Archive for the ‘TEFL heroes- Sandy McManus’ Category

As is my role as the navelgazer of TEFL, having had to take a close look at the battleground that is the teflnet recently has made me wonder whether something deeper is going on. Do I hear “class war” as an explanation? I’m never one to rule that out, but my theory is that, as is often the case with these arguments that go on forever, we are actually talking two different languages.

As me and Sandy have been doing more than our fair share of trying to see the TEFL capitalists’ point of view recently, let’s see if I can’t try and explain our particular (and peculiar) culture and viewpoint to them:

 - If you are a successful businessman who heads a large company, for many people that is enough to make you the enemy. and there is nothing you can do to change their minds. For example, how many people have admitted they were wrong about Bill Gates’s evil empire just because he has turned into Mother Theresa? That’s right- none! It could be due to a philosophy of class war or other political reasons, it could be bitterness, but it’s usually a version of the tall poppy syndrome. I personally think that the tall poppy syndrome is healthy, and while it suggests an abandonment of logic it’s no worse than the ‘rich and successful = good’ culture of the rest of the world (more…)

Sandy MacManus is back to his offensive best on his new blog The TEFL Tradesman, with a battle of the mystery foul mouthed attackers with a grudge.

And TEFL Watch forums have been reborn as TEFL School Reviews, where everyone can have a go at being Sandy.

I feel a bit left out just carrying on with the same name in the same place…

In case you are wondering, reunleashing Sandy upon the TEFL world is not 4 Proposals to Reform TEFL Part Two, which will be coming soonish.

I mean, really- how many students come to class saying “My priorities are English spelling and practising the alphabet over and over and over”?? You might be thinking that hangman is okay if it isn’t abused, but that’s what most TEFL teachers say about crack cocaine, and they aren’t right about that either. As I will be taking over as TEFL President of the World when Sandy of TEFLtrade finally finishes his long goodbye in a couple of days, my first act will be to ban Hangman in all classes under all circumstances. Any arguments will result in that teacher being sent to teach English in North Korea, as was really advertised a few months ago.

Rant “inspired” by this interview on englishteacherx.

I would be grateful if you could help me and TEFLers everywhere by sparing ten minutes to read this and do one of the actions suggested below

Some background: 2 weeks ago a certain Paul Lowe of Windsor Schools/Windsor TEFL came out of nowhere and into my life by threatening to sue me and the owner of the site my blog,TEFLtastic, is on. Obviously boosted by the success this effortless method had in shutting down Sandy McManus’s TEFLtrade blog and Wally Windsor’s site, he didn’t even think it was worth spending a few minutes checking what TEFLtastic had to say about him before firing off a threatening email. I can say that with full confidence because before I reprinted his email mentioning legal action there was not one reference to Paul Lowe or Windsor Schools on my blog.

So, why should you care? (more…)

Thanks to all the people who have supported me in my fight (and the losing fights of Sandy McManus at TEFLtrade and Wally Windsor) against the vague threats and other bullying tactics of Mr Paul Lowe of Windsor Schools/ Windsor TEFL. The best way to tackle this man until he learns some basic manners seems to be to make sure that threatening legal action for no reason is the surest way to ensure that all the top Google searches for “Paul Lowe” and “Windsor Schools/Windsor TEFL” continue to be from victims of his unpleasant manner and worse. It will also make sure that the voices that are heard are those of his teachers, trainees and students rather than himself.

To achieve that I humbly ask anyone who has a blog- TEFL related or otherwise, even just your Facebook page, a specially started blog,or MSN profile- to give Paul Lowe and his school a mention. If you don’t have time to write an entry explaining your feelings about this person, copying and pasting this message will do the job just fine. Just pasting this into an email and sending it to everyone you know in TEFL would also be a great help.

If you know as little about his business as I do, a few words about him threatening to sue before there was any mention of him on TEFLtastic blog should suffice, and quoting his own words should show his personality better than our comments ever could (see Letter from a Reader post below for some prime examples). When he offers a full apology for his threats etc I will be more than happy to let him have his say on TEFLtastic.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer

Alex