Job Discussion Forums

[SledgeCleaver]

Hello everyone,

I had an initial phone interview a few days ago that went quite well, so I'm expecting an in-person interview and possibly contract offer from a vocational high school in UAE.

The thing is, the interviewer stressed a few things that made me wonder about the teaching environment. First of all, the interviewer said that "some of the students are below grade level" and that "behavioral problems are often an issue." I used to teach mathematics in Brooklyn, so all of this causes me to think twice. But that's because I was in a situation where all of the students talked constantly, some of the students threw chairs or lit stink bombs, we had unarmed police officers in the hallway and I was calling them in everyday. It was impossible to teach and quite frankly it was so stressful as to induce a mild sort of post-traumatic stress disorder. When I think about re-entering an environment that is anywhere near that bad, I simply think, "absolutely no way, I'm not going to do that again."

Similarly, it was expressed that administrators might not always provide the support that teachers need. I assume this means they might be poor at disciplining students or contacting parents about disciplinary issues. Which of course makes a teacher's job much harder.

However, I'm wondering if I'm overreacting. If the students have a few mild behavioral problems, or if I have to discipline students or run a tight classroom in terms of behavioral management, that's all fine. If they're hellions, then I don't want to take this job.

Basically, I don't want to turn down a good job just because I've had bad experiences in the past. Thus, can anyone advise me about what level of behavioral problems I can expect from high-school students in a vocational school? I will be teaching mathematics in English.

Thanks!

[veiledsentiments]

[SledgeCleaver]

Thanks for the advice. Actually I looked further down the UAE thread and there was a thread about my potential school - ADVETI. In there it looked like a couple people said it was okay while others said it was corrupt and trashy, too many lies and BS. I'm thinking for a newbie to the Arab world, it's probably not a good find. The money looks very attractive but not attractive enough for me to hate my life if I go.

[veiledsentiments]