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Teaching at Adveti is awful?

 
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MarthaOK



Joined: 20 Apr 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:52 am    Post subject: Teaching at Adveti is awful? Reply with quote

I read a post on another thread that basically said that teaching at ADVETI was awful. I am currently seeking a job with them (actually with one of their secondary level feeder schools) and would like to have more information.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All secondary school teaching in the UAE is awful. Without exceptions.
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MarthaOK



Joined: 20 Apr 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Could you elaborate? What makes it awful?
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

With some exceptions, discipline can be a major issue. The kids are spoiled rotten and it often seems that the worst of them and their even more demanding parents run the show.

You hear some real horror stories... especially from secondary level teachers. You need to have strong classroom management skills.

VS
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MarthaOK



Joined: 20 Apr 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

veiledsentiments wrote:
You need to have strong classroom management skills.


I do. . .here in the US. But classroom management only goes as far as an administration that is willing and able to back up the classroom teacher. Is this something I can't expect in a secondary classroom with this organization?

I have never worked outside the US, so I'd really like to know how it compares.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The thing is that even within the US, there is great variation in what type of classroom management skills are needed and how strongly the school management will support you. Teaching in urban SE Washington DC is very different from teaching in say... rural Left Overshoe, Nebraska.

It's a whole different ballgame in the Gulf and would very likely be similar to nothing that you would find in the West. Add to that dealing with the cultural differences. A friend of mine taught in one of the prestigious International schools in Saudi - all very rich and very spoiled kids... a couple of the kids put up a stink because silverware and table/chairs are un-Islamic. So the lunchroom became a sit-on-the-floor and eat-with-your-hands facility. He hated his turn at lunchroom duty. Laughing It is a slightly outrageous example, but his description was that the lunatics ran the asylum.

If you are a certified teacher, have you looked into TeachAway? They are an unusual recruiter in that they have drawn few complaints here.

VS
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MarthaOK



Joined: 20 Apr 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 2:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, I am a certified teacher and am working through TeachAway.

Though I can't imagine how tables and silverware would be un-Islamic, it wouldn't bother me too much if what you described were to happen at a school where I taught. What I'd be more concerned with would be specific bad behaviors in my own classroom, particularly if I worked for Adveti.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 2:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have you visited TeachAway's facebook page? It may be a place to touch base with teachers who have more experience with K-12 in the Gulf. Most of the teachers here on this board teach adults... university or oil related or military.

VS
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MarthaOK



Joined: 20 Apr 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, I post on their FB page but there is an absence of any useful information on ADVETI, mostly just posts from Licensed Teachers working in elementary school settings. I have communicated with a couple of secondary teachers working for ADEC and what I've gleaned from them is that a secondary teacher's experience will depend on the administration at their school and that the main problems they deal with are apathy and talkative students (incidentally, those are the main problems I currently deal with in my present position here in the US). From what I have read, there are only five ADVETI campuses, so surely I can get information on how they are run somewhere.

The other ADVETI thread on this page contains very little useful information as the discussion about the school was derailed by the argument about salaries, and now it's locked. I am trying to rack up enough posts so that I can PM the people who said they work or once worked there.
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Gus Barkley



Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Posts: 78

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was a successful content instructor in the US. I had taught many non-native speakers in my content area so I was not concerned about reaching my students.

It is safe to say I was blown away when I arrived. I was completely unprepared and my first two months were such a disaster I expected to shuttled off if I didn't get the guts to quit myself.

My 2 biggest problems: 1. I never had classroom management problems in the US and because I didn't I was not ready to deal with students who couldn't care less to be there. In the US if a student really didn't want to be there s/he simply wouldn't come. Here the college education is free but attendance is compulsory. Predictably, some students attend but have no intention of paying attention.

2. I was not prepared for the amount of "help" students would give each other. In the US most good students would not let the lazy students who did not study cheat off of them. Here it is a duty to help your friend.

I likened my situation to being thrown in the deep end. I either had to learn to swim very quickly or I'd drown. I'm still here several years later so I'd say I at least learned how to tread water.
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MarthaOK



Joined: 20 Apr 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gus, what are some ways that you have learned to deal with those two issues?
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Geronimo



Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 498

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi MarthaOK,

There are some some videos about Adveti on youtube that might offer you a few insights...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TooH2luhAUI&feature=related

Adveti is a sizeable operation which warrants more informed consideration in this forum.

O.K., and to please V.S., here's a link to "Teach Away in Abu Dhabi"..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7LvqJ0faOY&feature=related

Geronimo
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MarthaOK



Joined: 20 Apr 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, Geronimo.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Geronimo wrote:
Adveti is a sizeable operation which warrants more informed consideration in this forum.

Geronimo

Agreed Geronimo... but getting information seems to be the hard part. I find it surprising how many teachers in the Emirates currently and for years have never heard of it.

VS
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D. Merit



Joined: 02 May 2008
Posts: 203

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pretty sure everyone I work with knows about ADVETI. It was being talked about A LOT a couple of years ago when the package was one of the best in the region.

Then the package was slashed, and it's probably true to say that they are not talked about quite so much now.
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