NOVA bashing

I guess it comes with the territory. I do work for the largest English Teaching company in Japan and so it's inevitable that it will come in for some criticism. This ranges from the balanced to the stark-raving lunatic. Today's Sydney Morning Herald didn't help the 'balanced' proportion of the criticism. This article painted the whole english teaching industry in Japan, particularly NOVA, in quite a harsh light. It got me steamed in particular that the article appeared in the 'World' section of their webpage, not in the 'Opinion' one, which may have been better suited to what it appeared to be trying to say.

It certainly stirred the pot online, with quite a few forums catching on. This one in particular caught my eye as it featured postings from one of the subjects interviewed for the article. She commented that her situation had been explained rather briefly but the gist had been put across. I wrote to her and said that the article had made her out to be quite petty in some ways, which her comments had explained far more thoroughly and in a more informative way. She replied and so I've reached a deeper understanding of the issues that were going on in her situation. A lot of sympathy, but at the same time I'd have a lot of sympathy for anyone in any job who might have been treated in the same way.

I don't have much sympathy for the fellow who sued NOVA after being sacked for deliberately flouting the terms of his contract - by dating a female student. In his position ( a senior teacher with more than a year of experience) he would've known exactly what would've happened. Anyway, if you have to date students, or hang out with them for that matter, you can always do what the Catholics do and go by their 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not be caught.

I'd like to put forward these articles and websites for your consideration.

Level Up, Yes or No?

Grassroots Design - this part of the site is devoted to his experiences in Japan and with NOVA

Markcity - a fellow Blogger wrote an article about his time with NOVA

The Unbiased Truth About Nova - tries hard to be balanced.

I'll try to step off my soapbox now.

Peace