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Do not Work in Oman, Unless it is Your Only Option..........

 
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Hiawatha



Joined: 09 Jun 2007
Posts: 62
Location: Oman

PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 7:00 pm    Post subject: Do not Work in Oman, Unless it is Your Only Option.......... Reply with quote

Poorest management I have yet to see. (From top to bottom).
Fired at whims, and especially if you are a good instructor, who has experience and specialized diploma.

The local teachers are protected from student complaints, and the expats are blamed instead.

Expats fired for absolutely no reason, except to appease student complaints of locals who will never be let go.

And, sadly this is at the higher level institutions. Sad

Sorry, I'm usually more positive than this, but in the case of Oman it's unfortunately not possible
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markcmc



Joined: 18 Jan 2010
Posts: 262
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 10:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Where have you worked? And for how long?
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 11:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seems a bit over-dramatic to refer this to a complete country. So, you have taught at every educational institution in the whole country and they were all the same? One must always be careful of painting with too broad a brush.

Every foreign employer in the world reflects your criticisms to various degrees.

The fact is that there are some good jobs in Oman, but not as many as there should be or could be...

VS
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Duffy



Joined: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 449
Location: Oman

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2010 3:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hiawatha,

Most all of your recent posts have been on the KSA board about working in KSA. How come you are suddenly the expert on current working conditions in Oman?

Duffy Shocked Shocked
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isabel



Joined: 07 Mar 2003
Posts: 510
Location: God's green earth

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2010 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I get it. You want to keep this beautiful country to you and your friends, so you are trying to scare every one else away.

Clever.
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Pikgitina



Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 420
Location: KSA

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2010 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isabel wrote:
I get it. You want to keep this beautiful country to you and your friends, so you are trying to scare every one else away.

Clever.


Cool
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slaqdog



Joined: 29 Apr 2003
Posts: 211

PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 4:51 am    Post subject: high turnover of teachers Reply with quote

I work at a College in Oman, there has been a very high turnover of teachers this year-mostly involuntary and mostly related to management.
However even with this issue a lot of teachers want to stay.
The teaching is often more like crowd control or babysitting, quite often very low level stuff. But pay arrives on time........which is no small thing.
Many teachers here need to forget about slagging off locals and do some work....you need a bit of balls to control the classroom, but even with hard work and experience AND a good classroom manner if you do not brown nose then you may be chopped yes the mismanagement issue can rear its ugly head.
Positives; if you like scenary and can stand the heat there are places to go and thigs to see unlike many other places in the Gulf.
But I finish with a quote from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy;'Locals: mostly harmless'.
except for the randy taxi drivers but thats another story for another thread
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isabel



Joined: 07 Mar 2003
Posts: 510
Location: God's green earth

PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 5:22 am    Post subject: Re: high turnover of teachers Reply with quote

slaqdog wrote:
I work at a College in Oman, there has been a very high turnover of teachers this year-mostly involuntary and mostly related to management.
However even with this issue a lot of teachers want to stay.
The teaching is often more like crowd control or babysitting, quite often very low level stuff. But pay arrives on time........which is no small thing.
Many teachers here need to forget about slagging off locals and do some work....you need a bit of balls to control the classroom, but even with hard work and experience AND a good classroom manner if you do not brown nose then you may be chopped yes the mismanagement issue can rear its ugly head.
Positives; if you like scenary and can stand the heat there are places to go and thigs to see unlike many other places in the Gulf.
But I finish with a quote from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy;'Locals: mostly harmless'.
except for the randy taxi drivers but thats another story for another thread


Don't come to anywhere in the Gulf is you aren't up to having your strengths challenged and your weaknesses exploited.

If you can handle that, it can be a good and rewarding experience. Oman is a fantastic country with incredible things to do. The students are difficult (!!) to manage, but they are really mostly sweet and guileless. Find your ways to manage them (mostly the bedu boys, but also some of the girls) and you can have a good time. They have great humor, and can be very kind and loving. I adore even my worst students.

As for the management. It is Arab. The management in Oman, at least in my brief experience, seems to be better intentioned than Saudi management, but their management skills are generally appalling- at least when it comes to handling westerners. Make your peace with it or leave is certainly the only option. You cannot and should not try to change it. Forget about that option. It will lead to disaster and heartbreak.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 1:47 pm    Post subject: Re: high turnover of teachers Reply with quote

isabel wrote:
I adore even my worst students.
This is an oddity that I found true too. I think that one of the big problems with the jobs in Oman is that the low pay brings in too many inexperienced teachers. They have great difficulty with what is often crowd control, but usually just classroom management skills.

And, in my experience, the teachers who have the fewest problem are usually... ahem... let's say... mature women. I'm not saying that they are necessarily better teachers, but just better at dealing with these issues. (I see another thesis topic in there...)

VS
(hey slaqdog... aren't randy taxi drivers a worldwide problem? Laughing)
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slaqdog



Joined: 29 Apr 2003
Posts: 211

PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

VS re randy taxi drivers; as a 46 y.o fat male I find these attentions to be a 'novelty' tut tut the fun I have been missing.......
As re 'mature women' being better well yes it is my personal preference but I dont think mature men have greater difficulty or are less able in this department. Many younger teachers flourish; it's a personality issue,,or disorder, I think
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

slaqdog wrote:
VS re randy taxi drivers; as a 46 y.o fat male I find these attentions to be a 'novelty' tut tut the fun I have been missing.......

This has never been a novelty in Oman... but not a topic to start on the public board. Laughing

slaqdog wrote:
As re 'mature women' being better well yes it is my personal preference but I dont think mature men have greater difficulty or are less able in this department. Many younger teachers flourish; it's a personality issue,,or disorder, I think

Definitely an issue of experience first, of course... but we older women have an advantage. As I said... an interesting thesis topic. But from my years in the Gulf and watching the posts here... it is just my "observational study."

VS
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isabel



Joined: 07 Mar 2003
Posts: 510
Location: God's green earth

PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 3:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

veiledsentiments wrote:
slaqdog wrote:
VS re randy taxi drivers; as a 46 y.o fat male I find these attentions to be a 'novelty' tut tut the fun I have been missing.......

This has never been a novelty in Oman... but not a topic to start on the public board. :lol:

slaqdog wrote:
As re 'mature women' being better well yes it is my personal preference but I dont think mature men have greater difficulty or are less able in this department. Many younger teachers flourish; it's a personality issue,,or disorder, I think

Definitely an issue of experience first, of course... but we older women have an advantage. As I said... an interesting thesis topic. But from my years in the Gulf and watching the posts here... it is just my "observational study."

VS


Maybe you can use it for "action research".
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Hiawatha



Joined: 09 Jun 2007
Posts: 62
Location: Oman

PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 7:32 pm    Post subject: CORRECTION: please excuse my previous negative Oman post... Reply with quote

Hi There

"I wish to correct my previous post.....Do not work in Oman unless it's your only option....."

What I wrote is true, yet I do not want to be this negative toward any establishment. They are doing the best they can. I sincerely apologise. H.
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pat blake



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 31
Location: Kuwait

PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can definitely say that being a "mature" woman means a bit less hassle, but not necessarily so. If young men have never been taught by a woman, they might disrespect you because of (or be distracted by) your gender. Of course, young or old, you have to be motherly or sisterly to get them to respect you. You never act like their "friend," because men and women are not friends. Ever. Exclamation
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