Page 21 - ELG1807 July Issue 459

Teacher’s pet

Hats off to Jan Smedh, who has
been doing wonderful things for
English literature from a small
town in Sweden.
Mr Smedh, whose shop The English
Bookshop in Uppsala recently won
the London Book Fair International
Excellence award, works tirelessly to
ensure his stock of 13,000 books remains
topped up and up-to-date.
‘Every book is hand-picked,’ says Smedh.
‘Whether they were recommended it by
a customer, publisher, or they found it at
a book fair, we could tell you something
about all of these books,’ he says.
not But above all, says Mr Smedh, the shop
Mr Smedh’s aim is to have a ‘physical
bookshop’ with meet-the-author events
and storytelling, making book shopping in
the higgledy piggledy store ‘an experience
you can’t buy online’.

is all about the Swedes’
cheerful ‘love of the English
language’.
Keep it up Mr Smedh,
that’s exactly what we
like to hear.

Naughty corner
The more schools spend on marketing, the

less they will have to spend on teachers, writes It is not unusual
Melanie Butler, but alternative ways to run a for black English
teachers to face
language business do exist racist attitudes when
teaching across the globe.
One black American
woman teaching in Thailand said recently
Take Kaplan: In Britain it employs a Does it have to be like that? she was compared to a ‘dog’ by a staff
cohort of permanent unionised teachers, Why isn’t there a not-for-profit employer member at the school she taught at, in
typically paid towards the top rate in the that pays reasonable salaries in local terms
local market, but make up the shortfall with and offers free further training and career front of her class.
agency workers. prospects? And the Gazette reported last year that
A Kaplan teacher, we can estimate, earns One that spends any excess money it a Hong Kong recruiter had specified ‘no
up to £24,000 a year, slightly less than the makes on helping the disadvantaged, and Asians’ need apply for a teaching job.
is big enough, and famous enough, not to Now, a job posted on a Facebook page
Does all this mean need to spend enormous amounts on sales has stirred up fury after the poster said that
that English language and marketing. the private kindergarten in Taipei, Taiwan
There is one. It’s called the British
teachers should put up Council. It turns over £1billion a year, did not accept teachers ‘who are not from
predominantly English speaking countries,
including £400 million from its exams
with the poor wages and business, and in 2017 it enrolled 430,000 or who are black or dark skinned’.
‘I am sorry. I am so so sorry,’ the post
terrible conditions that they English language students – all of whom on Substitute Teachers Needed in Taipei
needed teachers. There is just one catch.
currently face? There are no permanent jobs at classroom added, in an attempt to lessen the blow.
level, so if you want to build a career with The backlash against the post was so
it, you will have to keep moving countries.
starting salary for a primary school teacher. fast, it was taken down within an hour, but
But teaching is not where the money is. MELANIE BUTLER the damage was done. Williams Kaboré, a
According to careers website Glassdoor, Editor at large member of the Facebook group originally
the average salary for a Kaplan sales @MelanieButler_E from Burkina Faso, said: ‘If you repeat
person is £36,000 to £39,000 a year before your boss’s racist statements, you are no
commission. different than your boss.’ Indeed.
editorial@elgazette.com 21

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