I want to know what to watch out for. What are your worst experiences with administrators, colleagues, international schools in general?
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Worst experiences?
My worst experience was at my last school. Two of my colleagues left in October, and my boss asked me to take a lie detector test because he didn't believe me when I told him that I didn't know why they left. I told him no, and he continued to argue with me about how, if he was me, he would take the test because he would have nothing to hide. Then, he told me that he was going to take extra money out of my paycheck to cover the rent of our apartment since they left. That school was a mess and a half.
for the most part had fantastic experiences and worked with fantastic people.
probably come across 2 evil, backstabbing 2 faced people in my whole time...sadly they always seem to be women. When u get a sniff of people like this steer clear...they are nothing but trouble and if they are in admin watch out.
Other than that...met some of the most wonderful people from all over the world.
probably come across 2 evil, backstabbing 2 faced people in my whole time...sadly they always seem to be women. When u get a sniff of people like this steer clear...they are nothing but trouble and if they are in admin watch out.
Other than that...met some of the most wonderful people from all over the world.
Comment
Personally, Cairo. Had an admin that was the owners brother, and he was a psychopath. He was always right, hed say one thing in a meeting and then when it didnt work out hed blame whoever was on his hit list for the problem. Pay was late, and when you go there you basically found out the money wasnt what was promised. Neither was the housing, they took pictures of an apartment that turned out to be the admins, but no one on the staff otherwise got anything nearly as nice. All in all it was horrible, i stayed 6 weeks 9and would have left after 4 if the pay wasnt late).
Not the worst that ive heard. One young woman in Saudi Arabia, was basically told if she didnt "date" the admin, he would fire her for theft and not give her a release for an exit visa or her passport back.
Not the worst that ive heard. One young woman in Saudi Arabia, was basically told if she didnt "date" the admin, he would fire her for theft and not give her a release for an exit visa or her passport back.
These are horror stories from colleagues :
1. One teacher was informed that he should be careful of the parents bc the parents ( a whole group of them ) practice voodoo. Hence, he was expected to raise the report card marks due to the administrations' " fear " of voodoo-practising group of rich parents.
2. Screaming tirades of a female administrator ( who was never a teacher but a recruiter and then eventually became a principal of a school in Doha, Qatar ). My colleague was left in tears for the screaming abuse was laden with threats and criticisms on everything she did ( including her dress, weight and looks ).
3. Sexual advances and comments from male high school students that were largely left ignored by the administration and brushed off as " Eh, it's part of the culture ". The teacher dared to respond that sexual harassment is not part of any culture. She was sacked for " not respecting the culture ".
1. One teacher was informed that he should be careful of the parents bc the parents ( a whole group of them ) practice voodoo. Hence, he was expected to raise the report card marks due to the administrations' " fear " of voodoo-practising group of rich parents.
2. Screaming tirades of a female administrator ( who was never a teacher but a recruiter and then eventually became a principal of a school in Doha, Qatar ). My colleague was left in tears for the screaming abuse was laden with threats and criticisms on everything she did ( including her dress, weight and looks ).
3. Sexual advances and comments from male high school students that were largely left ignored by the administration and brushed off as " Eh, it's part of the culture ". The teacher dared to respond that sexual harassment is not part of any culture. She was sacked for " not respecting the culture ".
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Open Communication
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:53 am
I've got a good one.
My worst experience was in the Philippines. The school hired mostly certified staff for the core subjects, but took any riff raff cruising the sex scene for ESL teachers. One of the ESL teachers was having sex with a 15 year old student. The school wouldn't do anything, including telling the parents, because it would have hurt their bottom line.
Ironically, they were also worried about their bottom line when they didn't check background, references, or use common sense in hiring the slime ball.
The school was spiraling out of control because of overbearing, incompetent owners, and an incompetent scammer Brit as the head. I went to the authorities about the rape. Within a week, the NBI (FBI equivalent in Philippines) was at my gate with 10 agents, including the regional head--all for a warrant for libel. They took all the computer equipment in the house, all of my documents, 'found' drugs (a common NBI tactic) and carted me off to jail.
I'm a permanent resident of the Philippines, and had lived there over 4 years by that time. Merely by not being a condescending asshole and kind, I had developed a lot of friendships in that time. We found out that the school paid 25K U.S. for the raid and jailing. Luckily, I had connections of my own, and I was released in about 5 days.
This infuriated the NBI (I was an asshole to them the whole time, because I refused to bow down before the paid thugs who raided my home in front of my children). To get back at me, they tried to get me put in immigration jail. They found an expired U.S. passport at my house. I also had a current U.S. passport, a current Irish passport, and a Philippine permanent resident visa. But, they thought that they knew everything and assumed that I overstayed my visa. I didn't, because I can live there as long as I want, but the fools gave it a try anyway.
They took me to Manila in handcuffs to the main immigration building. By that time, my contacts, who had connections at Immigration, had made calls in advance of my arrival.
The NBI thugs got a surprise when immigration went after them for bringing a bullshit case to them. Finally, I was released after 5 days. I had connections get the paperwork that I needed for leaving the country, because the NBI had stolen all of my id, except for US. passport, which was hidden. Got out of the country and had my family in the U.S. about a year later.
That was almost exactly 2 years ago. The case is still not over. I'm being tried in abstentia, but it is about to be dismissed because there are no witnesses and no more money to keep the NBI interested.
I wrote about this before and it was moderated on the ISR blog, I don't know why. I won't list the school name this time, and maybe it will stay. You won't have to search message boards too hard before you discover the school.
In hindsight, it was a pretty cool adventure. At the time, I thought that I was dead. We had a 6x8 cell for 6 of us. They gave me the bed (a raised bamboo platform) because they felt sorry for me. The other prisoners were incredibly kind. After I got out, I visited all of their families with messages and big bags of rice because I owed them so much for being so good to me.
Good times, good times.
Ironically, they were also worried about their bottom line when they didn't check background, references, or use common sense in hiring the slime ball.
The school was spiraling out of control because of overbearing, incompetent owners, and an incompetent scammer Brit as the head. I went to the authorities about the rape. Within a week, the NBI (FBI equivalent in Philippines) was at my gate with 10 agents, including the regional head--all for a warrant for libel. They took all the computer equipment in the house, all of my documents, 'found' drugs (a common NBI tactic) and carted me off to jail.
I'm a permanent resident of the Philippines, and had lived there over 4 years by that time. Merely by not being a condescending asshole and kind, I had developed a lot of friendships in that time. We found out that the school paid 25K U.S. for the raid and jailing. Luckily, I had connections of my own, and I was released in about 5 days.
This infuriated the NBI (I was an asshole to them the whole time, because I refused to bow down before the paid thugs who raided my home in front of my children). To get back at me, they tried to get me put in immigration jail. They found an expired U.S. passport at my house. I also had a current U.S. passport, a current Irish passport, and a Philippine permanent resident visa. But, they thought that they knew everything and assumed that I overstayed my visa. I didn't, because I can live there as long as I want, but the fools gave it a try anyway.
They took me to Manila in handcuffs to the main immigration building. By that time, my contacts, who had connections at Immigration, had made calls in advance of my arrival.
The NBI thugs got a surprise when immigration went after them for bringing a bullshit case to them. Finally, I was released after 5 days. I had connections get the paperwork that I needed for leaving the country, because the NBI had stolen all of my id, except for US. passport, which was hidden. Got out of the country and had my family in the U.S. about a year later.
That was almost exactly 2 years ago. The case is still not over. I'm being tried in abstentia, but it is about to be dismissed because there are no witnesses and no more money to keep the NBI interested.
I wrote about this before and it was moderated on the ISR blog, I don't know why. I won't list the school name this time, and maybe it will stay. You won't have to search message boards too hard before you discover the school.
In hindsight, it was a pretty cool adventure. At the time, I thought that I was dead. We had a 6x8 cell for 6 of us. They gave me the bed (a raised bamboo platform) because they felt sorry for me. The other prisoners were incredibly kind. After I got out, I visited all of their families with messages and big bags of rice because I owed them so much for being so good to me.
Good times, good times.
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Open Communication
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:53 am
I agree with Open Communication. Good on you Dantespal. Sounds like a nightmare scenario that you handled with pride and dignity.
My worst experience was working in a place that almost always paid late. Sometimes it was just a few days and the longest was a week. I personally find this absolutely offensive. I turn up to work early and I leave late, so I should at least be paid on time, especially when the students pay in advance. I guess that was the down part of working in a low end school. I do now specifically ask in interviews if there are any circumstances whatsoever that teachers are paid late. I just can't accept that again.
My worst experience was working in a place that almost always paid late. Sometimes it was just a few days and the longest was a week. I personally find this absolutely offensive. I turn up to work early and I leave late, so I should at least be paid on time, especially when the students pay in advance. I guess that was the down part of working in a low end school. I do now specifically ask in interviews if there are any circumstances whatsoever that teachers are paid late. I just can't accept that again.
I think that Dante's pal brings up a tough ethical dilemma. You are certain that something really bad is happening in your school, but if you do whatever it takes to stop it, student safety will not be improved.
In this situation, an anonymous tip to parents might be the best course of action. As ethical and responsible adults, we need to protect our students, but at the same time, we shouldn't sacrifice our own safety.
If its true the school bribed the NBI with $25k, dantespal is probably very lucky to be alive. It would have been much cheaper and easier to hire a professional hitman.
In this situation, an anonymous tip to parents might be the best course of action. As ethical and responsible adults, we need to protect our students, but at the same time, we shouldn't sacrifice our own safety.
If its true the school bribed the NBI with $25k, dantespal is probably very lucky to be alive. It would have been much cheaper and easier to hire a professional hitman.
adventures in the Philippines
nikkor, inman, and Open C,
It's all true, all of it is documented in emails and memos from them. The case is still open in city court. Supposedly, it will be dismissed at the next hearing, which could be anytime in the next few years. It was a surreal school in a fairly surreal location. I crammed about a decade of experiences into 4 years. The NBI confiscated my computer and backup hard drive, so I lost a ton of photos, documents, and notes. Some things survived in the cloud though.
There is a lot more to the story. By the third year, it was time to move on. The board/owners were aggressively attacking our salary and benefits and completely ignoring our contracts. After I left, I filed a complaint with the labor department. I believe that I was winning the case, when 'someone' stepped in from the national labor department and told the regional DOL to rule for the school.
Everything that I know about the bribes paid and amounts is from connections that I had in the agencies involved. Nothing is a secret in the Philippines. The corruption is bold and in your face. If you know the right people, most other people won't mess with you. Once I was in jail, the NBI were also bragging about the whole thing. They knew no one would believe me over them on anything that they said, so they would taunt me with it. A couple of people pretty far up in the legal/justice system confirmed that what happened wouldn't have happened for any less than 25K. The regional director of the NBI was at my gate over a libel charge, which is about the lowest level of complaint that the NBI would handle.
nikkor, you are right, they could have paid someone less than $100 to just kill me. Life is pretty cheap in the Philippines. The whole thing would have been a total disaster if I hadn't made a point of making as many connections as I could when I started living there. Without the cover, protection, and favors of several people, things would have been much worse.
After I got released we had 2 armed local police guards at the front of our house 24/7. More great stories there.
Doing it silently or confidentially wasn't an option at that point. A couple of friends were vocal about what happened at the school. Some others were privately supportive, but wouldn't say so publicly. A lot of others turned their back completely. The responses correlated pretty well with their ability to get a job anywhere else. Situations that intense usually tell you who your real friends are.
While I hope that I'd do the same thing regardless of my own situation, any bravery is dulled by the fact that I had already decided not to return, had a job waiting in the U.S. and was ready to quit before the end of the year before this really started. I had already quit by a couple of weeks when the NBI got involved. I don't know what I would have done if I intended or needed to stay in that job.
It's all true, all of it is documented in emails and memos from them. The case is still open in city court. Supposedly, it will be dismissed at the next hearing, which could be anytime in the next few years. It was a surreal school in a fairly surreal location. I crammed about a decade of experiences into 4 years. The NBI confiscated my computer and backup hard drive, so I lost a ton of photos, documents, and notes. Some things survived in the cloud though.
There is a lot more to the story. By the third year, it was time to move on. The board/owners were aggressively attacking our salary and benefits and completely ignoring our contracts. After I left, I filed a complaint with the labor department. I believe that I was winning the case, when 'someone' stepped in from the national labor department and told the regional DOL to rule for the school.
Everything that I know about the bribes paid and amounts is from connections that I had in the agencies involved. Nothing is a secret in the Philippines. The corruption is bold and in your face. If you know the right people, most other people won't mess with you. Once I was in jail, the NBI were also bragging about the whole thing. They knew no one would believe me over them on anything that they said, so they would taunt me with it. A couple of people pretty far up in the legal/justice system confirmed that what happened wouldn't have happened for any less than 25K. The regional director of the NBI was at my gate over a libel charge, which is about the lowest level of complaint that the NBI would handle.
nikkor, you are right, they could have paid someone less than $100 to just kill me. Life is pretty cheap in the Philippines. The whole thing would have been a total disaster if I hadn't made a point of making as many connections as I could when I started living there. Without the cover, protection, and favors of several people, things would have been much worse.
After I got released we had 2 armed local police guards at the front of our house 24/7. More great stories there.
Doing it silently or confidentially wasn't an option at that point. A couple of friends were vocal about what happened at the school. Some others were privately supportive, but wouldn't say so publicly. A lot of others turned their back completely. The responses correlated pretty well with their ability to get a job anywhere else. Situations that intense usually tell you who your real friends are.
While I hope that I'd do the same thing regardless of my own situation, any bravery is dulled by the fact that I had already decided not to return, had a job waiting in the U.S. and was ready to quit before the end of the year before this really started. I had already quit by a couple of weeks when the NBI got involved. I don't know what I would have done if I intended or needed to stay in that job.
Comment
@nikkor
This isnt an "ethical" dilemma. Defamation in the Philippines is a criminal matter. If you tell a parent their teacher is having a relationship with their daughter you better have smoking gun evidence available at a moments notice to back it up. if the school isnt going to do anything about it because of the scandal or publicity then you need to keep your head down and your mouth shut. Most foreigners are at a SEVERE disadvantage as everything in the Philippines is FIRST about relationships and SECOND money. Most foreigners dont have those relationships, which are mainly family connections not business connections.
This isnt an ethical dilemma unless you ignore the much larger safety issue.
They wouldnt need a "professional" hitman either, a street thug with a bike and a gun would have done the job for less then a $100, and in prison you could arrange a shanking for a some food.
This isnt an "ethical" dilemma. Defamation in the Philippines is a criminal matter. If you tell a parent their teacher is having a relationship with their daughter you better have smoking gun evidence available at a moments notice to back it up. if the school isnt going to do anything about it because of the scandal or publicity then you need to keep your head down and your mouth shut. Most foreigners are at a SEVERE disadvantage as everything in the Philippines is FIRST about relationships and SECOND money. Most foreigners dont have those relationships, which are mainly family connections not business connections.
This isnt an ethical dilemma unless you ignore the much larger safety issue.
They wouldnt need a "professional" hitman either, a street thug with a bike and a gun would have done the job for less then a $100, and in prison you could arrange a shanking for a some food.
Yes we did remove the material on this incident from a review. This is extremely damming information about a school and we looked for some reassurance the incident took place between the teacher and student
Your comment: "[i]One of the ESL teachers was having sex with a 15-year-old student. The school wouldn't do anything, including telling the parents, because it would have hurt their bottom line."[/i]
Did you see them in the act? What proof do you have? After extensive searching on the internet there was absolutely no reporting on the incident and we then deleted the information.
We have no question that you experienced the jailing, etc. This is your first-hand reporting of your experience.
Can you send us a link to anything about the actual incident? Or any substantiating material.
Keep in mind that ISR is the one who will have to answer to the libel charges in a courtroom and we can't fight back with out something to work with, while you stand back safely enjoying anonymity.
If you post that the director is inept....that is your opinion. If you tell us a teacher is having sex with a 15-year-old that is considered libel if there is no proof.
As PsyGuy said: You need to have a smoking gun if you are going to make such claims.
Please email me at internationalschoolsreview@yahoo.com with a link to news articles or copies of the emails you talked about.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Ben @ ISR
Your comment: "[i]One of the ESL teachers was having sex with a 15-year-old student. The school wouldn't do anything, including telling the parents, because it would have hurt their bottom line."[/i]
Did you see them in the act? What proof do you have? After extensive searching on the internet there was absolutely no reporting on the incident and we then deleted the information.
We have no question that you experienced the jailing, etc. This is your first-hand reporting of your experience.
Can you send us a link to anything about the actual incident? Or any substantiating material.
Keep in mind that ISR is the one who will have to answer to the libel charges in a courtroom and we can't fight back with out something to work with, while you stand back safely enjoying anonymity.
If you post that the director is inept....that is your opinion. If you tell us a teacher is having sex with a 15-year-old that is considered libel if there is no proof.
As PsyGuy said: You need to have a smoking gun if you are going to make such claims.
Please email me at internationalschoolsreview@yahoo.com with a link to news articles or copies of the emails you talked about.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Ben @ ISR
Last edited by adminpaul on Sat May 25, 2013 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.