@PsyGuy

I've been on here long enough to see that splitting hairs is kind of your thing. Whatever, that's not what I'm here to do. The point is I'm stuck in a ridiculous situation that might even require me to leaving the country to fulfill this request.

What is not true is that the embassy has taken a personal dislike to me. I wrote them and got a form letter back that unless I fulfilled one of their categories (like international adoption), they couldn't do it.

@Psyguy

Your first question to me explains my frustration on your second point.

Yes, they can do them for adoption/immigration purposes. They have flat out said they won't do it for me. Do I have a RIGHT to a background check from abroad? I guess not. But the lack of common sense here is mind boggling.

Thank you, everyone. My Embassy here can do them, but says they won't do them for me. Local police look at me like my request is absolutely bonkers. I'm going through every connection I can think of, and will try the Embassy again. If not, I will have to try when I'm in Germany for vacation at the beginning of next month.

I think it is INSANE that the U.S. requires fingerprints for background checks, and then leaves its citizens abroad completely out to dry. Especially when other countries have far less arcane systems (in France you just do it all online). Looking for ways to feel positive about my home country these days, but it's hard.

Right?? Pretty ridiculous. I will follow your advice and keep asking them. Thanks.

Thank you everyone, for so earnestly trying to help. Not helping the problem is the fact that I live in a Western European country that is internationally famous for inept bureaucracy. I went to the local police station today, who confirmed that they cannot perform this service for me, and that services in the private sector do not exist either. They suggested I see a lawyer. As a very solution-oriented person, I am finding this endlessly frustrating. I've already had one colleague say she thinks I will need to fly back stateside... Will update if I somehow have a breakthrough here.

Thanks Shop, for the helpful advice.

I do need to do the prints myself, unfortunately. I live in Europe and the Embassy here said they wouldn't do this service for me. Haven't found anyone else that the US considers valid to take the prints.

I tried to do them last night and currently have fingers covered in ink (parent teacher conferences are today. Real good thinking there) and have little confidence that I did them right.

If they can identify people from crime scene prints, surely they can tell that it's me?? Ugh.

In France you can just do it all online. WTF America.

Getting back to the beginning - with international education being what it is, I am sure that there are many schools around the world that would hire you based on your qualifications/experience: 3rd and maybe 2nd tier. Depending on your personality and what you're looking for, it could be an enjoyable experience if you do your research and find someplace tolerable. Let us know if you're interested and I'm sure this board can advise you where to look.

As long as we are trying to have a productive discussion that sticks to the facts, yes, you did say that:

<<All the things you mentioned about managing a class I have no issue with. I just don’t think they have anything to do with “teaching”.>>

Your views of pedagogy are outdated for education today. They are. You cannot separate good pedagogy from classroom management, because it is part of your teaching philosophy; it is the basis behind every decision you make. One doesn't spend five minutes on "atmosphere activities," as you termed it, and then teach. It's all interwoven, and comes from experience.

At the end of the day, it's not your qualifications that aren't good enough. Teaching is 50% natural talent and pedagogy, and 50% experience, and you don't have the latter.

I think I'm done here, because you do continue to try to speak from authority about something you don't have experience in. People keep responding to you because there are misconceptions within your premise (good teacher vs. effective employee), and you have some misunderstandings about some basic teaching terms. No hurt feelings, I'm just not sure that this is being productive.

I highly suggest you:

-Get the chance to spend some time in quality classrooms. I do this as often as I can, because the teaching profession is an art, and I always need to be inspired to improve my teaching.
-Pick up Saphier and Gower's The Skillful Teacher. It's a tome, but a classic, and very enlightening.

The fact that you don't think classroom management should have anything to do with teaching shows that either you don't know what that term means (probable) or that you haven't fully grasped what it means to teach children. And secondary students are children. Children who have shorter attention spans, difficulty focusing, and impulse control, among other things. This isn't because there's anything wrong with the system - it's because they are children! Your behavior management repertoire is what keeps your classroom happy, functioning, and productive. It takes an understanding of best teaching practices, child development, and EXPERIENCE. It is the basis of everything you do. Without it, you can't teach.

What we are hearing is someone who has never done the job we do. We are hearing that person presuming to tell us what our job is like, and also what is wrong with our field. Is there anything about that that seems off to you? I understand that you would like this conversation to stick to the subject of "quality teaching." What we are trying to show you is that your definition of quality teaching at the secondary level is incomplete, and needs to be expanded for you to understand what it is like to teach children.

Hopefully this is all as simple as you're confused about some of the terminology we're using, and what that really looks like in education.

@reisgio Are you serious? You have no idea who these people are, or whose medical care they are under. The assumptions you are making reveal a lot about your outdated views on mental health. Imagine if people on the internet went around armchair diagnosing people with heart conditions and diabetes to work harder at finding the "root cause."

I'm glad that you feel that you are pointed in a clearer direction. Aside from that I must say, you post has me..... flummoxed.

I should clarify that of all the areas of desired experience I listed, I feel that they largely speak to the BEST parts of education done well today (accommodation for special needs, understanding how to develop and deliver authentic curriculum, knowledge of child development, etc). That's not to say that there aren't problems with the system, but I'm surprised that that was your takeaway from this thread.

You currently have a different skill set than that which this job requires. It's as simple as that. The fact that you still believe that what you have "should be enough" means that you are missing something pretty fundamental here. If you can, try to spend a day observing in some classrooms and talk to some teachers in person about their experience.

At the risk of exhausting everyone with more metaphors: someone who is a gastroenterologist can't just show up and be a dentist. The world of dentistry didn't fail you. You can have a heart to truly serve your dental patients as much as you want, but if you've never practiced dentistry....

I think that what you've brought up here is actually really enlightening to the discussion of how the teaching profession is misunderstood, and undervalued. Because if it were just about content knowledge, anyone with that knowledge could do it.

I think you are vastly overestimating the importance of content knowledge in the PreK-12 field. Elite schools (and any school worth its salt), will want to know:

How do you design lessons for students who are ELLs?
How do you accommodate 5 ILPs and various other learning styles into your approach?
Classroom. Management. You will be teaching children. Depending on where you teach, 10-90% of your students will have little to no initial interest in the subject you are teaching them; some of them may disrupt your lesson daily. Which does not mean they are incapable of learning. How do you put a respectful and logical behavior management system in place? How do you get them to invest in the material? At this level, you are responsible for the achievement of every student.
Quality curriculum is skill, not content, based. How you do backwards design units with appropriate authentic assessments that allow for varied learning styles?

If any of these are not things you have at least moderate experience with, then prepare to be challenged in the PreK-12 setting, and prepare to be overlooked in the hiring process by elite schools. Teaching is a craft. I may be an amazing cobbler, but that doesn't mean I can design and tailor clothes. I may kill it on the cello, but that doesn't mean the philharmonic will take me on to play the timpani.

@sid Sorry! That was confusing. I thought I was replying on the teaching philosophy thread :P

@Bas Thank you! Hopefully that helps someone; I'm not living in the US at the moment.

@sid cringe!