Job Discussion Forums

Gusss · Joined: 08 Nov 2008 Posts: 81

When we go to work for a school we are expected to provide a lot of information to employers to assure them we are a good teacher, worker etc. and yet more often than not we have very little idea of what we are walking in to. The situation is completely one sided - scjhools dont have to provide references to us for example.

So how about this :

A website that works as a sort of reference for schools. If you've worked somewhere you can leave a comment and a star rating for what it was like to work in that school. It could include all schools in the world by country, county, town etc and at least would give teachers an idea of whether a school is good to work for or not.
One problem might be rival schools posting fake negative feedback I suppose but thats the same on any internet wiki or site.
Daveesl cafe works a little bit like this with posts like "what are such and such a school like" however responses are dependant on someone who has worked for said school or business being present at the time which in the case of smaller schools is unlikelty. I could design such a website - Comments ? Ideas ? Suggestions ?

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Might work. Though it seems like people often give bad reviews more than good ones.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:27 pm Post subject:

Hmmm. I think schools do have to provide references.

Would you work for a school that wouldn't put you in touch with current and previous employees? I wouldn't.

Best,
Justin

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

I actually had an interview from Asia. Consisted of this.

Hello, are you Sharon?
Yes I am
Oh, I see. Um, do you like Peru?
No, not really
Oh, ok. When can you come to my school?
Um, can I be put in touch with current teachers?
No, I cannot do that. It's impossible
Oh, ok, thank you. Good bye.

This was all at 3am. I mean, come on. There's a REAONS why I put that I'm GMT -5 and that's because I don't want to be called at 3am.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

johnslat · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 1:47 pm Post subject:

Dear naturegirl321,

RUN - run like the wind (but I'm sure you're already running.)

Regards,
John

Gusss · Joined: 08 Nov 2008 Posts: 81

[quote="Glenski"]

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

[quote="Gusss"]

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:08 am Post subject:

Glenski:

Cool Teacher · Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:03 am Post subject:

Like Wikipedia accept you can't edit sfuff... Laughing

Okay, so my school is Cool Teacher English and my competition is Bob's English Emporium. I am going to write good stuff about my school and then write all sorts of bad stuff about Bob. Cool

He can't edit my stuff I wrote about him on his bit and might not know I have done it and no one else knows it was me who wrote it so who is going to check out how much of this stuff is true and how much of this stuff has been put there by competitiors or disgruntled workers who got the sack for smoking in class?

Gusss · Joined: 08 Nov 2008 Posts: 81

hmm I think you all have good points - and I must admit I have some of the same doubts myself. However I may try it anyway just to see how it turns out , besides it would be an interesting learning experience making the website.
One similar system already in place is the one used to rate hotels - similar problems exist with rivals , disgruntled customers etc etc - yet the system still works reasonably well .
If anyone wants to get involved or has any suggestions for ways of getting around some of the problems mentioned above please let me know .