Lying, unstable directors...

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Simplewords
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:29 pm

Lying, unstable directors...

Post by Simplewords »

Hello All,

My husband and I are in our third year of international teaching (and teaching, period). Thus far we have had a real string of bad luck, and I am looking for advice as to how we move forward.

First, as new teachers we don't have a long list of former supervisors to put on job applications. We have held exactly two positions. Our second position, which was originally to have been through the end of the 2016 school year, ended when we and three other teachers new to our school had to leave the country due to changes in visa laws. We have great references from the Director of this school.

It is with our first school the problem exists. The Director under whom worked is currently being pushed out on a year's leave of absence. Her incompetence was completely destroying the school. Enough parents and embassies (this school serves the children of staff members from several different embassies) complained with such vigor that the school's parent-organization forced the director to leave. The behaviors that necessitated this leave made our tenure under this director challenging and this, combined with the director’s impeding leave, preclude our using her as a reference.

It gets worse. Newly arrived at this school during our last year was an elementary-teacher moving into the role of Director of Instruction. This person was well-known at her former school to be controlling, threatened by anyone who voiced an opinion alternate to her own, vindictive, petty, and especially sensitive to perceived slights. After having been passed over for promotion at her old school (within the same organization as our school), she came to our school bound and determined to move up the corporate ladder. We gained her ire by voicing aloud concerns and by pushing to address some of the crumbling elements of the school, and committing the ultimate sin - occasionally disagreeing with her.

We left the school at the end of our two year tenure. As part of our current job search we applied for candidacy with Search Associates. Numerous positive references were submitted on our behalf, including one from our most recent supervisor. However, Search denied our candidacy on the basis of what this former Director of Instruction reported. She lied outright and egregiously. She said that we were highly problematic AND has been let go early from our contract due to unprofessional conduct. This was a complete fabrication, as in she 100% lied through her teeth.

So what do we do? We can't allow potential employers to contact either of our supervisors from our longest-held teaching positions. However, employers aren't going to want us if they can't gain a reference from this employers. It is a Catch-22 situation.

What do you suggest?

Thanks in advance for your sage advice!
wrldtrvlr123
Posts: 1173
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
Location: Japan

Re: Lying, unstable directors...

Post by wrldtrvlr123 »

Hi. Tough situation. The bottom line is that until you build up enough successful years of experience to offset those first two years this will always be an issue (as you have already experienced).

Bottom line for now is that you need to try and find SOMEONE that you can list as a creditable reference from that school. Possibly someone from the parent-organization that knows first hand about the evil Director's flaws. Possibly a parent with an impressive job title. You may also get lucky and have a teacher you were on good terms with move into any type of leadership role. If you can find some type of credible positive contact from that first school then you should be able to job search in the near future and at least have the opportunity to interview and explain why your reference is not from a Director/principal.

As for Search, they may or may not reconsider your application with the offending reference removed. Not to be a Monday morning quarterback, but this is the reason that many people will suggest that you get at least 2 years of solid experience/references in your home country before venturing out into the wild west that is the in'tl teaching landscape.

Of course that doesn't help you, but it may help someone else who is considering starting their career abroad. Your other option is to just stay at your current school for the next 5 years or so and just pretend that first school never happened (or until anyone who can give a personal reference is no longer there and all they can do is verify your dates of employment).

Our first int'l school admin passed away just as we were leaving the school and the asst. admin left the next year. I honestly don't think any of our schools after that really contacted someone at the school (and knowing the country, they probably couldn't get through if they tried).

Good luck and keep us posted!
PIEGUY
Posts: 35
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:06 pm

Re: Lying, unstable directors...

Post by PIEGUY »

Hmmm...obviously a minefield. It will be of little consolation to know that your story is not as unusual as some would imagine. There's a direct correlation between instability and craving for power, the world over. Schools are no exception. There are plenty of other recruiting agencies and the big players no longer have the luxury of the monopoly they once commanded. Using your reliable references, perhaps you could try some of the newer ones. Many are mentioned on this and other sites. Direct applications to schools can also yield fruit as the end of the school year approaches, sometimes unexpectedly. Good luck with your job search.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

You need to secure as many contacts and positive referees from your old school as you can. The longer you wait the harder those people will be to identify and find. At this point youd started to bury this negative IS, one more appointment and it wont likely matter much, after 2 it wont matter at all.
At this point you need to just Ghost that experience it will cut your resume down to one year but this director has some level of respect on the IE circuit, and no amount of learning or experience is going to compensate for an unprofessional or worse "misconduct" report and reference. Ghosting means it never happened, you remove it from your resume and you were doing something else thats not really verifiable before becoming ITs.
Once you have another positive teaching reference available you can add back the first IS and use the other positive references, just under emphasizing its influence in your career. f this director leaves you can add the experience sooner.
Simplewords
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:29 pm

Re: Lying, unstable directors...

Post by Simplewords »

Thank you to all who replied with advice for us. As greenhorns to the world of international teaching, we don't know enough about the lay of the land to handle this on our own. We appreciate your help!
nikkor
Posts: 218
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2010 11:59 pm

Re: Lying, unstable directors...

Post by nikkor »

With your current director being such a wild card, I think you should try to move on as quickly as possible. One thing I love about teaching internationally is that you always have the option of working somewhere you are happy, or working towards going somewhere that may fit you better. Ask SA if you can use the school counselor as a reference. That is something that is done at others IS's.

Another option is to sign up with ISS and TIE. I've used them successfully in the past. One dissenting voice in your reference check will raise eyebrows, but it can also be understood.
ptf
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:49 pm

Re: Lying, unstable directors...

Post by ptf »

Sorry to hear your story.

I'd say that the first step would be to contact Search and see if you can work something out with them.

If that doesn't work then consider other recruitment agencies and/or contacting schools directly. As others have mentioned if you can move on and get another job on your resume then this one won't matter as much. And if you're lucky the person causing the problems will have been let go and it won't be an issue.

Good luck
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