Pandora's Box - Towards A Sustainable Model of EFL Teacher Employment - Harrison - 2024 - HRRSIM005

Pandora’s Box: Towards a sustainable
model of English as a foreign language

teacher employment
Presented to The Graduate School of Business University of Cape Town

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Business Administration specialising in Executive Management
Submitted By: Simon Harrison (HRRSIM005)

Supervisors: Associate Professor C. Meyer, Ms J. McDonogh
Date: 10 February 2024
Declaration
1. I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and pretend that it is your own.
2. I have used the APA convention for citation and referencing. Each significant contribution and
quotation from the works of other people has been attributed, cited and referenced where
appropriate.
3. I certify that this submission is all my own work.
4. I have not allowed and will not allow anyone to copy this assignment with the intention of passing it
off as his or her own work.
Signed: Date: 10 February 2024
Word Count
Number of words: 24,584
Includes: Body text, references.
Excludes: Declaration, contents, abstract, tables, bibliography, appendices.
ii
Abstract
This paper addresses the challenge of developing a sustainable employment model for English as a Foreign
Language teachers. The private sector EFL teaching industry, a global trade worth US$8.9bn in 2018, is
characterised by employment model of short-term, casual contracts with low pay and benefits, leading to
high staff turnover and impacting the quality of the educational product. This research extends previous
studies on the retention of EFL teachers, and aims to develop a sustainable model of employment that
balances the needs of both EFL schools and teachers, ensuring fair compensation, job security, and career
progression opportunities on the one hand, and continued profitability on the other. As its primary research
question, the study asks, “How do we develop an employment relationship between EFL Schools and EFL
Teachers that is sustainable and benefits all the stakeholders involved?”.
Employing a pragmatic approach and Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM), the study collected qualitative
data through in-depth interviews with eleven EFL teachers and five EFL managers at the ABC Language
Centre. The analysis followed a GTM coding process, involving initial coding, focused coding, and theoretical
coding phases. This methodological approach, coupled with the broad theoretical lens of General Systems
Theory, aimed to develop a cohesive theory on EFL teacher employment by identifying patterns, themes, and
relationships between categories.
Key findings revealed several critical issues. Firstly, while remuneration is low across the profession, there are
disproportionately low rates of pay for experienced teachers, underscoring the necessity for differentiated
pay structures to adequately reward their contributions and encourage career progression. Secondly, the
research indicated that although there is a lack of formal career advancement structures for teachers, this
gap can be partially mitigated by informal opportunities like internal promotions and the "teacher-plus"
model, enabling teachers to enhance their skills and experience.
Thirdly, the study emphasizes the pivotal role of EFL teachers as value creators within the sector, a role often
overlooked by industry decision-makers. It also challenges the prevailing justification for the widespread use
of casual, hourly-paid contracts based on variable and seasonal demand in the EFL industry. The findings
suggest that a significant portion of the teaching team could be employed on secure, long-term contracts
without jeopardizing business viability. Finally, the research underscores the systemic undervaluation of the
EFL teaching profession by both society and the industry, advocating for the realistic pricing of EFL courses to
reflect their substantial personal and economic development benefits for learners.
Based on this analysis, five generic principles are proposed to frame the way EFL schools should employ
teachers, and the practical implications of implementing these principles at ABC are explored. The study
demonstrates that actions aligned with these principles, such as increasing teacher salaries and offering
opportunities for career growth and progression, can lead to improved business performance and large
increases in student numbers.
The paper offers a transformative perspective on EFL teacher employment, urging a shift from exploitative
practices to a model that fosters mutual sustainability and growth for both teachers and EFL schools. The
study's findings and proposed principles provide a framework for effecting positive change in the industry,
emphasizing the role of teachers at the heart of the EFL enterprise.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ...............................................................................................................................................................iii
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Background .......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Research outline and rationale ............................................................................................................ 1
1.3. Research goals ..................................................................................................................................... 3
1.4. Theoretical framework: General Systems Theory ............................................................................... 4
1.5. Philosophical Research Approach, Methodology and Ontology ......................................................... 5
1.6. Data Collection and Analysis................................................................................................................ 6
1.7. Ethical considerations .......................................................................................................................... 7
1.8. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 8
2. Literature Review ......................................................................................................................................... 9
2.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2. EFL Teachers’ experiences of working in the EFL Industry .................................................................. 9
2.3. Sustainable employment practices .................................................................................................... 16
2.4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 19
3. Methodology ............................................................................................................................................. 21
3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 21
3.2. Research Philosophy: Pragmatism ..................................................................................................... 21
3.3. Research Methodology: Grounded Theory ....................................................................................... 21
3.4. Data Collection .................................................................................................................................. 22
3.5. Data Analysis...................................................................................................................................... 23
3.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 26
4. Findings...................................................................................................................................................... 27
4.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 27
4.2. Teachers’ Perspectives ....................................................................................................................... 27
4.2.1. Employment Conditions for EFL Teachers ................................................................................. 28

4.2.2. Job security and Employment Stability ..................................................................................... 30
4.2.3. Career Development and Advancement ................................................................................... 31
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4.2.4. Reward, Passion and Enthusiasm .............................................................................................. 32
4.2.5. Addressing low pay, low job security and lack of career advancement in EFL ......................... 33
4.3. Manager’s Perspectives ..................................................................................................................... 35
4.3.1. Employment Conditions for EFL Teachers ................................................................................. 36

4.3.2. Employment Conditions for EFL Managers ............................................................................... 38
4.3.3. Structural barriers to improving employment conditions ......................................................... 39
4.3.4. Opportunities to improve employment conditions .................................................................. 41
4.4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 41
5. Discussion .................................................................................................................................................. 43
5.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 43
5.2. The ABC Context ................................................................................................................................ 43
5.2.1. Salaries, benefits and financial stability .................................................................................... 43

5.2.2. Job security and stability of employment ................................................................................. 48
5.2.3. Career Progression .................................................................................................................... 49
5.3. Model Development .......................................................................................................................... 51
5.3.1. Generic Principles ...................................................................................................................... 52

5.3.2. Pay teachers fairly; they are your critical assets ....................................................................... 52
5.3.3. Recognise teachers' experience and seniority in the remuneration structure ......................... 53
5.3.4. Put your core teaching team on secure, long-term contracts .................................................. 54
5.3.5. Develop diverse career pathways for teachers that add value to the business ....................... 55
5.3.6. Value what we do, and price it accordingly .............................................................................. 56
5.4. Practical Implications: The ABC Story 2020-2023 .............................................................................. 57
5.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 59
6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 60
6.1. Introduction: Summary of the Study ................................................................................................. 60
6.2. Validity in Grounded Theory Studies ................................................................................................. 61
6.3. Reflection on Research Goals ............................................................................................................ 62
6.4. Personal reflections ........................................................................................................................... 62
6.5. Limitations and Areas for future research ......................................................................................... 62
6.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 63
References ......................................................................................................................................................... 64
Appendices ........................................................................................................................................................ 68
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Causal Loop Diagram of EFL Teacher Employment ............................................................................. 14
Figure 2: The systemic low-wage, high-turnover trap ....................................................................................... 19
Figure 3: The Research Process ......................................................................................................................... 25
Figure 4: Distribution of ABC Revenue .............................................................................................................. 46
Figure 5: ABC Sales of Student Weeks 2017-2023............................................................................................. 49
Figure 6: ABC Net Revenue 2017-2023 ............................................................................................................. 57
Figure 7: ABC Operating Profit/Loss 2017-2023 ................................................................................................ 58
Figure 8: ABC Staffing Costs 2017-2023............................................................................................................. 58
Figure 9: Simple Reinforcing Loop ..................................................................................................................... 59
List of Tables
Table 1: List of Interviewees .............................................................................................................................. 23
Table 2: Code weighting calculation example.................................................................................................... 24
Table 3: Theoretical and Focussed Codes: Teacher Interviews .......................................................................... 27
Table 4: Theoretical and Focussed Codes: Manager Interviews ........................................................................ 35
Table 5: ABC Academic Pay Rates ...................................................................................................................... 44
Table 6: Changes in EFL Industry Economics 1987-2020 ................................................................................... 47
Table 7: Statistical analysis of ABC enrolment data ........................................................................................... 49
Table 8: Revised pay graduation structure ........................................................................................................ 53
Table 9: Definitions to the pay graduation structure ......................................................................................... 54
List of Abbreviations
EFL English as a Foreign Language
ABC ABC Language Centre
GST General Systems Theory
GT Grounded Theory
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Pandora’s Box: Towards a sustainable model of English as a foreign language teacher employment
1. Introduction
1.1. Background
The private sector English as Foreign Language (EFL) teaching industry comprises a global network of EFL
schools which compete to attract students from non-English speaking countries. It forms part of the wider
educational tourism sector which packages education and tourism opportunities. The global EFL market was
worth US$8.9bn in 2018 (Norris, 2019). I am the Director of the ABC Language Centre1 (ABC), a large EFL
school in Cape Town.
Every EFL school employs EFL teachers, and it is through talented teachers and great teaching that EFL
schools create value for their customers. In a previous study I undertook an investigation into the problem of
retaining EFL teachers in the industry. The study showed that despite their fundamental value-creating role,
EFL teachers all over the world find themselves in precarious and short-term employment arrangements with
few benefits and typically low rates of overall pay. I also identified structural limits to the size and shape of
the role of an EFL teacher, and how this acts as a ceiling to career advancement. As a result, many
experienced teachers leave the industry for alternative careers, and the customer experience suffers. It is
striking that despite this, EFL teachers are, by and large, highly motivated, committed, productive employees
(Harrison, 2022).
This research project will build on the previous study by seeking to develop a sustainable model of EFL
teacher employment using a Grounded Theory (GT) research methodology. The project will build on this
prior work in two ways. Firstly, the prior study restricted the qualitative research to interviews with EFL
managers due to ethical considerations, whereas this project will engage in a series of conversations with EFL
teachers themselves. Secondly, while the prior study offered key insights into the situation of concern, such
as surfacing the drivers of precarious unstable employment in the industry, it did not offer any real
alternatives. The objective of this paper will be to do just that.
1.2. Research outline and rationale

Short-term, casual contracts with flexible working hours and low overall pay and benefits are the prevailing
norm for EFL teachers worldwide. My view is that this situation is undesirable for schools and teachers and
unsustainable for the industry as a whole. While schools lack certainty regarding teacher availability and
often lose valuable skills when teachers leave for more secure careers, the precarious nature of teachers'
employment makes it impossible for those remaining in the industry to build a stable adult life. This dynamic
leads to the undervaluation of teachers and, ultimately, the entire EFL product. At worst, EFL teaching is
pejoratively described as a "gap job” before moving on to something sustainable (Harrison, 2022, p. 26).
1
Pseudonyms are used throughout.
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A primary reason for this situation is that EFL schools want to benefit from employee flexibility, which helps
them manage variable and seasonal demand without incurring additional costs. Some teachers also
appreciate the flexibility and shorter working hours, and use that time to pursue other interests and
opportunities. A key attraction of EFL teaching is the opportunity to live and work in new countries, and the
flexible working model with relatively low mutual commitment allows time and space to explore a new and
exciting foreign environment.
But there are significant trade-offs to this model of low-commitment, flexible employment. Teachers
themselves lose out due to the absence of permanent employment contracts, resulting in low job security
and the inability to plan for the future or even obtain credit from banks. Schools also suffer from the lack of
predictable teacher availability, and by investing in developing teachers' skills only to see them leave the
industry. The overall pool of available teachers consequently fails to grow or improve because there is a
struggle to attract and retain talent. Ultimately, it is the students who bear the brunt of this situation, as it
affects the overall teaching quality and their perception of the value of the product when they sense that
their teachers view it merely as a “gap job”.
My own perspective is informed by having first been an EFL teacher for fifteen years, and then an EFL
manager for the following ten. I loved being an EFL teacher, but I was under no illusions over its long-term
viability as a career. As an EFL manager, I am frustrated at finding myself having to roll out the same low-
commitment unsustainable model to the teachers whom I employ. I also see the opportunity to create more
value for our customers by attracting teachers of great talent and potential and keeping them in the industry
as they grow more skilled and experienced in the role. Given this, I believe it is necessary to innovate a new
model that is more sustainable, and benefits all the stakeholders involved.
The study is undertaken from my own perspective, which has been progressively articulated through my
previous papers (Harrison, 2022; Harrison, 2023; Harrison, 2023b). It is centred around the concept of an
organic ontology of organisations, “understanding them to be comprised of living, growing, changing human
beings, and that it is through the social relations between and among them that value is created” (Harrison,
2023, p. iii). This perspective underpins an emerging personal management approach which is substantially
based on leadership-as-practice (Raelin, 2016), but additionally draws on the EFL pedagogies of learner-
centred teaching (Numan, 2013) and communicative language teaching (Littlewood, 1981) to establish
relationships within organisations that are characterised by “facilitation, support, nurture, service, and
mutual trust, and that stives to enable [employees] to be autonomous and independent” (Harrison, 2023b,
p. 92).
This is a relevant concern that should resonate with all stakeholders in the EFL industry. For EFL teachers, it is
relevant because they deserve the opportunity to build stable and fulfilling lives for themselves. Similarly, EFL
schools themselves stand to benefit from this shift through a more predictable supply of high-quality
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teachers. By offering better employment arrangements, schools can attract and retain talented individuals,
resulting in a stronger and more dedicated teaching workforce and a better-quality product. The students
benefit from more highly-skilled, experienced teachers who are committed to their profession for the long
term.
The foundation of the study will be the qualitative data that I will gather by having a series of one-to-one
conversations with the EFL teachers and EFL managers who work at ABC. I will design the conversations to be
“generative dialogic scenarios” in which “the participants build on each other’s contributions…the
conversation goes somewhere …there is learning, creativity, and possibly a sense of delight [and] participants
are positioned in such a way that they add significance and dimension to each other’s offerings” (Hersted &
Gergen, 2016, p. 183). By engaging in these generative conversations I hope to develop my management
practice by gaining a deeper understanding of my organisational context.
1.3. Research goals

Research goals guide the researcher in structuring the project to achieve meaningful and reliable results.
They serve to demonstrate the project's value and practicality to both the researcher and external
stakeholders and funders. Goals are not simply a part of the research process, but rather a continuous thread
that informs and connects the project's design, format, planning, and execution. Maxwell categorizes goals
into three types: personal, practical, and intellectual (2005, pp. 219-222).
The practical goal I aim to achieve is to develop an employment model for EFL teachers which addresses the
range of concerns I have outlined above, and in doing so creates a space where EFL teachers can grow and
flourish in their professional careers. I would like this model to serve as a basis for how we employ EFL
teachers at the ABC Language Centre in the future, taking into account our particular context. This is the
primary objective and focus of the study.
A corresponding intellectual goal pertains to the design of interviews. I intend to apply dialogic principles of
leadership as practice by designing semi-structured generative conversations (Hersted & Gergen, 2016). The
design will also draw on the EFL pedagogies of learner-centred teaching and communicative language
teaching (Littlewood, 1981; Numan, 2013). Through the process of designing and carrying out the interviews
I would like to further develop and elaborate my personal management approach.
My primary personal goal revolves around the EFL teachers themselves. They are the heart of what we do at
ABC, but the truth is I am very far removed from them and know very little about them as human beings. My
organic organisational ontology holds that for the organisation to flourish, the living, growing, changing
human beings from which it is formed must flourish, and my role as a manager is to enable that to happen.
To do that effectively, I need to better understand who they really are and gain insight by gathering and
analysing their multiple perspectives.
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Indeed, talking to EFL teachers about the way we employ EFL teachers in the EFL industry might in itself be
considered a radical act. The kinds of questions we are asking here are not the topics that dominate industry
conferences and seminars I attend, which are generally populated with marketing and management types
who have little connection with or experience of the EFL classroom. Emerging these themes of precarity and
sustainability and introducing them into the wider discourse of the EFL industry is a long-term personal aim
which will continue beyond the scope of this paper.
The following research questions will guide the study. The first set of questions focusses on the practical
goals and the primary objective of the study. The remaining questions relate to the intellectual and personal
goals.
• How do we develop an employment relationship between EFL Schools and EFL Teachers that is
sustainable and benefits all the stakeholders involved?
o What are the attributes of the existing model of EFL teacher employment that contribute towards its
unsustainability for teachers?
o How do we reconcile EFL schools’ legitimate need to manage seasonal and variable demand with
giving EFL teachers the stability of employment they need to plan for the future?
o How do we reconcile the structural limits to the size and shape of the role of an EFL teacher with
providing the potential for career advancement that will encourage talented teachers to pursue long-
term careers in EFL teaching?
o What level of pay and benefits for EFL teachers is ethical, and how can EFL schools meet that level
without compromising the sustainability of the business? Apart from pay and benefits, what other
elements are needed for an employment model to be ethical?
o How do we preserve and enhance the high levels of motivation, commitment and productivity in EFL
teachers that we have surprisingly observed under the existing model of teacher employment?
• What role can dialogic leadership principles play in enhancing the depth and quality of information
gathered from EFL teachers during interviews?
• How can the process of engaging with EFL teachers through generative conversations lead to a
transformation in my own managerial approach and understanding of organizational dynamics?
• How can insights from EFL teachers' perspectives reshape the narrative and practices within the wider
EFL industry, particularly in terms of employment models and teacher welfare?
1.4. Theoretical framework: General Systems Theory

This study employs General Systems Theory (GST) as a broad theoretical framework to navigate the
complexities and dynamics of the EFL teaching environment. The transdisciplinary lens of GST views
phenomena as systems, sets of interrelated components working together as a whole. It posits that there are
structural similarities and “isomorphisms” across different systems, regardless of their nature or field of
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study, and that principles applicable to one system might be relevant to others, leading to an integrative and
holistic approach to understanding complex phenomena. The theory emphasizes “wholeness, dynamic
interaction and organisation”, and the importance of looking beyond the parts of a system to understand
their interactions within the whole, advocating for a move away from reductionism towards a more
integrative perspective (Von Bertalanffy, 1968, pp. 31-35). This framework will offer a perspective on how
various components in the EFL setting - encompassing economic, social, and institutional factors - interact
and influence each other. By highlighting the interconnectedness and interdependence within the EFL
ecosystem, GST can enable a meaningful understanding of the underlying structures and patterns that
dictate overall system behaviour.
Moreover, applying GST to the EFL context facilitates an analysis of how the varied and diverse elements
shaping EFL teaching experiences are embedded within a broader set of social and economic system
dynamics. It recognizes the roles and impacts of multiple stakeholders on the system, including EFL teachers,
schools, students, agents, and government bodies, and helps to understanding how interactions and
dependencies at different levels of these embedded systems, from institutional policies to market demands
to government intervention, collectively influence the profession's landscape (Adkisson, 2009).
GST also offers a framework for understanding and addressing the complex issues of “liveability” and
sustainability in socio-economic systems (Bai & Henesy, 2012, p. 264), which is instrumental in examining the
precarious nature of the EFL teaching profession. It aids in exploring how variables such as fluctuating
teacher demand, teachers’ contractual status, and financial constraints of educational institutions interplay,
leading to job insecurity and instability. This framework is valuable in identifying strategic points within the
system where targeted interventions could significantly improve socio-economic conditions (pp. 272-273).
Through this lens, the study aims to analyse current challenges in the EFL teaching environment and identify
viable pathways for practical solutions.
1.5. Philosophical Research Approach, Methodology and Ontology

The research project incorporated a combined approach of Pragmatism in research philosophy and
Grounded Theory in research methodology to develop a sustainable model of EFL teacher employment. As a
research philosophy, Pragmatism focuses on practical concerns and real-life challenges rather than abstract
theories about reality, and prioritizes the utility and efficacy of ideas, emphasizing the significance of what
works in practice and the tangible impacts of research findings. It is particularly responsive to the
complexities and flux of the contemporary world, making it a robust framework for organizational and
management studies. Pragmatism's strength lies in its adaptability and its potential to unveil novel
perspectives on organizational processes and behaviours, while emphasis on processual dynamics and
emergent phenomena aligns with the real-world flux of organizational life (Simpson & den Hond, 2021).
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This approach adopts a naturalistic and experimental stance towards knowledge acquisition, valuing
empirical inquiry grounded in real-world experiences. Moreover, it integrates an ethical consideration into its
methodology, prioritizing moral consequences and pragmatic solutions over rigid adherence to abstract
moral principles. In this vein, the pragmatic approach underscores the importance of actionable insights and
practical outcomes, aiming to generate research that is not only theoretically sound but also practically
relevant and impactful in addressing real-life organizational challenges (Simpson & den Hond, 2021).
The research employed Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM) as its methodological framework. GTM is a
systematic methodology in the social sciences that involves constructing theories through the methodical
gathering and analysis of data, especially apt for exploring complex social phenomena like employment
models. The method stresses the interactive nature of qualitative research, with data and analysis being co-
constructed by the researcher and participants. This approach encourages flexibility and reflexivity, allowing
theories to emerge organically and context-sensitively from the data (Flick, 2009, pp. 428-437).
The "pragmatic" approach to GTM, as articulated by Antony Bryant drawing on the work of Anselm Strauss,
emphasizes the integration of Pragmatist principles to enrich and clarify GTM. This approach advocates for
viewing theories as practical tools, generated through an iterative process of abduction, induction, and
deduction, where surprising observations lead to innovative insights. By embracing the active role of the
researcher and the practical utility of theories, this pragmatic GTM approach aims to produce meaningful,
empirically grounded theories that are directly applicable to practice-led disciplines (Bryant, 2009).
In addition, the research was grounded on my own organic ontology of organisational dynamics. This
ontology highlights the interdependence among all living things that constitute the organization, as well as
the adaptive ingenuity of the entire system, which possesses the capacity for perpetual creative self-
organization at increasingly intricate levels of complexity. It takes the view that value is created through the
quality and nature of the social relations within the organisation, and the manager’s role is to create an
environment that enables, enriches and capably harnesses those social relations (Beltran, 2019; Harrison,
2023).
1.6. Data Collection and Analysis

Qualitative data was collected through in-depth conversational interviews with EFL teachers and EFL
managers at ABC. These interviews were structured as generative dialogic encounters, adhering to the
principles of Leadership-as-Practice (Raelin, 2016) and the pedagogical ethos of learner-centred and
communicative language teaching (Harrison, 2023b). A purposeful sampling strategy ensured a diverse
representation of demographics, experiences, and perspectives within the EFL teaching community. The
conversations, limited to 45-minute recorded sessions, were focused on exploring participants' experiences,
challenges, and views on the sustainability of EFL teacher employment models. The dialogic approach
facilitated the emergence of new insights, with each interview being an interactive partnership for co-
6
constructing knowledge. The interviews were audio-recorded with consent and transcribed verbatim for
detailed analysis.
The data analysis was conducted using a GTM coding approach (Birks & Mills, 2011), starting with initial
coding to dissect the data into discrete parts, thus identifying their fundamental properties. This was
followed by focused coding to select the most significant and frequent codes, which were then used for
categorizing the data to identify patterns and themes. The final theoretical coding phase established
relationships between categories to form a cohesive theory on EFL teacher employment. Throughout this
process, codes were assigned a normalized weighting based on word count and frequency. This tripartite
coding process, characterized by constant comparison and iterative refinement, aimed to culminate in a
grounded theory that that offers new insights into the sustainable employment of EFL teachers.
1.7. Ethical considerations

The primary ethical concern in this research revolves around my dual role as both the employer and the
researcher, engaging in dialogues with my employees about their employment conditions with the intention
to devise a more sustainable employment model. This inherently suggests a critique of the current
employment framework, underscoring the need for ethical vigilance to ensure these conversations lead to
tangible, beneficial changes for the participants.
Reflecting on a previous study where I excluded EFL teachers from interviews due to ethical reservations, this
research takes the next step by directly involving employees, facilitated by a genuine commitment to
implement significant improvements at ABC. The study's transparency about its objectives - to collaboratively
develop and enact a new model - aims to mitigate ethical concerns by embedding the research within a
broader agenda for positive change.
Furthermore, this study acknowledges the nuanced ethical landscape of management research,
characterized by unique challenges such as potential conflicts of interest, power dynamics, and the risk of
harm or wrongdoing. As Bell and Bryman (2007) highlight, management researchers, by virtue of their
proximity to organizational power structures and their potential to influence them, must navigate these
ethical complexities with heightened sensitivity and a commitment to reciprocity and ethical integrity.
Therefore, this study adopts an ethical framework that prioritizes informed consent, recognizing the power
imbalances inherent in employer-employee interactions. This involves not only securing consent but also
ensuring participants fully understand the research's aims, their role in it, and the implications of the
proposed changes. Moreover, in acknowledging the potential for affiliation bias and conflicts of interest, the
study commits to maintaining a critical reflexivity about my positionality and its impact on the research
process and outcomes. Furthermore, the study is attuned to the ethical dimensions of confidentiality and
anonymity, especially pertinent given the organizational context and the potential repercussions for
participants. By adopting flexible, context-aware ethical practices that respect participant anonymity and
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confidentiality, the research aims to foster a safe space for genuine dialogue and co-creation (Bell & Bryman,
2007).
1.8. Conclusion
To sum this project up succinctly, the EFL industry has a talent problem. Schools recruit and train talented,
dedicated EFL teachers, only to see them leave the industry because their legitimate career expectations
cannot be met. Everyone suffers in this arrangement: EFL teachers are unable to build promising early
careers into a fully-fledged adult life, EFL schools’ investment in talent is wasted and the pool of available EFL
teachers fails to grow or improve, and EFL students miss out on the pedagogic skills of experienced, highly-
trained teachers. Overall, the EFL product and the industry as a whole are devalued.
This research project seeks to address this situation by building a model of employment that is sustainable,
and recognises the vital role of EFL teachers creating value through their daily interactions with students. The
core of the project will be a series of interviews with EFL teachers, designed as dialogic conversations, which
will explore their lived career experiences and career aspirations. My previous research and my experiential
knowledge as an EFL teacher and EFL school director will also inform the study. There is limited research on
the careers of EFL teachers, and none that posit models of sustainable employment in the sector, so this
project will make a relevant contribution to the literature.
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2. Literature Review
2.1. Introduction
In this chapter, the dynamics of the EFL teaching environment is explored through a review of the relevant
academic literature, particularly focusing on the challenges faced by EFL teachers in their working lives.
Consistent with the study's overarching methodological orientation, the chapter employs GST as a theoretical
framework to analyse the diverse factors - economic, social, and institutional - that impact EFL teachers'
experiences. It discusses the interconnections between teacher employment conditions, social perceptions,
institutional policies, market demands, and their collective influence on the profession, and highlights the
need for sustainable solutions to improve EFL teachers' employment conditions and address the precarity
within the profession.
2.2. EFL Teachers’ experiences of working in the EFL Industry

In my previous research (Harrison, 2022) identified two studies were identified that painted quite different
pictures of EFL teachers’ professional lived experiences. Bill Johnstone’s (1997) study of teachers in Poland
presents a bleak picture of the EFL teaching profession. It suggests that these careers are frequently unstable
and marginalized, plagued by issues like inadequate pay, lack of job security, and limited opportunities for
professional development. These challenges contribute to a sense that EFL teaching is not a viable long-term
career but rather a temporary or transitional job. This perception is further compounded by the
socioeconomic conditions in which these teachers operate, often leading to a lack of recognition and respect
for their profession within the broader educational and social systems. He concludes that the results
“confirm empirically what was already suspected: that EFL/ can be an unstable, marginalized, impermanent
occupation” (Johnston, 1997, p. 707)
On the other hand, Alison Stewart's (2020) research offers a contrasting viewpoint from Filipino English
teachers in Japan. Despite encountering financial and structural hurdles, these teachers maintained a very
positive view of their profession. They place significant value on the “social and moral sphere” of teaching,
finding fulfilment in the impact they have on their students' lives and in the broader community (p. 232). This
sense of purpose and contribution overshadows the economic challenges, highlighting the intrinsic rewards
of teaching as a key factor in their job satisfaction.
The contrast between Johnston's and Stewart's studies underscores the significant role of national-cultural
contexts in shaping EFL teachers' experiences and perceptions, and highlights how factors such as societal
values, economic conditions, policy environments and funding models in different countries impact the
sustainability of EFL teaching careers. Although it is not directly addressed in her paper, Stewart does
recognise this critical factor.
9
Teaching itself is a kind of occupation in which the currency of altruism may be as much of a reward
as monetary income – at least, it may in Japan where the salary of a teacher is enough to live on”
(Stewart, 2020, p. 281)
This chimes with my experience of the sector, where it is broadly understood that EFL teaching in certain
countries in Asia (Japan, South Korea, and the Gulf States for example) is far more lucrative and secure than
elsewhere. This could be an important insight for the project, as it suggests that in some contexts EFL
teachers are indeed employed in a sustainable manner, and perhaps this can be replicated elsewhere. To
pursue this, I reviewed the literature on the working conditions and experiences of EFL teachers in other
countries. Unfortunately, I found that in Australia, Chile, Ireland and Canada, Johnston’s scenario of
precarious, short-term, poorly paid employment predominates.
In Australia, Phiona Stanley (2016) refers starkly to EFL Teaching as a profession with “economy class status”,
that is held in low regard by wider society and characterised by short contracts, low pay and unpaid labour.
The research reveals the disparity between the pay of EFL teachers and those in other academic disciplines,
emphasizing the undervalued status of the profession. Stanley (2016) highlights the lack of prestige
associated with EFL teaching, which is “held in low esteem in most parts of the world” (p. 3), suggesting that
this perception contributes to the economic hardships faced by these teachers (p. 8). Unpacking the concept
of “going the extra mile” she argues that EFL teachers are “effectively volunteering at least part of their time
because their pay and conditions do not reflect the complexity of the technically skilled and emotionally
challenging roles they perform” (p. 2). Examples of unpaid labour include pastoral care, peer support and
mentorship and organising out-of-class activities, and the author sardonically observes that “the importance
of 'going the extra mile' is obvious for teachers hoping to keep their (mostly casual, usually seasonal) jobs”
(p. 10) . Strikingly, these kinds of conditions are widely accepted by teachers, who seem to accept that “this
is the natural way of things” (p. 10). In a passionate essay, Stanley concludes that change is needed to “create
a sense that language school teaching is a viable career option rather than a semi-volunteer, pocket-money-
earning hobby to be enjoyed by those who do not need the money or whose stage of life allows them to live
cheaply” (p. 11).
In a systematic review of eight studies conducted on the working lives of EFL teachers in Canada, Sherry
Breshears found that “forms of employment that are often associated with work insecurity, including work
that is temporary (casual and limited term), part-time, and low-paid, and jobs with minimal access to
benefits or collective representation were common” (2019, p. 30). She argues that discourses around teacher
employment are usually situated within a “professionalisation” framework that focusses on “the conditions
that enable instructors to perform the job of English language teaching well and for the occupation to gain
greater credibility”, and proposes that an alternative framework of “precarity” would serve as a more useful
lens to understand these issues (p. 27). Her analysis concludes that the job of an EFL teachers is indeed
10
precarious, with evidence of low pay, temporary and part time work, unpaid labour, lack of benefits, and the
need for employees to hold multiple jobs to make ends meet. This leads a sense of insecurity among
teachers and negatively impacts their well-being. As a result, the quality of teaching suffers, and the cycle of
devaluation replicates itself.
Similarly, in Chile, Adebola et al. (2020) examined the nature of precarious employment among English
language teachers in the country. The mixed-method study revealed that only 12% of EFL teachers surveyed
had a permanent employment contract, while 57% were on casual or temporary contracts lasting under a
year (pp. 6002, 6007). Only 14% felt that their remuneration “many times or always” covered their expenses
and just over half disagreed with the statement “my job allows me to make long term plans” (p. 6008). The
authors suggest that these conditions are exacerbated by the lack of sufficient labour protections and
benefits typically associated with permanent employment, leading to a sense of insecurity among these
educators. The study also highlights the potential impacts of such precarious conditions on the professional
development and mental health of teachers, as constant job uncertainty can hinder long-term personal and
professional growth. Moreover, the authors emphasize the ripple effect this situation has on the quality of
education, as teachers under constant employment stress may struggle to provide the most effective and
engaged learning experiences (p. 6010).
Finally, Roy Willoughby (2019) investigates job satisfaction and career longevity in the Irish ELT sector,
repurposing Johnston’s (1997) question in his MPhil thesis by asking “English Language Teaching (ELT) in
Ireland: Is it a Career?”. Drawing on a the King report into the Irish ELT sector (King, 2019) and a 2019 ELT
Unite survey (Unite the Union, 2019) he concludes that EFL teaching falls short of offering viable careers
pathways for teachers, with 55% of survey respondents indicating that they did not see themselves staying in
the job for the long term (Willoughby, 2019, p. 72). Perhaps this is unsurprising given that 76% of
respondents were not happy with their rates of pay, 56% think their working conditions are unfair or very
unfair, and a staggering 83% were not paid for non-contact hours (p. 54). Referring to this last statistic,
Willoughby cites Stanley’s (2016) assertion that “language teachers are expected to operate under conditions
where “unwritten extra-mile expectations” pervade” (Willoughby, 2019, p. 52). Alongside low pay, unpaid
labour and lack of job security, the author identifies the absence of promotional opportunities as a driver of
EFL’s “non-career” status. Drawing on HR theory, he describes EFL teaching as a “closed path career where
there are few opportunities for change and advancement, [which] leads to individuals reaching a plateau and
being less motivated…the job tends to offer a closed contingent path which leads to plateauing and no
possibility of advancement”, which leads to sense of despondency and “futurelessness” among mid to late-
stage EFL teachers (p. 70).
The literature provides some insights as to the systemic drivers of precarity in EFL teaching. Stanley (2016)
and Willoughby (2019) both identify the financial pressures on private EFL schools as an underlying cause of
low pay. In Stanley’s telling, this derives from the very business model of the industry.
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These are very lean business operations with little money to spare. This is because the ELT industry is
beholden to diverse stakeholders each of whom takes a sizeable slice from the students'
fees…Perhaps most significantly, schools bear the cost of agents' fees and agent discounting […]
Agents, and discounts, account for a large proportion of school income, which is one reason that
teacher salaries are low compared to student fees. It is not (just) that most schools are for-profit
businesses with sizeable overheads. It is also that many hands are reaching for a share of the spoils.
(Stanley, 2016, p. 8)
Breshears (2019) identifies program design and timetabling as a factor that can lead to precarity, particularly
in relation to hours of work. By opting for part-time classes and short-term, demand-driven programmes, EFL
schools can provide flexible and attractive offerings to students. However, this approach negatively impacts
the stability of employment for teachers. With most teachers only getting paid for classroom contact hours,
the flexibility afforded to programs comes at the cost of creating an untenable profession for EFL teachers,
who face job insecurity and the associated financial and professional risks (Breshears, 2019, p. 32). This also
led to teachers holding multiple jobs at once in order to “make a survival income”, impacting the attention
and focus they can give to each job and leading to poorer teaching delivery (p. 34).
Willoughby (2019) cites the concept of “passion exploitation” (Kim et al., 2019) as a driver of poor pay and
conditions. This study found that “unfair and demeaning management practices” were legitimised in
contexts where workers were presumed to be passionate about their work, and by all accounts most
teachers interviewed in the literature were passionate about EFL teaching. The authors identified two
mechanisms by which unfair treatment of passionate workers is legitimised: (i) the assumption that
passionate workers would have freely volunteered to do the work given the chance, and (ii) that the work
itself is its own compensating reward (Kim et al., 2019, pp. 8-11). Reading this study, I find it hard to disagree
with Willoughby’s suggestion that it “could well have been written with the English language teacher in
mind” (Willoughby, 2019, p. 30).
National policy and regulatory frameworks, as discussed in the context of Chile by Adebola et al., play a
significant role in employment stability. The lack of regulations to safeguard teachers' rights in temporary or
part-time contracts exacerbates the instability of their employment (Adebola et al., 2020, p. 6011).
Conversely, in Australia, where EFL teachers’ pay actually is regulated according to a “step system” based on
experience and qualifications, teachers were laid off or struggled to find work because they were too
qualified, and therefore too expensive (Stanley, 2016, pp. 7-8). Market dynamics, including the supply and
demand for EFL teachers, also influence wages. In both Ireland and Australia the authors observed that there
was an oversupply of EFL teachers in the market, which tends to drive down conditions and wages (Stanley,
2016, p. 3; Willoughby, 2019, p. 30). Finally, across the literature, the authors cite evidence of a deep,
systemic societal undervaluation of the EFL teaching profession, which leaves those at the bottom of the
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pyramid, the teachers, marginalised and disempowered (Willoughby, 2019, pp. 27-29; Adebola et al., 2020,
p. 6010; Stanley, 2016).
The interventions proposed by these four studies are fairly similar, broadly revolving around themes of
collective organising, advocacy, and government regulation. Willoughby (2019, p. 86) in Ireland and
Breshears (2019, p. 31) in Canada make a case for the role of unionization as a driver of improved working
conditions and salaries for EFL teachers, arguing that the platform for collective bargaining that unions
provide can be instrumental in negotiating better employment terms. Increased advocacy and professional
recognition to raise societal and institutional appreciation of EFL teachers is also proposed, and it is
suggested that that this can be a role for professional English Language Teaching Associations (Breshears,
2019, p. 38). Adebola et al. stress the importance of government intervention and regulation in stabilizing
employment. They advocate for policy reforms that offer more robust labour protections and benefits,
especially for those on temporary contracts, to address the precarity in the EFL teaching sector (Adebola et
al., 2020, p. 6011).
My own previous research explored precarious employment in the EFL teaching profession using the tools of
Soft Systems Methodology (Checkland, 2000), modelling the systemic variables of EFL teacher employment
using a Causal Loop Diagram to identify the drivers and dynamics of the system, shown in
Figure 1 (Harrison, 2022). This revealed three key insights.
13
Figure 1: Causal Loop Diagram of EFL Teacher Employment
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The first insight was that “unpredictable and uneven demand seems to sit at the heart of this system that is
at present generating unsustainable employment” (Harrison, 2022, p. 45). EFL is usually very seasonal, and
all schools use a rolling enrolment model in which cohorts of students arrive every Monday and study for
variable periods. This means there is constant fluctuation in the number of students, and consequently
schools’ demand for teachers can vary from week to week. But interestingly, the problem seemed to cut both
ways. Because the teachers are on insecure contracts, EFL managers could not always be ensured of their
availability. So just as teachers feel insecure because they don’t know if they will still have a job next week or
next year, EFL managers feel insecure because they can never be completely certain of how many teachers
will turn up on a Monday morning! I identify this as a prospective area for intervention.
The nature of this loop indicates the potential for impactful intervention. Job security is a variable
which the Owners of the purposeful activity system have technical control over. The model indicates
that an increase in job security would increase the attractiveness of the role, which would reduce
permeability and in turn reduce unpredictability of demand.
(Harrison, 2022, p. 41)
Secondly, I identify the size and shape of the role of an EFL teacher as an outcome of variable and
unpredictable demand which. as currently configured, represents a barrier to sustainable employment. A key
factor is the convention in the industry that EFL teachers are only paid for teaching contact hours. Typically a
“full time” teaching contract will only be between 20 and 30 hours a week, leading to a lower overall salary.
This convention also results in the high level of unpaid labour for EFL teachers which we have seen
elsewhere. A second factor is the flat organisational structure of typical EFL schools, offering little scope for
career advancement within the organisation.
Thirdly, the model suggests that sustainable employment practices with fair remuneration and benefits will
have a beneficial and reinforcing effect on the system as a whole, resulting in increased levels of profitability.
Without going into the technical detail of the modelling, the right-hand side of the Causal Loop Diagram tells
us four things: (i) Offering fair compensation and benefits will make the job more sustainable, which will
positively influence both internal and external perceptions of the profession; (ii) changing these perceptions
will allow us to re-imagine the size and shape of the role in a way that opens up new possibilities for career
advancement, which is itself a key driver of sustainability; (iii) changing perceptions of EFL teaching inside
and outside of the industry will arrest the systemic devaluation of the profession, which will transform the
customer experience; and (iv) as they benefit from an enhanced customer experiences, companies will
become more profitable. If we pass those some of those benefits to teacher in the form of better pay and
benefits, this will contribute towards sustainable employment, and so the cycle perpetuates (pp. 40-43).
This final insight is really much simpler than it looks. If we provide better pay and conditions for teachers and
treat their roles with greater esteem, they are more likely to be engaged and committed employees and give
15
a better service to our customers. If our customers get a better service, they’ll come again, and spread
positive messages about us so we get even more customers. Framed in this way, investing in and retaining
great teachers is just a smart business decision. Given I have taken this position, there was a passage from
Phiona Stanley that I found particularly resonant, and which is worth quoting in full.
Teachers' low pay, the problematic salary, insecure working conditions, and unwritten 'extra mile'
expectations do not appear to actually hinder teacher recruitment to the extent that schools find it
impossible to recruit teachers. Perhaps if they did, things would change. If school owners and
Directors (whose status, stake, and longevity in the industry makes them much more influential than
most teachers) were to experience teachers' working conditions as an operational problem, they
might push for a salary system that values and recognises good teachers above cheap ones and that
pays graduate teachers more than bakers, tram drivers, and real-estate sales agents.
(Stanley, 2016, p. 11)
As I set out in chapter one, I do experience this as an operational problem in my EFL school. Even if there
were a conveyor belt of willing and able entry-level teachers, the “permeability” of the profession, in which
people leave and enter EFL teaching at a high rate and with relative ease, comes at a significant cost to the
business. As well as the financial cost in management time of recruiting, onboarding, training and upskilling
staff only for them to leave, there is an emotional and psychological cost to the organisation of high staff
turnover (Harrison, 2022, pp. 2-5). Later on, we will consider whether this insight can offer a us path to
sustainable, ethical employment conditions for EFL teachers that is more palatable to business than unions
and government regulations, and more efficacious than advocacy alone.
With the exception of Japan (Stewart, 2020) our tour of national-cultural EFL contexts yielded no examples of
sustainable EFL teacher employment models. Rather, it seemed to confirm that Johnston’s (1997) depiction
of an “unstable, marginalized, impermanent” profession prevails. The review will now zoom out to take in
the broader literature on sustainable ethical practices.
2.3. Sustainable employment practices

In a wide-ranging international study, Jody Heymann and Magda Barrera (2010) explored the experiences of
firms of varying size in a range of industries that had tried to improve conditions for their employees,
especially those at the base of the organisational hierarchy. They identified companies that “had chosen to
improve working conditions for employees at all levels in a range of ways including increased wages, profit-
sharing, leave and flexibility, health care, and training and advancement opportunities” and designed
interviews and research tools “to examine whether improved conditions occurred and what relationship
these conditions bore to the firms’ productivity, financial costs, and returns (p. 2)”. In short, how did the
efforts to improve conditions for employees play out in terms of the company’s business performance?
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What the researchers found, almost without exception, was that the companies which had successfully
implemented measures to improve the conditions of all workers, and particularly those at the bottom,
increased their profitability and enjoyed long-lasting business success. One of the most high-profile
companies they studied was Costco, a big-box store in the US that sells a wide range of goods at low markup,
necessitating high volume driven by repeat customers. Central to this is offering a high-quality shopping
experience, which Costco achieves by hiring and retaining top-quality employees through above-average
wages and career advancement opportunities. In 2005, Costco's starting wages were 2-3 times the federal
minimum wage, and job adverts attracted many more applicants than job openings. Costco's investment in
its workforce, evident in policies encouraging retention and internal promotion, has led to benefits like
remarkably low employee shrinkage and turnover rates. This approach has not only fostered employee
motivation and loyalty, resulting in high-quality service and low staff turnover, but also contributed to
Costco's impressive financial performance and growth, outperforming direct competitors like Wal-Mart's
Sam's Club in sales per square foot and profits per employee (Heymann & Barrera, 2010b).
As they saw this scenario replicated in company after company, the authors came to realise that these
companies were not being profitable while improving conditions for staff, they were profitable because their
staff were paid a fair wage, felt valued and secure in their work, and were happy, committed and motivated
employees (Heymann & Barrera, 2010, p. 9). From a systems perspective, the research found that improving
conditions for low-paid workers was a driver of business performance. They identify five strategies the
companies used to “profit alongside” their lowest-level employees (Heymann & Barerra, 2010b, pp. 3-8):
Supporting the Health of the Lowest-Level Employees: Investing in worker health led to reduced
absenteeism, lower turnover rates, and increased productivity. For instance, Autoliv Australia's enhanced
leave and flexibility policies significantly decreased staff turnover from around 20% to 3%.
Training and Career Advancement: Providing training and career opportunities made employees more
efficient and reduced turnover. Xerox Europe's training and career tracks for entry-level employees resulted
in promotions for 20% of such employees within a year. Costco promoted 98% of its warehouse managers
from within its own workforce, leading to less than 6% turnover after the first year of employment.
Providing Incentives at the Bottom of the Ladder: Motivating employees through incentives significantly
boosted productivity. Dancing Deer, a medium-sized new York bakery, implemented a stock-option program
that involved all its employees. Within a year, the company saw a 74 percent increase in sales and a 40
percent rise in the value of the stock options.
Engaging Line Workers and Acting on Their Recommendations: Companies found value in learning from
their lowest-level employees, who often have the most expertise in improving work processes. Programs like
Great Little Box's employee suggestion initiative led to significant cost savings and efficiency increases. Novo
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Nordisk’s c-LEAN process, where employees suggested solutions for arising problems, resulted in a 50%
increase in efficiency rates.
Taking Strategic Steps to Ensure Companies and Communities Profit Together: Investing in the communities
where companies operate has brought significant benefits. For example, the cement manufacturer ACC
India's investments in rural community infrastructure like schools and clinics not only welcomed the
company into new communities but also encouraged workers to remain in their rural locations rather than
migrate to the cities. The community investment also resulted in reduced labour unrest compared to other
companies, and in providing educational and healthcare facilities created a healthier, better-educated
workforce for the future.
Since Heymann & Barrera pubished over a decade ago these ideas have become increasingly mainstream. In
2019 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation approached the Harvard Business School Managing the Future
of Work project to address the challenge of low pay and precarity in the US. As the authors describe it:
The mandate: to understand what employers can do to improve the prospects of their lowest-paid
workers - those who earn less than 200% of the poverty line – and set them on a path to greater
prosperity, while simultaneously advancing their own competitiveness.
(Fuller & Raman, 2022, p. 2)
This was a vast study, surveying over two thousand low-wage workers and business leaders across a wide
range of sectors. It found that both low-wage workers and the companies they worked for were stuck
together in a systemic “low-wage high turnover-trap” (Figure 2) that was holding back the upward mobility of
low-wage workers and causing significant hidden costs for businesses (p. 3). The authors conclude that to
break out of the trap and “promote upward mobility among employees at the bottom of the ladder,
companies can advance their own interests by prioritizing the following actions” (pp. 4-5).
Recognize Low-Wage Employees as Critical Assets: Low-wage workers should be seen as essential assets,
not costs, due to their crucial skills, experience, and knowledge. The authors recommend integrating these
frontline workers into talent management frameworks usually reserved for higher-paid staff.
Make Retention a Cornerstone of Strategy: Employers should prioritize retaining experienced workers over
constantly hiring new ones. These individuals already understand the company's operations, have proven
their competence, and generally prefer to stay if advancement opportunities are offered. This approach
reduces indirect costs associated with high turnover and leverages the higher value of experienced
employees.
Invest in Mentorship, Career Pathways, and Learning and Development: The research indicates that even
marginal improvements in these three areas can help to break the low-wage, high-turnover trap. Often, this
18
involves simply making low-wage workers aware of opportunities and tailoring development programs to
their needs and circumstances.
Create a Diverse Workforce, Bottom Up: Efforts to build a diverse organization should start by tapping into
the pool of skilled and experienced low-wage workers, predominantly consisting of women and people of
colour. The authors argue that this approach is more effective in achieving diversity and inclusion goals than
traditional corporate social responsibility programs.
Measure Implementation Rigorously: Despite using advanced data analytics to measure all manner of
aspects of the business, few companies track or gather data on the upward mobility of their low-wage
employees. Tracking whether interventions to improve conditions for workers are properly implemented and
achieve the desired effect is an important step towards realising upward mobility.
Understand the External Implications of Upward Mobility: Employers are increasingly collaborating with
educational institutions and local communities to develop a larger, skilled talent pool in the local area. This
involves creating career pathways for low-wage workers and addressing barriers to employment, benefiting
both employees and the broader job market.
Figure 2: The systemic low-wage, high-turnover trap (Fuller & Raman, 2022, p. 3)
2.4. Conclusion
This chapter has provided an overview of the literature on the working lives of EFL teachers, and described
two large-scale studies that investigated the impact on business performance of measures that companies
took to improve employee’s pay and conditions. Approaching the review using the lens of Systems theory, I
highlighted the systemic drivers of low pay and insecurity for EFL teachers that were identified in the
literature, among which was a systemic societal undervaluation of the EFL teaching profession. I then
19
outlined the interventions proposed in the literature, in relation to EFL teachers specifically and in wider,
cross-sectoral studies. The most resonant intervention involved a change in the collective mindset of the
sector to one which understands how improving conditions for those at the bottom of the organisational
pyramid is not just good for employees and good for society, but good for business too.
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3. Methodology
3.1. Introduction
In this study, my primary objective is to innovate an employment relationship between EFL Schools and EFL
Teachers that is sustainable, and beneficial for all stakeholders involved. My subsidiary aims revolve around
developing my own management practice through dialogic engagements with staff at ABC, and reshaping the
narrative and practices around how we employ teachers in our industry. To gather data for this task, I
undertook fifteen semi-structured interviews with teachers and managers at ABC, examining their
experiences in the industry and exploring potential for change.
In this chapter, I will outline the methodology used for the study. First, I will discuss the research philosophy,
focusing on the pragmatic approach that forms the foundation of this investigation. Then, I will describe the
research methodology, which uses Grounded Theory in analysing the complexities of EFL teacher
employment. Next, the process of data collection is detailed, explaining the strategies behind the
conversational interviews conducted. Finally, I will describe the data analysis process, illustrating how GT
coding methods were applied to the qualitative data to develop a comprehensive understanding of the topic.
The full research process is illustrated in Figure 3.
3.2. Research Philosophy: Pragmatism

The project will adopt a Pragmatic research philosophy. Originating in 19th-century United States of America
with the work of John Dewey (1859–1952), among others, Pragmatism is a philosophical approach that
focuses on practical concerns and contextualised, real-life challenges rather than universal theories about
the nature of reality. It emphasizes understanding and dealing with the everyday practicalities of living in a
world that is uncertain and constantly changing (Simpson & den Hond, 2021).
As a research approach in organisational and management studies, Simpson and den Hond argue that
“Pragmatism’s versatility and richness as a source of practical ideas that can bring fresh insight and point
towards productive avenues for future researching into the processes of organization and organizing” (2021,
p. 128). The authors identify three key features of Pragmatism that articulate its relevance as an approach to
organisational research: “first, a commitment to process and emergence, second, a naturalistic and
experimental approach to knowing, and third, an awareness that the meaning of actions taken in the present
is in their anticipated future consequences” (2021, p. 131). This last feature refers to the ethical dimension of
Pragmatism, which emphasises moral actions with moral outcomes as opposed to conformity to absolute
moral truths.
3.3. Research Methodology: Grounded Theory

This research will utilize Grounded Theory methodology to develop a sustainable model of EFL teacher
employment. Grounded Theory (GT), a systematic methodology in the social sciences involving the
21
construction of theories through methodical gathering and analysis of data, is particularly suited for
exploring complex social phenomena like employment models. This approach emphasizes the interactive
nature of qualitative research, where both data and analysis are co-constructed by the researcher and
participants. It advocates for flexibility and reflexivity in the research process, allowing theories to emerge
from the data in a more organic and context-sensitive manner (Flick, 2009, pp. 428-437).
The "Pragmatic approach" to Grounded Theory GT, as discussed in section 1.5 above, offers a practical
framework for examining the dynamic and context-dependent realities of EFL teachers. This method is
rooted in a pragmatic epistemology, which suggests that knowledge is constructed through actions and
outcomes in specific situations, emphasizing the utility and consequences of ideas. It enables the systematic
collection and analysis of qualitative data to develop a theory that emerges from and is applicable to the
empirical evidence gathered from participants, considering their interactions within specific socio-
organizational environments (Bryant, 2009). Given my dual role as both a researcher and the director of the
organization under study, the Pragmatic GT approach is particularly relevant, as it leverages the researcher's
active engagement with the subject matter to inform the inquiry and theory development, reflecting a
commitment to generating practical and impactful outcomes.
3.4. Data Collection

Qualitative data was collected through a series of in-depth semi-structured, conversational interviews with
EFL teachers and EFL managers at ABC. These interviews were constructed as generative dialogic encounters,
informed by the principles of Leadership-as-Practice and aligning with the pedagogical ethos of learner-
centred and communicative language teaching (Raelin, 2016; Littlewood, 1981; Numan, 2013).
The interview design drew upon the dialogic nature of conversation, creating a space for the emergence of
new insights and understandings. Each interview was approached as an interactive partnership, in which
both participant and researcher contribute to the co-construction of knowledge. This method was chosen
over written questionnaires to capitalize on the dynamic interplay of ideas, allowing the conversation to
evolve organically and reveal deeper layers of meaning. The dialogic format was partly chosen for its
potential to unveil the unexpected. It allows for a relational and co-constituted unfolding of narratives, rich
with the potential for serendipitous discoveries. This openness to the unforeseen is particularly conducive to
CGT, where the unexpected can guide the research in novel and illuminating directions.
A purposive sampling strategy was employed to select first ten EFL teachers, and then five EFL managers.
Based on the teacher interviews, I made the decision to extend the study to the EFL managers, in order to fill
gaps in the data and elaborate the theory to the point of saturation (Groen et al., 2017). The selection
criteria aimed to encompass a range of demographics, experiences and perspectives, ensuring that the study
reflected the diversity within the EFL teaching community at ABC.
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Interviews were held in person to facilitate a genuine dialogic exchange. Each session was limited to 45
minutes of recorded conversation in order to maintain focus and depth. The researcher guided the
conversation with open-ended questions, encouraging participants to share their experiences, challenges,
and perspectives on employment practices in EFL. Conversations were audio-recorded with the participants'
consent and transcribed verbatim. The transcriptions provided a detailed textual account of the interviews,
serving as the primary data source for subsequent analysis.
Table 1: List of Interviewees
Pseudonym Gender Current Role Age EFL Experience

Asothi Female EFL Teacher 48 15 years
Bossie Female EFL Manager 47 22 years
Christina Female EFL Teacher 29 4 years
Di Female EFL Teacher 44 10 years
Hannah Female EFL Teacher 38 9 years
Ida Female EFL Manager 33 9 years
Jack Male EFL Manager 44 18 years
Jasmine Female EFL Teacher 28 2 years
Klara Female EFL Teacher 40 16 years
Lliam Male EFL Teacher 42 2 years
Morgan Female EFL Teacher 33 8 years
Neela Female EFL Manager 45 19 years
Olivia Female EFL Teacher 36 11 years
Tatum Female EFL Teacher 24 2 years
Terry Male EFL Manager 40 16 years
Tony Male EFL Teacher 57 11 years
3.5. Data Analysis

The data analysis for this research followed GT coding methodology, which is well-suited for exploring
complex phenomena by constructing theories grounded in participant data. This began with initial coding,
where the qualitative data collected through interviews was dissected into discrete parts to identify their
fundamental properties and dimensions. This granular scrutiny allowed the analysis to remain close to the
data, ensuring that the emerging categories closely reflected the participants' experiences (Birks & Mills,
2011).
Once a substantial list of initial codes had been developed, the analysis proceeded to focused coding. This
phase was selective and involved sifting through the initial codes to identify the most significant and frequent
ones that offered the greatest explanatory power. These focused codes were then used to categorize the
data more meaningfully, allowing for the synthesis of information and the identification of patterns and
themes (Birks & Mills, 2011).
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At the final stage of theoretical coding, abstract categories were established by extrapolating the connections
and relationships in the data. This integrative phase was essential in forming a cohesive theory that
elucidated the social processes underpinning EFL teacher employment. The theoretical codes provided a
framework for the developing theory, connecting categories in a way that narrated the story of the data.
(Birks & Mills, 2011).
As part of the coding process, the individual codes were assigned a weighting based on the volume and
frequency with which they occurred in the data. Volume was calculated by counting the number of words
contained in snippets associated with the code across the interviews. Frequency was calculated by counting
the number of interviews in which the code appeared. A normalised weighting was applied by dividing the
word count and frequency of each code by their respective maximum values, and these were added together
to give a normalized score between 0 and 2 where both word count and frequency are equally weighted.
And example of the weighting calculation is shown in the table below.
Table 2: Code weighting calculation example

Word Count
Word Count
Score (Sum)
Normalized
Normalized
Normalized
(WC / 944)
Frequency
Frequency
Weighted
Unique Code
(F / 7)
Discovering EFL teaching by word-of-mouth 825 7 0.874 1 1.874
Developing organisational and planning skills... 818 7 0.867 1 1.867
Low salaries for EFL teachers in South Africa 944 5 1 0.714 1.714
Autonomy of the EFL teacher in the classroom 758 5 0.803 0.714 1.517
Preference for teaching adults 654 5 0.693 0.714 1.407
Attraction of travelling and adventure... 616 5 0.653 0.714 1.367
Feelings that EFL teaching is engaging... 392 5 0.415 0.714 1.129
Collaborative, mutually supportive nature... 468 4 0.496 0.571 1.067
Developed a love and passion for EFL teaching 342 4 0.362 0.571 0.933
24
Figure 3: The Research Process
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3.6. Conclusion
In this chapter we outlined the methodology used in the study. It began with a discussion on the pragmatic
research philosophy, setting the context for the study's approach. The use of Grounded Theory methodology
was then explained, highlighting its suitability for analysing the EFL teaching environment. The data
collection was conducted through conversational interviews with EFL teachers and managers, providing the
primary data for the study. The chapter concluded with an overview of the data analysis process, where a GT
coding approach coding was applied to interpret the data. This methodological framework aims to support
the study's objective of exploring ethical and sustainable employment models in EFL teaching and contribute
to a better understanding of the industry's dynamics. In the next chapter, we will explore the findings of the
research.
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4. Findings
4.1. Introduction
This chapter will set out the findings of two rounds of research interviews, the first with eleven EFL teachers
and the second with five EFL managers, all of whom work at ABC. The data was coded in three stages: open
coding, where initial categories were identified and labelled; focused coding, where these categories were
narrowed down and specified; and theoretical coding, where an abstract understanding of the data was
developed by integrating and relating categories to form an overarching framework.
The teacher interviews yielded 142 open codes, 40 focussed codes and eleven theoretical codes, while the
manager interviews produced 131 open codes, 31 focussed codes and ten theoretical codes. To assist with
the analysis, Each code was assigned a normalised weighting between 0 and 2 based on the word count
associated with the code and the frequency with which it is mentioned by interviewees. Theoretical and
focussed codes are shown in Table 3 and Table 4 and a full table of all codes and weightings can be found in
Annexures A and B. The code weightings did not serve as a basis for a quantitative analysis; instead, they
informed a qualitative assessment of the data, which was pragmatically rooted in the themes and concepts
most frequently mentioned by the participants
First, the chapter explores the views of EFL teachers, focusing on their employment conditions, job security,
career development opportunities, and their motivations for staying in the profession despite challenges
such as low pay and limited advancement prospects. The narrative then shifts to the perspectives of five EFL
managers, examining the employment conditions from a managerial standpoint. This includes an assessment
of the conditions for both teachers and managers, the structural challenges to improving these conditions,
and the potential opportunities for enhancement.
4.2. Teachers’ Perspectives

The table below lists the theoretical and focussed codes generated from the eleven interviews with EFL
teachers. The subsequent section analyses the data, grounded in the participants’ own words.
Table 3: Theoretical and Focussed Codes: Teacher Interviews
Theoretical Codes with weighting Focussed Codes with weighting

Skill Development and Enhancement (2.00)
Personal Development and Character and Professional Traits (1.01)
Growth (2) Career Transition and Adaptation (0.76)
Reflective Practice and Continuous Improvement (0.58)
Salary and Wage Concerns (1.39)
Compensation and Financial
Lack of Financial Stability and Benefits (1.12)
Stability (1.82)
Need for pay progression (0.81)
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Regional Salary Differences (0.58)

Career Advancement Challenges and Opportunities (1.40)
Career Advancement and Enhancing Roles and Upskilling (1.02)
Development Opportunities
(1.71) EFL Teaching as a Transitional Career (0.94)
Qualifications and Professional Development (0.49)
Career Entry and Discovery (1.48)
Career Choices and Future
Professional Lifestyle Choices (1.07)
Outlook (1.65)
Career Aspirations and Goals (0.74)
Personal Fulfilment and Reward (1.51)
Job Satisfaction and Professional
Engagement and Enjoyment in Teaching (1.03)
Fulfilment (1.61)
Intellectual Stimulation and Challenges (0.59)
Cultural Exchange and Interaction (1.21)
Intercultural Experiences and Travel and Adventure (0.85)
Social Engagement (1.49) Cultural Perspectives and Challenges (0.67)
Personal Background and Motivations (0.36)
Lack of job security (1.02)
Job Security and Employment
Comparative Employment Stability (0.69)
Stability (1.45)
Work Schedules and Conditions (0.33)
Autonomy in EFL Teaching (1.00)
Teacher Autonomy and
Classroom Dynamics (0.99)
Classroom Experience (1.37)
Teaching Methodology (0.57)
Community and Relationships (1.14)
Work Environment and Culture Negative experiences of workplace culture (0.90)
(1.35) Cultural and Regional Variations (0.69)
Aspirations for Workplace Culture (0.30)
Flexibility in EFL Teaching (0.62)
Work-Life Balance and Flexibility Work Hours and Additional Work (0.53)
(1.12) Alternative Work and Side Jobs (0.52)
Work-Life Balance (0.42)
Recognition from Management (0.63)
Management and Organizational
Support from Management and Staff (0.57)
Support (0.90)
Challenges with Management (0.43)
4.2.1. Employment Conditions for EFL Teachers

a) Salary and wage concerns
Concerns about low pay and the struggle for financial stability when teaching EFL were recurring themes in
the data. Salaries in the industry were variously describes as “shocking”, “a pittance” and “way beyond
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terrible”. Where specific figures are mentioned – “70 or 80 rand an hour”, “eight-five rand an hour”, “13,000
rand a month” – they represent extremely low wages. Teachers “struggled to make ends meet” finding that
“basically after child care, petrol costs a bit of groceries there was nothing left”. Big ticket purchases are also
out of reach, as one teacher laments, “you can't travel, and you can't save and even to save up for a
computer or something is almost impossible”.
The low pay in South Africa is thrown into sharp relief when teachers return from working in Asian countries
where we hear of salary figures of “45,000 rand a month” and “$1500 to $1800 [a week]”. Olivia described
her first job interview after returning from South Korea.
When I first did the interview with [an EFL school in Cape Town], I had no idea what the salary was
going to be. It's not comparable to South Korea at all. But I came to the interview and when she told
me the basic rate, I honestly didn't know what to do with my face because even though I knew it
was gonna be low, it was way beyond what I thought, you know, and then I thanked her and left and
then I remember just calling my mom and being like, I don't think I could survive on this even,
because I'm single, right?
Olivia, 36 years old, 11 years EFL teaching experience
This inability to build an independent adult life without support from a partner or parents is another
prominent theme. Asothi recalls that “in my early thirties, I was getting older and…my father was still helping
me out because living in Cape Town is expensive…and it was really tough and my parents were like, you can't
stay in this job”. Lliam wonders, “how do I save? How do I do…grown up stuff, you know? Building an adult
life, you know, and getting married, I mean, getting a mortgage, you know?”. For EFL teachers on low salaries,
these markers of adulthood seem practically unattainable.
b) Lack of Financial Stability and Benefits
As well as low overall salaries, many teachers interviewed experienced a lack of financial stability because
they did not receive a steady, predictable monthly income with benefits like paid leave, a pension or medical
aid. One teacher described her decision whether to remain in EFL teaching or take a sales job.
Because [at the sales job] every month, I know I can guarantee that I will wake up and know that I
have a job but with the EFL thing, I was just like, I just don't know what will happen, and it's not
really viable right now…[otherwise] I'd have lost out on an opportunity for security, a job that's got
medical aid, you know, a stable salary that you could rely on all the time.
Christina, 29 years old, 6 years of EFL teaching experience
Lack of benefits was also raised, with Olivia describing an EFL job where “we didn't get paid vacation, if you
wanted time off you had to take unpaid leave…It was all illegal, but what can you do?” There were many
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more references in the data to EFL teaching jobs not offering paid holiday or sick leave. Another issue was
the lack of any employer-funded pension or medical aid scheme, adding to the overall instability of the role.
Ideally, I would like more security, besides salary, in terms of other areas as well, you know, it would
be good to have benefits and so on. A pension, medical aid, etcetera. But I, I think for now I'm
secure, but I suppose there's always room for improvement. I think the benefits would definitely
work, particularly a pension. It’s a big concern.
Morgan, 33 years old, eight years EFL teaching experience
The importance of pensions and medical aid was also raised by a number of interviewees, but these benefits
were practically unheard of in the interviewees’ professional experiences.
4.2.2. Job security and Employment Stability

The interviewees' accounts suggest a landscape of job security in the EFL industry marked by instability and
uncertainty. Tatum describes an experience shortly after she started at ABC that opened her eyes to this
state of affairs.
I think now I feel very valued but when I just started, I was working for two months and then I was
let go. But it's ad hoc, there wasn't a class for me. And then I felt like, oh, I'm so replaceable. I didn't
feel I was permanent. That's when I didn't feel valued. I remember I was so sad during that time, I
was like, oh, I miss teaching.
Tatum, 24 years old, two years EFL teaching experience.
One interviewee comments, “I don't know if any of our jobs are safe”, and during the COVID-19 pandemic it
became evident that they were not. In the UK there were reports of “egregious behaviour on the part of
some schools” with many teachers being laid off at short notice, without severance pay or being offered the
opportunity to benefit from generous government furlough schemes (Butler, 2020). A teacher who was
retrenched from a school in Cape Town recalls, “they just culled a lot of people…and I was literally at the
bottom of the list”. Another is still owed six weeks’ pay from the school that laid her off.
Faced with these challenges, several interviewees described looking for more stable opportunities. Christina
was working towards a qualification that would allow her to find work at an international secondary school
abroad, because “it's more secure and the benefits are great, and I'm still abroad, still the life that I wanna
live but a little bit more security”. Another explored doing copywriting, but as she describes it this kind of
career change is not easy.
I did this copy writing course courses for two years and I was trying to find my way around a
completely new industry, you know, I'm like, mid-thirties and trying to do that. It was tough.
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Asothi, 48 years old, 15 years of EFL teaching experience
A common sentiment among the interviewees is feeling undervalued and replaceable in their roles. Jasmine
suggests this is culture of the industry, saying “in some of the places I've worked, maybe it's corporate
culture or, I don't know, businesses or whatever but it feels they don't value people…I was very replaceable,
and I felt it”. Despite their dedication and efforts, this lack of recognition and value contributes to their sense
of insecurity and fuels the desire for more stable and respectful employment opportunities. Interviewees
describe feeling “very unsettled…because at the back of my mind I think I should probably be looking for
other jobs in case in case they do drop me”, and experiencing “a lot of anxiety about the number of hours
available”, and perhaps this should come as no surprise.
4.2.3. Career Development and Advancement

The interviews with EFL teachers explored their perspectives on career advancement and development
opportunities within the industry. A common sentiment among the interviewees was the perceived lack of
upward mobility in the EFL teaching career. For instance, one interviewee discussed the dilemma of where
their career could go, expressing concerns about limited financial growth and advancement opportunities
within the field, saying "if I'm just gonna do this forever there's nowhere for me to go financially". Another
tells us that “my biggest fear, was I wanna say is, but where do I go with this career? I have nowhere to go,
right? I love doing this.”
The structure of the EFL industry and the roles available within it were highlighted as factors limiting career
progression. Teachers remarked on the flat structure of the industry, noting the limited number of positions
available for advancement and the challenge of transitioning from teaching to administrative roles.
I think it's just the way that the schools are structured, the institutions are structured because it's
different to let's say a business where you can go from this position to this management position,
there's a hierarchy, quite a steep hierarchy. [In EFL] it's more of a flat structure. So there are only so
many limited positions, not everybody can have them.
Hannah, 38 years old, ten years EFL teaching experience
The interviews also touched upon the influence of additional qualifications on career advancement. For
instance, gaining more experience or qualifications could lead to opportunities to teach in more prestigious
locations, or as one teacher puts it, “the more experience you have the cooler places you can travel…[if] I
have more experience or…more qualifications, I can, go teach in Europe, go teach in…harder places to get to
[like] Singapore”. But most interviewees were more ambivalent about upskilling within EFL teaching,
questioning the return on investment given the limited opportunities for advancement. Rather, some were
pursuing education and training in other fields (psychology and journalism for example) because, as one
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experienced, well-qualified teacher tells us, “I haven't really found opportunity for advancement, and it does
feel like a ceiling because I feel like I've been a junior teacher forever”.
Given what we have seen so far, it is understandable that EFL teaching is sometimes viewed as a transitional
career. Several interviewees discussed the idea of EFL teaching as a stepping stone or a temporary job while
pursuing other career goals or further education. For example, one teacher viewed EFL teaching as a “part
time job… I don't think of it as a long term [career]…it's almost a really well-paying waitressing job". They
acknowledged it as beneficial for someone working on something else, but not as a stable long-term career
option. This viewpoint reflects a common perception among many EFL teachers who see the job as a means
to an end, rather than a career destination.
The transition into EFL teaching often seemed to happen by chance, illustrating the “permeability” of the
profession. One teacher recalls, “someone mentioned EFL teaching, and this wasn't something I even knew
about. And then I started researching and then I thought, ok. At first, I was like, ok, I'll do it for a couple of
years, pay off my student loans, all of that, you know”. The sense of going into a job they never even knew
existed is reinforced by another teacher, who describes how she met “this Australian guy who was like, oh,
I'm in Indonesia teaching English. Indonesia, I thought, teaching English. Is that a thing?” This unplanned
entry into EFL teaching suggests that for some, it is not initially seen as a long-term career path but rather a
convenient and attractive opportunity that presents itself.
4.2.4. Reward, Passion and Enthusiasm

A recurring theme in the interviews is the sense of fulfilment and passion that many teachers find in their
work. Olivia spoke about finding a true passion in teaching EFL after initially viewing it as a temporary job.
She describes a sense of worth and enjoyment in the role, particularly when seeing the impact of their
teaching on students, highlighting how teaching EFL can evolve from a transitional job into a vocation that
brings deep personal satisfaction.
“I just feel I, you know, found the thing I'm supposed to do. And you feel it's working, teaching, you
can kind of get a positive feedback, you can see if it's working and also in their growth. And the
writing, you can actually go compare the first writing they did for you versus week thirteen's writing.
And, like, yeah, I know that I had a hand in that.”
Many interviewees echoed this emphasis on the rewarding nature of teaching, especially when witnessing
their students' progress. Tatum compares it favourably to “normal education [where] you don’t see the
improvement as much as you do in EFL […] So it was amazing. And I was like, I love this, I love this feeling of
seeing the improvements happen before my eyes.” This aspect of teaching, where the results of one's effort
are visible and impactful, seems to be a significant source of job satisfaction for EFL teachers.
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The variety and dynamic nature of the job were also mentioned as factors contributing to job satisfaction.
Christina talked about enjoying the stimulation and “slight chaos” of the teaching environment, appreciating
that every day is different.
my favourite thing is every day is not the same. this is literally every day is so different and I get
bored pretty easily. So I appreciate this level of stimulation and slight chaos, like, just kind of
flexibility just, you know, nothing ever goes the way you expect it to.
Klara stells us that EFL teaching is “not formulaic per se. [It's] intellectually stimulating because…it's different
every day and I [have to] adapt… so it keeps me a little bit creative”. The data suggests that the unpredictable
and varied nature of teaching can keep the job interesting and engaging for those who thrive in such
environments.
A final driver of professional satisfaction was the autonomy that EFL teachers experience in the classroom.
The nature of the role is that once the lesson begins, the teacher has full authority in the classroom and
license to deliver the curriculum in whatever manner will be most effective for that particular group of
students, with their varying language needs and backgrounds and distinct learning styles. As one teacher
puts it, “you go in and you close the door and like, you've got a boss, but you're the boss in the classroom
basically”, while another reflects that “pretty much once you're in there, you know, you're on your own”. One
teacher described how in a previous role the sense of classroom autonomy had compensated for bad
management practices.
I had freedom, like someone said, I was like queen of my classroom, you know, I can't change the
management, but I can, you know, within that space I have power. So that was good.
Klara, 40 years old, 20 years of EFL teaching experience
On the whole, the interviews with EFL teachers reveal a profession characterised by a high degree of intrinsic
motivation, job satisfaction and professional fulfilment. This is driven by the rewarding nature of teaching,
the dynamic work environment, the visible impact on students, and the degree of autonomy teachers
experience in the classroom.
4.2.5. Addressing low pay, low job security and lack of career advancement in EFL
The interviews examined how the issues of low pay, low job security and lack of career advancement
opportunities could be realistically addressed. On the issue of pay, the need to recognise the value of more
experienced teachers in the remuneration structure was raised by a number of interviewees. One sums the
situation up saying, “you could be a really good teacher who's got an enormous amount of experience and is
applying it incredibly in the classroom or you could be a very junior teacher who's there just finding their
way, you know, those two should be recognized differently, I think”. This can be very frustrating and
demoralising for experienced teachers, as Hannah relates.
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I do have frustrations. The one thing that irks me is that you can be a teacher for a long time and
have all these experiences and then someone can come with a one- or two-week online TEFL
qualification and you are like, put in the same category as that person in terms of salary, in terms of
everything. And it's very frustrating.
A suggestion discussed at some length in the interviews was for teachers to enhance their roles by taking on
additional duties in the school. Referred to as a “teacher-plus” role, this involves teachers working in the
schools’ sales and marketing, student services, accommodation or IT departments alongside their usual
teaching hours. Critically these would be full time roles, filling the unpaid “down time” that usually
characterises teachers’ schedules and therefore boosting their overall pay while also adding value to the
business. Lliam elaborates on the possible benefits of this model for teachers’ long-term career progression.
In addition to doing your teaching-plus, you can also do some training so that you can upskill on the
plus side, right? You know, now you're actually growing two skill sets, which for the time being are
complementary. But I think the value proposition to aspiring teachers and new teachers is yes, you
have a teaching-plus you are developing both teaching [and] the other [skill]. If at some point, you
need to make a decision between the two, your additional skills have value elsewhere.
Lliam, 40 years old, 2 years of EFL teaching experience
As well as developing roles for teachers in the broader operations of the school, the prospect of extending
the academic management layer to include a role that combines teaching and junior management was
discussed. These Lead Teachers might support the academic management team by taking responsibility for a
cluster of teachers for example, or filtering queries and dealing with on the ground issues as they arise. They
could also take on a student liaison role by responding to routine student queries and advising on school
policies and procedures, which would improve the efficiency of communication and take pressure off the
student services team. These roles would be full time and attract a higher rate of pay.
Providing these kinds of opportunities for teachers would also have positive impact on the teachers’ sense of
self-esteem and self-worth. A teacher who recently took on additional duties at ABC commented, “It’s nice
knowing that I'm valued…[When] you guys told me to sort of take over that minor role [in IT support] you
know, to make the school work better, I felt valued.” Taking on these additional or more senior roles would
be a form of recognition of teachers’ skills and abilities. Another teacher explains how she appreciates this
kind of recognition from management.
When you're recognized for what you're good at and what you can do and when your skills are
recognized and you know, management says to you, I see you're good at this. Would you like to
[take on an additional role]? Yeah, so that's kind of the positive thing, being valued, being
recognized.
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Overall, the interviews pointed to a number of strategies to address low pay, low job security, and limited
career advancement in EFL. These included recognizing the value of experienced teachers through a
differentiated remuneration structure and providing opportunities for teachers to diversify their roles within
the school, thereby enhancing both their skill sets and job security while adding value to the organisation.
The teacher interviews did not uncover and strategies to address the issue of lack of job stability. Instead,
teachers seemed to have internalised a narrative that the flow of incoming students is seasonal and
inherently unstable, and the inevitable corollary of this is an unstable supply of teaching work. Teachers
expressed an awareness of the competitive nature of the industry and an appreciation of the role of the sales
and marketing team to keep bringing in students.
So in terms of sustainability, I think, I suppose that's where you guys come in terms of marketing,
making sure that there’s always students here, which makes your task not that easy. I'm just saying,
I'm not a marketing person but from what I can tell you just need to be on top of things all the time
getting the right people involved and making sure that the school is always busy to sustain us as
teachers and the school.
Tony, 56 years old, 11 years of EFL teaching experience
At this stage of the project, I felt that we had saturated the data as it relates to EFL teachers. However, in
order to gain a different perspective on these issues, I extended the data collection to include interviews with
five EFL managers, which we will explore in the next section.
4.3. Manager’s Perspectives

Over the course of the study it became evident that adding the perspective of EFL Academic Managers would
enhance the usefulness of the data and better enable to research to achieve its objectives. The table
presented below compiles the theoretical and focused codes derived from the interviews with five EFL
managers. The following analysis delves into the findings, basing the interpretation on the direct language
and perspectives offered by the participants.
Table 4: Theoretical and Focussed Codes: Manager Interviews
Theoretical Codes with weighting Focussed Codes with weighting

Workload and Work Environment (1.44)
Managerial Challenges and Team Leadership and Dynamics (1.41)
Workload (1.91) Managerial Support and Development (1.19)
Managerial Stress and Communication (1.16)
Teacher Recruitment Strategies (2.00)
Recruitment and Hiring Practices
Initial Job Entry and Referrals (1.12)
(1.91)
Teacher Evaluation and Compensation (0.77)
35
Challenges in Recruitment (0.69)

Career Path and Opportunities (1.49)
Teacher Competencies and Skills (1.37)
Teacher Development and
Personal Growth and Development (0.99)
Support (1.80)
Training and Qualifications (0.80)
Collaboration and Continuous Improvement (0.49)
Job Security and Stability (1.69)
Financial and Job Security (1.66) Salary and Compensation (1.60)
Employment Benefits (0.56)
Career Development and Advancement and Promotion (1.55)
Progression (1.64) Management Opportunities and Challenges (1.44)
Challenges in Retention (1.55)
Staff Retention and Turnover
Teacher Motivation and Commitment (0.87)
(1.43)
Retention Strategies (0.32)
Personal Motivations and Rewards and Passion for EFL (1.44)
Experiences (1.39) Career Alternatives and Parallel Interests (1.14)
Career Perceptions and Commitment (1.19)
Workplace Culture and
Travel and Exploration (1.06)
Environment (1.39)
Workplace Dynamics and Support (0.82)
Professional Development and Adaptation (1.17)
Management Skills and
Interpersonal and Communication Skills (0.62)
Competencies (1.22)
Managerial Approach and Style (0.46)
Market Challenges and Business Industry Challenges (0.96)
Strategies (1.11) Demand Management Strategies (0.69)
4.3.1. Employment Conditions for EFL Teachers

The managers reiterated what we had already heard about employment conditions for teachers in the EFL
industry, and the difficulty of building an independent adult life as an EFL teacher comes up again and again.
Terry asserts that low pay is at the heart of the problem.
Realistically it's not enough of a salary to actually get by. […] I think those are the ones who
eventually leave simply because as much as they maybe love the job, it's just not sustainable in
terms of income and then they either go overseas… or they take another career path […] it comes
down to money, you know, and actually paying them a wage, which they actually feel is something
that they can live a decent life on, and it's not gonna be a life of luxury. But in comparison to other
professions it feels you need a salary that you could actually build a life on.
Terry, 40 years old, 15 years in EFL
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Another adds lack of job security as a contributing factor to teachers leaving the profession, saying “they love
teaching, but the things that make them leave are job security and the salary”. The interviewees highlight
that most long-term EFL teachers need a partner with a secure, high-earning job to survive. One comments
wryly, “it’s this joke about you know, if you are living with family still or if you've got a husband who supports
you or whatever, then yes, you can [have a career in EFL teaching]”. One manager points to the lack of
benefits compared to other teaching jobs, saying “at a high school there's the thing of the job security and
the other benefits because they get medical aid and pension and, you know…social security benefits, which
EFL in South Africa does not have at all.” Summing up the situation, Bossie doesn’t mince her words.
So it’s a very abusive industry, it's a very abusive. You know, it’s the model but it is for the benefit of
the company. So, you know, for the business to run [you need flexibility] But the abusive nature
comes in where, everyone is treated as just, you know, expendable.
Bossie, 46 years old, over 20 years in EFL
The managers go on to describe the challenges this low-pay, low-commitment employment arrangement
presents them. The problems begin with recruitment, because as Ida explains, it is difficult to attract talented
applicants when you can’t offer them a stable employment package.
We've had to let [applicants] go because we couldn't, we couldn't promise them job security because
of the seasonal nature of the industry. And so we end up losing a lot of really good potential
teachers in the hiring process because of that. So it does get very hard.
Ida, 33 years old, eight years in EFL
As we have seen across the data, EFL schools struggle to retain good teachers, often losing them to EFL
teaching jobs in Asia or to other industries just as their teaching competency peaks. Bossie laments, “it's hard
to retain staff when they're always exploring other avenues for a backup income” to the extent that “you
never know exactly who's coming on the Monday. You never know exactly who's gonna come into work, you
know?” Another manager describes her experience trying to retain one particularly outstanding teacher.
The only times I've ever lost a really good teachers was because they were forced to go elsewhere
for more money. And for security. I remember a teacher I had [when managing at a previous school]
and to date if he's in Cape Town, I will call him [to offer him teaching work]. I've tried recently, [but
the teacher said] no, I'm still in the sand pits. So he was in the sand pits in Saudi. Yeah, he's in Saudi
and I asked him a couple of times and he goes, I would love to work for you. I can't live on your
salary. I just cannot live on that money ever. And I was like ok, there's nothing I can do about it.
That's it. And he left at the time he was working side by side with me at [the previous school] and he
left for that very reason because you can’t get ahead, you can’t get ahead.
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Neela, 44 years old, over 20 years’ in EFL
The high turnover of teachers also disincentivises investment in staff development. From Bossie’s
perspective, “the big question is how much do you invest in the teachers? Because you don't know if they're
gonna stay or not and most likely the turnover is high, so they don't really stay. So there's always that kind of
a reluctance of how much effort do I put in?” Jack regrets the loss of human capital to the industry as a
whole.
Looking at the human capital that you've invested in, or the whole industry invested in. And then,
you know, from one month to the next they're gone, you know, and we don't get them back and
then we have to build another person to that same level. It's more work to put in, it's more
development work until that person reaches that level again.
Jack, 44 years old, 15 years’ experience in the EFL industry
Finally, one manager highlights the impact of low job security on the social relations within the organisation.
There's that human factor again where the teacher feels they have to be in the DoS's [academic
manager’s] good books to keep in that position because it's an undisclosed non-contract thing on
paper. So it feels there's teachers who are trying to please the DoS all the time, you know, actually it
gets quite annoying.
The dynamic that results in the scenario described above is the same one that incentivises teachers to do
unpaid labour, or put more euphemistically, encourages them to “go the extra mile”. But regardless of any
financial benefit to the company, a situation where low-paid employees feel they have to constantly prove
themselves just to hold onto their jobs is not conducive to building a happy, motivated team and a healthy,
inclusive company culture.
4.3.2. Employment Conditions for EFL Managers

Given all we have seen so far, it was not unexpected that the interviews with EFL managers confirmed the
poor working conditions faced by EFL teachers. But the interviews further revealed that even if teachers do
manage to overcome the odds to make the step up into management, they will find these conditions
replicated in the EFL academic management space. Salaries are still low, with one manager saying they got a
“whooping 1000 rand increase” on their teachers salary, while another spoke of “warning bells” after being
offered at monthly salary of just “13,800 rand…to start up an entire department”.
And while EFL mangers have more job security and marginally better financial stability compared to EFL
teachers, the interviews revealed a management space characterised by long hours, unpaid labour, a lack of
training and support, and absence of role clarity. Ida explains that in EFL management, “you're just expected
to give and put in all these extra hours, and you never get paid overtime.” In his first academic management
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job, Terry was expected to teach thirty contact hours a week on top of his management tasks, a situation that
is not uncommon for academic managers at small EFL schools. As he relates,
This was absolutely ridiculous. So, yeah, and then I asked when I was supposed to do my director of
studies work, the response was it's called [unpaid] overtime Terry.
Academic managers reported feeling unsupported by the senior management who were often both
physically and emotionally distant. One manager at an international chain school recalls “I was left kind of
hanging because Cape Town is just the last thought, it's just it's Cape Town they can manage, you know. And
it became a very lonely position.” Bossie recalls a lack of training when she started her first management
role, as well as the attitude of senior management to the teaching operation.
It feels you are kind of floundering, you know? And because I wasn't well equipped from a training
point of view from that company. So then, yes, it was challenging. There was no training, there was
no training on how to use the systems […] there was no soft skills training. [I didn’t have] that much
support either because the centre director is doing finance. It's always been finance and the rest is
operations, so we were told to get on with your stuff and with your department and your teaching
team, you know. and don't spend too much money.
This lack of support was often accompanied by a lack of role clarity, with many managers working without
job descriptions or explicit parameters of work. Ida tells us when she started in academic management, “I
wasn't necessarily concerned about the job in and of itself, but mostly because I didn't understand what the
job entailed. I, I think I was walking in a little bit blind”. Neela relates that, “I always had to come up with the
idea. I had to come up with the concept. I had to come with solutions and everything as well. And then if it
was wrong, then it was on my shoulders.” And what was her senior manager’s response when she reached
out for help?
I had no idea what I was doing, and I didn't know that what I was doing was right or wrong. And
she said, it was the first time that she said this, I'm gonna say this from the bottom of my heart. I
thought she was gonna give me some pearl of wisdom and she said, piss off and figure it out. And
she closed her computer and that was it. That was, that was how I had to deal with it.
4.3.3. Structural barriers to improving employment conditions

One of the reasons I extended the interviews to EFL managers was to explore the structural conditions in the
industry that have produced this prevailing low-pay, low-commitment employment model. Most of the
teachers seemed resigned to this situation, acknowledging it as the inevitable consequence of seasonal and
variable demand in the industry. EFL Managers’ broader perspective on the industry may put them in a
better position to articulate these dynamics. As we would expect, continuous enrolment is highlighted as
39
cause of variable demand, but on the other hand, barring force majeure events, there are limits to this
variability.
So it boils down to two words: continuous enrolment. So it's the business model where, you know,
people can start any Monday. So because of that fluid nature you don't know how many students
you're gonna have in the building in any given week. [But] you might have your minimum and then
you've got your average and you've got your maximum. So based on your average, you could retain
a safe number of teachers. But suddenly there are economic things or global crises that affect
student numbers where you might hit a minimum, you know, and then the industry or the business is
scared to have too many staff.
This fear of a steep drop in student numbers leaving schools paying for more teachers than they can use for
the number of student in the school is the key reason that EFL school directors resist giving teachers
permanent or long-term contracts. And in some contexts this fear is justified, as Jack relates from his
previous experience as the director of a small school. Having employed two experienced teacher on full time,
permanent contracts at the outset, he soon ran into problems.
They basically had a set salary that was not linked to their teaching hours and especially in winter
[which is the low season] these two permanent teachers were going home at one o'clock on a full
salary [because] there was too little work in the afternoon. So I had to reduce my personnel costs.
Compared to other schools, you know, I paid them far too much for a half day of work.
EFL schools operate in a highly competitive commercial environment, with particularly high marketing and
student recruitment costs because of the global nature of the student recruitment operation, where you
have to reach customers located all over the world and all speaking different languages. Unlike many other
organisations delivering educational products, there is no government subsidy, no tax breaks, no
endowments, and no network of philanthropic alumni to draw resources from; it is a straightforward
commercial business that covers its operating costs from sales revenue alone. Jack’s experience as a school
owner gives him particular insight into the challenges this brings. In the extracts below he describes the how
hard it is to attract students and how this impacts the level of pay the schools can offer.
I completely underestimated how difficult it's gonna be to actually bring students to my school in
South Africa in a niche market in a small boutique school. And then also the growth after that, you
know, I anticipated it would be easier to hold, I don't know, 20 students on average at the school.
I've just experienced employing teachers, you know and seeing what is left at the end of the day,
right? The profits at the end of the day, they, there was not much room for increases in that and
there was not much room in giving them more security and flexibility because otherwise, yeah, cost
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of doing business is high, you know, it is marketing operation, staff, rent. And we have to be
competitive with the other countries, right?
We have seen in this section that a fear of a dramatic drop in demand leaves schools reluctant to offer
teachers permanent contracts, and the commercialised, highly competitive nature of the industry restrains
wage growth. We accepted that these fears are justified in some contexts, particularly for small EFL schools.
4.3.4. Opportunities to improve employment conditions

However, the interviews indicated that in many contexts these justifications for low pay and casual contracts
were not valid. The key metric is scale. The EFL managers agreed that a well-established, reasonably large
school can be assured of a sufficiently consistent supply of students to employ a core of teachers on secure,
long-term contracts. Neela observes that when working at a medium-sized chain school, “It seems there's
always a steady stream of students in my eyes” and suggests “I don't see why a school wouldn't be able to
have a small group of permanent staff on the academic side…if they have a history of a steady stream of
students.” Bossie concurs, and highlights the positive message that this would send to staff.
“You can retain a minimum number of teachers. So, it's not impossible and I think if schools did that
it would at least show [teachers] that we see you, we recognise you…And yes, we still need teachers
on zero-hour contracts, you know, but at least you are showing that there is that scope to get into
that permanent job.”
Finally, Jack considers how his experience at ABC has evolved his understanding of the economics of the
sector and the implication of this for the way we employ teachers. ABC is a large and successful school by
South African standards, and he observes that this is not only an opportunity to improve working conditions
for EFL teachers, but also a social responsibility.
It gives that opportunity to increase your core teaching team because you have the financial means
to give more security to more people. So you are reducing the flexible insecurely employed staff, and
you are increasing the core staff that you want to keep because you have more cash to distribute in
a way. So I think larger schools will have more people in a classroom who have bigger margins and
also have, yeah, reached an average level that gives them a fair profit [which] gives the opportunity
to improve the teacher's situation. And I think they should.
We will consider this proposition further in the next chapter, where we discuss the findings and consider
their implications in the ABC context.
4.4. Conclusion
The research interviews conducted with EFL teachers and managers have provided an understanding of the
challenges and experiences within the EFL industry. The most prominent findings is the recurring theme of
41
financial instability faced by teachers. Salaries are described as shockingly low, making it difficult for teachers
to attain financial stability and independence. This situation is exacerbated by a lack of job security and
benefits, such as paid leave, pensions, or medical aid, which further contributes to the teachers’ vulnerability
and dissatisfaction.
Moreover, the findings indicate a lack of career advancement opportunities within the EFL teaching field. The
flat structure of the industry, coupled with limited positions available for progression, leaves many teachers
feeling stagnant in their careers. This lack of upward mobility is compounded by the uncertainty of job
security and the seasonal nature of teaching work, leading to high turnover rates and a sense of
replaceability among teachers. Despite these challenges, the intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction derived
from teaching and the impact on students’ lives were consistently noted as rewarding aspects of the
profession.
From these finding it is difficult to avoid the conclusion a systemic overhaul is needed in the EFL industry to
address these issues. Solutions such as differentiated remuneration structures that recognize the value of
experienced teachers, opportunities for role diversification within schools, and the provision of stable, long-
term contracts could contribute to improving the overall working conditions for EFL teachers. Although these
changes may be legitimately out of reach for small, independent EFL school, large schools with access to
significant resources have no such justification.
In the next chapter, I will analyse the findings in relation to the primary research question and literature
insights, focusing on the ABC context to propose a sustainable EFL employment model and its
implementation at ABC.
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5. Discussion
5.1. Introduction
In this chapter we will discuss the findings in the context of our primary research question and the insights
gained from the literature review. First of all, I will focus on the ABC context, using my experiential
knowledge and access to company information to ground the findings in the context of a real-world EFL
business. Based on this and the preceding analysis, we will develop a model of sustainable employment in
EFL and outline how it can be applied to ABC specifically.
5.2. The ABC Context

An important consideration for the design of this research was the relationship of the researcher to the
participants, representing both a limitation and a key strength of the project. The limitation was the influence
of relational power structures on how interviewees responded in the interviews, because all the participants
were being interviewed by their boss, or their boss’s boss. Given what we have seen about insecure
employment making teachers “feel they have to be in [managers’] good books to keep in that position,” I was
cautious about including positive statements about ABC in the findings chapter. However, I will draw on some
of that data in this section, as we relate the overall findings to ABC’s context, to gain insight into what we are
doing right, and how we need to improve.
The strength of the research lies in its potential for impact. As the director of ABC I control the allocation of
resources within the company, set the financial strategy, and have operational control over the employment
conditions of our teachers. I do not have to convince a C-suite of the validity of the findings in order for them
to be implemented, I only have to convince myself.
And given that I am the Director of an EFL school that forms part of this system that reproduces conditions of
precarity for teachers, and have been for almost ten years, readers may be wondering by now how on earth I
can sleep at night. Increasingly, the answer to that question is not very well, and hence this project. In this
section, I will unpack where ABC is positioned in relation to each of the issues raised here to learn where we
are getting things right, and identify measures to improve where we fall short.
5.2.1. Salaries, benefits and financial stability

ABC teachers’ gross salaries are comprised of teaching contact hours, preparation hours and meeting hours.
A teacher on a “full time” teaching hours will teach for twenty-five hours a week, every morning from 9.00 to
13.00 and two afternoons a week from 14.00 to 16.30. They are paid the 20% on top of their teaching hours
for preparation time to account for lesson preparation, administrative tasks and other non-teaching duties.
Teachers are not expected to be present during preparation time, but mangers do monitor their completion
of administrative tasks. One hour a week is paid for weekly teachers’ meeting or professional development
sessions. Teachers’ hourly rates are in three bands according to teaching qualifications and experience.
43
Salaries are increased with inflation each year. Based on these calculations the typical monthly gross pay for
teachers in 2023 is set out in Table 5. Salaries for academic managers are also shown. Additionally, in 2023 a
collective bonus equivalent to 3% of annual salary was paid to all staff.
Table 5: ABC Academic Pay Rates
Band Criteria Typical monthly salary

1 CELTA/TEFL (recognised) and <5yrs experience R 22,115
2 CELTA/TEFL (recognised) and >5yrs experience R 23,120
3 DELTA/Trinity Dip/Masters TESOL R 26,671
Assistant Academic Manager R 36,288
Academic Manager R 42,250
English South Africa (ESA), the industry peak body for the EFL industry in South Africa, surveys its members
and provides figures for average hourly salary rates across the industry. Although a like-for-like comparison is
difficult, my estimate based on these figures is that in 2023 ABC rates for the lowest-paid teachers are 40%
above the industry average, and the highest paid teachers earn 25% above the average. There was an
awareness this in the interviews, with one teacher commenting, “We get a fair salary, so in terms of pay it's
great compared to other schools.” Another tells us “right now I feel I'm satisfied if I may put it that way. I
think it's fair based on my experience and qualifications.” One manager remarks, “Obviously, the reason
people are working here at ABC is because this is one of the best paid schools that I've ever worked at or that
I've heard of from other places.”
As mentioned earlier, we should treat these kind of positive statements about ABC with caution, because
although higher than their industry peers, these salaries are still low for employees in their thirties and
forties. In the manager interviews, the discussion touched on what level of salary is realistically needed to
live an independent adult life in Cape Town, and the consensus for an experienced, senior teacher was at
least R30,000 plus a pension and medical aid, meaning a total cost to the company of about R35,000. The
teacher salaries in Table 5 fall short of that and there is further problem in that we have a large number of
experienced, high performing teachers stuck at band 2. This is because the higher-level teaching
qualifications in the band three criteria have become increasingly difficult to access for South African
teachers. A second problem is that the lowest band requires a CELTA or “recognised” entry-level TEFL
certificate, meaning one that we are satisfied meets the certain fairly high criteria. In practice though, we
have had to take on teachers who have “unrecognised”, lower-quality TEFL certificates simply because no
better-qualified teachers are available. In practice this means there is very little differentiation in pay
between a band 2 CELTA-qualified teacher with twenty years’ experience and a band 1 teacher with a two-
week online TEFL course and six months of classroom experience.
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The 20% preparation time is intended to offset some of the unpaid labour that prevails in the profession, and
again there is some indication that teachers recognised this, with one commenting, “we get paid for admin,
that's unheard of at any of the other schools.” From the company’s perspective, the rationale behind this
component of a teacher’s salary is not specifically linked to the volume of work that we expect teachers to do
outside the classroom. Firstly, this would be impossible to quantify because it would depend not only on the
kind of class the teacher is delivering (for example, an advanced business English class involves much more
preparation work that a pre-intermediate general English class) but also the ability, experience, efficiency and
contentiousness of the teacher themselves. Secondly, if it were somehow to be quantified, the figure of 20%
would certainly turn out to be an underestimate. Rather, the figure was arrived at based on what I felt the
business could sustain, with the intention of getting more money into teachers’ pay packets and signalling
that the company recognises the existence of this unpaid labour. Although not fully reflective of the work
done, paid preparation time has been successful in these aims, and could be further manipulated to improve
teachers’ overall compensation.
ABC pays its staff for public holidays, sick leave, and entitles them to 15 days annual leave a year, the
statutory minimum in South Africa. This is also not typical in the sector, and we often have to remind new
teachers at ABC that they are allowed to take paid sick and annual leave, and to include the public holidays in
their timesheet even though the school is closed. One teachers mentions that “we had to work on public
holidays” at a previous school, while a manager compares her previous EFL teaching roles to working in the
hospitality industry.
Because some companies where I've worked there was no sick pay, no holiday, it was you come in,
like a waitress, you come in, you do your shift and you get paid and you walk out the door, you
know, and we'll let you know when there's another shift.
By analysing the 2023 ABC annual accounts, we can test the proposition that “the ELT industry is beholden to
diverse stakeholders each of whom takes a sizeable slice from the students' fees…most significantly, schools
bear the cost of agents' fees and agent discounting” (Stanley, 2016). The graph below (Figure 4) shows the
distribution of ABC revenue in 2023.
45
Figure 4: Distribution of ABC Revenue
Agent Commission
Net Profit
Teacher Salaries
Student Accommodation
Facilities
Non-teacher salaries
Sales and Marketing
Administrative and Banking
Office and General
Student Discounts
Computing and Development
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
This data indicates that Stanley is spot on. Agent commission costs are indeed significant, accounting for 23%
of revenue, the highest category. ABC recruits 70% of its students via agents and pays commission rates of
25-35%, both about average for the industry (Norris, 2023). One way of conceptualising the sector is as a
partnership between agents, schools, and teachers. The agent brings the students, the school creates the
conditions for teaching and learning, and the teacher delivers the EFL product. Of course, all schools would
rather recruit students directly and not pay agent commission at all, but it seems many customers prefer to
make their buying decisions and logistical arrangements supported by an intermediary who is culturally
proximate and speaks their language.
It is well-established that agent commission rates have increased in the last few decades. Writing in PIE news,
Amy Baker (2018) reports that “English language teaching businesses have voiced concerns that the rates of
commission that education agents are charging are rising to a point that is becoming unsustainable for
schools to pay [teachers] and remain profitable.” An anonymous industry stakeholder sums up the dilemma
EFL schools are faced with.
“You’re not going to make anywhere near 10% [net profit margin] if you’re paying… 35% commission
[on course price] is common, 40% you get asked for, plus marketing contributions, plus this and that
[…] If somebody says yes, you have no choice. The big agents do it but then the bigger chains agree
to it. Or you may not match [the commission rate] but then you don’t get the volume. It’s often
volume-related.”
(Baker, 2018)
Writing against the backdrop of a wave of school closures at the onset of COVID-19, Melanie Butler asked “Is
the EFL model…broken?” (2020). She argues that the business model has become increasing unsustainable
46
because “courses have gotten shorter, and agents’ commissions have gone up. As a result, profit margins
have plummeted, and one way that schools have responded is by bearing down on their teaching costs.” She
points out that the reduction in course duration also reduces agent’s profit margins, and therefore “agents
aren’t laughing all the way to the bank either.” In the table below Butler sets out how the economics
dynamics of the industry have changed in the last thirty years.
Table 6: Changes in EFL Industry Economics 1987-2020
Factor 1987 Inflation adjusted 2020

Hourly rate of pay £11.00 £31.00 £15.00
Cost of EFL course per week (London) £99.00 £280.00 £255.00
Average length of course 12 Weeks 3.5 weeks
Average agent commission rate 20% 30-40%
Students placed through agents 50% 80%
(adapted from Butler, 2020)
If schools are paying over an ever-increasing portion of course fees to agents, one way to improve
profitability would be to increase prices while holding costs stable. Like any firm, the risk that schools face is
that higher prices will depress sales volumes. In 2022 I undertook a demand analysis of General English
courses sold by ABC Language Centre in order to inform price-setting for the following year. Although the
validity of the exercise was limited by shortcomings in the data and the impact of non-price factors, it did
have some applicability and usefulness, suggesting that ABC’s core product is relatively price inelastic, but
cross-price elastic. That is to say, “while the market appears not to be every sensitive to absolute changes in
price, it does show some sensitivity to the relationship between the price of our goods and its substitutes,
here represented by the local competitors” (Harrison, 2022b, pp. 7-8).
Based on this analysis, ABC’s above average teacher pay rates, the inclusion of preparation and meeting time
to offset teachers’ unpaid labour, and provision of statutory benefits like sick pay and holiday are positive
steps towards a sustainable employment model for EFL teachers. However, teachers’ remuneration falls short
of the R30,000 plus a pension and medical aid that was suggested in the data as a fair salary for a senior
teacher. We also highlighted the weak pay differentiation between novice and more expert teachers, leaving
the latter feeling frustrated and undervalued. We observed that agent commissions accounted for almost a
quarter of ABC’s revenue, limiting the company’s ability to dramatically increase teacher’s pay. The literature
suggests that across the industry, the expectation of ever higher agent commission rates and the increasing
proportion of student placed through agents have squeezed out teachers’ pay, as well as schools’ profit
margins. Finally, using a demand analysis we speculated whether there was scope to push these increased
agent costs to the consumer by significantly increasing prices. We concluded there was, but price increases
needed to be made taking into account the price setting behaviour of our competitors.
47
5.2.2. Job security and stability of employment

All of ABC’s teachers are employed on casual, insecure hourly contracts. The wording on the contract says
that the job is “paid-on-claim, depending on availability of work. The company is not obliged to provide work
and the employee is not obliged to accept assignments.” These kinds of contracts are problematic for
teachers for a host of reasons. Most obviously, there is no formal guarantee of their ongoing employment
and therefore any ongoing security of income. Their income may vary from month to month, preventing
them from doing the kind of life planning that a predictable monthly salary allows. One consequence of this
is that it is difficult for EFL teachers to access banking credit facilities that the securely-employed take for
granted, like a mortgage bond or car loan. This insecurity has a negative impact on the emotional well-being
of teachers who reported feeling “a lot of anxiety about the number of hours available”. Finally, the proviso
“that employee is not obliged to accept assignments” causes enormous operational problems for EFL
managers who “never know exactly who's going to come into work.”
On the other hand, some teachers indicated that the anxiety associated with casual contracts was mitigated
by their experience of working at ABC, where they had been consistently employed with regular hours for a
number of years. One teacher associated this with the approach ABC took during the pandemic, which was
not to lay off any teachers despite the fact that there were no students, and the school had no income.
When I reflect on it, for example, during the pandemic, you guys kept us in work because it's such a
creative dynamic team and…we all made a plan, like how we're going to deal with this and like, let's
do it. So I see that, and I appreciate it and it's not and many people in EFL did that during COVID […]
so I don't worry about, you know, not getting work.
The financial cost of retaining the team throughout 2020 and 2021 was a net loss in the region of R5m for
the period, but in retrospect this was a very long-term worthwhile investment in people. The school has gone
on to enjoy consistent success since COVID meaning we retained almost all the teachers who were with us in
2020 and added many more to the team.
We can use ABC’s enrolment data to determine the extent of seasonal demand in our particular context.
Figure 5 shows weekly student numbers (the number of students in the school each week, a common sales
measure in the industry) at ABC between 2017 and 2023. Table 7 provides a statistical overview of student
numbers at ABC for the same period. For each year, it lists the average number of students, which represents
the mean number of students per week. Alongside this, the standard deviation (SD) is provided, which
quantifies the extent to which student numbers vary from the average - a higher standard deviation indicates
a greater range of fluctuation in weekly student numbers. The final column shows the coefficient of variation
(COV), which is a normalized measure of the standard deviation relative to the mean, expressed as a
48
percentage. This metric is useful for comparing the relative variability of student numbers across different
years, irrespective of the actual size of the student population.
Figure 5: ABC Sales of Student Weeks 2017-2023
Table 7: Statistical analysis of ABC enrolment data
Year Average SD COV

2017 61 12 19.9 %
2018 75 15 20.1 %
2019 94 23 25.0 %
2020 39 21 53.4 %
2021 65 25 38.4 %
2022 137 42 30.3 %
2023 255 57 22.5 %
Long Term Average - - 29.9 %
According to the data, ABC has a long-term average coefficient of variation of about 30%, indicating that
within a given year the number of students in the school varies by just under a third. This would indicate that
the school can safely retain about two thirds of its teaching staff on long-term, secure contracts, with the
remaining staff on more flexible working arrangements.
5.2.3. Career Progression

Aside from graduating through the three pay bands, there is no formal career progression structure for EFL
teachers at ABC. The company’s organisational structure is quite flat with two assistant academic managers
49
and two academic managers supervising about thirty teachers, and a dozen non-teaching roles in sales and
marketing, student services, and accommodation. ABC has few formal staff recruitment procedures, and
vacant academic management and other non-teaching posts usually attract internal applicants by word of
mouth. Similarly, for teaching roles hiring managers usually recruit staff from CVs received on spec, on
recommendations from within their professional network, or from the in-house teacher training (TEFL)
course. ABC does provide a lot of opportunities for teacher development, and has a full-time teacher
development coordinator for this purpose. But no matter how much they improve as teachers, there is only a
very limited path within the company by which teachers can progress to a better paid job, and even that has
a low ceiling. In terms of its formal procedures, ABC does very little to actively promote the upward mobility
of its staff.
On the other hand, there is evidence the company makes an effort to informally provide career progression
opportunities to its teachers. Of the four academic managers, three started off at ABC as teachers, as did the
Centre Manager, Marketing Coordinator and the Accommodation Coordinator. The latter two first took on
the portfolios in a “teacher-plus” capacity, progressing to the substantive post as the school grew and
required more staff capacity. From a staff management perspective this has worked very well. Having been
teachers, these staff members have a granular understanding and deep emotional connection to the core
function of the company, the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language. The data suggested that
teachers have noticed this informal career progression and responded to it positively. Klara compares it
favourably to her experience working in China, where schools did have formal structures for career
advancement.
So, I guess I've seen it here too. I first noticed it in China where there's like a position, you know,
someone trains as a head teacher and then that position opens up and they [get promoted to that
job], so here too, like with [two managers at ABC], they were teachers and they, you know, they do a
bit of admin and then they move up like that. So, yeah, it's great to see because, you know, people
doing different roles and moving, you know, from teaching to [something else], just moving in
different ways. So, yeah. It's interesting.
Moreover, I have found former ABC teachers employed in other areas of the business to be high-performing,
conscientious, versatile employees with the capacity to self-manage and an uncommon ability to deal with
volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity; so critical in the modern workplace. The grounding in an
industry described as “controlled chaos”, “slightly chaotic” and “complete chaos” by various interviewees
presumably contributes to this, as do teachers’ experiences of classroom management and teacher
autonomy. Many of the interviewees commented that teaching had helped them improve their
organisational skills, because as Hannah puts it, “it teaches you to be organized…to have your ducks in a row,
you have to know what's going on. You can't just wing it in the classroom.” Tatum talks of having improved
50
her “time management skills” because “you have to organize yourself and your energy,” while Klara
comments “you have to be organized...you have to always have kind of plan, and that's been quite useful [in
other aspects of her life].” The nature of the discipline also means that teachers usually have excellent
language, communication, interpersonal and cross-cultural skills.
In terms of career progression, there is evidence that the informal promotion opportunities that some
former teachers have benefited from have not only impacted their lives positively while adding value to the
business, but sent a positive signal to other teachers that if they have the willingness and aptitude to branch
out into other areas of the business there might be opportunities for them at ABC. The problem however is
the lack of a formal structure of recruitment and promotion to these kind of positions, which means the
process lacks transparency and opportunities for are not widely communicated. Formalising a process for
recruitment and promotion of teachers to other parts of the business would be an important aspect of a
sustainable model of EFL teacher employment in the ABC context.
5.3. Model Development

In this section, I will set out what I consider to be a model of sustainable employment for EFL teachers based
on the foregoing analysis. I have resisted defining sustainability in this context, but by now it seems fairly
evident what it entails. Firstly, the way EFL schools employ EFL teachers must be sustainable for the
employees themselves, and that means paying them fairly, providing long-term security of employment, and
offering opportunities for career advancement, which taken together will make it possible for career EFL
teachers to build an independent adult life. Secondly, it has to be sustainable for the EFL school. The model is
intended to address the talent problem I identified at the outset of this piece – EFL schools recruit and train
talented, dedicated teachers, but often lose them when the industry is unable to fulfil their valid career
aspirations, a situation that helps no-one. However, we have seen that the economics of the sector are
challenging, and have become increasingly so over the years, so efforts towards improving condition for
teachers must be balanced against schools’ need for profitability. The model should support both these aims.
I present the model as a set of five generic principles that should inform the way EFL schools employ
teachers in their particular context. There is wide variability in the sector in the size, shape and financial
capacity of schools so broad principles are proposed in order to be useful and widely applicable. I then go on
to explore how each principle can be applied in the ABC context, identifying specific interventions that will
put these principles in to action. Throughout the section I refer back to the strategies for companies to
“profit alongside” front-line workers identified in Heymann & Barrera (2010) and Fuller & Raman (2022) in
order to support the proposition that improving the working conditions of teachers can be a driver of
profitability and business performance for schools.
51
5.3.1. Generic Principles

These five principles are intended to be widely applicable but adaptable to EFL schools of varying shapes and
sizes and in various contexts.
❖ Pay teachers fairly; they are your critical assets

❖ Recognise teachers' experience and seniority in the remuneration structure
❖ Put your core teaching team on secure, long-term contracts
❖ Develop diverse career pathways for teachers that add value to the business
❖ Value what we do, and price it accordingly.
In the subsequent sections, I will elaborate on these principles and outline how they can be applied to ABC.
5.3.2. Pay teachers fairly; they are your critical assets

In terms of (viable) systems theory, EFL teachers are “the Heart of [the] Enterprise” (Beer, 1979): the
operational system that interacts with and adapts to the external environment and undertakes the core
function that delivers the desired output of the system. In the three-way partnership between schools,
agents and teachers, it is the teachers who are creating the value in the market that all three rely on. And as
schools and agents have come to realise since the pandemic, teachers can create that value and profit from it
without them! Many teachers took advantage of the shift to remote teaching to become online
“teacherpreneurs”, building their own client base through professional networks and platforms like Preply
and Cambly (Preply, 2024; Cambly, 2024). By cutting out both the school and the agent, teacherpreneurs can
earn more money by taking a bigger slice of the fees, have more control over their schedule and their
working lives in general, and work from the comfort of their homes. Schools have also struggled to persuade
teachers who were laid off during the pandemic to return to the profession, with many have taken the
opportunity to establish themselves in more secure careers. This has led to what the industry press calls “a
worldwide English teacher shortage” (Granirer, 2022), and is increasingly the subject of pearl-clutching
discussions at industry conferences and seminars (where teachers are conspicuous by their absence). As they
say, you reap what you sow.
The true value of these workers is well illustrated by Fuller and Raman quoting one CEO, who suddenly
realises, “The reality is that, if all the production people didn’t show up, none of the rest of us would have a
job” (2022, p. 61). By treating EFL teachers as the company’s most critical assets, schools can better leverage
their skills knowledge and experience to create value for the business. And first and foremost, that means
paying them a salary that is adequate to build an independent adult life commensurate with their career-
stage.
In the ABC context, that means increasing teachers’ salaries over time, so that a full-time, experienced,
senior teacher receives a gross monthly salary of at least R30,000 a month (at 2023 rates) plus medical aid
and a pension. We can reach that figure by annually increasing the equivalent hourly rate above inflation and
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building up teachers’ pay packets with non-teaching hours. For example, further recognising teachers’ unpaid
labour by increasing the allowance for preparation time from 20% to 40% would mean we pay a full-time
teacher for 36 hours a week instead of 31. A collective bonus based on overall business performance, as was
paid in 2023, also offers an opportunity to boost teachers’ overall remuneration, and aligns with the strategy
of “providing incentives at the bottom of the ladder” (Heymann & Barrera, 2010).
The fair provision of benefits to teachers also forms part of this principle. ABC fulfils its statutory
responsibilities by offering sick and annual leave, but a sustainable employment model needs to go further,
and promote employee’s holistic well-being by providing medical and pension benefits. Supporting
employee’s health and wellness are identified as a key strategy for profiting alongside employees, resulting in
decreased rates of absenteeism, reduced staff turnover, and enhanced productivity (Heymann & Barerra,
2010b, p. 3).
5.3.3. Recognise teachers' experience and seniority in the remuneration structure

The need for more pay differentiation between teachers of different abilities and at different career stages
was a recurring theme of the data. As well as more accurately and appropriately rewarding teachers for their
contributions to the business, a well-designed pay graduation structure can contribute to a sense of career
progression, which is identified by both Heymann and Barerra (2010b, p. 4) and Fuller and Raman (2022, pp.
62-64) as a vital component of a sustainable employment model.
At ABC we appear to have a particular problem in this area. There are only three bands, the highest band has
become unattainable because the qualification is too difficult for teachers to access, and we have had to
recruit novice teachers at a lower qualification level than envisaged in the entry level band. This has resulted
in very little pay differentiation between novice and expert teachers, despite their different abilities and
contributions to the business. To resolve this, we can elaborate the pay structure to recognise narrower
grades of experience, and extending it downwards to reflect the qualifications of entry level teachers more
accurately. A possible revised structure using 2023 rates is shown in Table 8.
Table 8: Revised pay graduation structure
Band Minimum qualifications and experience Monthly

1 General TEFL qualification and less than 2 years EFL teaching experience ≈ R 20,000
2 General TEFL qualification and more than 2 years EFL teaching experience R 22,115
3 Recognised Certificate in TEFL qualification and more than 2 years’ experience R 23,120
4 Recognised Certificate in TEFL qualification and more than 5 years’ experience ≈ R 24,000
5 Recognised Certificate in TEFL qualification and more than 10 years’ experience ≈ R 25,000
6 Recognised Postgraduate TEFL qualification and more than 5 years’ experience R 26,671
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Table 9: Definitions to the pay graduation structure
Term Definition
General TEFL Any entry-level qualification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults
Qualification (TEFL Course) with at least 120 learning hours.
The following qualifications are recognised:
• Cambridge ESOL Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA)
• Trinity College Certificate in Teaching English As a Second or Other Language
Recognised (Trinity CertTESOL)
Certificate in
• UCT Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language
TEFL
Other TEFL qualifications may be considered if they meet the following criteria:
qualification
• At least 120 tuition hours
• At least 6 hours of live, observed teaching practice
• Accredited by a relevant, credible institution (e.g. a university)
The following qualifications are recognised:
• Cambridge ESOL Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults (DELTA)
• Trinity College Diploma in Teaching English As a Second or Other Language
Recognised (Trinity DipTESOL)
Postgraduate
• A Postgraduate Degree in TEFL or TESOL
TEFL
The following are not considered relevant postgraduate TEFL qualifications:
qualification
• PGCE or similar
• Master’s in Education or similar
• MA in Linguistics or similar
In addition, we will introduce a years-of-service increment over and above the annual inflation-linked salary
increase. From the second full year of service, teachers will receive an extra 1.5% of their salary for each year
that they have been employed in the company, capped at 15% in the eleventh year of service. This is
intended to recognise the seniority and experience of long-standing employees, the role they have in guiding
junior colleagues, and their overall contribution to the life of the school. The increase is capped to ensure the
costs remain sustainable to the business. Finally, ABC will support teachers’ progression through the bands
by offering an in-house recognised certificate in TEFL qualification, and exploring opportunities to offer
recognised postgraduate TEFL qualification.
5.3.4. Put your core teaching team on secure, long-term contracts

The narrative of variable and seasonal demand which is subject to unpredictable shocks from external factors
is deeply embedded in the collective imagination of the EFL industry. There is some justification for this,
because EFL is seasonal, with schools in the UK, for example, routinely doubling in student numbers during
the months of June, July and August, then dropping back to the baseline for the rest of the year. School
directors will also be quick to point to the pandemic as vivid evidence of the impact of external shocks on the
sector, with student numbers dropping to zero as international travel ground to a halt.
But this is not justification for companies to have a blanket policy of only hiring EFL teachers on casual,
hourly-paid contracts. Firstly, if a school knows it doubles in student numbers in the high season, then it
54
follows they can afford to employ half of the teachers securely year-round. Moreover, we do not need to rely
on our collective imaginations to grasp the extent of seasonal variability; we can actually calculate it. When
we calculated the long-term average coefficient of variation of ABC English Language Centre, we discovered it
was 30%, suggesting the two-thirds of the teaching team can be placed on secure, long contracts without
undue risk to the business. With regard to external shocks, the EFL industry cannot claim to be unique in
having suffered in the pandemic, with thousands of businesses in all sectors closing their doors during two
years of lockdowns (Business Tech, 2022). Like any sensible company, ABC will develop fair, transparent
retrenchment procedures to deal with this kind of eventuality.
Employing two-third of our teaching team on long term contracts with a secure, predictable monthly salary is
a step towards ABC “making retention a cornerstone of strategy” (Fuller & Raman, 2022). Moving away from
the low-commitment work relationship bring significant operational benefits to the company. Coupled with a
fair salary, it will help us break out of the “low wage, high-turnover trap” eliminating the financial and
psychological costs of constantly needing to replenish the supply of teachers. It will make academic
managers’ lives immeasurably easier, because they can be fairly assured that their staff will turn up to teach
on a Monday rather than electing not to “accept the assignment” as their contracts currently allow. This
predictable supply of teachers will also reduce the “chaos” associated with the industry, leading to more
efficient delivery of the product and an improved customer experience overall.
5.3.5. Develop diverse career pathways for teachers that add value to the business
Both of the studies discussed in Section 2.3 emphasise the importance of providing pathways for employees
to develop their skills and grow in their careers, but the flat organisational structure of EFL schools and
limited non-teaching positions available act as a barrier to career advancement for EFL teachers. Our
experience at ABC offers some pathways to address this. First, the teacher-plus model, in which the
employee combines a teaching schedule with duties in other areas of the school, allows teachers to gain
different kinds of skills and experiences, at the same time boosting their pay and adding value to the
business. Secondly, recruiting to new or vacant non-teaching and academic management positions from the
teaching team has been very successful. Former ABC teachers have proven to be high-performing and
adaptable in various operational and management roles, likely due to their experience in managing the
inherent chaos and autonomy of the teaching environment, which prepares them well for the complexities
and uncertainties of the modern workplace. Third, the idea of expanding the academic management
structure to introduce a Lead Teacher role that combines instructional duties with junior managerial tasks
emerged from the data. As well as teaching, this would involve overseeing a group of teachers, handling day-
to-day issues, and liaising with students, augmenting the overall capacity of the academic management
team.
55
We are doing the first two of these already, so all that is needed is to formalise and codify these practices
and communicate them explicitly to staff. As for the third, as ABC has grown rapidly in the last two years, the
need to increase the capacity of the academic management team has become increasingly apparent, so
promoting capable teachers to a Lead Teacher role would make a lot of sense. Having created these three
pathways for teachers, we will develop transparent and inclusive formal procedures for promotion of EFL
teachers to different parts of the company.
5.3.6. Value what we do, and price it accordingly

Throughout this project, we have heard that the EFL teaching profession is undervalued by society, and that
the EFL industry as a whole undervalues itself. It may well be that the changes the economic dynamics of the
industry that are described in Table 6 - an unsustainable race to the bottom of ever-higher commission rates,
and ever-lower course fees and teacher wages - stem directly from this systemic psychological
undervaluation. If you don’t think what we do has any real value then of course you will drop prices and
agree to paying over even more money to secure the sale, while paying the employees that deliver the
product as little as you can.
It baffles me why this notion has taken such hold in the psyche of the EFL industry, because it bears no
relation to reality. A 2023 study on the value of learning English for non-English speakers revealed a host of
benefits. It found that English proficiency can lead to higher wages, as evidenced in India, where English
speakers earn significantly more, and that countries with higher English proficiency see greater economic
growth, attributed to increased exports and foreign investment. In terms of personal development, English
was seen as a crucial tool for accessing global job markets and information, enhancing professional networks
and personal growth. Moreover, the language serves as a bridge to the wider world, enabling engagement
with the internet and social networking, thus broadening cultural and social understanding. And while the
role of English as a lingua franca is changing, research suggests that for at least the next decade demand for
learning English will continue to grow due to the perceived economic and social gains for learners (Patel et
al., 2023; British Council, 2023).
To recognise this value, a good starting point would be to price EFL courses commensurately. Unsubsidised
education is expensive: an undergraduate degree at a British university costs £27,750, while an Executive
MBA at South Africa’s top-ranked business school will set you back half a million rand. Meanwhile, students
can attend a mid-range South African EFL school every day for a year for as little as $5000. Increasing EFL
course prices to realistic rates and maintaining them through sensible annual price increases while increasing
or maintaining sales volumes will draw in more revenue to the business and create the opportunity to
improve employment conditions for teachers. Based on the 2022 demand analysis (Harrison, 2022b) ABC
increased course fees by 15% in 2023 and did not see any reduction in volumes (indeed, quite the opposite).
56
We have increased them by 20% in 2024, and intend to do the same next year if the business maintains its
performance and meets its sales volumes targets.
5.4. Practical Implications: The ABC Story 2020-2023

Earlier, we explored two wide ranging studies which both concluded that companies can be more profitable
and have better business outcomes if they improve conditions for their workers - pay them more, provide job
security and offer opportunities for career advancement. One of these studies emanated just last year from
Harvard Business School, hardly a hotbed of pro-worker Trotskyism, so this notion is firmly in the mainstream
and at the front of policy-makers’ minds. But of course neither of these studies looked at the EFL industry
specifically, and my industry peers (and my accountant) will tell me that dramatically increasing prices so that
I can give more money to teachers is a leap of faith that could easily backfire.
But perhaps we have already seen evidence of this dynamic playing out right under our noses. Readers might
have lingered over the graph in Figure 5, which was used to illustrate the variability in student numbers at
ABC across a six-year period. But what stands out from the graph is that student numbers at ABC had
recovered to pre-covid levels by the end of 2021, then doubled in 2022, then doubled again in 2023. As the
charts below showing ABC’s net revenue and profit/loss for the period 2017 to 2023 illustrate, this translated
into more net revenue, and a tripling in profits by compared to pre-COVID levels. Despite increasing staff
costs by 57% in 2023 (Figure 8) that year the business achieved its best ever net profit margin of 30%.
Figure 6: ABC Net Revenue 2017-2023
Net Revenue
R 45m
R 40m
R 35m
R 30m
R 25m
R 20m
R 15m
R 10m
R 5m
R 0m
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
57
Figure 7: ABC Operating Profit/Loss 2017-2023
Profit/Loss
R 14m
R 12m
R 10m
R 8m
R 6m
R 4m
R 2m
R 0m
-R 2m 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
-R 4m
-R 6m
Figure 8: ABC Staffing Costs 2017-2023
All Staffing Expenses

R 14m
R 12m
R 10m
R 8m
R 6m
R 4m
R 2m
R 0m
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
As Director, it is my job to try and understand why ABC Language Centre has had this phenomenal success
relative to pre-COVID so I can replicate the conditions that sustain business performance. In my view, the
foundational act of this success was the decision to retain all our staff throughout the pandemic. Then, in
each of these years, we raised teachers’ salaries at least in line with inflation while other schools did not,
increasing the gap between rates of pay at ABC and its local competitors. As growth took off, we promoted
teachers first to teacher-plus roles and then to substantive, full time posts in other parts of the business. To
offset the costs of a growing team, we increased course fees by 15% and saw no evidence of reduced
demand.
With apologies to systems theorists, there seems to be a very simple, almost cartoonish reinforcing loop
going on here. The school makes an effort to improve conditions for teachers, which makes them happier
and more positive, motivated and committed in their work. Students get a better quality of teaching and
have a great experience in the school, so they buy more courses and spread positive messages to their
58
friends, which brings more students and more revenue. With more revenue schools can afford to pass some
of the benefits to teachers by further improving their conditions, and so the cycle continues.
Figure 9: Simple Reinforcing Loop
5.5. Conclusion
In this chapter, we have drawn together the research and focussed on the ABC context. Highlighting the
benefits of fair remuneration, job security, and career progression for EFL teachers, we identified five broad
principles that can be applied to help schools and teachers “profit alongside” one another. Finally we saw
how the application of some of these principles at ABC have resulted in outstanding business performance in
recent years, and identified a simple, intuitive reinforcing loop that I believe is driving this success.
59
6. Conclusion
6.1. Introduction: Summary of the Study

In this study, my objective was to develop a model for the employment relationship between EFL Schools and
EFL Teachers that is sustainable for both parties. On reviewing the literature, we confirmed that conditions of
low pay, insecure employment and lack of career progression were the norm in the profession, driven by the
financial pressures on schools, the nature of the business model, and a deep, systemic societal
undervaluation of the EFL teaching profession. Zooming out, we took in two wide ranging studies which both
argued that companies taking steps to improve conditions for low-paid employees in and of itself led to
improved profitability and business performance.
The research interviews with staff and manager at ABC reiterated the state of affairs in the EFL teaching
profession, which led to teachers often feeing undervalued and replaceable in their roles, with one manager
describing the prevailing model of employment as “very abusive…it’s for the benefit of the
company…everyone is just treated as expendable”. Moreover, teachers seemed to have internalised the
narrative that student numbers are seasonal and inherently unstable, and an unstable supply of teaching
work is the inevitable corollary. The interviews suggested that increasing teachers’ pay, offering more long-
term, secure contracts, and creating opportunities for EFL teachers’ to progress in their careers was
necessary in order to stem the high turnover of teachers, with the associated financial and psychological
costs that brings to all involved.
Next, we considered the findings in the context of ABC Language Centre and found that there were some
areas in which we were already taking steps towards fulfilling these aims, such as paying teachers
significantly more than our local competitors and recognising teachers’ unpaid labour through preparation
hours, but there were other areas where ABC clearly needed to improve, chief among these being the casual,
hourly paid contracts we use. Based on a demand analysis of ABC courses and a statistical analysis of the
variation in enrolment numbers, I concluded that ABC could increase prices significantly, offsetting higher
teacher salaries, and that the school could safely employ two thirds of teachers on long-term contracts.
Finally, these analyses were brought together as five broad principles that schools should apply to improve
the sustainability of the way they employ EFL teachers. Using the example of ABC between 2020 and 2023, I
illustrated that taking some of these actions did lead to improved business performance for the school, and
posited this was because motivated, loyal teachers will result in a better customer experience for our
students, creating the virtuous circle illustrated in Figure 9.
In this final chapter, I will assess the study for validity, reflect on the research goals, make some brief
personal reflections, and outline the limitations of the study and areas for future research.
60
6.2. Validity in Grounded Theory Studies

Charmaz & Thornberg (2021, pp. 315-317) outline four criteria for validity in GT studies: credibility, which
demands ample relevant data, rigorous analysis, and reflexivity from researchers; originality, requiring fresh
insights or conceptualizations; resonance, ensuring research reflects and resonates with participants'
experiences; and usefulness, which covers the practical applicability of research in understanding lives,
informing policy, initiating new research lines, and revealing common practices. This section will assess the
study against these criteria.
The study demonstrated credibility by collecting a substantial volume of qualitative data from a large number
of relevant sources and conducting a thorough coding exercise. In total, eleven hours of interviews were
recorded with sixteen participants, producing 175 pages of transcript and 1,199 codable segments. Using a
tripartite GT coding process, these were distilled into 273 open codes, 71 focussed codes and 21 theoretical
codes across the two datasets. By weighting the codes according to volume and frequency the analysis was
pragmatically grounded in what the speakers really said, reflecting the weight that was placed on these ideas
during the dialogic engagements, rather than the weight of the researcher’s interpretation. Furthermore,
reflexivity was demonstrated by the decision to extend the study to EFL managers, which I realised would
offer a crucial additional perspective as the study developed.
The research offers original insights into the EFL teaching industry by developing a sustainable employment
model that addresses the needs of both teachers and schools while ensuring the industry's continued
profitability. This fresh perspective on balancing fair compensation, job security, and career progression
opportunities against business viability represents a novel contribution to the field.
The resonance of the study is evident in its capacity to encapsulate and articulate the lived experiences and
challenges faced by EFL teachers and managers. By highlighting critical issues such as the systemic
undervaluation of the profession and the precarious nature of employment contracts, the research mirrors
the complex realities of its participants. This reflection fosters a deeper understanding and empathy towards
the EFL teaching community, indicating a strong resonance with the participants' experiences.
Lastly, the usefulness of the study is manifested in its practical implications, particularly the five generic
principles proposed to guide EFL teacher employment. The provisional application of these principles at the
ABC Language Centre, which appears to correlate with enhanced business outcomes and a rise in student
numbers, suggests potential benefits of the research. The study not only offers a blueprint for reforming EFL
teacher employment practices but also serves as a catalyst for positive industry-wide change, emphasizing
the indispensable role of teachers in the EFL sector. This utility also underscores the study’s pragmatic
philosophical approach.
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6.3. Reflection on Research Goals

The primary research goal has been achieved; the five principles we established for a sustainable model of
EFL teacher employment can be implemented at ABC Language Centre as outlined in section 5.3. The
intellectual and personal goals were around the dialogic design and “radical act” of conducting of the
research interviews. The dialogic approach seemed to be very successful; the interviewees were highly
engaged and open, and the conversations evolved in a dynamic, co-creative manner resulting in a rich and
vivid qualitative dataset. And these engagements really did feel like radical acts. The discussions sometimes
seemed tinged with a sense danger and possibility, sifting through the Industry’s dirty secrets and prising
open Pandora’s Box to reveal EFL’s unspoken truths.
6.4. Personal reflections

Pandora’s Box is also the best metaphor for the impact the research had on me personally. Against Zeus’s
wishes, Pandora opened her box release all the evils of the world which had been previously unknown to
mankind. Now that we have had these conversations at ABC, the ugly truth is out there. That truth is that the
EFL industry systematically abuses EFL teachers by exploiting their passion for teaching and perpetuating the
myth that the sector is so massively unstable that schools can only ever employ teachers on low wages and
on a casual, low-commitment basis. Because the truth is out there, of course we cannot go on as we did
before. What is more, sometimes people forget that Pandora also released hope into the world, and a sense
of hopefulness, promise, and the possibility of change was the overriding sentiment that emerged from the
interviews. We’re excited for the changes we are going to make at ABC Language Centre as a result of this
research, and hopeful about the benefits it will bring.
6.5. Limitations and Areas for Future Research

The relationship between researcher and subjects was above identified as both a limitation and a strength of
the research. Because I was interviewing my employees, they were less likely to criticise ABC and more likely
to give positive messages. By focussing on the interviewees’ previous experience in the profession during the
discussion section I sought to limit the impact of this dynamic, although I did take interviewees’ comments
about ABC into account in Section 5.2 where I applied the findings to the ABC context.
Another factor that may be considered both a strength and weakness is the specificity of the dataset,
interviewing fifteen employees at ABC Language Centre and written from the perspective of ABC’s director.
Certainly, extending the dataset to teachers and managers at other EFL schools would enhance the study,
and exploring how the five principles can (or cannot) be applied in a range of context would be very valuable.
But given the topic of the study, the subjects’ employers might consider their participation unfavourably,
presenting practical and ethic challenges.
Perhaps a more fruitful approach to extending the study would be to examine the perspectives of EFL school
directors, of which so far, we only have one. After all, the measures I propose are self-evidently in the
62
interests of teachers, but the crux of the theory, supported by serious research (Fuller & Raman, 2022;
Heymann & Barrera, 2010) and seemingly evidenced by the ABC story from 2020 to 2023, is that it is in the
interests of the schools as well. A dataset of interviews with EFL directors in a range of contexts would serve
to test this proposition.
Extending the project in this way would have a multiplier effect on its impact. In practice, we might arrange
this through an organisation such as the Association of Language Travel Organisation (ALTO), an EFL industry
association that positions itself as “a global platform for leaders and decision makers within the language and
educational travel industry” (ALTO, 2017) and of which ABC is a member. Directors would be more
comfortable being interviewed themselves on this topic as opposed to their staff, and engaging with the
project might be attractive to forward-thinking directors. There is a Pandora’s Box buried deep in each of
these schools, and by extending the conversation to school directors we can dig them up, dust them off and
prise open the lid, releasing into the world both the horrors of the EFL industry’s abusive teacher
employment practices, and the hope that they can change for the better.
6.6. Conclusion
This concludes the research project. In this chapter we have briefly reflected on the study as a whole,
touched on the limitations of the research, and proposed extending the study to incorporate the
perspectives of EFL school directors, suggesting that this would have multiplier effect on the impact of the
study.
For those familiar with the EFL industry I hope this paper has shone a light on the unsustainable way we
employ teachers, and how changing this benefits everyone. For those looking from the outside, I hope you
have enjoyed this window into a fascinating, ambiguous, chaotic industry full of passionate, resilient,
engaging people.
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Appendices
Appendix A: EFL Teacher codes

Key: Theoretical Code, Focussed Code, Initial code
Code Weighting
Personal Development and Growth 2.00
Skill Development and Enhancement 2.00
Developing organisational and planning skills through EFL teaching 1.87
Language and communication skills as a professional competency of EFL teachers 0.92
Transferable soft skills of EFL teachers 0.89
Flexibility and adaptability as professional competencies of EFL teachers 0.77
Reading social dynamics as a professional competencies of EFL Teachers 0.46
Desire to expand their skillset beyond teaching 0.40
Developing leadership skills through EFL teaching 0.36
Character and Professional Traits 1.01
Positive character traits of EFL teachers 1.22
Positive character traits of EFL teachers - open mindedness 0.40
Becoming a more responsible person through being an EFL teacher 0.33
Professionalism as a competency of EFL teachers 0.32
Having an aspirational mindset in the classroom 0.19
Career Transition and Adaptation 0.76
Acceptance that some negative aspects of EFL teaching are unavoidable 0.84
Dislike of previous careers 0.55
Considering leaving EFL teaching to develop new skills and grow as a person 0.35
Reflective Practice and Continuous Improvement 0.58
EFL teaching as a process of continuous improvement 0.81
The need to be reflective in EFL teaching 0.27
Compensation and Financial Stability 1.82
Salary and Wage Concerns 1.39
Low salaries for EFL teachers in South Africa 1.71
Difficulty of building a life on an EFL teacher's salary 0.79
Difficulty of building a life as a single person on an EFL teacher's salary 0.63
Low salaries and no benefits for EFL teachers in Mexico 0.27
Satisfied with their current salary levels 0.19
Long working hours in EFL for low pay 0.18
Long working hours in EFL without extra pay 0.17
Lack of Financial Stability and Benefits 1.12
Considering leaving EFL teaching due to lack of financial stability 1.00
Lack of financial stability in EFL teaching 0.85
Benefits that come with a permanent position 0.28
Desire for more stability and benefits such as a pension 0.22
Lack of paid leave in EFL teaching 0.22
Lack of maternity benefits in EFL teaching 0.18
Need for pay progression 0.81
Need for pay graduation in EFL teaching to recognise seniority and experience 1.41
Need for pay graduation in EFL teaching to recognise different teaching abilities 0.36
68
Lack of pay graduation in EFL teaching 0.23

Regional Salary Differences 0.58
High salaries for EFL teachers in East Asia 0.77
High salaries and benefits for ELF teachers in East Asia 0.31
Career Advancement and Development Opportunities 1.71
Career Advancement Challenges and Opportunities 1.40
Limited opportunity for career advancement in EFL teaching 1.12
Lack of opportunities for career advancement in EFL 0.94
Has seen opportunities for career advancement in EFL 0.47
Opportunities for career advancement in Japan 0.23
Informal recognition of seniority 0.21
Enhancing Roles and Upskilling 1.02
Teachers enhancing their roles by having additional roles in the EFL school 1.35
Teachers upskilling by having additional roles in the EFL school 0.45
Prospect of a role that combines teaching and junior management 0.32
Better pay and conditions for EFL teaching at a university 0.31
EFL Teaching as a Transitional Career 0.94
Studying for a future alternative career while EFL teaching 0.98
EFL Teaching as a "bridging profession" 0.46
First became a teacher with no qualifications or experience 0.46
Career advancement in other industries 0.25
Trying to pursue an alternative career to EFL teaching 0.24
Qualifications and Professional Development 0.49
Taking further qualifications to try and advance in their TEFL career 0.35
Positive experiences of teacher development 0.33
Doing a CELTA to get a better EFL teaching job 0.28
Career Choices and Future Outlook 1.65
Career Entry and Discovery 1.48
Discovering EFL teaching by word-of-mouth 1.87
Getting your first EFL teaching job 0.93
Applying to EFL jobs on spec 0.57
Finding her first experience of teaching EFL to be easy 0.25
Finding an EFL teaching job through word-of-mouth 0.25
Awareness of low salary before becoming an EFL teacher 0.19
Professional Lifestyle Choices 1.07
Desire to stay in South Africa as an older teacher 0.79
Desire to travel with EFL teaching 0.64
Acceptance of the seasonal and variable nature of demand in EFL in South Africa 0.55
Desire to travel rather than commit to long term employment 0.29
Having a spontaneous approach to life and career 0.19
Career Aspirations and Goals 0.74
Desire for a career change 0.32
Acceptance that some skilled staff will leave the industry 0.28
Importance of having long term goals 0.28
Positive feeling towards a future a career in EFL teaching 0.25
Pursuing an alternative career while EFL teaching 0.25
Job Satisfaction and Professional Fulfilment 1.61
Personal Fulfilment and Reward 1.51
69
Feeling rewarded by seeing the students successfully learn English 1.10

Developed a love and passion for EFL teaching 0.93
Feeling rewarded by helping people in EFL 0.68
Feeling a sense of self-worth from being good at EFL teaching 0.43
Feeling rewarded by being given more challenging and varied classes 0.30
Feeling rewarded by sharing knowledge of English 0.27
Engagement and Enjoyment in Teaching 1.03
Feelings that EFL teaching is engaging and enjoyable work 1.13
Feeling energised from the interactions in face-to-face EFL teaching 0.56
Enjoying lesson planning 0.21
Feeling energised from the interactions in EFL teaching 0.17
Intellectual Stimulation and Challenges 0.59
Feeling intellectually stimulated by the interactions in EFL teaching 0.37
Teaching EFL to children was insufficiently challenging 0.30
Don’t overthink EFL teaching, be natural 0.22
Misconception that ELF teaching is easy 0.22
Intercultural Experiences and Social Engagement 1.49
Cultural Exchange and Interaction 1.21
Enjoying cultural exchange with people from other countries 1.58
Enjoying meeting people from all over the world 0.43
Enjoyed the social aspect of teaching EFL abroad 0.35
Attracted to teaching as a form of performance 0.21
Travel and Adventure 0.85
Attraction of travelling and adventure while teaching EFL 1.37
Applying to teach EFL in South Korea 0.20
Cultural Perspectives and Challenges 0.67
Cultural difference in East Asia 0.68
Negative experiences of EFL teaching in Mexico 0.48
Negative views towards foreign EFL teachers in East Asia 0.43
Personal Background and Motivations 0.36
Growing up with English language 0.41
Growing up with a love of English language 0.19
Job Security and Employment Stability 1.45
Lack of job security 1.02
Lack of job security in EFL teaching 0.89
Not feeling valued due to the insecure employment 0.62
Having doubts about EFL teaching because of unstable employment 0.34
Feeling anxiety about a lack of job security in EFL 0.33
Comparative Employment Stability 0.69
Consistent and high demand for EFL teaching in Japan 0.38
Unstable employment in EFL compared to other jobs 0.37
Appreciates the informal stability the ABC has provided 0.34
Working in other spheres of international education with more financial security 0.31
Work Schedules and Conditions 0.33
Working night shift teaching TEFL online 0.33
Considering leaving EFL teaching due to low pay and long hours 0.31
Teacher Autonomy and Classroom Experience 1.37
Autonomy in EFL Teaching 1.00
70
Autonomy of the EFL teacher in the classroom 1.52

Experience of teaching roles which do not have autonomy 0.73
Classroom Dynamics 0.99
Preference for teaching adults 1.41
Challenges of commanding adult students' respect as a young teacher 0.39
Limiting nature of teaching EFL to children 0.30
Teaching Methodology 0.57
Questions the usefulness of formal observation and lesson planning 0.52
Learning English as an emergent, non-linear process 0.45
Need to be reflective in EFL teaching 0.37
Work Environment and Culture 1.35
Community and Relationships 1.14
Collaborative, mutually supportive nature of EFL teaching 1.07
Feeling a sense of belonging as an EFL teacher 0.50
Positive feeling about developing relationships with students 0.43
Positive feelings towards colleagues in EFL 0.37
Negative experiences of workplace culture 0.90
Dislikes continuous enrolment in EFL teaching 0.38
Experiencing a claustrophobic working environment in EFL 0.31
Dislike of a corporate environment 0.27
Perception that EFL teaching lacks prestige 0.26
Being restricted by visa issues 0.22
Negative experiences of workplace culture in EFL 0.21
Changing job due to workplace culture 0.18
Cultural and Regional Variations 0.69
Positive experiences of teaching in China 0.30
Positive experiences of teaching EFL in Japan 0.25
Aspirations for Workplace Culture 0.30
Desire for a better working culture than in previous careers 0.31
Attracted to workplace culture of EFL teaching 0.25
Work-Life Balance and Flexibility 1.12
Flexibility in EFL Teaching 0.62
Attracted to flexibility and lower working hours in EFL 0.91
Using the flexibility of EFL teaching to pursue studies 0.26
Work Hours and Additional Work 0.53
Working long hours in EFL teaching 0.67
Doing lesson preparation outside working hours 0.25
Alternative Work and Side Jobs 0.52
EFL teachers doing alternative work during COVID 0.68
EFL teachers doing alternative work for extra money 0.27
Doing EFL teaching alongside another career 0.24
Work-Life Balance 0.42
Lack of downtime or preparation time in the teaching schedule 0.63
Good work-life balance in EFL teaching 0.28
Management and Organizational Support 0.90
Recognition from Management 0.63
Feeling valued when management recognises and rewards good performance 0.94
Feeling valued by being given additional roles 0.43
71
Support from Management and Staff 0.57

Feeling supported by management and other staff at ABC 1.05
Feeling supported by management and other staff 0.72
Challenges with Management 0.43
Negative experiences of management in EFL 0.81
Teachers not being supported by EFL managers 0.27
Appendix B: EFL Manager codes

Key: Theoretical Code, Focussed Code, Initial code
Code Weighting
Managerial Challenges and Workload 1.91
Workload and Work Environment 1.44
Chaotic nature of EFL management 0.79
Working long hours doing unpaid administrative tasks 0.64
Challenges of entering the EFL market as a small, independent school 0.44
Long working hours as an EFL manager without extra pay 0.33
Team Leadership and Dynamics 1.41
Managing a team of teachers in the context of variable demand 1.17
Describes challenges of managing EFL teachers' particular personality traits 0.67
Managing older colleagues 0.49
Challenges of managing different personalities 0.42
Being transparent with teachers about variable demand 0.33
Managerial Support and Development 1.19
Lack of role clarity in EFL management 0.66
Lack of support as an EFL manager 0.59
Lack of training as an EFL manager 0.43
Doing the DELTA course 0.42
Managerial Stress and Communication 1.16
Describes teachers being poorly organised outside the classroom 0.49
Feeling anxiety about a lack of job security in EFL 0.44
Negative experiences of management in EFL 0.84
Frustration when EFL teachers don’t consider the impact of their actions on managers 0.70
Recruitment and Hiring Practices 1.91
Teacher Recruitment Strategies 2.00
Hiring teachers in the context of seasonal and variable demand 1.18
Sourcing new teachers through the in-house TEFL course 1.07
Finding EFL teachers who will fit with the workplace culture 1.01
Attracting good teachers by offering a small, friendly working environment 0.66
Applying to EFL jobs on spec 0.36
Strategies for finding new teachers 0.35
Attracting good teachers by offering a better salaries than other schools 0.30
Initial Job Entry and Referrals 1.12
Receiving EFL teacher applications on spec 0.76
Getting your first EFL teaching job 0.74
Getting a recommendation for an EFL teacher 0.69
72
Teacher Evaluation and Compensation 0.77

Using qualifications and experience to decide teachers' salary levels 0.78
Importance of directly relevant teaching experience when hiring EFL teachers 0.52
Challenges in Recruitment 0.69
Problems with employing EFL teachers on full-time, permanent basis 0.77
Drawbacks of formal recruitment processes for EFL teachers 0.37
Teacher Development and Support 1.80
Career Path and Opportunities 1.49
Discovering EFL teaching by word-of-mouth 1.19
Lack of opportunities for professional development 1.00
Strategies for having a sustainable career as an EFL teacher 0.53
Rewarding teachers by giving them more challenging and varied classes 0.45
Teachers enhancing their roles by having additional roles in the EFL school 0.34
Teacher Competencies and Skills 1.37
Need for teachers to have a personality that can build rapport with students 1.60
Flexibility and adaptability as a key competency of EFL teachers 0.67
Personal Growth and Development 0.99
Feeling rewarded by fostering professional development in EFL teachers 0.54
Fostering personal growth and development in EFL teachers 0.53
Feeling rewarded by fostering personal growth in EFL teachers 0.39
Enjoyed the social aspect of teaching abroad 0.33
Developed a love and passion for EFL teaching 0.30
Teaching skills which are transferable to management 0.47
Training and Qualifications 0.80
First training experience 0.57
Differences between EFL and other kinds of teaching 0.55
Being sponsored by the company to do higher teaching qualifications 0.41
Doing a CELTA to get a better EFL teaching job 0.35
Collaboration and Continuous Improvement 0.49
Supporting teachers by sharing teaching ideas and materials 0.38
EFL teaching as a process of continuous improvement 0.32
Financial and Job Security 1.66
Job Security and Stability 1.69
Describes the benefits of employing EFL teachers permanently 0.87
Lack of financial stability in EFL teaching 0.86
Lack of job security in EFL teaching 0.70
Lack of job security lead to low trust relationships 0.34
Offering EFL teachers informal stability 0.30
Salary and Compensation 1.60
Difficulty of building a life as a single person on an EFL teacher's salary 1.42
Low salaries for educators in general in South Africa 0.63
Low salaries for EFL teachers in South Africa 0.62
Attracted to management for a greater financial security 0.42
Teachers return to South Africa knowing salaries are low 0.41
Low salaries for EFL teachers in other English-speaking countries 0.38
Low salaries for EFL teachers and managers in South Africa 0.34
Employment Benefits 0.56
Importance of Medical Aid as an employment benefit 0.45
73
Lack of benefits for EFL teachers in South Africa 0.65

Career Development and Progression 1.64
Advancement and Promotion 1.55
Becoming an EFL manager because you want to be challenged 0.92
Suggests that large schools have the ability to hire core teachers permanently 0.92
Opportunities for career advancement in a large school 0.82
Hitting a career ceiling as an EFL teacher 0.78
Transition from teacher to manager 0.41
Advantages of hiring less experienced teachers and developing them 0.39
Career advancement by becoming an EFL teacher trainer 0.38
Management Opportunities and Challenges 1.44
Being promoted from teacher to EFL manager 2.00
Feeling valued by being given additional roles 0.66
Prospect of a role that combines teaching and junior management 0.49
Staff Retention and Turnover 1.43
Challenges in Retention 1.55
Losing EFL teachers to better paid jobs overseas or in other fields 1.47
High staff turnover disincentivises investment in staff development 0.65
Casual contracts lead to problems with staff retention 0.38
Problems of high staff turnover 0.36
Losing good teachers because we can’t offer job security 0.34
Teacher Motivation and Commitment 0.87
Problem of experienced teachers who are too set in their ways 1.18
Teachers who see it as a stopgap job put in less effort 0.40
Retention Strategies 0.32
Strategies for retaining good EFL teachers 0.51
Personal Motivations and Experiences 1.39
Rewards and Passion for EFL 1.44
Desire to give secure, sustainable employment opportunities to EFL teachers 0.59
Teachers want to stay in EFL because of love and passion for teaching 0.58
Feeling rewarded by promoting cultural exchange 0.46
Desire to grow and support EFL teachers 0.42
Feeling rewarded by promoting a positive message about South Africa 0.41
Still enjoys classroom teaching when the need arises 0.39
Still enjoys classroom teaching when the need arises 0.39
Feeling rewarded by having a positive impact on EFL students' lives 0.38
Career Alternatives and Parallel Interests 1.14
Pursuing an alternative career while EFL teaching 0.67
EFL teachers doing alternative work for extra money 0.40
Studying for a future alternative career while EFL teaching 0.40
Was never told about the different roles in EFL schools while training 0.39
Dislike of secondary school teaching 0.39
Workplace Culture and Environment 1.39
Career Perceptions and Commitment 1.19
Some staff see EFL teaching as a stop-gap career 1.10
Some staff are committed to EFL as a long-term career 0.77
How a low-commitment employment model shapes EFL teachers' behaviour 0.73
Travel and Exploration 1.06
74
Attraction of travelling and cultural exchange while teaching EFL 0.65

Wide variety of alternative roles for teachers in the EFL industry 0.56
Attraction of travelling and adventure while teaching EFL 0.35
Workplace Dynamics and Support 0.82
Positive EFL workplace culture 0.43
Feeling supported by upper management 0.35
Feeling supported by management and other staff at ABC 0.35
Positive feelings towards colleagues in EFL 0.31
Collaborative, mutually supportive nature of EFL teaching 0.30
Management Skills and Competencies 1.22
Professional Development and Adaptation 1.17
Importance of setting boundaries in EFL management 0.41
Enjoys continuous learning and personal growth as an EFL manager 0.36
Need to be reflective in EFL teaching 0.36
EFL manager's hidden HR functions 0.34
Conscientiousness as a critical attribute of EFL teachers 0.34
Using management skills learnt in the restaurant industry 0.32
Lack of autonomy in EFL management 0.31
Experience of teaching roles which do not have autonomy 0.31
Varying levels of commitment among EFL teachers 0.31
Interpersonal and Communication Skills 0.62
Interpersonal skills as an EFL manager 0.46
Communication skills as an EFL manager 0.42
Teachers being undervalued by upper management 0.36
Managerial Approach and Style 0.46
Enjoys the broader scope offered by an EFL manager role 0.44
Taking control of situations as an EFL manager 0.42
Describing your management style 0.36
Being adaptable as an EFL manager 0.31
Making difficult decisions as an EFL manager 0.30
Market Challenges and Business Strategies 1.11
Industry Challenges 0.96
Believes that most schools in South Africa exploit EFL teachers 0.76
Challenges of attracting enough students for an EFL school to be viable 0.65
Business challenges of increasing pay levels for EFL teachers 0.49
Compares EFL teaching to hospitality industry 0.32
Relatively good pay at ABC compared to other schools 0.29
Demand Management Strategies 0.69
Strategies to manage EFL teachers on long-term contracts 0.65
Continuous enrolment as a cause of variable, unpredictable demand 0.41
Keeping teachers in work because demand is high 0.33
75

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Pandora’s Box: Towards a sustainable

model of English as a foreign language

Presented to The Graduate School of Business University of Cape Town

Submitted By: Simon Harrison (HRRSIM005)

3. I certify that this submission is all my own work.

Signed: Date: 10 February 2024

1.1. Background .......................................................................................................................................... 1

1.2. Research outline and rationale ............................................................................................................ 1

1.3. Research goals ..................................................................................................................................... 3

1.4. Theoretical framework: General Systems Theory ............................................................................... 4

1.5. Philosophical Research Approach, Methodology and Ontology ......................................................... 5

1.6. Data Collection and Analysis................................................................................................................ 6

1.7. Ethical considerations .......................................................................................................................... 7

1.8. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 8

2. Literature Review ......................................................................................................................................... 9

2.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 9

2.2. EFL Teachers’ experiences of working in the EFL Industry .................................................................. 9

2.3. Sustainable employment practices .................................................................................................... 16

2.4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 19

3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 21

3.2. Research Philosophy: Pragmatism ..................................................................................................... 21

3.3. Research Methodology: Grounded Theory ....................................................................................... 21

3.4. Data Collection .................................................................................................................................. 22

3.5. Data Analysis...................................................................................................................................... 23

3.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 26

4.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 27

4.2. Teachers’ Perspectives ....................................................................................................................... 27

4.2.1. Employment Conditions for EFL Teachers ................................................................................. 28

4.3.1. Employment Conditions for EFL Teachers ................................................................................. 36

5.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 43

5.2. The ABC Context ................................................................................................................................ 43

5.2.1. Salaries, benefits and financial stability .................................................................................... 43

5.3.1. Generic Principles ...................................................................................................................... 52

5.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 59

6.1. Introduction: Summary of the Study ................................................................................................. 60

6.2. Validity in Grounded Theory Studies ................................................................................................. 61

6.3. Reflection on Research Goals ............................................................................................................ 62

6.4. Personal reflections ........................................................................................................................... 62

6.5. Limitations and Areas for future research ......................................................................................... 62

6.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 63

1.2. Research outline and rationale

1.3. Research goals

1.4. Theoretical framework: General Systems Theory

1.5. Philosophical Research Approach, Methodology and Ontology

1.6. Data Collection and Analysis

1.7. Ethical considerations

2.2. EFL Teachers’ experiences of working in the EFL Industry

(Stewart, 2020, p. 281)

Figure 1 (Harrison, 2022). This revealed three key insights.

Figure 1: Causal Loop Diagram of EFL Teacher Employment

(Harrison, 2022, p. 41)

(Stanley, 2016, p. 11)

2.3. Sustainable employment practices

(Fuller & Raman, 2022, p. 2)

3.2. Research Philosophy: Pragmatism

3.3. Research Methodology: Grounded Theory

3.4. Data Collection

Table 1: List of Interviewees

Pseudonym Gender Current Role Age EFL Experience

3.5. Data Analysis

Table 2: Code weighting calculation example

Figure 3: The Research Process

4.2. Teachers’ Perspectives