I just got hired this year by a school that many would consider a Tier 1 school. However, when I arrived, I realized the job I had been promised and discussed at length in the interview was very different from the job I was expected to do. Think school nurse being asked to teach daily health classes, or kindergarten teacher teaching high school math. How common is this experience? I’m beginning to think it’s more common than I would have thought. Like, once you sign the contract and move halfway around the world, you’ll do what is asked because the hassle of not doing so is so overwhelming.
Thoughts?
Bait and Switch
-
wrldtrvlr123
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
- Location: Japan
Re: Bait and Switch
My experience and understanding (granted my main experience with Tier 1 schools is more from interviewing with them, rather than working for them) is that some changes/adjustment to the duties discussed at interview are not that uncommon.
Radical changes that do not seem to include the same qualifications and/or skill sets are generally more rare, especially at the bigger and/or "better" schools, from what I have seen, heard, read, etc. You could almost understand at smaller, less established/prestigious schools where everyone has to where a lot of hats and they cannot necessarily recruit and retain top notch qualified staff in all areas.
As for doing what you are asked because not doing it is a hassle, I think it goes well past that. I recall that many contracts and/or school policies give admin fairly extensive powers to assign and reassign staff based on the needs of the students/school (which is true in many/most home school countries as well). Finding it out AFTER you have moved around the world is certainly disconcerting and problematic and would be even more so if it turns out (or you believe) that admin knew all along that they were talking bollocks about the role you were offered and accepted at interview.
Good luck and hang in there!
Radical changes that do not seem to include the same qualifications and/or skill sets are generally more rare, especially at the bigger and/or "better" schools, from what I have seen, heard, read, etc. You could almost understand at smaller, less established/prestigious schools where everyone has to where a lot of hats and they cannot necessarily recruit and retain top notch qualified staff in all areas.
As for doing what you are asked because not doing it is a hassle, I think it goes well past that. I recall that many contracts and/or school policies give admin fairly extensive powers to assign and reassign staff based on the needs of the students/school (which is true in many/most home school countries as well). Finding it out AFTER you have moved around the world is certainly disconcerting and problematic and would be even more so if it turns out (or you believe) that admin knew all along that they were talking bollocks about the role you were offered and accepted at interview.
Good luck and hang in there!
Response
For a tier 1 IS, not very common, however I agree with @WT123 that there is usually a significantly larger amount of flexibility in tasking and job descriptions in IE than DE. The bollocks of selling you on one appointment only to discover its another appointment is more common in lower tier ISs, especially small ones.
Contracts however as @WT123 indicated are usually written well enough that leadership has fairly broad discretion to assign an IT to whatever role and tasks they deem appropriate, a nurse taking a health class isnt unreasonable, though a radical assignment such as a EC IT being assigned an upper secondary maths class would be unusual but stranger things have happened (like leaderships spouse being appointed a school counselor, whose only qualification was being married to leadership).
The biggest fear a recruiter/leadership has is that an IT wont get on the plane, once your feet on the ground, they, leadership, know they own you.
Contracts however as @WT123 indicated are usually written well enough that leadership has fairly broad discretion to assign an IT to whatever role and tasks they deem appropriate, a nurse taking a health class isnt unreasonable, though a radical assignment such as a EC IT being assigned an upper secondary maths class would be unusual but stranger things have happened (like leaderships spouse being appointed a school counselor, whose only qualification was being married to leadership).
The biggest fear a recruiter/leadership has is that an IT wont get on the plane, once your feet on the ground, they, leadership, know they own you.
Re: Bait and Switch
Some flexibility is normal, of course.
Moving from "kindergarten to high school math" is not. If a "tier 1" school does that, then perhaps it's not quite tier 1. I've not heard of a radical change like that in anything other than a basket case school. Especially without any communication having taken place with the IT!
Moving from "kindergarten to high school math" is not. If a "tier 1" school does that, then perhaps it's not quite tier 1. I've not heard of a radical change like that in anything other than a basket case school. Especially without any communication having taken place with the IT!
Discussion
Actually saw this happen and it as at a tier 1 IS, one of the maths ITs ended up with sepsis after a gall bladder infection and removal, and it so happened one of the ISs year two ITs came from a maths DT background and had just transitioned into lower primary over the years because they enjoyed working with that age group more. They got reassigned out of their year two classroom and ended up spending most of the year teaching lower secondary maths.
Re: Discussion
PsyGuy wrote:
> Actually saw this happen and it as at a tier 1 IS, one of the maths ITs
> ended up with sepsis after a gall bladder infection and removal, and it so
> happened one of the ISs year two ITs came from a maths DT background and
> had just transitioned into lower primary over the years because they
> enjoyed working with that age group more. They got reassigned out of their
> year two classroom and ended up spending most of the year teaching lower
> secondary maths.
Fair enough, seems an exceptional case.
The OP's experience seems to suggest it's routine at their new school and no real notification given. I'm pretty sure there were discussions related to the reassignment with the teacher. Their case sounds more like deception, whereas your experience was obviously an unforeseen, unfortunate situation. Perhaps that was the case with the OP as well however, but that hasn't been communicated.
> Actually saw this happen and it as at a tier 1 IS, one of the maths ITs
> ended up with sepsis after a gall bladder infection and removal, and it so
> happened one of the ISs year two ITs came from a maths DT background and
> had just transitioned into lower primary over the years because they
> enjoyed working with that age group more. They got reassigned out of their
> year two classroom and ended up spending most of the year teaching lower
> secondary maths.
Fair enough, seems an exceptional case.
The OP's experience seems to suggest it's routine at their new school and no real notification given. I'm pretty sure there were discussions related to the reassignment with the teacher. Their case sounds more like deception, whereas your experience was obviously an unforeseen, unfortunate situation. Perhaps that was the case with the OP as well however, but that hasn't been communicated.
Reply
@MartElla
Assuming that were the case that this is an issue of deception than I would agree, that this likely isnt a 1st tier IS. My initial impression of the scenario however was that for a tier 1 IS this would be some kind of extraordinary circumstances. How much does the IT really know about the situation and what is the context of the reassignment, this is data that isnt readily apparent in the LWs inquiry.
However, there are tier 1 ISs in relatively remote regions where the IS is the only academic IS in the location and the appointment region is an extreme hardship, in which their leadership has played very loose with the offer and the description just to get an IT, such as offering an IT leadership and finding out its really maths/science, etc.
Assuming that were the case that this is an issue of deception than I would agree, that this likely isnt a 1st tier IS. My initial impression of the scenario however was that for a tier 1 IS this would be some kind of extraordinary circumstances. How much does the IT really know about the situation and what is the context of the reassignment, this is data that isnt readily apparent in the LWs inquiry.
However, there are tier 1 ISs in relatively remote regions where the IS is the only academic IS in the location and the appointment region is an extreme hardship, in which their leadership has played very loose with the offer and the description just to get an IT, such as offering an IT leadership and finding out its really maths/science, etc.
-
ReadytoRun
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2019 3:35 am
Re: Bait and Switch
this school has an Ed psych teaching PE classes. It just seems crazy to me.
Re: Bait and Switch
oh for p.e.?
not that crazy. lots of teachers, both domestic and int'l, teach pe.
if it was something consistent i'd be worried. usually it's a temporary thing.
v.
not that crazy. lots of teachers, both domestic and int'l, teach pe.
if it was something consistent i'd be worried. usually it's a temporary thing.
v.
Re: Bait and Switch
PsyGuy wrote:
> @ReadytoRun
>
> How much do you need to know to teach PHE? If its just some warmup exercises, and
> throwing some balls out, you dont have to know very much.
first, do you say crap just to get people going and second, I know I lot of teachers who do warm up exercises and throw balls out who would love to run you through their program just to see what you would look like coming out the other side.
Why in the world would you unfairly denigrate our colleagues on a board read almost solely by teachers, oh right I forgot.
> @ReadytoRun
>
> How much do you need to know to teach PHE? If its just some warmup exercises, and
> throwing some balls out, you dont have to know very much.
first, do you say crap just to get people going and second, I know I lot of teachers who do warm up exercises and throw balls out who would love to run you through their program just to see what you would look like coming out the other side.
Why in the world would you unfairly denigrate our colleagues on a board read almost solely by teachers, oh right I forgot.
Reply
@mysharona
1) No
2) No
3) Because its fair in so much as its true. There are plenty of PHE ITs and DTs that do some stretching/warm-up, some calisthenics and then throw some balls out and have the students play footsball or volleyball.
1) No
2) No
3) Because its fair in so much as its true. There are plenty of PHE ITs and DTs that do some stretching/warm-up, some calisthenics and then throw some balls out and have the students play footsball or volleyball.