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What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 8:20 am
by fine dude
So far in your international teaching career, what has been the greatest motivator and also the biggest regret?

Response

Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 8:50 am
by PsyGuy
Motivator: Enhanced social life with the opposing gender.

Regret: Not getting into leadership before moving into IE.

Re: Response

Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:06 am
by idonteven
PsyGuy wrote:
> Motivator: Enhanced social life with the opposing gender.
>
> Regret: Not getting into leadership before moving into IE.

Would be curious about reasons for the regret. Do you feel moving into leadership after getting into IE is less optimal for some reason? Or you just find leadership a significantly more attractive role in IE than teaching? Or something else.

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:31 pm
by chilagringa
I wish I had started teaching (or, hell, had a real job) by my mid-twenties so I would have some decent savings by now. Oh well, I'm a late bloomer.

Motivator... I just dig it.

Reply

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 2:47 am
by PsyGuy
@idonteven

The hardest part of getting into leadership in IE is getting that first break, its a pretty high wall. If Id stayed in DE I would have been moving into leadership as a Dean the next year, and the DS would have paid for the leadership credentialing program.
There are 3 general avenues into leadership:
1) Grow In: You start at an IS as an IT, you work well with leadership, parents and ownership, and then when there is an opening you get the job because ownership trusts you and leadership and parents like you. This pathway is faster at lower tier ISs, where there is a lot of turnover and longevity often means your only one of the few staff to renew.
2) Work In: You get a M.Ed in Ed.Ld, you add a credential, you build some leadership or management experience and you work your way up into leadership. This may and often requires some work in DE. This is the pathway that accounts for the majority of leadership. Candidates were leadership in DE, and they were hired as leadership in IE.
3) Edge In: You make friends and build a network, maybe you marry into, but someone in ownership likes you and gives you the job, or someone in leadership helps you get into the job. This is the least common path into leadership.

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 3:32 am
by sid
Biggest regret: I've got a photo gallery in my head of students I feel I didn't do enough for.

Re: Reply

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:33 am
by sdakota
PsyGuy wrote:
> @idonteven
>
> The hardest part of getting into leadership in IE is getting that first
> break, its a pretty high wall. If Id stayed in DE I would have been moving
> into leadership as a Dean the next year, and the DS would have paid for the
> leadership credentialing program.
> There are 3 general avenues into leadership:
> 1) Grow In: You start at an IS as an IT, you work well with leadership,
> parents and ownership, and then when there is an opening you get the job
> because ownership trusts you and leadership and parents like you. This
> pathway is faster at lower tier ISs, where there is a lot of turnover and
> longevity often means your only one of the few staff to renew.
> 2) Work In: You get a M.Ed in Ed.Ld, you add a credential, you build some
> leadership or management experience and you work your way up into
> leadership. This may and often requires some work in DE. This is the
> pathway that accounts for the majority of leadership. Candidates were
> leadership in DE, and they were hired as leadership in IE.
> 3) Edge In: You make friends and build a network, maybe you marry into, but
> someone in ownership likes you and gives you the job, or someone in
> leadership helps you get into the job. This is the least common path into
> leadership.

Real question: Why would you want to get into leadership in the first place? Seems like they have longer hours, more meetings, and higher stress. All the good parts of teaching, the kids, the lessons, the relationships etc. are minimized and all the difficult parts such as the meetings, irate parents, etc. are your entire day. What gives?

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:01 am
by chilagringa
Leadership salaries at my school are three times what teachers make, so there's that.

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 1:25 am
by shadowjack
Sid, if I had a dollar for every time I've questioned whether I'm a good teacher...

Reply

Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:34 am
by PsyGuy
@sdakota

Comp., salaries are 2x-4x higher for senior leadership and OSH benefits are more exclusive and higher value.

@Sid

I hope its a very small photo gallery.

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:15 pm
by marieh
Motivators: Compensation. A manageable workload and freedom in the classroom.

Regrets: Absolutely none.

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 1:59 am
by Lastname_Z
Motivator: Savings, Classroom Freedom, Travelling/Experiencing other cultures

Regrets: None at the moment (it's a short career so far)

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:31 am
by Nomad68
Motivator - Making as much coin as possible so we can find somewhere to settle down where my kids have a better future.

Regret - 1) The circumstances that caused me to have to work overseas in the first place.
2) losing friends and family whilst overseas.
3) Having to work with some truly awful colleagues and managers who are clearly unemployable in their home
countries.
4) Now that I am in IE I wish I had done it 10 years earlier so I wouldn't be doing it now (which contradicts all of the
above)

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 3:06 pm
by fine dude
Thank you all. We have similar aspirations.
Here are mine:
Motivator: Money in relatively stable currency from multiple (legal) channels
Regret: Should have worked in low-cost cities to maximize savings during the early stages of my career

Re: What is your greatest motivator and biggest regret?

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:47 am
by Rudyard
Motivator: doing something I would do for free if I was rich
Regret: taking a few years to truly appreciate how good this career path can be