think there is anything wrong with asking for help. However, people need to ask themselves, what values or services can I offer to someone (who is more successful) so that I can learn from him or her.
So, my fellow English Teacher in Japan and overseas, be aware of ‘want to be’ Invading Partners. If any Invading Partner cannot bring anything to the table, then that is not someone you should work with. I believe in having partnerships, but a partnership is a relationship between two people. A relationship is a contribution of two people to that relationship. If your partner cannot contribute to that relationship, then you are are dealing with a ‘parasite’ and not a partner. So if someone wants you to teach them for free, simply ask them what would they do for you in return? Happy learning!
If you missed our last webinar, you can watch the replay here: ‘Locate Jobs in Japan for Overseas Teachers:’ https://zoom.us/recording/share/MsPNwTJBoU0ru1OFqLLT7VcxJRDBSE0EkpAQQ1_sNQqwIumekTziMw?startTime=1541756181000
Today, I will discuss in this very sensitive topic and situation that has happened to me several times during my Private English Teacher Journey. Last week I received a message on a very popular networking platform. I do not want to name this platform because I do like using it; however, I feel that many people on this specific platform have other alternative reasons than job searching.
Nevertheless, I received a text message from an English Teacher in Bangladesh: let us call her Nancy. She asked me if I taught English and other questions related to English teaching. I told her I did in fact teach English. I assumed that she wanted to take English lessons with me, so I gave her my contact details on messenger.
We spoke on messenger and Nancy was very nice, but she told me that she was very happy to speak with me because other teachers would not really speak to her. She stated she is an English teacher in Bangladesh and how she wants to give back to her community because of the government does not a lot of have a lot of money to really properly hire qualified English teachers (I am not sure if that is true or not). Therefore, Bengali students do not get quality English lessons.
Nancy stated that she wanted to rectify this problem by getting training from Native English Teachers, such as myself. She also stated that money is not a big deal for her because she wants to back to her community, which is very poor. As a teacher, I am very empathetic to anybody learning; however, the business person in me tends to get straight to the point.
So, I asked Nancy, “it seems like you want lessons for free? Am I correct?” She said, “Yes I do. I want to take your English lessons for free.” I told her since I am a PhD candidate (and I’m completing my dissertation) that I do not have a problem with teaching her for free. However, I told her that she would need to do something in exchange for me.
I told her I would teacher for free, but she would have to market my services my online services teaching services to people in Bangladesh and then I would trade her for free. I also told Nancy that we could rent a room to teach the children together. I would be the main teacher and she could be the assistant teacher, and we could split the profit.
Very abruptly, she said she would think about it and she got off the phone. Needless to say, I have never heard from Nancy again. I find it very interesting how many people will see somebody as a ‘trailblazer’ and they want to be as successful as that ‘person.’ I do not think there is anything wrong with asking for help. However, people need to ask themselves, what values or services can I offer to someone (who is more successful) so that I can learn from him or her.
So, my fellow English Teacher in Japan and overseas, be aware of ‘want to be’ Invading Partners. If any Invading Partner cannot bring anything to the table, then that is not someone you should work with. I believe in having partnerships, but a partnership is a relationship between two people. A relationship is a contribution of two people to that relationship. If your partner cannot contribute to that relationship, then you are are dealing with a ‘parasite’ and not a partner. So if someone wants you to teach them for free, simply ask them what would they do for you in return? Happy learning!
If you missed our last webinar, you can watch the replay here: ‘Locate Jobs in Japan for Overseas Teachers:’ https://zoom.us/recording/share/MsPNwTJBoU0ru1OFqLLT7VcxJRDBSE0EkpAQQ1_sNQqwIumekTziMw?startTime=1541756181000