The Village continues to find out how the budget of people of different professions works. In the new issue - a university teacher. Every year, the compilers of the QS World University Rankings select the best educational establishments peace. The assessment is based on six indicators: academic reputation, reputation among teachers, the ratio of teaching staff to the number of students, the citation index, the proportion of foreign students and teachers. This year, a total of 68 Russian educational institutions were included in the global rating, including Lomonosov Moscow State University, MGIMO, graduate School Economics and RUDN. We learned from a teacher at a Moscow university, which is also included in this rating, how much she earns and what she spends money on.

Profession

Senior Lecturer

Income

60 000 rubles

spending

4 000 rubles

communal payments

15 000 rubles

products

2 000 rubles

clothing and personal care

working expenses

savings for an apartment

How to become a university teacher

I started working when I was still in college. There were not enough teachers in the college at our university, and I, a fifth-year student, was offered to conduct seminars there for a year. I liked it, and I decided to go to work at the institute, which by that time I had graduated from. To become a teacher, you must first spend several years as an assistant professor or assistant professor, who is considered your mentor. He can lecture himself, and entrust you only with seminars. After three years of work as an assistant, you become a senior lecturer, after another three years of teaching experience and a PhD degree, you become an assistant professor. I am now 25 years old, I am a senior lecturer, I teach programming classes for students and applicants and at the same time I am writing a PhD thesis.

Now they have introduced a system of bachelor's and master's programs, and it turns out that after six years people are already tired of studying and do not want to spend another three years in graduate school to go to teach. Because there are not so many young teachers. Their number often depends on the industry. For example, in less applied areas - chemistry, biology, higher mathematics - it is more difficult for people to find a job after high school, and they remain teaching. There are also many young people in the departments foreign languages. In IT disciplines, we really need fresh blood - those who are well versed in new technologies. I often consult with my former classmates who work in their specialty, find out what they are currently using, go to various courses, and look for relevant topics. After all, if you teach something outdated, students get bored very quickly. They must be shown where this knowledge can be applied. We also try to invite current employees of large companies to conduct classes. Usually they work during the week, but they come to us only on Saturdays.

Of course, it is not always easy for young teachers. When I first started teaching, my students didn't homework, but I attribute this to the fact that in college there is no special discipline and motivation among students. I try to immediately make it clear to students that I don’t have a freebie: I tell them that I will teach them couples for a whole year, for admission to the exam I need to write three control papers, then in the third year we will meet again - and I will have to hand over my term paper. I also usually take younger groups so that we have a larger age difference, otherwise the current third-year students entered the same year when I graduated from the institute.

Features of work

Each year, a contract is concluded with the teacher, which specifies how many hours of study he must work. Usually there are couples three days a week, and the rest of the time we have to update curricula and programs, prepare materials for lectures and seminars, and create tasks for students. The very first class starts at 8:30, but I'm fine with such early classes, because I like to work in the morning and be free as early as 13:20. We spend three, maximum four couples a day. They don’t even put more, simply because the teacher gets tired and becomes inattentive.

There are no requirements for appearance at our university, the only request is not to wear torn jeans to work. But there is a special department that monitors what is written about our university on the Internet. Somehow, students posted on one site an article about a very picky and strict teacher, who also teaches a complex subject. They ridiculed his appearance and voice, speculated about his sexual orientation, added all sorts of obscenities to the photo. These students had completed profiles with personal information on the site, so they were quickly identified and kicked out, because this teacher was also a vice-rector, that is, he was responsible for all enrollments and deductions. Oddly enough, this article has not yet been removed from the site.

In my in social networks there is no extra information. I once had a student in the group - a former friend of mine, thanks to him my social networks instantly scattered throughout the university. I understand that it is not difficult for students, especially those specializing in IT, to dig up a lot of information about you on the Internet. In addition, now you can simply take a photo of a teacher from the official website of the university, and then find this person using special services and programs. But even if your social networks become known to students, no one will annoy you, at most they will ask something about the case a couple of times. They don’t get teachers on the Internet - they’re just afraid of deductions, but memes with our faces and catchphrases immediately fall into groups and publics.

I teach classes for schoolchildren in preparatory courses, students of the day and evening departments, and the most difficult of all, of course, schoolchildren. Their discipline is lame, you need to constantly monitor that they do not play on the phone during class. In addition, there are many among them who are sure that immediately after graduation, success and wealth will fall upon them. In the daytime department, as a rule, we have ordinary students from families with an average income, many from other cities.

Our university is more focused on the financial sector, rather than programming, so Muscovites usually choose the more prestigious Moscow State University, HSE, Baumanka and MEPhI. But there are majors at the economic and law faculties. After the exam, the brains of students are tuned to solve the same problems according to a given formula, but it’s worth changing something, even transferring the numbers to examples from real life, and a stupor and exclamations begin: “It’s difficult!”. It turns out that after the Unified State Examination, we teach students anew to apply knowledge and look at the world more broadly. Somewhere half comes with burning eyes and really wants to learn, and the other half just sits back. Perhaps the parents sent to receive higher education- or the students themselves heard somewhere that IT is prestigious.

The most responsible and corrosive students in the evening department, because they have excellent motivation - financial. Preparatory courses for schoolchildren are expensive, but everything is paid from the parent's pocket. On the daytime students they are just starting to earn money themselves, but the evening people went to study own will work and pay for education. They always ask a lot of questions, they will write to teachers in instant messengers and social networks if they don’t understand something. We have this rule: if the group does not like the teacher, the students report it to the dean's office, and then someone else will teach them. In this case, the teacher will be punished: he can simply write an explanatory note, or he can get to the point that his contract will not be renewed for the next year. In the full-time department, such complaints are very rare and they are not related to the incompetence of the teacher, but to the fact that he is strict and gives a lot of bad marks. But evening parties often complain, for example, if outdated material is read to them.

Now we have online education: the teacher uploads recordings of his lectures, students are given some time to watch these lectures, solve problems on them, and pass tests. During the exam, the student sits at the computer and answers the teacher's questions via video link, the defense of the diploma is also held online. Of course, cheating can be very simple, but we don’t see what is happening on the screen of the student, even if he is currently looking for answers on the Internet. The only way to understand whether a student has learned or not is to ask a question that is slightly different from the standard one, where knowledge must already be applied.

Of course, students continue to cheat, but they do it in a completely different way than before. Everyone knows: while you are preparing a cheat sheet, at least something is deposited in your head. Now there are no cheat sheets, they come to the exam with headphones. Those who have long hair simply cover them, but there are also wireless earpieces that are placed in the ear so that they are not visible at all. The microphone in such a device looks like a chain with a pendant, and on the other end of the wire, someone dictates the correct answers.

Previously, before the exam, we issued lists of tickets with questions that would be in them. Now, in order to write off less, they simply made a list of questions, and students do not know how they will be combined into tickets. But even here they came up with a way out: the assistant simply reads out the entire list of questions and, when he calls the right one, the student gives some kind of signal - clicks his pen or coughs. So, if someone makes a lot of strange noises in an exam, there is reason to suspect that he is cheating. We are fighting cheating with the same methods that are used on the exam - we put means of jamming communications. This is such a small box that blocks the operation of all cell phones for the radius of the cabinet, but at the same time it buzzes rather disgustingly. There is a theory that these jammers are bad for health, so we cannot use them if there are pregnant students in the group, someone has a pacemaker or a hearing aid.

About 50 percent of those who entered reach graduation. Some drop out due to poor progress, and someone simply understands that the IT field is not for them, and leaves on his own. There are those who finish their studies, but only for the sake of crust. They come to exams practically without knowing anything and ask to put a three. In general, it’s still difficult for me to slap a failure, even if it is well deserved. At the exam, I can sit from morning to evening, but I will stretch all the losers into triples - I give them simple tasks, chewing material. Sometimes it seems to me that I am wasting my time on those who do not need it at all, so in this session I will definitely try to learn how to put fair deuces. After a failure, the student goes to retake. In the case when the grade does not get better on the retake, a commission of three teachers gathers, and if the student again fails the exam, then this is followed by immediate expulsion. When they prepare orders for expulsion, there are simply queues in the dean's offices to tell their story and pity the dean. As a rule, students succeed, and the dean or even the vice-rector allows them to try again to retake everything, especially if the applicant has come for the first time.

After the third year in the curriculum, it is definitely worth Internship, and I advise all students that they do not put stamps in their report somewhere with their parents in the company, but really go to work - even as an intern, even for very little money. In the fourth year, it is already quite possible to combine study and part-time work. The institute gives a broad outlook, but there are no specific deep knowledge and skills in one area that can be obtained only in practice.

Income

The senior teacher has a fixed monthly salary - 40 thousand rubles, it is written in the contract along with the number of hours to be worked. In general, the higher the position, the higher the salary and the less you need to work. So, for an assistant, the norm is 850 hours, for a senior teacher - 800 hours, for an associate professor - 700. In addition, we conditionally divide the teaching load into light and heavy among ourselves. A heavy load is lectures and seminars, and it is considered easy, for example, to take practice from students. They bring you a report that you can read in 15 minutes, and checking the report of one student on working hours counts as about eight pairs worked out in the classroom. We also include checking term papers or participating in a commission during the defense of diplomas as a light load. As a rule, such loads are taken by professors. Teachers are also paid extra if they conduct classes with masters or evening classes. There is an order that 80% of couples in the magistracy should be taught by professors, so this burden also goes to them.

Once every few months we have bonuses, at the end of the year they give the thirteenth salary. Teachers also have a paid vacation of 56 days. The awards depend on the intra-university ranking, and it is compiled separately for professors, associate professors, senior lecturers and assistants. Those who fall into the top three dozen receive an increase in salary for the next year. That is, we, like many corporations, also have a KPI index (Key Performance Indicators - key performance indicators). This rating is calculated taking into account many factors. They even look at what students write about you in the “Overheard” group, how they evaluate you on special sites. Therefore, some even specifically ask students to write good reviews, they may even start with this seminar.

Also, when assigning a rating, they pay attention to how often the teacher appeared in the media. mass media. It is believed that the best PR for the university will be provided by its employees, who will act as experts and give comments. So, the university constantly flashes in the press, and this acts on our potential applicants as the twenty-fifth frame. Therefore, many teachers do not always speak out even on the topics of the subjects they teach. You can, for example, tell in some report what you think about the views of the younger generation or the demand for certain professions, the main thing is to indicate which university you are from.

The rating is positively influenced by publications in scientific journals. There are Russian magazines, you can still get into them, although it is not easy, but it is considered especially cool to publish something in an international magazine. Also, when compiling the rating, they look at how the teacher participates in research work, how much he takes part-time jobs within the university, what students answer about him in anonymous surveys.

The teacher has many opportunities for additional income. Someone works in several universities - three days here, three days there. Often students come with requests to work with them additionally, but I always refuse. We are very strict with corruption, and if they find out that I work with my students for money, I will have problems. So I just advise some courses where you can improve your knowledge and not be financially connected with me.

It happens that a company that sells online education sends a request to the university that they need to develop an entire course in programming. I can prepare it in a month, record lectures and make assignments, complete and hand over all the work. The company fully buys the copyrights, a certain amount is credited to the university's account, and then this money is transferred to me. This is beneficial both for the company that sells online education, because they have entered into an agreement with a well-known university, and for us, since you can get 250 thousand for the development of the course. At the Department of Marketing, some research can be commissioned. In addition, conducting surveys and processing the results is often entrusted to students as a learning task. Sometimes some part-time jobs can be found inside the university, for example, to develop or update a website. Together with various part-time jobs and additional payments, I average 60 thousand a month.

Expenses

Fixed expenses are 4,000 for rent and 2,000 for travel. Another 15 thousand is spent on food. Around the university there are many places where you can go to eat and coffee shops, I usually go there. We have a canteen at the university, but the prices there are not at all student prices - lunch costs 200-300 rubles, almost like a business lunch in a cafe.

I have small but fixed work expenses. On average, they spend about a thousand rubles a month. In graduate school, I study for free, as an employee of the university, but during the preparation of a dissertation, you need to publish articles about your research, and you already have to pay for this. They can print for free only in three cases: you are a doctor of science, you have made some important discovery, or your article is perfect for the topic of the issue. If you go directly to the editor of the journal, then the publication will cost 800 rubles, and if through an intermediary, you can give 5 thousand.

Almost all the books I need are on the Internet in the public domain, I don’t have to spend money on them. But according to the Unified State Examination, manuals and collections of typical tasks that I buy are updated every year. We also have Olympiad Programming classes for schoolchildren. It has little to do with real work, but there are children who are interested in it. There are no open access materials on it, so I also buy books. Now at our university all the boards are metal, on which you can write only with markers, but the university does not buy these markers themselves. Without a marker, even a couple cannot be drawn, because you constantly need to draw something. They are cheap - 100 rubles, but I'm more concerned not with the costs, but with the need to remember to buy this marker in advance, because they are not sold anywhere within the walls of the university. I usually buy several at once and carry with me in case someone forgets.

At least another 15 thousand is the cost of appearance, that is, cosmetics, personal care, clothing. In our cynical world, you will always be greeted by your clothes. In Russia, there is already a stereotype that teachers live in poverty, and if you also look like you have little money, then you will not be able to gain credibility with students. Here I am a programmer, talking about IT, and students are well aware that salaries are high in this area. If I don't keep my image successful person, interest will immediately fade away. As the saying goes, "if you're so smart, why are you so poor?". Therefore, one way or another, all teachers create a certain image - many drive a car, all women, even young ones, wear fur coats. Someone may think that this is just throwing dust in the eyes of students, but it is necessary to do so in order to confirm one's status.

I save all the free money. Of course, at my age I want to spend money on entertainment, but now I'm planning a big purchase. According to May decrees, teachers should receive 200% of the average salary in Moscow by 2018, and our salary is gradually growing. Even now the mortgage rate is falling, it was 12%, and has become 9.5%. At some point, I will reach the peak of my salary and the mortgage rate will drop to a minimum, and this will be the perfect moment to buy an apartment.

Ecology of life. People: I have long wanted to write something about my experience as a teacher, but following corporate ethics stopped me ...

Memo for a novice teacher, or why you should not work as a teacher at a university

December 12, 2015 was my last working day as a teacher technological university. For a long time I wanted to write something about my experience as a teacher, but following corporate ethics stopped me. Now that I have no obligations to the university, and the Ministry of Education and Science no longer pays me a salary, I consider it possible to write some of what I know firsthand.

In this article I will try to consider various aspects of the work of a teacher at a university: psychological, intellectual, material and financial. Attention: a lot of negativity!

I retired of my own free will. This desire did not arise suddenly. I started wanting this more than two years ago for various reasons. Moreover, I had already left the university, but then the main reason was one family circumstance. After more than two years of working as a programmer, I returned back to the Department of Computer Engineering due to problems with work in the crisis year of 2009 (in the provinces, work was really bad then, and there was almost no remote work). In total, I gave work at the university for about 15 years.

But this article is not about why I left teaching this time, but about what awaits a young or novice teacher, what he should be prepared for, what difficulties and misunderstandings he will have to adapt to.

Psychological compatibility

The first thing to start with is your psychological compatibility with teaching. The fact is that many, in my opinion, of those who are hired by the university are introverts. But teaching is very much associated with intense interaction with people, which is not only difficult for introverts, but causes them to become very tired and overexcited, leading to an inability to realize their talents and a deep sense of dissatisfaction. A high teaching load can lead such people to a nervous breakdown, to diseases of the cardiovascular system, and maybe to mental disorders. It's all really serious. But everything would be fine, and somehow it would be possible to exist in this role on the sly, but in recent years the pressure on teachers has increased greatly both from the side of the authorities and from the students. My advice: if you are an introvert, then run from this work wherever your eyes look, or better not come closer, so that you don’t accidentally suck!

The average classroom load per rate is 900 hours. With an even distribution of hours over the entire academic year this is somewhere in four or five days for two or four pairs. The teacher's working week is six days. Do you think the rest of the hours and days you got for nothing, and you can do whatever you want in them? At least to rest, at least to work somewhere else?

This is not true. In addition to directly conducting classes, you must prepare for lectures, write notes, manuals. Review course projects and papers test papers. And there is such a terrible thing as the Complete Methodological Kit, in short PMK. This is such a folder for each subject, which should contain documents prepared according to the standards of the ministry and the university, and these documents will be drawn up and filled with information by you!

These folders will be periodically, several times a year, checked by different commissions, and if shortcomings are found, and they will definitely be found, then you will not only be punished, but you will also correct them. And after a short amount of time, you will have to redo everything, because the standards and ciphers have changed, or even throw everything away, because there is no such object anymore, and start from scratch, because a completely new object fell on your head that did not previously exist in nature. Now multiply all this by the number of different subjects that you will teach (it is common for one teacher to teach from five to ten different subjects) ...

It is likely that, for financial reasons, you will be working more than your wages. This means there will be less time to rest. And forget about working on projects or by profession. Get some sleep...

Salary

Salary is the bottleneck of a teacher's work. Work for that and work to generate income, and this income should be enough for you to be able not only to support yourself, but also your family, and preferably your parents. And something even should remain. But the same cannot be said about the salary of a teacher!

The situation is aggravated by the fact that young teachers are taken on the positions of assistant, teacher or senior teacher. Most often, the position of an assistant goes to the first few years, the salary of which is comparable to the minimum wage, often less than the minimum pension, and definitely not enough for elementary survival. Exit? Sitting on the neck of your parents or working more, for example, for two rates. But even when you defend your thesis and you are given the position of assistant professor, you will still receive a salary on the verge of survival. But this will happen only after many years. So is the skin worth the candle? I'm not talking about growing up to be a professor.

Part-time work and side jobs

The size of the salary of a teacher is such that he cannot work only for a rate, otherwise he will not survive. Usually teachers work part-time in the same university or in one or more (!). The main problems with part-time work are as follows. Internal part-time work can be part-time plus 300 hours maximum. External part-time job no more than 300 hours. That's not a lot. But it is no longer possible to physically take the work!

As for work in production, no one wants to take on part-time employment. And even if you agreed, you still won’t be able to offer the employer an acceptable work schedule, because you depend on the schedule, which is not you.

As an option, one could teach part-time and work in the real sector the rest of the time, but today this is not a realistic option. First, universities do not hire part-time. This is due to the criteria for the effectiveness of the university. Secondly, the volume of methodological and paper work at the university will remain about the same huge as for the rate.

Finally, side jobs. This refers to tutoring, assistance in writing final and term papers. Yes, some people manage to make a little extra money. But again, everything depends on the availability of time for this, as well as clients. It has been noticed that while you are a student yourself, you regularly come across such part-time jobs, and as soon as you become a teacher, everyone gradually disappears somewhere. Although the teacher seems to be doing a better job ...

Career

The career ladder of a university teacher looks something like this. You are graduating from a university or full-time postgraduate or graduate school, and you are offered to stay at your own department or faculty, or your acquaintances offer to place you in their university. You are promised support in writing a dissertation, defending it, and then being promoted. But first you are hired as an assistant. In fact, an assistant is an assistant to an associate professor or professor, in fact - the same teacher as everyone else, only receives the smallest salary in the university, often even less than the engineer of the department.

You worked as an assistant for several years, then you are promoted to a teacher or senior teacher. And you reach the first ceiling until you write and defend your dissertation. But writing a dissertation while working in parallel is very difficult, and not everyone succeeds at all. Therefore, if you have not done anything significant in this direction for two or three years, then seriously think about leaving your teaching job, because this will continue to be the case.

UPD: If in the late nineties - early 2000s it was not difficult to defend oneself, then in the last two years it has become much more difficult to defend a dissertation. It seems that the situation will continue to change in this direction.

After defending your dissertation, which in itself is a difficult and time-consuming undertaking, you can apply for the position of associate professor. The salary of a teacher and an assistant professor differs by about eight thousand. That is, perennial treatise estimated at only a few additional thousand.

Further career growth becomes even more difficult. You can write a doctoral dissertation, and after defending it, become a professor, receiving a few thousand more to the assistant professor's salary ... Between starting as a teacher and receiving a professorship, it can take from 15 years, and then if you are especially lucky ...

That's all in general. Whatever position you hold, the essence of the work will be approximately the same: classroom, methodological and research work.

Scientific work

The first thing I want to say is that I do not know a single teacher who would write a dissertation while working as a teacher at the same time. Or in another way: I know several teachers who did not study full-time graduate school, but immediately after graduation went to work as a teacher, and not one of them was able to write and defend a dissertation! And it’s not all mediocrity, it’s just physically impossible. And this is clear from all of the above. Indeed, in order to create something new, the brain and body must be rested, but the work of a teacher does not imply this.

Secondly, there are practically no conditions for serious research work in universities. Often there is no equipment, instruments, premises, element and raw material base. Everything you do will be done at your expense and in your own time.

Financing

If you have ever heard that the ministry and universities finance scientific developments, then forget about it for now, this is not about you. Yes, there is a system of grants, prizes, awards and prizes. But this is all after the fact, that is, after you have fairly invested financially and materially in your development. And only after you have done something worthwhile, you can claim at least partial coverage of the costs. And the costs can easily exceed your teacher's salary for the year. And not the fact that such compensation will occur. In any case, this funding only covers the cost of the equipment, but in no way goes to your salary!

Part of the solution to the funding problem is access to sponsors and patrons. Usually companies interested in graduates of your university agree to this. But such companies are often difficult to find. In general, here I would not flatter myself if I were you.

Is it worth investing personal funds in university developments? Yes, if you are writing a dissertation and are going to continue working at this university after defending it. Otherwise, no. Because no one will thank you for your dedication. Not a prize, not even a diploma.

Age difference with students

One of the first serious psychological difficulties of a young teacher is a small age difference with his students. And in the case of part-time students or those who first served in the army, this difference is also negative.

On the one hand, with your own, you are all smart and cool, almost a boss. And on the other hand, on the part of the students, you are their peers, who, by some misunderstanding, turned out to be a teacher. Such is our culture that a university teacher is perceived through the prism of age-related authority, and not professional. For example, most teachers are much older than their students, as a rule, they are suitable for parents. And here... And here you get an uncontrollable audience, some of which refers to you as you, and in general, conducts as cheekily as in your own yard.

It is difficult to advise something here, except how to put up with it. And wait until you grow up...

A certain amount of time will pass, and you will encounter another age problem: this is when you will be suitable for your students in their parents, as we say. But due respect, as to parents, you will not receive. What can I say, humble yourself, but continue to respect yourself. Don't fall for rudeness.

high and light

Another serious problem of a young teacher is that, due to his youth and age-specific naivety, he believes that the job of a teacher is to bring knowledge to people. Alas, most of the audience came to the university not for knowledge, but simply for a release from the army, or simply by inertia, prolonging childhood.

Here you need to understand and not forget that you are not an authority for students, and it is useless to read morality. They do not listen to their parents painfully, and you are nobody at all.

Competence

When you were a student, you sometimes noticed that some of your teachers were incompetent in the subject they taught. But you are definitely better than them. You are very passionate about your specialty, did your own projects, wrote articles and even worked part-time in real production! You will definitely achieve success and be popular among the masses of students!

Forget about it! Your competence will be assessed only by a very small number of interested students. For everyone else, you are exactly the same. And all they need from you is to get credit and pass the exam without any problems. Moreover, they will also laugh at you: what are you doing here with your qualifications!

Lectures

Do you remember yourself at lectures when you were still a student? Has it ever happened that you fell asleep on them, talked with a neighbor in misfortune, could not sit for an hour and a half, were late for them, or even scored? Now you are a lecturer, whose students sleep at lectures, talk at the same time with you and also loudly, and if you are alone, then there are many of them ... And just like you once, they cannot concentrate on your monologue, they are late or not at all come. Well, how? Like? I doubt! Well, yes, you and your rector, dean and other bosses know what to do: you need to make the lecture interesting for students. And now you are proofreading mountains of literature purchased with personal funds, the latest articles on a planned topic, preparing slides, writing a summary. As a result, your eyes are red, your head hurts, you slept for only three hours. Early in the morning you came to a wonderful lecture, you happily proclaim the topic, you start talking great, but what is it? Nothing changed! Still, almost no one listens to you, at the same time they talk to you in full voice, sleep and turn their backs to you.

What's the matter? After all, the lecture is so interesting, you tried so hard, but your audience just doesn't give a damn! Everything is quite simple, you just need to figure out what a lecture is. A lecture is a way to convey information to the audience. The lecture was invented in ancient world when books as a source of information were extremely expensive, and not all useful and new information was recorded in them. And then there was nothing left for interested people to come to the lecture, listen to it carefully, ask the lecturer questions, because there is no other chance to get information. But in modern world information has become easily accessible. These are classic printed books, e-books, archives of scientific articles. Almost all questions can be answered from the Internet. Today, there is only one niche left for lectures: reporting the latest, yet unpublished information first hand.

Thus, everything falls into place: You are not the primary source of information; plus interested persons in the audience, as you already know, not so many, sometimes not at all. So the lecture turns into an absurd monologue against the backdrop of student chatter.

Since lectures are an integral part of curriculum, and students must go to them, then, unfortunately, you cannot not read them, or allow students not to visit them. Sooner or later, they will come to your lecture with a check from the dean's office or the rector's office, and woe to you if you are not found in the audience, or if there are few students in the opinion of the inspectors. It's very hard to give advice here. Another dissonance: the presence of requirements and the inability to implement them.

You can follow the path of choosing the lesser of two evils: allow those who are not interested and indifferent not to attend your lectures, unofficially, at their own peril and risk. Promise not to punish for missing lectures, but continue to record in the journal, including in the journal of the head of the group, be sure (!).

This is your defense in case of unscrupulous elements who try to accuse you of having taught them poorly. (The surest way to protect yourself from such attacks is to control attendance. And if a student missed classes, then he loses the right to claim that you are doing poorly.) Those who are shaking about their attendance will most likely continue to go, well, maybe every other time. But part of the uninterested audience will still be eliminated. Next, adjust the quality of the preparation for the lecture depending on the audience. If the audience is weak, then often enough information from Wikipedia.

Dilute the lecture with more images, speak less and more slowly. Do not try to outshout the talkers. Usually the most interested in the lecture sit on the first two rows, so you speak for them, and look at them, and do not pay any attention to the rest. There is one noticeable psychological point here: interested students sit in those places where the lecturer is looking, and the rest accumulate away. For example, if the lecturer always looks at the right half of the audience, then sooner or later the audience will sit there. Yet good method fighting chatter - for a while meaningfully silent until the audience quiets down. True, this is not for long, but it is necessary to remind yourself, for the sake of respect for yourself.

And the last thing: be patient, do not allow yourself to break loose and scream in irritation at an audience that does not listen to you, tune in kindly and treat what is happening with humor.

Bribes

Despite success in the fight against bribes, this phenomenon apparently remains. I can only judge indirectly. Didn't do it myself. What you need to know: there is a chance of being caught red-handed. This is on your conscience. But if you do not take bribes on principle, then do not relax either! You can be framed "for everything good." Keep an eye on the situation in the audience, especially during session time. Keep your portfolio closed. Do not leave students alone in the classroom. Do not seat students at your table. Take the record book in your hands only in open form. Follow all formalities.

Sixes and thieves

Surprisingly, practice shows that in each group there are thieves. These are students whose parents are well acquainted with the authorities or with authoritative fellow teachers. They learn, as a rule, also mediocre, and even worse than everyone else. But they are being asked for. Moreover, they often ask for an excellent mark, which in itself cannot but cause rejection. Moreover, it can be humiliating for you. Imagine: a student didn’t go to your classes for the whole semester or went, but shook your nerves, and the session came, the boss calls you and says that you need to appoint such and such. Then this loser comes to you with a record book, and you obediently sign for him just like that. How disgusting! As an exit, you can refuse, but I think about further work at the university you can forget ...

Now about the sixes, that is, informers. It's not necessarily thieves. But from among those who consider it necessary or possible to report to your superiors about what you said is "superfluous", whether you are late for classes, whether you are rude to students, whether you are competent in the subject, and so on. Here I advise you to behave in the presence of students and colleagues with restraint, really not to say "excessive", if possible, be polite. But do not fawn or try to please!

being late

By themselves, minor delays are harmless. Here even high persons sometimes allow themselves this. This is because sometimes you can really come later without losing anything. But in the case of classes, it’s not so simple anymore. I repeat once again: the problem is not being late as such, but that they are disorganizing.

If you allow students to be late, then gradually the number of latecomers will exceed all conceivable limits. And one day you may be alone in the audience!

A separate problem is being late for a lecture. It makes it very difficult to read it. As you know, there is such a thing as a stream of consciousness, and so a lecturer during a lecture enters the stream, and latecomers pull him out of it. If there are a lot of latecomers, it just becomes annoying, and the lecture may break.

In principle, you can generally prohibit being late for your classes, especially for lectures. But remember yourself: we waited for the tram for half an hour, got nervous, but they still didn’t let you in ... In general, a little inhumane. I applied the 20 minute rule, which I learned from one of my professors at university. It consists in the following: if a student is late for more than 20 minutes, he is not allowed to the lecture, if less, then he waits for 20 minutes from the beginning of the lecture and can enter the classroom. There is of course a side effect here: some students start to come to these same 20 minutes every time.

Well, do not be late if possible. First, the example is bad; secondly, the vile student nature uses this fact against you.

Quality bar

There is such a psychological phenomenon as the bar of quality. Everyone has their own level of quality, working below which you get accumulating dissatisfaction, which subsequently leads to serious psychological problems such as burnout, apathy, loss of interest in work and profession, inability to develop.

The reality is that working at a university does not require either high qualifications or a high standard of quality. Students don't know and can't do anything. Most don't want anything. Even the simplest things that you have known for a long time will be on the verge of a great discovery for them.

The reason for the decline in quality will also be: lack of time and fatigue.

But I advise you, if possible, not to significantly reduce the quality of your work, constantly keep yourself in good shape, study something new and modern, do your own projects. Don't focus on students.

Consequences and problems

The consequences can be the most severe if you do not heed the advice of the experienced and your mind and heart. These are deep dissatisfaction, financial problems, family turmoil and disorder, pain for mediocre years lived, loss of skills, low self-esteem, serious problems with nerves and psyche, and with health in general. All this for what?

Vent

In order not to go crazy, we need some kind of outlet in difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, the variant with the use of alcohol by teachers is quite common. It is not worth talking about the perniciousness of such a hobby here.

Personally, my hobby for many years has been Olympiad programming. I not only took up it myself (at the age of 33!), but also managed to attract a certain number of students to it. Thanks to the preparation for participation in the Olympiads, I significantly improved my professional level (Kormen and Skiena contribute), made friends from among the students, many of whom have already graduated and work in the profession.

And thanks to trips to the Olympics, for the first time I visited many cities in Russia and not only. True, in recent years, the university began to refuse to finance business trips, and we were forced to reduce the travel program to a minimum, while part of the trips were paid from our own pocket. In the last three years I have been studying robotics with students, we even managed to achieve some success in this area, despite the fact that we did not have special training. But this hobby turned out to be extremely costly, and had to be abandoned. In any case, it was a lot of fun, it was a real outlet. Perhaps this is the only pleasant memory from working at the university.

But I want to warn you about the following. First, don't be under the illusion that many people will share your passion with you. No, it's good if there are at least a few people! Secondly, you will not be paid for your activities with students, and the classroom and methodological load will not be reduced. The only thing you can try to count on is, in case of success and interest from the authorities, to get from them a certain degree of loyalty and indulgence to your infirmities ... Do not forget also about an irreplaceable and expensive resource: about your time.

Summarize

Now that you, dear readers and former colleagues, have read this lengthy article, there should be no illusions about working as a teacher, and myths debunked. Here I will only list them.

• teachers have a lot of free time;
• teaching is like a pleasant walk in a pleasant company;
• teachers do what they want and what they see fit;
• teachers are the elite of society;
• teachers are engaged in the latest developments and science;
• teachers have a lot of rest;
• teaching is not difficult;
• teachers make good money;
• teaching can be combined with work in production (on projects).

Conclusion

Teaching is just a job. If you are young, but you managed to lure you to a university to teach, then I advise you to listen to your heart: is this what you dreamed of? Are your goals illusory? Is this job right for you? Are you self-deceiving? Maybe you prefer to work in the real sector of the economy? Write programs, design machines, sell cars? If so, then feel free to leave, even run away from the university. This is not what you need. Your path is different. And never feel guilty! It's just a job!

And finally: if everything that I wrote here is not about you and your university, then I am sincerely happy for you and your university! I believe that there will be several of these in Russia. published

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Archpriest Mikhail REZIN, rector of the Znamensky Cathedral in the city of Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod Region, comments:

Fourteen years ago, I asked the late Metropolitan Nikolai (Kutepov) of Nizhny Novgorod: “Vladyka, why are we priests not allowed into schools?” I was recently ordained, my heart was on fire. He replied: “Father Michael, if the doors of schools open now and we are called to teach, who will go? The priests are not ready, there are no teachers.” Now the situation has changed, many teachers, including young ones, go to church, take communion, carefully listen to sermons (I judge by my arrival). But there is still a lot to be done. Surely there will be mistakes, we will fill the bumps, but the road will be mastered by the walking one.

Schoolchildren themselves, with rare exceptions, can hardly consciously choose which religion to study as part of the lessons of spiritual and moral culture. Their choice depends on parents and teachers. So we need to start with adult education. But there are not so many parishes that could organize educational work with families. Work with teachers in the Church is more developed. So far, mainly within the framework of the Christmas readings, the Russian Cathedral, courses at the Theological Academy in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, theological conferences. This is not enough - it is necessary to organize courses for teachers at the local level, to involve employees of the rono, it is obligatory to conduct pilgrimage trips, two or three times a year - all-Russian seminars. Expensive, but in this case money is nothing. It is important that the training of teachers should not degenerate into scholasticism, but kindle their hearts. Only then will they be able to open the wonderful world of faith for children.

Ideas that a teacher's faith does not matter, or that a believing teacher should not talk about his faith, are false. How can a believer not talk about faith? It's like forbidding a person to breathe. Experience shows that a teacher always teaches best what he believes in, what he lives, what he is ready to do even not for a salary. We still have communist teachers in the Ardat school. I am sure that if the director offered them not to pay their salaries, if only they refused to teach, they would not agree, they would say: do not pay, but we will still tell the children how wonderful communism is. We understand that the ideas of communism are false, but it would not be bad for us, Orthodox, to convey the truth to children with the same conviction. And for this we ourselves must be strong in faith. Therefore, the number one task today is the training and education of teachers.

So far, alas, much depends on the local authorities. In the Nizhny Novgorod region, only a few schools teach the basics of Orthodox culture, and the directors do this at their own peril and risk. And in our area a year and a half ago it was impossible. The mayor, through the head of the city, warned: if at least one priest appears at the school, the director will be fired. Now, fortunately, we have a new mayor with whom dialogue and mutual understanding are possible. Remember, we were taught at school about the role of personality in history? Now this is especially true.

Recorded by Leonid VINOGRADOV

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Does an EPC teacher have to be a believer?

Experience shows that a teacher always teaches best what he believes in, than what he lives. We still have communist teachers in the Ardat school. I am sure that if the director offered them not to pay salaries, if only they refused to teach, they would say: do not pay, but we will still tell the children how wonderful communism is. We understand that the ideas of communism are false, but it would not be bad for us, Orthodox, to convey the truth to children with the same conviction ... "(comments Archpriest Mikhail REZIN, rector of the Znamensky Cathedral in the city of Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod Region)

The teacher is still one of the most sought-after professions, despite the endless reforms and the demographic "pit" of the 90s.

According to Rosstat, 14 million children study in the country's schools, while there are slightly more than a million teachers themselves, that is, there are an average of 13 students per teacher. But many say that these figures are underestimated. There are about 6 million students in Russia.

Pros and cons of work schedule

Polina Mokhova now works as a teacher of literature and social studies in one of the schools in St. Petersburg. Prior to that, she studied at the graduate school of Moscow State University, where she taught students about world journalism.

“The working day at school starts at eight or ten in the morning and ends at four in the afternoon, if we are talking about six or seven lessons a day. But you still need to fill out a journal, check homework and if you are a young teacher, prepare for the next day,” she says.

The last two circumstances are already an abnormal load. You can check notebooks until two in the morning, and you need to prepare for lessons constantly if you are conscientious.

There is an advantage to working at school - long vacations. Teachers rest, and this time is paid.

Konstantin Bulish teaches English at the RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation, and has previously been in private practice for many years. He says that the workload of a teacher at a university depends on whether it is a specialized university or not. If yes, then a lot of attention is paid to the language, the level of teaching is higher, the workload is also higher. Some universities can give only six pairs a week. Preparation for lectures takes as much time as the lectures themselves, but these hours of preparation are not paid. Only lecture time is paid.

High salary or stability?

Salaries are a critical issue for the education sector. All interviewed by the site said that it is almost impossible to live on income from one source, whether it be school, university or private practice. depends on the number of hours. And if at school the load is large due to the number of students of different ages, then at the university it is the other way around. Polina Mokhova says that with a full load (15 classes) and work 6 days a week, you can earn 45-50 thousand rubles a month. At the university, due to the lack of hours, even a professor can receive 30,000 rubles a month.

“As a result, both those and others live by tutoring. But not at the call of the heart, but at the call of the stomach. What affects the quality of work in general,” says Polina.

Salary levels may vary from university to university. According to Konstantin Bulish, one can earn more in private practice than in a university.

teacher of English language at RANEPA

A qualified person will not work for less than 1,500 rubles for two academic hours. Those who prepare students for specific exams or have advanced degrees charge more. But if you work for an organization, then you have a strict work schedule, paid holidays, and it is unlikely that 15 students from your group will fall ill at the same time. This is a more stable option. While private students work or periodically go somewhere. In the long run, it is difficult to say which is more monetary.

At the university, you can spend 2-3 couples a day, and sometimes you need to travel to private students from one part of the city to another, so many tutors prefer to give lessons at home.

Psychological comfort and the ability to create

At the university, Konstantin Bulish works with groups of six to 15 people. And he sees the advantage of the group in that often its internal dynamics encourage students to work better, to compete. There are also more opportunities for games, discussions, discussions, joint movie viewing, reading reports. And if you study one on one, then you become dependent on the mood of the teacher and the student.

There are groups with not very good dynamics or badly arranged. For example, there may be strong and weak students, the weak need to reach out, and the strong should not be allowed to get bored.

“One-on-one work is energetically less expensive, but it can be boring. Whereas with a good band you will never get bored. If you have been tutoring with someone for more than one year, then you already know each other so well that even with interesting classes it is difficult to keep the student in good shape. Therefore, most of them do not study with one student for more than a year,” notes Konstantin Bulish.

Daria Nasakina, who taught typography classes at one of the capital's universities while working in large advertising agencies, sees great opportunities for creativity in the teaching profession.

It begins where you can write your own program, organize information, come up with interesting task. And it continues with every lesson. During the lecture, you monitor the reaction of the audience, whether the students understand or not, whether they fell asleep or not, whether they have questions (sometimes they are embarrassed to ask), it happens that the lecture has to be changed in the process. It is also interesting after the lecture, when you need to achieve a result from each student, understanding his difficulties and suggesting solutions.

teacher of literature and social studies at school

In my opinion, the audience at the university is more interested and mature, it is quite easy to motivate them. Schoolchildren can be scared of the exam, but this will not work for everyone. It is more interesting to communicate with a student audience, and the level of responsibility for them is much less. If you take schoolchildren on an excursion or on a trip, then you are responsible for them with your head. And they themselves are less responsible. A student can rehearse a performance for two weeks, and the day before the performance, say that his parents are taking him to the country.

Preparing for university lectures and seminars is more interesting, because the material is deeper, and the author's approach is welcome. At school, the teacher is obliged to give only what is indicated in the program. And if you want to do more, then you need to be prepared for bureaucracy. Endless trips to offices and filling out forms will discourage the desire to do more.

At the university, there is a high probability of meeting interesting people among colleagues, because the level of education of the team is somewhat higher. The school in many ways remains a refuge for those who went to teach in the 90s simply because there was a guarantee to receive at least some kind of salary, and have stayed until now. I remember the hero of the book “The Geographer Drank His Globe Away” Sluzhkin, who got a job as a geography teacher. In the classroom, he read paragraphs from the textbook, periodically interrupted by a cry to calm down the disobedient schoolchildren. At the university, teachers undergo a more stringent selection.

Public approval and career ladder

Being a teacher at a university is still very prestigious. This can bring additional points in the interview.

“This does not affect career growth in an advertising agency, but it raises your authority, be healthy,” says Daria Nasakina. Teaching provides food for the mind, promotes personal growth, and helps develop the skill of managing people.

According to Konstantin Bulish, tutors are also treated with respect, although he saw other examples in his practice: “It happened that rich and very busy people treat you as a person providing a service for which they pay. In their eyes, your status is no higher than that of a plumber or a computer technician.”

According to a good tradition in Russia, they respect school teacher, but it is still impossible to call this work prestigious. In the eyes of those around today, a teacher is a person who accomplishes a personal feat, but by no means an ambitious one.

Is career growth possible? Polina Mokhova believes that it is possible, but internal competition is very high, especially at a university where there can be only one rector. Many teachers and heads of departments have been working in the same place for decades, it is not so easy to replace them. There is more turnover in schools, and it is very difficult to find teachers in some disciplines. The school needs a teacher, there are more students than students.

Many educational institutions strive to keep up with the times, modernize programs, develop new teaching methods.

“Our university is trying to qualitatively and meaningfully improve the teaching of English. In my opinion, it is more promising to be part of a large organization that wants positive change. In the case of tutoring, over the years you can acquire connections and a reputation that will give a stream of private students,” says Konstantin Bulish.

How to get a job

Getting a position as a university teacher is not easy, while the market for private tutoring is more open. To get into a university, you need to have good work experience, but if vertical career growth is important, then you need a degree. And the salary of a teacher with a degree is 30-50% higher. But it all depends on the profile of the university.

Daria Nasakina says that it is not very difficult to find a job in this area, because demand is much higher than supply, most graduates of pedagogical universities do not go to work in their specialty. To work at a university where design, cinema, and journalism are taught, you need to have a good portfolio, work experience in a specialized specialty, recommendations, and know your schedule for several years in advance. Those who change jobs once a year are not liked in such professions. In addition, due to staff turnover, universities and schools are losing their competitive advantages. If we are talking about classical specialties: physics, mathematics, history, then here it is desirable to graduate from graduate school and have degree. You can get a job in a school with a higher non-core education.

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For a more successful start in the music world, it is desirable to have a good teacher, with whom learning will be controlled, and it will be much easier than without him.
But before we continue, let's clarify. If the limit of desires in your musical career ends with the ability to play simple popular songs on the guitar by the fire, then, of course, the need for a teacher is not so high, or even an extra expense. And for those who have plans to develop well in the field of art or simply make their skills more perfect and developed than on this moment then this article is for you.

What for? After all, many did without a teacher!

Many aspiring guitarists base their beliefs on the success of some professional musicians who have achieved unprecedented heights in their careers without learning from any teachers. And it would be reasonable to ask the question: “So, why do I need it, if someone could, and I certainly can.” Yes, there is indeed a possibility that you will turn out to be a talented self-taught musician, and you can do without anyone's help. But at the same time, one should not forget that, nevertheless, a personal teacher will speed up the learning process, even the most talented and independent students will have less time to study, and the process itself will become easier, according to a confident, proven method, which, to In addition, it was improved by the teacher himself on personal experience. In most cases, self-learning is hindered at a certain level, above which a potential guitarist may not "jump" without the help of a professional instructor. Mostly people who decide not to study with a teacher:

1) There is no interest in their own musical development, and they are not willing to invest time and finances in their prosperity.

2) Due to significant financial problems (does not have enough funds to pay for personal guitar lessons).

3) Probably does not realize the importance of the professional supervision of a personal instructor who could ensure the implementation of many goals.

Faster result

The article is directed mainly to the third category of people. Since most beginners to practice playing the guitar refer specifically to it. Let's start with the most simple and logical. Without a good teacher, your work, measured in a large amount of time spent, will lead to a mediocre result, while a lesson with a teacher ensures the correct training, you will be shown WHAT and HOW to do it right at the same time, in a short period of time. Musical progress will not be long in coming, and it will soon become noticeable that development is moving much faster with an instructor than without one.

Any athlete depends on his coach

Consider another type of non-musician who works hard to achieve excellent results in an activity they revere. Even the greatest athletes cannot do without coaches who help them learn and improve, and encourage them to become better than they are now. If you pay attention to professional football coaches, it turns out that most of them are not athletes, but at the same time, the skill of a coach lies in stimulating a football player to become better, their essence is that they are trained to teach and they know how to do it well. Think about how many Olympians in the world take lessons and do preventive training with their mentors, and yet these coaches with their physique will not be able to repeat half of what their athletes can do. And yet, they are preparing athletes for the Olympic Games with great success. From all this we can conclude that any athlete depends on his coach. For some, the analogy between athletes and students who study music will seem wondrous. Music teachers and ordinary teachers are similar in that they impart knowledge, knowledge of music theory, improvisation, scales, ear development, composing, chords, and so on. It is not always correct to search for this information on the Internet, as a lot of the information you find may be incorrect or incomplete! What about practice? How to learn how to save movements when playing, and how to control tension, how to ensure the autonomy of each of the fingers - its independence of action. All these things and many more are not subject to home study through textbooks or the Internet.

The teacher will help point you in the right direction

It is good when the student has a clear idea of ​​​​the goal and understands which path is best to choose in order to best achieve it. But, unfortunately, many do not understand what they should study. And engaging in a practice that has no specific goals can become a tedious and frustrating thing, it comes to the point that achieving what was conceived may turn out to be unrealistic or it will take tens of times more time spent to implement it. Learning with a good teacher will help determine the gradual development path, the weaknesses of the teacher that need to be corrected. Many students don't realize the extent of the consequences of some bad habits, such as tension in the right hand or overly protruding fingers on the left hand (which are not currently involved in the game). And those who are aware of the wrong actions - do not understand how to correct them. That is what they are doing professional teachers teaching guitar. They make sure that the student does everything correctly and does not make significant mistakes that develop into bad habits which are then difficult to part with.

Incentive to work harder

In addition to the obvious benefits of learning the musical plan (learning theory, songs, various techniques, explaining how to play sheet music and tabs), there are non-musical benefits, many of which are incredibly valuable. For example, a student of a musical institution who takes guitar lessons may not always be able to fully learn the material for the next lesson. For such a student, the teacher will become a mentor, he will inspire an incentive to study more and diligently in order to master the previous material. Here the task of the teacher is not to transfer some knowledge, but to interest the student in working and helping him reach a new level of self-learning, helping to learn more and harder. Such a student eventually begins to master large volumes information with more difficult tasks.

New opportunities

Working with a teacher gives you an invaluable number of opportunities that, with independent learning, could not have been achieved or would have been mastered over a relatively long period of time. The experience of a teacher is invaluable and worth the money you spend on training. Teachers usually have a lot of connections in the music business that can affect your musical life, whether you want to become a teacher, a studio musician, compose your own music, have a successful career in music as a player, or just for fun. By establishing good relationships with teachers, you will be able to secure a further musical career. Basically, students are grateful for their success to teachers, without whom their thorny musical path would not have been so fruitful and easy.

After long, but exciting sessions with teachers, you are involved in the music industry so deeply that in time you yourself will become able to train people to achieve professional heights in music.

Conclusion

Do you need a teacher - it's up to you. But, once you decide to learn from a professional, you will forever understand the difference between self-study and learning with a teacher. Classes with a teacher will ensure the ease of passing the material, and most importantly, the gradual adherence to the established plan, from which you will only enjoy, noticing how your skill grows.

Learn how to choose the right guitar teacher

You can also sign up for individual guitar lessons with me via Skype.