Reference Questions

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roundtheworldteacher
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2019 7:14 pm

Reference Questions

Post by roundtheworldteacher »

I might be leaving the elementary teaching position at my school next year and have some questions about how to handle getting references from someone at my school. Here is my situation. My old boss, the elementary principal, was let go at the end of the year last year, so I was unable to ask her for a written reference or a reference for ISS. However, I still keep in contact with her and we get along pretty well. The current principal doesn't know me very well, and the school's current administration is weird about teachers leaving and getting jobs at other international schools in the region (e.g., they have fired teachers for applying to their "competitors").

Here are my questions. Should I ask my former boss for a reference? If so, does it need to be on my school's letterhead with some kind of stamp (like my other reference letters)? How should I handle the confidential reference for ISS? ISS requires that I get a confidential reference for every school that I have worked at, right?

Or should I just ask the current principal for a letter and the confidential reference even though I don't know her very well and I feel hesitant about letting the administration know about my intentions before I get another job?

Any insight into this would be great!
Cailin
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2014 4:26 pm

Re: Reference Questions

Post by Cailin »

CIS send out their own reference forms, perhaps ISS does the same.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

You should absolutely ask your previous leader for a reference before you lose contact with her for some reason or another. If they are at another IS use that ISs email address for the automated reference, but if you have to a personal email address. It should be on relatively decent letterhead, it doesnt need to be on the previous ISs letterhead, though that would be helpful and have greater utility (some ISs will require the reference on the ISs letterhead, but they dont know what that letterhead looks like so maybe you have a piece you can replicate, or get your hands on or you can create something that looks reasonably like letterhead).
As to your current situation your only choices are to ghost the experience or disclose it, if you disclose the experience than there is nothing stopping anyone from doing a Google name search of the IS, identifying the relevant leadership and contacting them. You should expect this as best/good practices will mandate that an IS contact the previous IS to ensure nothing torrid or inappropriate took place.
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