Any Canadians in the Oxford area?

Kirstyn
New Member



Joined: 09 Mar 2008
Posts: 7
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom

Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 5:03 am

 

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Hello out there! I've been in the UK for about 3 years now, originally went to Birmingham where I lived for about 2 years and now live in the Oxford area. I came here to teach but only made it for 2 years doing that as if anyone has ever been in a room with Brit students you will understand.

It's now after 3 years I am really feeling a bit homesick. There are things I like here and things I don't but what I really miss is people who understand me! I miss the Canadian mentality, where it's not rude to ask someone how much something costs and to get up and leave the room when you need to use the toilet. For some reason English people feel it necessary to wait for pee breaks as it would be rude to just leave. And also, a world where customer service is good and people complain when it's not.

I need to hang out with some Canadians, and I figure with the amount of foreign people in Oxford there has to be some of you out there!

Kirstyn

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UKbound
Junior Member



Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 14
Location: Canada

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:19 am

 

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I'll be there in about six months' time to begin studying at Oxford, but that probably doesn't help. What was so bad about teaching British students (as my wife will hopefully be getting a teaching job)?

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Kirstyn
New Member



Joined: 09 Mar 2008
Posts: 7
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:34 am

 

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I will probably be here still in 6 months.

Hmmm.what's so bad with English students? Well, first of all I really don't like the English curriculum. It's horrible as far as I'm concerned. What age group is your wife wanting to teach? If you need some help finding supply (substitute) teaching agencies I know the good ones, Let me know.

I taught Secondary school here (which is like High School). They young people in this country have very little respect for teachers and I found that they care very little if they fail or not. I did teach in a behaviour problems school in Canada so I have worked with mainly behaviour problems for most of my career but not much in Canada will prepare you for what you will encounter here.

Also, you get very little support from the rest of the school in dealing with behavioural issues. You are pretty much on your own here.

And it will be very difficult to get into a good school in Oxford has a lot of competition for good schools (as you can imagine with the quality of education in the Oxford area).

Hope this isn't too much of a downer and let me know if you have more questions.

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UKbound
Junior Member



Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 14
Location: Canada

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:08 am

 

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I had a lovely post all typed up, and for some reason it didn't go through. Guess I get to try again.

First, my wife. She's qualified to teach French, geography and history from grades 7-12, which is (I guess) intermediate-senior. She's also a British citizen - would this help at all with her applications?

Second, your own experiences. Could you tell me more about what teaching was like? Surely it wasn't all bad so often? And, if you don't mind my asking, how was the pay? Basically, I'm trying to get a good idea of what the situation is like as much as possible, including the bad parts. We found a few recruitment groups online, but if you have any other suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

We're going to be in Oxford for at least three years (for my program) and I know there are probably a bunch of Canadians at the university, but this might not be what you're looking for.

Anyway, thanks for your time, and I hope I'm not asking too many questions.

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mari-mac
Senior Member



Joined: 01 Sep 2006
Posts: 94
Location: U.K.

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:49 am

 

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I'm not a teacher - but from what I've seen from my friends is that the foreign teachers (American and Canadian) get stuck with the really bad classes - my British friends who are teachers all seem to really enjoy it. But then, my friends back in Canada, their first year or so they got stuck with the 'bad' class - I think they always try to get the new people to take the worse classes.
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