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Teaching ESL in France: American Village Summer Camp



Canadian English teacher in France
Me in the town close the Azé camp

Working for American Village, I taught at three camps: Aurabelle, Tour de Buis and Azé, all in southern France. The experience was definitely unforgettable and had its highlights and challenges. In this article, I'll provide some information about the general organization of the camps, the schedule for a typical work day, what it's like working for Amvil, and my overall impression of working with American Village as well as highlighting some of the problems and challenges of working for this company.

American Village France logo
American Village

An important thing to note is that this is a short-term contract; as such, American Village provides you with a work permit, which is not the same as a work visa. A work permit allows you to be legally employed during your 90 day stay in the Schengen area of Europe. It does not extend the limit of your time in the Schengen. See the website below for more information about working and travelling in the Schengen area of Europe.

Schengen visa info logo
Schengen Visa Info

Many of the camps are located in rural areas and are difficult to reach, except by taking a very expensive taxi to the local train station. Due to their location, many camps are quite isolated and walking into town may be a difficult hour-long walk along French highways without shoulders much less sidewalks. That being said, the south of France has some gorgeous countryside views if you're willing to brave the quite dangerously narrow and winding roads.

Sunset in Aurabelle, France
Pas mal

During your time with Amvil, you can be transferred to any camp in France at a moment’s notice and each camp is different. Depending on where they are short-staffed, which most camps normally are to a varying degree, you might move every two weeks or so like I did. This can be a bonus if you want to see more of the country! I was happy to be able to see more French villages and explore the local areas surrounding the camps. If you want to visit some of the nearby towns, you'll have to either hitch-hike or make local friends who can drive you there because the camps are usually remote. They aren't within walking distance of cities and there aren't local buses either due to the rural locations.

Vienne, France
Vienne, France

Although all the camps follow the same basic pattern and schedule in theory, one important thing to note, however, is that each camp functions differently in practice. Each director has their own unique managerial style and preferences. The facilities, accommodations, and food are very different in each camp. The opportunities for travel on your off days varies widely. The classroom materials are the most similar aspect of the Amvil experience between camps; however, the resources are pretty lackluster, as I will discuss further on. The costumes and props for congress and evening program are also about the same, with some camps having a better selection than others.

American Village camp locations
American Village locations in France

The camps all have an intense work schedule, but it varies a little between locations. The director is the biggest influence on your camp experience and can really make or break it. Managerial styles are very different at each camp and there doesn't seem to be a standard approach or company policy regarding things like training, scheduling, team conflict resolution, staff medical issues, performance reviews, etc.

For example, some directors will insist that employees stay late to lesson plan after the official working day is finished. In some cases, we had meetings and prep time that continued well after midnight or during days off. There is a lot of pressure to conform to this 24-hour work-day lifestyle. It's almost expected that unless you're asleep, you're working.

American Village Schedule
Basic schedule, varies from camp to camp

Since you'll be constantly active, it's important to understand the physical toll that camp life can take. The French counsellors (Daily Life Counsellors) usually wake up earlier and take care of any issue with the kids during the night. So don't worry about that. But be prepared to start your day at around 8:00-8:30 depending on the camp, work all day with a break of between 1 to 2 hours, usually about an hour and a half, attend all meals with the kids, clean up after the evening program and then participate in a meeting and prep for the next day, going to bed anywhere from 10:30-ish at some of the more reasonable camps to past midnight at the more intense locations. If you want more details about camp life and the locations that I've taught at specifically, feel free to email me at lolotravelgogo@gmail.com and I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.

French labour laws seem to be a bit tricky to understand, as there are supposedly exceptions and allowances made for certain types of work, such as summer camps. We were told that technically, we were signed to a "volunteer" contract, which permits the company to legally have us working all day. Not being an expert on the French legal system, I can neither confirm nor deny this. If you are concerned about long working days without overtime pay, please do some additional research and if you find anything definitive, leave a comment!

This is a pretty good summary of the Amvil camp camp life, written by Aubrie Amstutz, and it's a lot more positive than any other review I've come across, so if you want to look on the bright side check it out:


Glassdoor logo
Glassdoor

I'll include some anonymous reviews of American Village, which can be accessed through Glassdoor. Glassdoor is a very helpful website where you you can search for jobs, read employee reviews for various companies and contribute your own reviews as well. Make sure to leave reviews for companies you've worked with, as this is very helpful for future employees and can even provide the company with important feedback including problems and concerns. I'm including screenshots here as well for ease of reading due to the fact that under the American Village company reviews, some of the comments reference a different company, which appears to be a nursing home. You can view the original posts here:


The reviews give the following star ratings: 4, 2, 2, 3 and 2 out of a possible 5 stars (*UPDATED: August 28, 2019). Therefore, the average rating was 2.6/5 stars. Two out of five reviews would recommend the company to a friend. Pros included good co-workers, working with kids, living in France, creative freedom ("maybe too much"), freedom to experiment with different learning styles, "an intensive crash-course," improving time-management skills and professional/personal development. Cons included "terrible" camp directors, "the worst camp directors of any camp I've seen ...mine literally smoked weed all day," unqualified directors, high director turn-over rate, "[h]alf of the directors are insane and negligent with their jobs and the other half are lovely people but depressed," high employee turn-over rate, "bad" teams, low pay, long hours, being "overworked," working "10 days in a row," working 18-hour days, lack of sleep, malnourishment, innaccessibility of camp sites, lack of basic amenities nearby such as groceries stores, no public transportation available at rural campsites, employee well-being and comfort not being prioritized or important to the company, Nacel (the parent-company) not caring about what goes on in the individual camps, lack of sympathy for employees, late notification of staff placement and transfers, no pre-made lesson plans, unsuitable workplace environments and equipment, unqualified and inexperienced camp nurses, poor management and training in child health and safety, low salary that does not cover the cost of the flight and expenses.

American Village Summer Camp Employee Review

American Village Summer Camp Employee Review

American Village Summer Camp Employee Review

American Village Summer Camp Employee Review


Indeed logo
Indeed

Here are some additional reviews found on Indeed, which are pretty similar. The overall feeling is neutral to positive. The ratings for the three reviews as 4,3, and 4 out of 5 possible stars, which means the average rating was 3.6/5 stars. You can read the original reviews here: 


The first review emphasizes that for those who are unsuited to working in a summer camp, working for American Village can be "an unending nightmare," but the review doesn't specify what the author meant by suitability, so that's open to interpretation. The second review mentions that the company is poorly structured and that things vary from cam to camp so that your experience will really depend on which camp(s) you are assigned to. The third review is the most positive, saying that Amvil is a "good company" and that working for them provided valuable job experience for the future.

American Village Summer Camp Employee Reviews

As to the accuracy of the reviews, I can attest to the veracity of the complaints against the company as well as the positives. Everything stated in those reviews was true. The criticisms against American Village that these employees presented are all issues that I experienced first-hand. During my six week contract with Amvil, at least two employees that I know of from two different camps quit before the end of their contracts. The first camp had six employees and the second had five. Combined, that makes 11 employees. Two out of eleven people quitting early is a failure rate of 18%. I can't speculate as to the employee turn-over rate at the other campsites, but based on my experience and from speaking with other former employees, it seems that there is a general discontent with management. I considered terminating my contract early as well, but decided to finish so as to support my team members and because of the director of the Azé camp.

It would be unfair not to mention that the director of the Azé campsite is an exception to the rule. She is an extremely bright, dedicated, qualified, empathetic and caring person who runs her site very well. I feel that I should mention this because it has been said in some of the reviews of American Village that the directors are -shall we say- not the best. There may also be directors from other camps I've not had a chance to work with who are good at their jobs, conscientious, hard-working, qualified and so forth. However, I can only attest to my personal experience.

What it's like to work at American Village in France


There are two types of English counsellors: ESL and activities. ESL also participates in activities, but supposedly has extra prep time. Activities counsellors lead the two daily activities as well as prepping  the costumes and props for congress (the morning variety show before class) and the evening program, but have their off time during ESL classes. However, in reality everyone works all the time, 14+ hours a day for either 5 or 6 days in a row depending on whether it’s a school or vacation camp.

All of the counsellors participate in "Congress," which is a daily variety show we put on for the kids each morning. You will be "acting" and dressing up a lot. We also write the skits and scripts for all the performances. Sometimes there is a return counsellor who already knows the basic outlines of the skits they re-use frequently. You will be creating, writing, and acting in several skits twice a day every day.

American village staff in costumes, an individual dressed as a turtle, another dressed as a cowgirl, me wearing a hamburger hat and American flag as a cloak, and another individual dressed in military attire
American Village staff in costumes

In Congress, we go over the theme for the day (US Sports, Music, Movies, Cartoon & Comics, US Monuments, Wild West, Ellis Island, the Mayflower, Discovering America, Native Americans, Thanksgiving, etc.). 

The themes can be really problematic and politically incorrect. This is about to get very detailed and quite political, but I think it's really important to mention if you're considering working for American Village and I would be remiss if I didn't state my disapproval upfront. I truly hope that the company will change, but it seems to have been running this way for 25 years, so.... You've been warned.

The most egregiously offensive is the "Native American" theme. There are Native-style imitation head-dresses and costumes, Native characters are included in the skits and played by non-Native (usually white) counsellors. They routinely even do that faux Native American "war-cry" vocal imitation where one yells while covering and uncovering their mouth. Truly disturbing to behold. Despite the objections of many counsellors, this happens every week. White counsellors dressing up in Native "costumes" is offensive. Doing skits in which Columbus and pilgrims meet a "Native," and they become friends is a false narrative that does a disservice to everyone involved. Despite the many positives about working for American Village, I cannot condone this blatantly racist behaviour. It was the lowest point by far of my work experience with the company and it really made me lose respect for those involved. Unacceptable. 

Many of the other themes are also problematic. Wild West Day suffers from the same problem, in that it whitewashes the history of America, erases the struggles that Native peoples faced in that time, and presents a false Disney-type version of reality. Ellis Island Day is a questionable idea for a children's camp considering the gruesome reality that immigrants faced and still face today when trying to enter the United States.

Statue of Liberty
With liberty and justice for all?

This is not how America should be represented. If we are going to speak to the historical and contemporary realities of the country, we should do so with respect for all of its many cultures and peoples. Teaching these kinds of topics to children presents unique problems. The narratives of the colonization of America and its present-day treatment of marginalized groups are inherently painful and difficult subjects. I am not suggesting that there is an easy solution to the problem but clearly,  showing impressionable children dehumanizing stereotypes and dangerous falsehoods is not the answer.

Don't take my word for it! There are many great articles about cultural appropriation, stereotypes and prejudice regarding Native Americans, Native Canadians and other indigenous, aboriginal or First Nations groups. This is a short, yet informative article on the topic, called, "An Open Letter to Non-Natives in Headdresses," written by âpihtawikosisân, a Métis individual from Alberta: 


As educators, we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. This is also not to say that American Village is the only company that has this backwards attitude; it's a problem I've encountered in nearly all of my teaching experiences around the world. Books, videos, flashcards and other teaching materials consistently show eurocentric and patriarchal biases as well as other troubling issues. I will be writing a post soon expanding on these issue and what we can do as teachers to call into question these and other biases in the classroom.

Overall, my impression of working as an EFL teacher for American Village was somewhat neutral; I think this company has a lot of potential, but they need to make some changes. The course curriculum and the daily activities need to be overhauled, incorporating more meaningful and accurate representations of American history, especially of Native American peoples. Even the curriculum surrounding present-day America is whitewashed. Why not include more information about the many diverse cultures and ethnicities of the United States?

Plains Native Statue, Dignity
"Dignity," a statue dedicated to the Plains tribe in South Dakota

The American Monuments unit for the EFL class showed only two statues dedicated to people of colour, which were the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the Crazy Horse Memorial in  Why not include the statues dedicated to abolitionist Harriet Tubman or Congressman Adam Clayton Powell or minister and social rights activist Malcolm X in Harlem, or Oneida Chief Shenendoah with George Washington in D.C., or scientist and inventor George Washington Carver in Missouri, or Sauk Chief Black Hawk in Illinois.

Most importantly, there has to be more cultural sensitivity and awareness. This might be best accomplished by hiring more diverse staff members in upper management, such as the Camp Directors. Since Europe doesn't have the same sociocultural makeup or history as North America, perhaps the company is ignorant of topics such as cultural appropriation and the importance of accurate and thoughtful representation of Native American culture. However, this is not an excuse. They have been told by many North American staff members that their representations, or rather stereotypes of Native Americans are hurtful and irresponsible. Yet, they refuse to change.

Overall, American Village needs modernization in many aspects of their corporate culture. Better organization, staff training, curriculum development, a revision of classroom and activities materials, transparency, accountability and consistency in working conditions between different camps, compliance with international labour standards, and a general reconsideration of their company ethos.

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