Dangers of posting review on ISR revealing my identity?

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Open Communication
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Dangers of posting review on ISR revealing my identity?

Post by Open Communication »

I would like to post a review at International Schools Review and list maybe 5 questions teachers should ask the director during the hiring process. The questions would definitely reveal my identity to the director. The questions relate to errors the director made regarding my benefit package, promises made in email and broken once I arrived, extra hours of work I was not told of until after the academic year started. Asking these questions could definitely safe a teacher thinking of working at this school a lot of problems.
To post or not to post? Could I be blackballed by a recruiting fair or could it seriously hurt my career?
wrldtrvlr123
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Post by wrldtrvlr123 »

Are the only teacher that has been negatively impacted by these "errors"? What you describe is akin to theft and/or theft of services and should be posted on a review for this school.

There should be a way to get some of that information into a review without outing yourself (which yes, could be very damaging to your career).

Try throwing in some misinformation about kids/spouse, subject area/level taught. The misinformation about minor details could protect you, while not getting in the way of the important message about this school (e.g. not to be trusted).
heyteach
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Post by heyteach »

Why not wait until you've left the school? You will no doubt have a more complete view of things by then.

Adding fake details might get another teacher in trouble!
adminpaul
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Question to ask

Post by adminpaul »

Open Communication
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Post by Open Communication »

I have already left the school. If I added any fake details they would have to not be misleading making the school look worse or better than it is. I think it would be tricky to do that in any way that would help hide my identity. I also do have some pleasant things to say about the school, city, and country.
The reason why I want to post 'questions to ask' and not what happened to me is because the purpose of my posting is to help teachers and not make anyone angry. Also, I find that much of the negative comments posted about schools and administration is vague and not much use, such as posting' that school is bad', 'i hated it there', 'you can't trust that director'. What does that mean? Maybe nothing at all!
I think if a posting is completely honest, stating facts in an almost journalistic fashion but also offering advice, it would make it very difficult for a director to get angry and cause trouble for you because it would give more publicity to their and their school's shortcomings, faults, etc.
respond
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Post by respond »

Do it! It's your moral obligation to expose this school as dishonest. Anything relating to dishonest pay/benefits promises. Bad habits die hard and this school will most likely keep this bad habit. Don't be afraid of being black listed at recruitment fairs. Great schools in care of precious assets (you) will welcome you. Same goes for recruitment fairs, (big business) If enough teachers complain then these schools and for profit recruitment fairs can start the painful process of accountability to where they are sending their teachers to. Same goes for these schools. Good Luck. Disgruntled parent at Sekolah Lentera Kasih Bali Indonesia-Fighting for the rights of teachers.
Open Communication
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Post by Open Communication »

Dear 'respond', why have you not posted a review for your school in Bali on ISR?
wrldtrvlr123
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Post by wrldtrvlr123 »

[quote="Open Communication"] I think if a posting is completely honest, stating facts in an almost journalistic fashion but also offering advice, it would make it very difficult for a director to get angry and cause trouble for you because it would give more publicity to their and their school's shortcomings, faults, etc.[/quote]

Sorry. This sounds logical and reasonable, but I do not believe it to be accurate or true in the real world. Many/Most school administrators could be very upset or disturbed by the mere fact that someone posted something about their school on ISR. This will be doubly true for schools with things to hide from prospective teachers/families. If those School Head's were open to advice or suggestions from teachers, they would not have many of the problems that are routinely reported on ISR. As for negative publicity, outside of ISR there are very few avenues for these types of shortcomings to be publicized which is why ISR is anathema to most school owners and administrators.
respond
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Post by respond »

[quote="Open Communication"]Dear 'respond', why have you not posted a review for your school in Bali on ISR?[/quote]

Dear "Open Communication" We parents have just discovered ISR forum, literally days ago. We are getting together to post a most damning report on our school. At present we are gathering numbers of parents to have their views translated from Indonesian to English as well as urging the teachers to get involved, they are keen but, until they feel assured that they have the 100% support of the parents and students they are frightened to say anything for the same reasons as you, exposure of identity.
Open Communication
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Post by Open Communication »

Dear "wrldtrvlr123",
I guess what I mean is that if a specific problem at a school was posted by a teacher at ISR, I mean very specific, for example posting "there is not 1 computer on campus" as opposed to a vague statement such as "our schools lacks teaching materials". It may be difficult for a director to confront such as posting. Because what does stating "our school lacks teaching materials" really mean? Nothing. But if the posting "there is not 1 computer on campus", was true, a director may think twice about making a stink about that. Because they would not want to draw extra attention to their school and themselves by having a running dialogue posted here or ISR. And, a recruiting organization, if contacted by the director because of this specific posting by a teacher, may say "well, is it true that your school does not have 1 computer? I think this is a problem. Especially if you told the teacher in the hiring stage that your school had many computers".
Vague negative critiques posted by teachers may be disputed by a director. But specific ones which may also be easily proven may be less likely disputed by a director and may be more likely to be ignored. But, I may be wrong. :)
wrldtrvlr123
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Post by wrldtrvlr123 »

[quote="Open Communication"]Dear "wrldtrvlr123",
I guess what I mean is that if a specific problem at a school was posted by a teacher at ISR, I mean very specific, for example posting "there is not 1 computer on campus" as opposed to a vague statement such as "our schools lacks teaching materials". It may be difficult for a director to confront such as posting. Because what does stating "our school lacks teaching materials" really mean? Nothing. But if the posting "there is not 1 computer on campus", was true, a director may think twice about making a stink about that. Because they would not want to draw extra attention to their school and themselves by having a running dialogue posted here or ISR. And, a recruiting organization, if contacted by the director because of this specific posting by a teacher, may say "well, is it true that your school does not have 1 computer? I think this is a problem. Especially if you told the teacher in the hiring stage that your school had many computers".
Vague negative critiques posted by teachers may be disputed by a director. But specific ones which may also be easily proven may be less likely disputed by a director and may be more likely to be ignored. But, I may be wrong. :)[/quote]

That may be true in some cases, but I have also heard of/witnessed school heads/admin. say white is black and black is white to save face in front of parents, owners and inspectors.

As for ISR, a majority of admin. simply consider posting here akin to high treason and the truth or validity of the comments becomes very much besides the point. Best of luck to you in avoiding these kinds of problems in the future.
Open Communication
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Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:53 am

Post by Open Communication »

Dear wrldtrvlr123 and others.
What if I had left the school I wanted to post about on ISR and had already secured a 2 year contract with another school and had arrived and started teaching. Would posting then in an honest and not bitter fashion haunt me later with certainty, in your opinion?
wrldtrvlr123
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Location: Japan

Post by wrldtrvlr123 »

[quote="Open Communication"]Dear wrldtrvlr123 and others.
What if I had left the school I wanted to post about on ISR and had already secured a 2 year contract with another school and had arrived and started teaching. Would posting then in an honest and not bitter fashion haunt me later with certainty, in your opinion?[/quote]

No, not with any certainty (especially if you went on to have a good track record with your new school). The international school community is very small, however, and you couldn't know whether your former head (should they take it poorly) could ever have a negative influence on your career (or god forbid turn up as your new head someday).

Also, you would have to think about your new head's opininion/attitude about a teacher posting on ISR (and whether they would immediately wonder what you would be writing about them when you leave).

In any case, I applaud whatever you decide to do.
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