Knowledge Universe Employee Reviews about "long hours"

Pros

- some teachers are really dedicated and really care about the kids, literally the only thing that keeps the day half-way manageable

Cons

- the LEAST amount of holidays off - terrible management (center director and regional director) - treat kids as dollar signs - parents hold all the power, even when they are wrong action is taken on the staff - NO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (the PD days were a JOKE, just reinforcing the company culture of faking it til you make it, no actual training) - when kids act out violently against teachers, nothing is done - but teachers are blamed when kids hurt other kids - CHAOTIC environment - NO DOORS/FULL WALLS on most classrooms - LONG HOURS sometimes without breaks (illegally) - class sizes packed to capacity, often going over ratio requirements

Pros

The available support by the national support center through any and all situations is great. The team environment is amazing!

Cons

CD's are required to work long hours with little support from upper management during difficult staffing issues.

Pros

Great on-boarding and training program Easy to use systems and metrics Insurance and other benefits HR support

Cons

Low wages make it difficult to hire educated employees Too focused on cutting costs rather than improving quality Long hours

Pros

Working Monday- Friday weekends off

Cons

Long hours and holidays with all the children in one space in the center

Pros

- Good camaraderie with colleagues. It's hard not to have great colleagues when every (non-executive) employee feels equally slave-driven and abused by the management. Shared many memorable after work bonding sessions with colleagues in the same boat about management malpractice. - The immediate superior I worked under was reasonable, helpful and imparted pointers in early childhood music education. She was a non-executive senior music teacher.

Cons

Poor welfare / benefits - when tasked to go on course/ training seminars, I was expected to work for a full regular 9 hour day shift before reporting for another 5.5 hours of nightly training sessions, packed back to back for 5 whole consecutive days, without any reimbursement of labour. Inclusive of my transportation time, that is as good as working five 17 hour days, which is totally hazardous for an educator in a preschool environment. Management malpractice and unfair dismissal - I was unfairly dismissed by the management within a week when I told them I could not commit to the long hours set by the training course. Any prior negotiation to arrange (leave-taking) for shorter hours on the expense of my own annual leave was rejected. Inconsistency in management styles between branches - while one branch I was at had a really empathizing principal who allowed as much as 5 teachers to go on leave on the same day, another branch had an anal control freak principal who didn't allow more than 1 teacher to go on leave on the same day. While one branch encouraged their teachers to snooze together with the kids during nap time, another branch sent me a disciplinary letter for doing so. Such inconsistencies in company culture doesn't help with frequent staff movement. Discrimination / no respect for employee's privacy / transfer of major workload to non-married staff - Married colleagues get it easy and stand to gain from a puritanical, pro-family organisation like this. Child sick leave gets approved on the morning itself, 'urgent family matters' are good reasons for not turning up for work. There was an instance where I applied for leave but it wasn't approved even when I gave them more than 14 days notice. And I almost always got interrogated by my superior about what plans I was making for going on leave. Management would always cite some excuse like 'but Miss. XXX is going to bring her son for a medical check up on that day, so I would give her more priority for the leave application since the both of you need to take leave on the same day. Her case is definitely more important.' Plus, married staff were excused from staying back to help out for supplementary events like school camps and open houses while single, un married folks were sought out by the management to contribute more in these events without promise of reimbursement or compensation.

Pros

If you are new to teaching preschool, this may be a place to start. Some facilities are NAEYC-certified. You learn a lot about how to be a preschool teacher. You also get benefits most preschool environment don't offer.

Cons

HIgh turn-over rates because of the long hours. Directors and co-directors don't listen to teachers. Teachers are not treated well by directors and co-directors. Too much paperwork. Many conflicts between teachers. Lots of gossip. Teachers don't get along and look for ways to get other teachers in trouble. Hostile work environment (with the exception of a few classrooms.)