I am an international teacher and I have worked in many different schools all over the world. Some administrators have been less than co-operative, others have been fantastic. What worries me is that personal details (particularly names) have been used all over this website. Rarely for good comments! When you are employed, you work for a profit making organisation, the school, not solely for the Director/Headmaster who in turn is very much controlled by the Board of Governors. I think that your website should ban the use of personal names. In fact, it should be automatically set up so that personal names are blanked out.
Furthermore, teachers who fear retribution for posting their comments have a choice. Don't post until you have left the school. Surely this is obvious. If you really think the school stinks, why are you staying there? The anonymous nature of the user names means, unfortunately, that some people may be unfairly accused of posting hate mail. This is truly unfortunate and I feel that if you are genuinely being honest in your opinion, you should not be afraid to put your real name to your posting.
It is a good idea to have somewhere that prospective teachers can go and read honest reviews but I fear that the only people who bother to post are those with an axe to grind. There are always two sides to every story but often we only get one take on it here.
Website protection
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Guest
Re: Website protection
Yeah? Well, what's your name?
Honesty wrote:I am an international teacher and I have worked in many different schools all over the world. Some administrators have been less than co-operative, others have been fantastic. What worries me is that personal details (particularly names) have been used all over this website. Rarely for good comments! When you are employed, you work for a profit making organisation, the school, not solely for the Director/Headmaster who in turn is very much controlled by the Board of Governors. I think that your website should ban the use of personal names. In fact, it should be automatically set up so that personal names are blanked out.
Furthermore, teachers who fear retribution for posting their comments have a choice. Don't post until you have left the school. Surely this is obvious. If you really think the school stinks, why are you staying there? The anonymous nature of the user names means, unfortunately, that some people may be unfairly accused of posting hate mail. This is truly unfortunate and I feel that if you are genuinely being honest in your opinion, you should not be afraid to put your real name to your posting.
It is a good idea to have somewhere that prospective teachers can go and read honest reviews but I fear that the only people who bother to post are those with an axe to grind. There are always two sides to every story but often we only get one take on it here.
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John
why we NEED this website
Although you make some valid points, I do not feel that most teachers who post comments here "have an axe to grind".
They are simply sharing their realities about what it was like to teach in a particular country or how they were treated by a director.
It helps educators to know the facts or at least read about another person's experience with a school or principal/director.
It also helps educators to know which directors are unprofessional when making a choice of which school to work at. As an international educator, I have had good and bad directors.
While working overseas, I know of many teachers who felt they were treated very poorly by their director but did not say anything for fear that they might loose their job. They just dealt with the situation and waited to move on to the next country.
And guess what ? They were right !
Being outspoken at your school can cost you your job even if you are doing it with the best intentions.
So where can international educators (or those who wish to teach overseas) turn to for information about schools and directors ?
There are few options !
Thus, being able to post about ones experiences at an overseas school on this site and also have an open dialogue about specific directors is like using a Lonely Planet guide book.
Just as you use the Lonely Planet guide book to get an idea of where to go and what places to avoid, so too does this website provide valuable information and resources that international educators need before signing a contract so that they can prepare themselves for whatever lies ahead.
Even if you do end up working for one of the less professional directors reviewed on this website, you are at least prepared in terms of what lies ahead of you.
In the end, I prefer to know the reality of the situation so that I can erase all illusions.
They are simply sharing their realities about what it was like to teach in a particular country or how they were treated by a director.
It helps educators to know the facts or at least read about another person's experience with a school or principal/director.
It also helps educators to know which directors are unprofessional when making a choice of which school to work at. As an international educator, I have had good and bad directors.
While working overseas, I know of many teachers who felt they were treated very poorly by their director but did not say anything for fear that they might loose their job. They just dealt with the situation and waited to move on to the next country.
And guess what ? They were right !
Being outspoken at your school can cost you your job even if you are doing it with the best intentions.
So where can international educators (or those who wish to teach overseas) turn to for information about schools and directors ?
There are few options !
Thus, being able to post about ones experiences at an overseas school on this site and also have an open dialogue about specific directors is like using a Lonely Planet guide book.
Just as you use the Lonely Planet guide book to get an idea of where to go and what places to avoid, so too does this website provide valuable information and resources that international educators need before signing a contract so that they can prepare themselves for whatever lies ahead.
Even if you do end up working for one of the less professional directors reviewed on this website, you are at least prepared in terms of what lies ahead of you.
In the end, I prefer to know the reality of the situation so that I can erase all illusions.
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milofischer
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:05 pm
- Location: Venezuela
taking risks
As international teachers, we leave the security of our homes, and unions, and laws that protect us, and we have no idea what we are getting into. I 100% disagree with this post. This is the only protection that international teachers have. Our lives are run by overzealous rich housewives, and directors that are accountable to no one. There is no school board or employee rights organization to go to. We do not even have the security of the laws of our home country! What other recourse do we have?
Directors should know that they will be held accountable, and that their actions do affect their future. The more names, the better! This is a place for us international teachers (and directors) to come together and speak freely about our work environment, much as we would in the break room, or if we were giving advice to a friend about which school to work at in our home town. You are completely missing the entire point of this forum!
Directors should know that they will be held accountable, and that their actions do affect their future. The more names, the better! This is a place for us international teachers (and directors) to come together and speak freely about our work environment, much as we would in the break room, or if we were giving advice to a friend about which school to work at in our home town. You are completely missing the entire point of this forum!
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hypo
signing names to comments
If you believe that signing your name is imporant to comments in the forum and on the schools review website, then why didn't you sign your name? You are a hypocrite!