I smell fear...
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:10 pm
I?d like to thank ISR for creating this forum. As I struggle to put my professional career back together following 3 separate international teaching experiences, I feel as though I?m able to unload a giant burden which has weighed greatly on my psyche. After taking much time to navigate the web site, read school and headmaster reviews and peruse this forum, I no longer feel alone with regards to my international teaching experiences. Had this site existed years ago, and had I known of Dr. Spilchuk, I may have had the courage to stand up for my rights and to be a stronger advocate for teachers without a voice. Perhaps my self esteem wouldn?t have taken such a beating in the process.
That being said, I must also add that this entire site smells of fear. How sad that international teachers must live with a fear that if they express personal and professional opinions concerning work conditions, their jobs and careers could be on the line. And as much as some outspoken administrators (who frequently write for the TIE) would want all of us to believe that bullying, black balling and terror tactics are all in the minds of a few disgruntled people, this site is proving them wrong.
My husband and I lived and worked abroad for 10 years before calling it quits and relocating back to our home state in the USA. In our years abroad we worked long and hard at our jobs, worked at being team players, expressed respect for our profession by never bad mouthing stateside education, consistently completed long distance professional development courses, and had fun traveling and experiencing many cultures. Our goals never included hoarding wads of money nor retiring at 45. We yearned to embrace international education at its best, yet in our 3 separate posts abroad we worked under a very unethical superintendent, were presented with false information about our professional responsibilities and benefits package upon arrival to one post, and were ?let go? without warning 6 weeks before school was out at our last post by the new superintendent. His decision to let us go, as well as other teaching couples, was based on information collected through private informational meetings with colleagues and anonymous and secret polls and emails from colleagues. Even without the support of an outraged parent community as well as a confused school board, this headmaster got his way. The people who replaced those of us who were let go were friends of his from previous schools he governed (which we knew about from a job fair months earlier when their credentials were similar to ours). All in all, very unprofessional conduct occurred in 3 separate international schools with excellent reputations and well known administrators.
I agree with Mark Hansen's post that throwing names around isn?t necessarily going to help solve the problems associated with an educational system that has a hard time holding administrators accountable. It encourages slander and gossip. At the same time, however, I have struggled with my own anger toward administrators who have acted unprofessionally yet continue to work and live abroad -- moving from school to school. I have lived with the fear that comes from not being able to trust colleagues or being able to voice opinions which would be contrary to the administration. International administrators attend conferences, discuss the pool of applicants and receive inside information from their cohorts on a continuous basis. International teachers, who are essentially free agents, need a similar route before choosing a job that could have great impact on a personal level and professional career.
Contrary to popular belief, a career in international education has not helped us in any way within the public school system back in our home state. My husband and I rarely mention our time abroad now as it has caused us more harm than good. It was nearly impossible for an international teacher such as myself to step inside a public school system that is standards based and just come through 10 years of state reform. No one wants to hear about traveling, cultural fairs, wealthy students or free housing. Add to that the 'No Child Left Behind' legislation and you've really got your work cut out for you. And how do you sit in a job interview with generic references from an international administrator who tried to protect his job by siding with the superintendent who failed to mention nothing of the years of service, endless hours of committee work, late afternoons of after school activities and weekend volunteer work for special events that you accomplished during your tenure? Or a reference which includes statements about your professional wardrobe and good looks? What do you say to a personnel manager in a school district who conducts searches through the FBI asking why you don?t have a reference from your most recent supervisor? How would you feel upon learning that a ?trusted? administrator abroad wrote a slanderous reference for your admissions criteria into a university doctorate program? This is the curse of international education that we have struggled to overcome as we rebuild our lives and careers stateside. My husband and I both learned it would be in our best interest to enter university in order obtain credentials needed in catching up with state reform and establish a professional network imperative to starting over (based on the collection, or lack thereof, of references described above).
Thank you, again, ISR, for creating a place where those of us who need to voice our concerns can do so. Who knows if we?ll be heard. Who knows if the unprofessional conduct of overseas administration will continue. What I do know is that a site such as this is an excellent research tool for international educators. It?s a piece, or more, of a puzzle that so many seem to want to solve.
That being said, I must also add that this entire site smells of fear. How sad that international teachers must live with a fear that if they express personal and professional opinions concerning work conditions, their jobs and careers could be on the line. And as much as some outspoken administrators (who frequently write for the TIE) would want all of us to believe that bullying, black balling and terror tactics are all in the minds of a few disgruntled people, this site is proving them wrong.
My husband and I lived and worked abroad for 10 years before calling it quits and relocating back to our home state in the USA. In our years abroad we worked long and hard at our jobs, worked at being team players, expressed respect for our profession by never bad mouthing stateside education, consistently completed long distance professional development courses, and had fun traveling and experiencing many cultures. Our goals never included hoarding wads of money nor retiring at 45. We yearned to embrace international education at its best, yet in our 3 separate posts abroad we worked under a very unethical superintendent, were presented with false information about our professional responsibilities and benefits package upon arrival to one post, and were ?let go? without warning 6 weeks before school was out at our last post by the new superintendent. His decision to let us go, as well as other teaching couples, was based on information collected through private informational meetings with colleagues and anonymous and secret polls and emails from colleagues. Even without the support of an outraged parent community as well as a confused school board, this headmaster got his way. The people who replaced those of us who were let go were friends of his from previous schools he governed (which we knew about from a job fair months earlier when their credentials were similar to ours). All in all, very unprofessional conduct occurred in 3 separate international schools with excellent reputations and well known administrators.
I agree with Mark Hansen's post that throwing names around isn?t necessarily going to help solve the problems associated with an educational system that has a hard time holding administrators accountable. It encourages slander and gossip. At the same time, however, I have struggled with my own anger toward administrators who have acted unprofessionally yet continue to work and live abroad -- moving from school to school. I have lived with the fear that comes from not being able to trust colleagues or being able to voice opinions which would be contrary to the administration. International administrators attend conferences, discuss the pool of applicants and receive inside information from their cohorts on a continuous basis. International teachers, who are essentially free agents, need a similar route before choosing a job that could have great impact on a personal level and professional career.
Contrary to popular belief, a career in international education has not helped us in any way within the public school system back in our home state. My husband and I rarely mention our time abroad now as it has caused us more harm than good. It was nearly impossible for an international teacher such as myself to step inside a public school system that is standards based and just come through 10 years of state reform. No one wants to hear about traveling, cultural fairs, wealthy students or free housing. Add to that the 'No Child Left Behind' legislation and you've really got your work cut out for you. And how do you sit in a job interview with generic references from an international administrator who tried to protect his job by siding with the superintendent who failed to mention nothing of the years of service, endless hours of committee work, late afternoons of after school activities and weekend volunteer work for special events that you accomplished during your tenure? Or a reference which includes statements about your professional wardrobe and good looks? What do you say to a personnel manager in a school district who conducts searches through the FBI asking why you don?t have a reference from your most recent supervisor? How would you feel upon learning that a ?trusted? administrator abroad wrote a slanderous reference for your admissions criteria into a university doctorate program? This is the curse of international education that we have struggled to overcome as we rebuild our lives and careers stateside. My husband and I both learned it would be in our best interest to enter university in order obtain credentials needed in catching up with state reform and establish a professional network imperative to starting over (based on the collection, or lack thereof, of references described above).
Thank you, again, ISR, for creating a place where those of us who need to voice our concerns can do so. Who knows if we?ll be heard. Who knows if the unprofessional conduct of overseas administration will continue. What I do know is that a site such as this is an excellent research tool for international educators. It?s a piece, or more, of a puzzle that so many seem to want to solve.