The International Schools Review Forum

What are some of the signs that it is time to move on from your current position and to a new school?

At what point is it a good idea to share with with your boss?

When you feel tired. When you start casting a negative or pessimistic eye at a new initiative or idea. When you look down the road a few years and see things basically going the same way they are now--and you don't really care. When you feel like you've done what you set out to do in your current setting.

When the admin doesn't have the competence to resolve serious issues or they start lying to your face about such similar matters, or promote unqualified faculty to administrative positions, then it's time to dust off your CV.

There is always that one fateful morning when it is different. You wake up and you don't want to go in and that sentiment comes from a deeper place. We all need blinders on to a degree, but that voice hits when the blinders come loose and we don't want to put them back on again.

falconeer wrote:
> There is always that one fateful morning when it is different. You wake up
> and you don't want to go in and that sentiment comes from a deeper place.
> We all need blinders on to a degree, but that voice hits when the blinders
> come loose and we don't want to put them back on again.

Agreed Falconeer. It's great until it isn't. Everybody's mileage varies, but when it's time, you know it. And that can come in the space of a month, a week, or even a day.

Agree with the above, we've been here 14 years and up until this year it was great and now its not. Somewhat COVID induced but not all and its definitely time to move on.

Thank you so much for sharing all of your thoughts. I relate to everything you all wrote.

Yes, some of it is definitely Covid induced, and the problems were there pre-Covid as well.

At my first couple of schools there were definitely things that made it easier to decide to move on, such as (friendly & well-meaning but) incompetent leadership, low savings potential, a crazy timetable, etc.

But at my last two schools it was what @falconeer said: at a certain point you just feel that you want to move on, despite there not being major issues with the school.
My current school has always been my dream school, and it's pretty much perfect for me -I wouldn't know what to change about it if I'd be given the chance- and the location is also great. Still, I know that there will be a point, probably still a good number of years away, at which I will start looking elsewhere. Just because it's time, not because of the school.

I've found the following questions helpful for myself when deciding to move on.

(1) Do you enjoy working at the school? If no - answer Q2

(2) Are you making a difference for the better at the school? If no - answer Q3

(3) Do you want to be part in improving the school? If no then it might be time to go - if yes answer Q4

(4) Can you make a change in the school or will it be a cyclical headache which will be a waste of time? If the answer is no then it's time to go.

At my last two schools, I was not enjoying myself and at one of them I did not have the heart to try improving the school as it had already beat out all of my passion and determination. I also keep forgetting sometimes how much covid (country and school dependent) limits our ability to put up with stuff which we used to put up with prior to covid.

I'm kind of at Heliotrope's point. I know that staying here would be easy, that I know the kids well, I'm pretty trusted, and I can see some great things coming up. But on the other hand, I've been here a few years now, family requirements have changed and we're more able to move, and frankly it just feels like time. I can answer all of sciteach's questions are yes, but it just still feels like the right thing for me to do. TBH, this is the longest I've been in one place of employment in all my working life, including before becoming a teacher, so maybe I just get itchy feet every few years!

How schools have handled Covid was quite revealing.
If my school hadn't prioritized teachers' and students' health just to pander to some parents who wanted in-person classes at any cost then I would have left at the end of my contract.
There are some schools that I will no longer be interested in because of their handling of the pandemic.

Let’s say you’re in a school that you’re really not happy in - is it best to put your head down and get through the rest of the contract or make waves and leave early?

If you only have a year left, in this time of COVID, I would bite my tongue, tough it out, and go recruiting next year.

Rhysboy wrote:
> Let’s say you’re in a school that you’re really not happy in - is it best
> to put your head down and get through the rest of the contract or make
> waves and leave early?


When 'really not happy' means something other than 'very unhappy', I would probably keep my head down.
As long as the students are nice enough I can't imagine myself being so affected by bad management that it would impact my happiness to a degree that it would be very hard to complete my contract, assuming they still pay your salary on time and don't endanger your (physical and/or mental) health. Maybe you can elaborate on what makes you 'really not happy'?
But if it does make you very unhappy and the prospect of another year depresses you and affects your teaching, it might make sense to leave, because you wouldn't be the teacher the kids deserve and your mental health is very much worthy of consideration. If you share this with admin, they might agree it's smarter if you move on, but definitely not all admin would be sympathetic, especially so close to the Summer holiday and the start of the new academic year.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'making waves'. If you mean voicing your discontent or disobeying admin, I'm doubtful that will accomplish anything that will serve your short-term or long-term interests. I've had admin that would take teacher's complaints to heart and change their policies because they saw the value in our feedback, but that's not the kind of admin that would make you unhappy to begin with.

Putting your head down and leave at the end of your contract with a decent or good reference would be the smartest choice career-wise, but if it affects your mental health it might be smarter to decide otherwise. I wouldn't 'make waves' though, I would just bring it up with admin if you think there's a chance they might be sympathetic.

Don't forget that moving on for just the sake of it could hurt you in the long term. You may not advance on the salary scale as planned or have to work under inexperienced department heads. Both of these will affect your saving potential and peace of mind. There is very few greener pastures in international teaching currently.