Job Discussion Forums

[watertraveller]

Hello All
I have been working through a personnel agency and they have contacted me about an interview with the principal of the Qurum Private School. I can find precious little information about this school on the 'Net and was wondering if anybody could comment.

I would appreciate any relevant feedback.
Thanks
Watertraveller

[Signor]

Why don't you ask to be put into contact with some of the present teachers? I've always found that a good measure of a company.

I've seen the school - small with lots of cars outside but I can't help otherwise.

[Aliskander]

Don't know what it is like now but 2 years ago i knew a lady who worked there and she had nightmare problems - no support from principal, rudeness from students, lack of interest and unwillingness to learn, loud and playing games in classes, talking on telephones in classes etc. Basically she stayed for the one year and left as soon as she could. However, as i said, i have no idea what it is like now.

[veiledsentiments]

I fear that sounds like a description of the majority of private international schools in the Gulf. Lasting in a job in one of them is pretty much a measure of your toleration level.

VS

[crocus]

Dear Watertraveller

Based only on ex-pat gossip, I would cross this one off your list. Everything that Aliskander said still seems to be true. I'm sure you could do better.

Sorry, did you say on another post if you have BA + CELTA? If so, have you thought about the Caledonian College of Engineering? Money is, I think, about the same as the middle of the SQU scale, but holidays are shorter. Thirty days, I believe.

Crocus

[mci]

I agree with these assessments so far but just to clarify, it's not the private international schools that have problems but the private schools for locals.

International schools like the American British Academy, the British school and the American School / Muscat (TAISM) are all excellent and I would consider to be the plum secondary jobs in this, or most any other part of the world. You have students from all over the world and they are generally well-behaved - these are expensive and properly run (mostly) independent schools for expat families - salaries are good to very good, accomodation, long holidays etc. and once you're in to this kind of school, you can move around the world much more easily - like a network .

I have friends who have been working in these places for years and it is a great life - from S. America, the Gulf, S.E. Asia, Korea, H.K. Europe - many are into the IB system so if you have that qual., then look around or go to a job fair and sell sell sell!

mci

[veiledsentiments]

OK MCI,

So, how is it that anyone outside of the country can tell which is which. In fact, I would be unable to tell even if I was in the country since I didn't have kids and had never researched them.

There is no control over how they name themselves. They all seem to claim to teach this or that curriculum. They get someone to put up a fancy website. They drop words like 'international' and 'American' and 'British' and even 'college' (yes, your 6 year old can go to 'college' here) like confetti into their names.

And then we can sit back and read all the horror stories here.

I too have had a few friends who taught at the good ones. But, somehow none of the teachers from those places ever show up on here. So, is there some website that people can go to in order to know which are which...

VS

[mci]

Ok VS,

How to tell....well, I'd start by expanding my research beyond the gossip pages of the Cafe and spend an hour on google - IB programs, western curriculums in foreign countries, The American School of ...... - see what happens - when a school mentions 'international' , find out what they mean.

The schools I'm refering to are the ones made and staffed by western expats in all of these countries. Check a school profile to see - where are the students from - the staff - if you have a private school in Oman, the UAE, Kuwait etc. and the students are local kids and the staff are largely sub-continental, Sudanese, Egyptian and they want a native speaker to teach their English classes, then I would avoid it.

Basically, these schools are out of the ESL world and so not mentioned on these boards. They are based in western secondary school systems and recruited from those ranks - nationally, state or provincially qualified teachers.

mci

[veiledsentiments]

mci,

But wait... gossip is an integral part of the Gulf life.

Seriously, that is great advice. I will have to keep this thread in mind when these questions come up. These schools usually hire an ESL teacher or two, and usually use recruiters - which always sends up such a red flag with me. My normal response is just to scream 'RUN!!'

Thanks for the helpful info.

VS

[mci]

Ok, I asked one of my friends at an international school here in Muscat - apparantly, the best way to get into the sweet life of proper secondary international schools is to register yourself on a site called "searchassociates.com" or find out about something called the ISS - which I think means international school system or something clever like that.

That is where my friends found out about their jobs - plus, they knew another teacher who put them in touch with the Director - of course that kind of networking always helps.

A friend just flew out for an interview in Switzerland for an IT job in middle school - he was contacted through the search... site - nice job, living on campus, ski lift from campus directly up the hill (part of the P.E. program) etc. Of cource, he and his wife have been doing this for 15 years, in s. america, bankok and now Oman so they are highly rated.

Not really an esl heavy topic but it might help those who are qualified to teach highschool ...
mci