Benefits and Pitfalls of Freelance English Teaching: Part 2

By Jim Korea

The benefit of freelance English teaching is obvious, great pay. But the primary drawback of freelance teaching is its unpredictability. Freelance work of any kind, whether it is in teaching, photography or writing, is an unstable profession. It takes a certain personality to withstand the ups and downs of such work.

There are several circumstances that make freelance teaching unstable. One of the most common circumstances is a student quitting without warning. Freelance teaching can be very financially unstable. As well, freelance work can be emotionally stressful because students often don’t provide teachers with reasons why they have quit. Students call in sick and expect not to pay for the class, five minutes before the start of it. Most students want to be tutored in the evening, which makes scheduling very difficult if a teacher is working for a private institution because they often operate from afternoon to night. Finding time for friends is difficult and scheduling new students can be frustrating. Students also sometimes quit and don’t pay for lessons they owe.

But these are just some things to be aware of. Don’t be too discouraged when students quit. As long as the teacher is financially secure, they should be alright. Students always quit, and it is impossible to make every student happy. The average life of a private class is generally no longer than six months. It is common for students to quit before entering a different level of education or for a vacation period.

Avoid the problem of last minute cancellations by making it very clear to the family and the student that if they cancel they must call at least one hour before class so they don’t waste the teacher’s time. If they fail to cancel an hour beforehand they must pay for at least half of the class if not all of it. A teacher must remember that what they are doing is still a business and it should be respected as such by both the student and the teacher.

Rumors are hard to avoid and if they get out of control they can really have an impact on a teacher’s career. Just remember that it is just a rumor and in most cases it will go away. But the best thing to do is to avoid situations that start rumors. Teacher’s shouldn’t get involved with any problematic families and decline to volunteer personal information. Be the “happy” English teacher and talk about your family back home and your cute little puppy when you where six years old. Don’t talk about going out on Saturday. As well, if the teacher has the choice, they should try to avoid living too close to their students. A teacher’s private life should remain private.

It is difficult to avoid a crowded nighttime schedule. A fact of life is most people have to work or go to school during the day. The only time to learn English is in the evening or at night. In some cases, early mornings can work well for both the teacher and the student. One should remember to keep track of cancelled classes and changed times, i.e. don’t just loosely write a schedule on a calendar. If a teacher is teaching more than 15 hours a week they must be well organized. Using a diary to keep track of payments is a good idea. Or perhaps typing out a schedule in MS Excel will allow the teacher to save it for future reference.

It is quite common for teachers to have taught a student for a month and then have them disappear or refuse to return phone calls. This can be very stressful when trying to collect payment for a class. Ways to avoid this are to have the student pay at the beginning of each month, not the end, unless the teacher knows the family. If the family refuses to pay at the beginning of the month, request to be paid at the end of each week.

Freelance work has its benefits and pitfalls. If a teacher decides to undertake freelance work, they must be a strong and motivated person. But they shouldn’t forget to take at least a day off every week or two to relax and socialize with friends. And teachers should always keep up their health by exercising and eating properly. When there is a chance to take a vacation, they shouldn’t let the money go to their heads. Private tutoring can make teachers greedy because of the benefit of the supplementary income it provides, but it often costs them precious downtime for socializing or exercising. Don’t let this happen to you.