Job Discussion Forums

[Bette]

Just thought I would share information about this school since I was a recent employee.
Firstly, the Christian element is pretty intense. Not only do you have to pray every morning for about twenty minutes but each day a different teacher has to stand at the front of the teachers room before all the other teachers and conduct the sermon. Also, you end up having what is called "Pastoral Care" which is something similar to homeroom but you have to conduct sermons to your students each morning.
Every month there is a Saturday that you have to come in for a meeting. There is a prayer session (including typical christain songs) that lasts for the first hour. Then the meeting followed my more music and prayer.
There is a retreat that lasts for three days. The same message is taught in a cultish kind of a way. When I was there the whole three days was about telling us that we were a branch on the vine of Jesus.
As far as how the school is as a school, comes second to their wild need to be christains. For me being an IB teacher I found no support academically or professionally. It made the job very difficult considering I had no previous IB experience and I was starting a month late into the first semester. This school also seems to have a problem with attracting coordinators and head teachers from Austrailia that are more focused on there career than on there actual job which should be to help there staff. Generally most of the teachers in the IB found it extremely difficult to teach for more than a year or so in this environment.
It could be a good place if everyone didn't have there own personal agendas. The worse part I found was the constant negativity, and the critical fault finding.

[malu]

Always good to get first-hand feedback like that on the forum. Thx

[pauleslteacher1]

Hi Bette...

"Venting" feels good, eh... My advice is finish up your contract and look for something else! There are lots of good jobs in Indonesia for the "right" people....

Personally, I would have probably told "them" to "stuff it" at the first prayer meeting, but that's just me...

[Nabby Adams]

Good report. What do you imagine the school would do if a student one day decided that he no longer wanted to be a Christian, even possibly wanted to enter Islam?

[rayman]

Just the sort of school I'd love to sneak into their library and plant a few copies of Richard Dawkins' 'The God Delusion'. Sounds like hell.

[johnh]

Dave�s ESL Caf� is a great way for teachers to get insights into schools they may be interested in working in, so information that is posted should be balanced and fair. The above postings about Cita Hati Christian School give a misleading picture of the school.

There are some very positive aspects of working at Cita Hati - small classes, a receptive and respectful student body, very reasonable teaching loads, positive staff relationships, and good conditions of service.

Cita Hati does support its staff - the school assisted the teacher who wrote the first posting by fully financing a three-day IB workshop for her in Singapore, reducing her total teaching load to less than 11 hours per week, reducing the total number of students taught to 45, and by setting up various meetings and in-service training for her sole benefit. Unfortunately, all the support in the world will not help when a teacher lacks the intrinsic motivation to work to succeed.

I'd describe the general working atmosphere of the school as upbeat and positive.

Readers of the forum should maintain their critical awareness and not jump to conclusions.

Paul, it�s not enough to �vent� � your fellow Forum readers have the right to make informed decisions based on facts. Cita Hati Christian School is up front about basing its values on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, hence its name. The school wants a good fit, and understands that working in a Christian school is not everybody's cup of tea.

Nabby, the school wouldn't �do� anything if a Christian child converted to another faith. Cita Hati also has Moslem and Buddhist students in the school, and some students come from homes where more than one religion is practiced. No children are excluded from the school because of their religion (Indonesia is a melting pot of religions, after all). Cita Hati respects all spiritual traditions, but the clear focus is on modeling the Christian faith.

Rayman, you don't need to �sneak� into our school library to �plant� that book. If you'd like to send the school a copy of the book, I'll place it on the shelves of our IB student library. We want our students to be informed and critical thinkers along the lines of the IB Learner Profile. Incidentally, by first championing Dawkins� thesis then commenting that our school �sounds like hell�, your one-line posting was comprised of two contradictory and irreconcilable posits.

The person who posted the "information" about Cita Hati broke contract and deserted her students and colleagues mid-stream, did not honour her financial commitments to the school, absconded with school property and legal papers, and took teaching resources belonging to her departmental colleagues with her. She'd done the same thing at her previous position in China.

Cita Hati is a good school to work in and is well-regarded nationally. It's not perfect, but I feel it has a healthy resolve to do its very best. The school is about to open a second campus, so if you're keen to do a good job in the classroom, if you respect children and colleagues and if you'd like to work in a Christian environment, I�m sure the school would be interested in hearing from you.

[malu]

[Bette]

John H. everyone is the IB Co-ordinator and one of the reasons I left the place. I was hired a month into the term and promised help which never came. Also, the school didn't have any of the teaching material available or notes from the previous teacher who by the way left 1/2 way through his contract as well. So basically I was dumped on and told to suck it up.
Nice stuff to hear for a teacher never teaching IB English before.
Also, John is a great one for turning gossip into facts and then screaming and yelling at you for 15 minutes, telling you to shape up or ship out. A real "Hardcore" New Zealander. I have nothing against "New Zealanders" however, just can't stomach the hardcore anal kind, that's looking out to protect his career at the cost of the unsuspecting teacher.
There are so many other schools better than Cita Hati, why waste your time at the bottom of the "very intense" christian barrel.
The best International IB school in Surabaya is Ceputra. Excellent people that treat their staff right. Ask them what they think of Cita Hati and they will tell you the same thing I have. The word about that school has gotten around. It isn't possible to make this stuff up. Also, I hear that there IB license is in jeopardy.

[johnh]

Good question, Malu. The appointment was made before I joined the school, so I really can't say.

I can tell you though that at least two schools are currently looking for bette, which is why she is very selective with the work histories she includes in her applications.

I agree with you about the importance of this forum - for the sake of both teachers and employers, let's keep it real.

[Bette]

Nice try John. My references are impeccable. I've only just started teaching again after taking a 1 1/2 break in Canada with my family. Trying to black list someone and undermine there professional integridy is no way of attracking people to Cita Hati, now is it. Someone might get the idea that this is how you treat all your staff. Cheers.

[Synergy101]

Cita Hati sounds more like a religious school than a school. I wonder if you have to be a registered baptised Christian get a teaching job there?

[johnh]

No you don't, but non-Christians would definitely find it tough going at times. I myself was recruited from a Hindu school in India (I'm interested in Hindu Vedanta). I like the challenge of experiencing different types of schools in different countries, not just being part of the one educational model that has been grafted onto schools in different geographic locations. I've been a full-time teacher in the Asia-Pacific region for 25 years and I feel Cita Hati is a good school with great kids and a friendly, receptive staff. As for the Christian aspect, I don't judge people by their religion, gender, or colour so it's not a big deal for me, but I do believe in the principle of natural justice and I don't like to see any person or institution misrepresented. That's why I felt compelled to respond to Bette's posting.

[Kebo]

Cita Hati Christain School ......



The operative word is
Christain

They really spell it that way??? One should assume that there will be a certain amount of religion.

[Pale]

I shake my head when somone in management like johnh comes on to suppress teacher criticism and comments of their school. The �tone� and posture invariably reflects the identical behavior to which they resented being accused. Your comment johnh has only helped to bring Bette's review to life, so to speak.

Bette said: