Job Discussion Forums

[knoxso]

Have things got any better at that place?

[Zoot]

It became something quite different to what it was originally established to be. Most employees are mid-eastern; it's not likely to change as far as the standard being offered is concerned.

[Incedere]

I have read many of the IAT posts in the past, and have always been a bit surprised by what I can only describe as the vitriolic hyperbole used to describe IAT. I currently work there, and the vast majority of my experiences have been quite pleasant, and completely unlike what I have seen described in other posts.

While I cannot speak for other subjects, English runs pretty smoothly, and while the school is in a state of transition away from a textbook driven curriculum to a objectives based (outcomes based) curriculum, overall the communication and support from the curriculum coordinator to the teaching staff has been exemplary, and has helped keep things smooth during the transition.

I have looked at a number of teaching positions in the UAE, and while HCT does have a better package in some respects, the overall package at IAT is a lot better than what comparable high schools in the region are offering. Further, though most of us are waiting to ascertain the veracity of this statement, our Managing Director made it clear in a general meeting that as IAT is directly owned by the Abu Dhabi government, teachers at IAT are considered government employees, and thus will be party to a salary increment. No figure has been stated as of yet, but it was made clear to the staff that an increment was in the works.

Like most jobs, your time here is what you make of it, your attitude coming in, the way you view work, and your willingness to be both flexible and accommodating. Overall, other than having to factor certain cultural considerations into my teaching practice, I have not found teaching at IAT to be fundamentally any different from teaching high school in Toronto. Except, of course, the students being better behaved here.

[veiledsentiments]

Just to let you know... HCT and ZU and UAEU are also 'owned' by the government. Never count on raises until you see them in your bank account. Your Managing Director has no more say in it than you or I and is probably no better informed.

Glad you are happy in your position. I hope you get that raise.

VS

[Zoot]

incedare - I'm stunned!!!! You are the ONLY person I've ever heard say anything at all positive about IAT. Do you care to share with all which campus you are on?

[Incedere]

I am curious. Why would it be important to know what campus I am from? Would answering the question in some way invalidate my statement? That the messenger and the message would be judged not in regards to their own selves, but jugded according to where they are from? Having spoken with colleagues from every campus, I have never found their opinions to differ greatly from mine in any respect. There are the normal complaints, but those complaints are no different from what I have encountered in other countries. However, that said, in the interests of candour, and a lack of will to be coy, I will answer your question.

Right now I work at the Dubai campus. Does this mean that all of our students are from Dubai, placing them in a different category of student from those in other emirates, which therefore casts my situation here in a different light? Truthfully I could not say. However, as the Dubai campus is located on the Dubai/Sharjah border, it takes in students from Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman. The students are a mix of urban cosmopolitan and rural. A large percentage of them are not from overly well to do families, and in that respect are not really different than the IAT students on any of the other campuses.

Zoot, having seen so many of the previous posts on this board regarding IAT, I can understand your surprise that someone, anyone, might have something positive to say. Everything was just so negative, so ardent, so angry. The IAT I have read about on these boards is entirely dissociated from the IAT I know and experience every day. As for the reason for that, all I can say is that there are a whole lot of haters in this world, and in this country in particular, there more than a few who arrived with piles of baggage other than what they carried in their hands.

[Chrisdaveloshoff]

[Chrisdaveloshoff]

[Chrisdaveloshoff]

[Zoot]

I have to say, it is nice to know there's one happy employee within the IAT, just the same! Exactly where you found others of your opinion confounds me though!! The only people who stay with the IAT are those who can't get jobs elsewhere or for whom the IAT is the best job they'll ever get or worse still those who were threatened with being banished from the UAE forever if they left - and, yes, there have been plenty of those!

[seven seas]

Better talk to people there- a friend of mine has had an informal interview with someone there and they offered her over 22,000 Dirhams per month.

[knoxso]

So have they sorted out their medical insurance scheme yet?

[seven seas]

will check it out.

[mishmumkin]

One of my friends was interviewed by IAT last year. We were laughing last night as she recalled the interview:

"So....what makes you think you'll be able to teach here in the UAE with this Masters in T-E-S-O-L degree?!" (Insert snarky tone)

Whoever interviewed her actually had no clue what the MA TESOL was.

[seven seas]

I don't get it.....

Teaching ESOL is very different to teaching ESL/EFL

While UAE teaching isn't the typical ESL/EFL scenario, it is certainly not the ESOL scenario either.

So the interviewer was obviously asking "How are ESOL materials and techniques relevant to our students?"

Sounds like a fair question to me....