Reference question
Reference question
I contacted my principal at my last school to say I wanted to get a new email for him as I heard he was leaving to go to a new school. He wrote back saying if I used him as reference, he would say I was a good educator in many ways, but also would have to say some fairly negative things. Frankly things that I thought were not accurate and pretty unfair, and were never expressed to me while I was there. I was able to access my old evaluations and this was not reflected in them at all. They were very positive. I have downloaded copies of these evaluations and taken screenshots as well. I have taught more than 10 years at several different schools, but this was a recent 2 year stint and this guy was my only real supervisor. I honestly thought he would always be a solid reference for me. Now I don't even really want to use him at all. My thought is just to say I lost track of him and show my evaluations to any future prospective employers. I know colleagues are not usually "real" references, but would having one of them be the contact at the school, along with the evaluations, be reasonable? I have other references from earlier schools.
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Thames Pirate
- Posts: 1150
- Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 8:06 am
Re: Reference question
I am no administrator, but I don't see why not.
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1168
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
Re: Reference question
I suspect they will always want to speak to the principal/HOS, because your colleagues will not be aware of certain things that are important to them. Not just what kind of employee you are, but also things that might not reach the staff.
Your colleagues can tell them what kind of colleague you are, but that's not all they want to know. Furthermore, your fellow teachers are sort of like your friends, and more likely to give positive reviews. For that reason, and others, if I was a recruiter, I wouldn't be too interested in references from teachers.
You might want to include the principal as a reference, but inform the school you're interviewing with that he will be saying some things you don't think are fair or accurate, and that you can supply them with an abundance of teacher references that will back you up on this, or perhaps some parent references as well, and mention that your former supervisors have opinions that better reflect reality.
You can try to leave him off the CV, but they will very likely ask about him anyway, so it might be better to get ahead of it.
But I'm also not a recruiter, so maybe I'm wrong.
Your colleagues can tell them what kind of colleague you are, but that's not all they want to know. Furthermore, your fellow teachers are sort of like your friends, and more likely to give positive reviews. For that reason, and others, if I was a recruiter, I wouldn't be too interested in references from teachers.
You might want to include the principal as a reference, but inform the school you're interviewing with that he will be saying some things you don't think are fair or accurate, and that you can supply them with an abundance of teacher references that will back you up on this, or perhaps some parent references as well, and mention that your former supervisors have opinions that better reflect reality.
You can try to leave him off the CV, but they will very likely ask about him anyway, so it might be better to get ahead of it.
But I'm also not a recruiter, so maybe I'm wrong.
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Spawnboy99
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:14 pm
Re: Reference question
Difficult one, I'm experiencing something similar now, my contract not getting renewed next year. Four years working for the school and I was a Team leader. My HOS is happy to be a reference but did state that if any schools asked he would be saying that I didn't fit in. So I have to try and think about how to make that a positive. That I had the passion and drive and that my teaching philosophy wasn't aligned with the school, which is true.
Have copies of everything inform them the truth and don't lie it's such a small industry and you never know, also seek reference from parents which could be useful. Good Luck
Have copies of everything inform them the truth and don't lie it's such a small industry and you never know, also seek reference from parents which could be useful. Good Luck
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: Reference question
Every school I am at I try to get 2 or 3 parent references. Different nationalities, different grades. All to show that I am a good teacher and valued by parents. I suspect that whoever reviews my Search files gets the same message time and time again, which is what I want.
Response
The principal doesnt want to be your reference anymore, and this is their passive aggressive way of communicating it to you without being directly confrontational.
Recruiters and leadership dont put a lot of weight into colleague references and testimonials, they just assume everyone has friends they worked with who will say good things about them.
Theres nothing you can really avoid here, if you dont ghost the experience, meaning the IS knows about it they can always contact the IS and the HOS or whatever leadership they ant, simply by doing a Google search and sending an email or picking up the phone. Hopefully the IS your interviewing with will understand and limit the scope of the inquiry to, is this IT eligible for rehire, but theres nothing you can do if the HOS or leader wants to say more even if it is balanced towards the negative. Your only real choice is to disclose or not disclose, and if you dont disclose youre effectively ghosting the experience. This was only a two year standard contract, so ghosting it isnt a significant loss within the scope of a 10 year career, but if the leader is leaving and moving on, than you can also legitimately claim that you have lost track of them, use the letters you have, and continue to claim the experience.
Recruiters and leadership dont put a lot of weight into colleague references and testimonials, they just assume everyone has friends they worked with who will say good things about them.
Theres nothing you can really avoid here, if you dont ghost the experience, meaning the IS knows about it they can always contact the IS and the HOS or whatever leadership they ant, simply by doing a Google search and sending an email or picking up the phone. Hopefully the IS your interviewing with will understand and limit the scope of the inquiry to, is this IT eligible for rehire, but theres nothing you can do if the HOS or leader wants to say more even if it is balanced towards the negative. Your only real choice is to disclose or not disclose, and if you dont disclose youre effectively ghosting the experience. This was only a two year standard contract, so ghosting it isnt a significant loss within the scope of a 10 year career, but if the leader is leaving and moving on, than you can also legitimately claim that you have lost track of them, use the letters you have, and continue to claim the experience.