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by Walter
Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:01 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Accreditation
Replies: 38
Views: 69989

There is none so blind as he who will not see

CIS accredits schools. It is not a program provider such as IGCSE or IB. It looks at the fuctionality of a school, beginning with its mission statement and what it claims it does and then proceeds to assess the various facets that make up the experience for the student - with a particular emphasis on learning and teaching. That is what is meant by accreditation - as opposed to authorization, which is what IGCSE and IB do. US colleges insist (though with less rigor than used to be the case) on schools being accredited, because that, ostensibly, gives them a yardstick by which they can judge applicants.
Lots of big words there, but I hope you are following me so far.
I really don't know where you are getting these silly statements about CIS copying the MSA or other US accrediting agencies. Ask anyone in our world and they will confirm what I am saying. CIS, through committees of teachers, administrators and its own professionals, develops the accreditation protocol. It has just begun using the 8th Edition. Some schools, often those with significant US populations like to have accrediting agencies that their parents will easily recognize, but they want, as well, the rigour of the CIS process. CIS is fine with that, but insists that partner agencies must use their protocol.
More big words, but I really can't be bothered to do a cartoon version for you.
I think secretly you have realized you are making a fool of yourself, but, like a child, you are hoping that if you say "black is white" long enough, then either some people will believe you or they will get bored and move on. I can understand that latter view because I find you quite boring too.
What do you mean by "keep thinking that"? Are you suggesting I'm wrong about your short-lived stays in Egypt, Thailand and China? Have you ever kept a position longer than a year? On reflection, I suppose that does give you some authority to speak about recruiting. I guess you're always looking for a job...
by Walter
Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:38 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Accreditation
Replies: 38
Views: 69989

Mr Angry or Mr Psy

I know this is difficult, but please read again what I wrote:
There is NO connection, relationship, understanding or anything else between CIS and IGCSE. The latter is the international version of the UK GCSE. It doesn't accredit schools - it authorizes them to teach their program and assess students using its examinations. The IB is exactly the same - it has no accrediting role. It authorizes schools to use the PYP, MYP or IBD - or all three.
CIS, meanwhile, is a longstanding player in the world of Accreditation and is the only international arbiter of school performance. WASC, NEASC, MSA et al are domestic US accrediting agencies with relatively small international divisions. You will often see schools that have joint accreditation CIS/WASC, CIS/NEASC etc. In such cases, the dominant player is CIS whose protocol is used. (In fact, NEASC claims co-authorship of the CIS protocol, but all the work is done by CIS.)
These are facts and aren't in dispute by serious educators - not a category to which you belong, I know.
CIS, meanwhile, is an accrediting agency solely accepted by US universities and undergoes the same "Accrediting" process as NEASC/WASC/MSA etc in order for it to act in this way. In other words, an international school with just CIS Accreditation would have no problem getting its students into a US college. That is one of the benefits of CIS Accreditation. The most important part of the process, though, is that accreditation helps schools become better at what they do. That is why so many schools around the world pay the money to join the organisation.
Your statement that when CIS works with MSA it is effectively the "local (junior) contractor" is complete nonsense and on its own is a clear indication of your ignorance of anything to do with this subject. In any joint accreditation, it is the CIS protocol that is used.
And it's hard not to resort to personal attacks when you dominate the airways in the way you do. Your claim to understanding the recruitment side of international education is based on your own attempts to get work and - so you say - your effort to scam your way into SEARCH in Australia as a secret recruiter. Not many people believe you did that, so you are either a liar or, just as bad, a cheapskate cheat. If it's the latter, then your school has even less integrity than you do.
And here you are again, spouting off about CIS and accreditation when you aren't in an accredited school, have never been on an accreditation team and likely never will. I've seen your resume on the SEARCH site, so I know how thin your experience is. Facts are facts, Mr Psy, and despite your 20 certifications from Texas, you are working in a low-level, low-performing school and seem to be compensating for your empty career by fulfilling yourself in cyber space. Have you ever thought about seeing a counselor?
by Walter
Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:50 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Accreditation
Replies: 38
Views: 69989

Oh dear

Mr Psy made it clear in January that he didn't understand how recruitment worked. Now he's shown us that he doesn't understand how accreditation works. Obviously he hasn't been on an accreditation team - hardly surprising given the level of ignorance he displays about the process. The notion that there are no outside standards or requirements is ludicrous and the idea that process is simply a rubber-stamping exercise is even more stupid. Take a look at the accreditation protocol for CIS before you witter on next time.
And please don't perpetuate the silly story - with your Acme School non-example - that CIS accreditation has some kind of tie-in with IGCSE. Many more CIS-accredited schools offer IB than they do IGCSE. Why do IB schools need the accreditation? Because accreditation is a path to school improvement; because just by offering the IB does not mean that you are an accredited school.
by Walter
Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:09 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Accreditation
Replies: 38
Views: 69989

Accreditation

Please be careful about this misinformation from Mr Psy. There is NO connection, relationship, understanding or anything else between CIS and IGCSE. The latter is the international version of the UK GCSE. It doesn't accredit schools - it authorizes them to teach their program and assess students using its examinations. The IB is exactly the same - it has no accrediting role. It authorizes schools to use the PYP, MYP or IBD - or all three.
CIS, meanwhile, is a longstanding player in the world of Accreditation and is the only international arbiter of school performance. WASC, NEASC, MSA et al are domestic US accrediting agencies with relatively small international divisions. You will often see schools hat have joint accreditation CIS/WASC, CIS/NEASC etc. In such cases, the dominant player is CIS whose protocol is used. (In fact, NEASC claims co-authorship of the CIS protocol, but all the work is done by CIS.)
Another useful gauge of how good a school may be is to look whether it is a member of a regional association: ECIS or CEESA or EARCOS for example. Such organizations have their own filter to eliminate less than worthy schools. However, be careful. Unscrupulous schools have been known to claim all kinds of associations and memberships on their websites.
by Walter
Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:59 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: "Blacklisted"
Replies: 161
Views: 258047

Delusional

I have no problem with people disguising their identities, but I have an issue with someone who pretends to be speaking from a position of authority and who tries to give himself yet more credibility by fabricating a background and experiences that are completely false. There are people who access this site who may have taken any or all of his claims and assertions as the real deal and acted accordingly. Thanks to Mr Hawkeye's impetus, I just checked out for myself who is Mr PsyGuy. He has one of the thinnest resumes I've seen, with just two years and seven months teaching at two Tier 9 schools in Asia. God knows how he amassed all those certifications - it certainly doesn't say much for the authorities in his home state. The notion that he would ever have a pick of offers from reputable schools is preposterous. All of this self-important, self-regarding, know-all, opinionated nonsense he's been blurting out makes him just like a modern day Walter Mitty.
by Walter
Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:28 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: "Blacklisted"
Replies: 161
Views: 258047

There is none so blind as he who will not see

It isn't so much that the replies are insipid, it's that he changes the goalposts whenever he's challenged and shown to be wrong or reverts to the failsafe of "that's only your point of view".
So he uses the IB as his source for information about international schools. The IB doesn't collect data on international schools, doesn't speak for international schools and frankly doesn't care very much for international schools who, as the DG says openly, only represent 20% of the total body of IB schools. When this is pointed out, his response is "a school in the US that does the IB is seen as an international school by someone from abroad". So if the IB doesn't see this school as international and the school itself doesn't see itself as international, that doesn't matter because Mr Psy can claim it's international. Duh.
His story changes about the number of school heads at the Boston fairs: "one of the few" becomes "I only said there were more heads at UNI".
When his "perceptions" about candidate quality and background at the Sydney Fair are shown to be wrong, his retort is "Your experience is different to mine".
When his claim about the Bangkok fairs being "created" for experienced international teachers is shown to be wrong, his retort is "That is what the fairs have become so I'm right anyway". And don't you love the name drop of "John" in that post to show his familiarity? The "John" in question only ran the Fair for a year or so as it happens.
Meanwhile, he thinks he's so clever to be able to give the link to the IB headnet. No school head would ever trade confidential information on this listserve. International school heads use the head.net service provided by AAIE or AISH.net. Are you going to send out the links for these now, Mr Psy?
Frankly, none of this would matter if the things he claims were just "points of view". The problem is that he writes in with answers and comments about every subject under the sun and presents these with an air of papal infallibility. Some people who read his posts may just think that he knows what he's talking about - believe me, he really doesn't.
by Walter
Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:58 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: "Blacklisted"
Replies: 161
Views: 258047

Dear Mr Psy:
It's really hard to respond to your assertions, because it seems that whatever people say, you just try to trump them by shouting out another assertion. Here are my credentials for saying what I am going to say:
I have been a school head for more than twenty years and a deputy head and principal before that. Every year I attend the major recruiting fairs around the world and have done for decades.
I have been involved in the IB for thirty years - first as a teacher, then an IB Coordinator, then an examiner.
I'd really like to know your credentials for saying what you say.
I was at each social event at the Cambridge and Boston fairs and met with many, many school heads who have been friends for years, and yet you tell me that there were practically no heads present, so I guess I was hallucinating. There were 130 school heads at the AISH Oasis which was held in Boston. You, in the meantime weren’t at either of these fairs, but you really know that these were fairs full of principals and not heads.
You tell me that TIE and ISC are trying to mislead us, when they relate information about increasing enrolment in our schools that, in the case of TIE, they have obtained directly from the international schools themselves. I have no reason to assume that TIE and ISC have any vested interest in misrepresenting enrolment patterns. What evidence do you have for this? In the meantime, my school, like most I know, is experiencing consistent growth in enrolment.
You boast proudly that your source of information is the IB – which represents, you say, 3,300 schools. Did you know that almost half of those schools are in public and independent schools in the US, and that international schools represent only 20% of the total figure? Why would you think that the IB – which has certainly never asked me or any international school head I know about the number of students in our schools – have any relevant information about international school enrolment? They don’t know and they don’t care.
You tell me that SEARCH Bangkok and ISS Bangkok were CREATED for veteran teachers. I can tell you as an absolute fact that this isn't the case. Back in 2003, School heads in the IASAS and APAC groups were frustrated that the various recruitment agencies were fighting about the dates of their fairs and leapfrogging each other to the disadvantage of schools and teachers. They decided to set up their own small fair instead for teachers interested in working in these schools. bangkok was the chosen venue because of its ease of access and availability of accommodation of all types and prices. Almost at the last minute, ISS offered to take on the administrative burden and to widen the schools to encompass all in EARCOS. The heads involved said okay go ahead. A year later, SEARCH realized the potential of a fair in this region and leapfrogged ISS. But there was no plan that these were ever fairs CREATED for veteran teachers.
And yes, I know smaller SEARCH Fairs have single sign-ups. Why wouldn't I know that? I go to them. But I also know that SEARCH Cambridge has a dual sign-up arrangement, and there has been no change in this.
Please stop pretending to know things that you don't know.
by Walter
Fri Feb 17, 2012 11:55 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: "Blacklisted"
Replies: 161
Views: 258047

I only started reading this site while on the recruitment circuit. Some of the things that are written are so funny and so wrong, and you are right to be dubious about the many and varied opinions of Mr Psy.
a. He said that there were new arrangements at the SEARCH Cambridge Fair with a double sign-up session and that recruiters and candidates were under too much time pressure. FALSE. I have been recruiting at SEARCH for many years, and I can't remember when there wasn't a double sign-up session. And I can't think of any other change from previous practice. We recruiters weren't advised of any. Meanwhile, two hours is more than ample time for most candidates to see the schools they need. Most recruiters leave before the end of the session because they have done. Incidentally, this year there were evening sign up sessions at two of the big fairs to leave full interview days to follow. More fairs will do this next year.
b. He said that very few school heads attended SEARCH Cambridge, instead preferring to go to UNI. FALSE. I was at Cambridge and, as always, saw most of my colleagues and peers from the top schools at the various evening receptions. Some heads do have a longstanding allegiance to UNI, but they a minority. Some other heads - often from schools in Central and South America also attend Iowa because they can't compete in salary terms with the premier league schools that attend Cambridge - and by and large these top schools will be represented by heads.
c. He said that IS schools worldwide are seeing falling enrolment. This is really FALSE. A recent TIE survey indicated that 90+% of international schools surveyed had seen at least mild or moderate growth. The International Schools Consultancy - another independent body - continues with its estimation of 7% annual growth in students attending international schools.
d. He said that Bangkok was always the veterans fair, and Cambridge was for newbies. FALSE. SEARCH Bangkok has only been going for seven years and ISS Bangkok for eight so the word "always" makes no sense. Inevitably, though, you will get more experienced international teachers at the Bangkok fairs, because most of those who attend are presently teaching at schools on the Asian circuit. At the London fairs you get a lot of UK teachers trying to get onto the international scene, and at the US fairs you get a lot of US teachers trying to do the same thing. This has ALWAYS been true.
e. There were no schools from Denmark at SEARCH Cambridge and ISS Boston.
However, in one key area Mr Psy is correct. There is no official blacklist of teachers held in secret by school heads. I have been recruiting teachers for nearly thirty years and believe me I would know. School heads read references on the files, conduct their interviews and wherever possible will contact a colleague head whom they trust and who is at the same fair - and thus only an internal phone call away. All of us are busy and the only question we have time for is "Would you hire this teacher again? Usually the answer is yes or no. Sometimes it is more nuanced, which may mean another interview and more conversations with referees. As for actively trying to block a teacher from getting hired again elsewhere - well there are a couple of names I look for when I attend fairs and would alert colleagues if I saw them on the list, because I think they are dangerous to students. Occasionally I see notes on head.net saying if anyone is approached by Mr X for a job at their school, please contact me. I presume that those people are also perceived to be a danger to students. On two occasions, teachers have backed out of contracts for what seem spurious reasons. I find that to be totally unprofessional, and in both cases I have called the recruiting agency and made a formal complaint, but I don't have the time or energy to try to do anything else. However, if someone told me that an applicant had backed out of a contract elsewhere, that would be a big blackmark. My guess is that most school heads feel the same.
I am happy to answer any other recruitment myths.
Walter
by Walter
Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:24 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Looking into International Teaching...Advice?
Replies: 19
Views: 24526

All generalizations are dangerous, including this one...

Sorry, but your comment is full of generalizations:
"No head wants their school to get a reputation for being ANYTHINg but great. In all honesty, the idea of their school being known as the "Gay School" would terrify them."
How would you characterize the above but a broad and gross generalization? You should be careful about offhand remarks like this that criticizeand condemn the entire sector of international education.
I don't disagree that for some schools hiring a gay couple is entering dangerous territory but it certainly isn't for my school and for many others. The advice you give should be more nuanced. It's fine to have opinions, but that is different to being opinionated - especially if people take your assertions to be fact...
by Walter
Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:37 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Looking into International Teaching...Advice?
Replies: 19
Views: 24526

Questionable advice

"No head wants their school to get a reputation for being ANYTHINg but great. In all honesty, the idea of their school being known as the "Gay School" would terrify them. It would be one thing if it was out of school, but having both of you on the same faculty, is just a time bomb waiting to go off.

So my advice and I dont mean to offend you. Id approach separate job searches. It will open up more schools (since you would need a single school with both science AND english positions) or look at the possibility of one of you being a trailing spouse. I just believe that making you a "package deal" is going to be a deal breaker..."

This is a dangerous generalization. In my school in Asia we have gay couples, and I know the same is true in other Asian schools. We don't see such couples as "time bombs waiting to go off." Don't assume that all school heads are bigoted and old-fashioned.