Job Discussion Forums

[Little_Dove]

This thread is very difficult to write. This is not a �revenge� or bitter thread, but I do feel the need to share my horrible experience with Aci pre-school so that future applicants can understand what they may or may not be getting into when they sign their two year contract.

I was to be one of the many pre school teachers starting this August. As a trained early childhood and primary trained teacher with certification and at least one year�s experience in each of these areas I never doubted my abilities and came to Turkey with glowing references and a lot of ambition.

I gave up two other contract offers in different countries to come to Turkey. I had been to Turkey once before and loved it; so naturally once I made up my mind I began learning Turkish, saving money and gathering together all the paperwork--expensive.

I came to Turkey, began training and bonded with many of my co-workers. Needless to say I was surprised that a majority of the people I got to know, particularly at the primary-secondary level were not even trained teachers.

None of us had begun classroom teaching and most of our training days were spent in HR oriented matters.

A week into training I was pulled into a meeting with the general manager and asked: �What�s wrong with your foot?�

I have tight ankle tendons and when I walk one foot does not always touch the ground. This is simply a result of premature birth. To most people who I have met this is not only a.) not recognizable (in case you are imaging some sort of club footed mutant!) it is b.) not an issue. My foot is not in pain, in a degenerative condition and needs no special accommodations---which I emphasized.

I�ve traveled extensively around the world, run at least four miles a week and been a fantastic teacher---which at times has meant running after kids of all ages, putting their personal safety first and some pretty demanding excursions I.e. a two hour long hike along the beach.

I was told at that meeting that my issue would be taken to �the board� but until then I could not officially be assigned a class. I was shocked.

I made it clear that I had sacrificed a lot to take their contract and every effort should be made to find me a class somewhere----and since Aci as an entire system runs pre K- year 12 with around 5 schools and 2000 students and I have the experience/certification this was not the most irrational request.

Fast forward two days later: apparently they could find no vacancies. I asked immediately who �the board� was and was not granted an answer. I was offered one month salary and all my flight. I called this out for exactly what it is: unfounded discrimination and prejudice.

Their response: �You can�t do the job because of your foot� and ��children�s safety concerns because of your foot.� Now as I stated earlier: HR had not seen anyone teach, I am a trained classroom teacher who has always put children first and often had primary duty of care. I know what I can do and this job I could have done.

I tried to compromise with the manager and suggested that if she actually had doubts to let me teach on a probation period. I offered to wait another couple of weeks so that perhaps a position at an older age level could be found. They would not budge.

It was horrible how quickly all my experience and qualifications were discounted. The manager who was not the least bit sympathetic kept insisting that I �should have told them.� I was told that had they known I would not have been hired!

�. Told them what? About something that goes unrecognized by most and had never, ever impacted my work before?

I do believe they rescinded my contract not because of my foot but rather because of what they were afraid observant parents would think. Even early on in training it was made clear to us that these parents could be quite elitist and kept their children sheltered. Still, I am sure had I even met one parent this would not have been an issue. I am dedicated to my work, of good character and for the elitist: young, attractive and �European looking�

Less than a week after my dismissal HR began hounding me about leaving the apartment. They needed the apartment for a returning teacher. I felt cornered, even if I wanted to stay in Turkey where was I to go? Friends and colleagues suggested I take my case to court. I wish I could have but did not want to go through a legal process that was likely to be slow, difficult as I am not a fluent Turkish speaker and expensive. I also was weary at this point of any other �school� in Istanbul. I took the money and went home.

Less than a week after my dismissal HR began hounding me about leaving the apartment. They needed the apartment for a returning teacher. I felt cornered, even if I wanted to stay in Turkey where was I to go?

I cannot explain just how deeply emotional and painful this situation has been. I have cried (I am a lady) almost everyday since this happened. I truly love being a teacher and definitely wanted to make a life for myself in Istanbul. I was so ambitious and grateful to have this job that I even bought gifts for my classroom teacher and students that I would never get to meet.

What is perhaps worst of all is the way the school has tried to quietly push what has happened under the rug. I became close with most of the new teachers during my brief stay in training. I couldn�t believe it when I went to visit one such teacher the day after my contract was rescinded and found a big bouquet of flowers from the school: the message �Thank you for your understanding during this difficult resettlement period.�

Were they really trying to emotionally manipulate my friends? It seemed like such a low move but by this time what else could be expected.

[delal]

Little Dove
I'm really sorry to hear what happened to you but I reckon you had a lucky escape if you read the posts on this forum about that school. There are work places that keep coming up for criticism on this forum and I'm assuming there's a good reason why.
But don't give up on Turkey: there are also hundreds of other places that people are not commenting on on this forum so things must be OK at those
As you say, you were dealing with a particularly elitist establishment and even though the private education sector is by definition elitist not all schools are that superficial

[cartago]

Good riddance to them. You will find a place much more deserving of your services.

[asalak]

This is an absolute disgrace, as well as a complete travesty -this school should be trying to hold onto trained and experienced teachers, not finding pretexts to get rid of them. Don't give up on Turkey completely -there may be other schools capable of fair treatment. Grrr -this is really infuriating, but as a previous poster mentioned, apparently not atypical of Aci. I wish you well for the future.

[Dedicated]

Little_dove,

I totally agree with asalak's post below. This is a disgrace. There are laws against discrimination in Turkey, and I really think you should forward this either to the relevant Consulate in Istanbul or the Embassy in Ankara.

Then contact the English language newspaper "Turkish Daily News" and the other main newspapers - Tercuman, Hurriyet etc - you can easily google the addresses. This type of discrimination must be stamped out, especially as Turkey hope to join the EU.

Good luck in any future applications. Don't allow this unfortunate, disgraceful incident to cloud your impression of Turkey. I have spoken to several Turkish colleagues who were scandalised by this.

[delal]

@Dedicated

If Little Dove intends to return, it may not be such a good idea to go the press as that could earn her the reputation of being a "trouble maker"
Of course if she has no intention of returning here to work then that's a different matter

[Little_Dove]

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your responses. I am not sure if I want to take my experience further, though I am fairly certain that I do not want to take my career back to Turkey ever again. I love Turkey and Turkish people overall and can see myself returning for a third time as a tourist one day.

As I stated in my other post I am still really sore but doing better. I cannot bare anything Turkish at the moment (used to love Turkish movies and music) and am not in Turkey as I was forced out of my home.

It's become clear to me that International Schools do not exist in Turkey in the same fashion that they do in other countries. Given the requirements stated for 'real' schools by the Ministry of Education the school that I was hired for and most of the schools foreign teachers can work at do not fall under these guidelines.

My main intention in creating my original post was to advise those who may come here inquring about Aci Pre School to please take what you are reading with more than a grain of salt.

I was warned. I made the choice to ignore the warnings given to me and others both in this public forum and through private messages.

I assumed that because I am a dedicated teacher and live a pretty straight forward life (e.g I never drink) that I could avoid what I been told.

...But as my original post indicates...I was never even given the chance to teach, to prove what I could do.

Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. Children deserve good hearted, knowledgable and dedicated teachers---and as my story illustrates they were robbed of that for a petty, petty reason by a director that likely knows little beyond the almightly dollar let alone what makes a good school.

Thank you for your supportive posts

[delal]

I'm sorry that you're still reeling from your bad experience but you were swimming with sharks....
As for the other international schools in Istanbul, such as MEF, IICS or the British School, I'm assuming that either teachers at those are happy or that they haven't found this forum to vent. Also it's rare to see jobs advertised for those so the turnover must be relatively low, unlike at Aci

[bulgogiboy]

Sorry to hear this happened to you. It sounds ridiculous that they would discriminate against you over this. It wasn't just an excuse to not hire you, for other reasons?

Anyway, try looking for another job in Turkey as there are some good employers out there. I know I had a decent one.

Best foot forward.

[bulgogiboy]

Sorry to hear this happened to you. It sounds ridiculous that they would discriminate against you over this. It wasn't just an excuse to not hire you, for other reasons?

Anyway, try looking for another job in Turkey as there are some good employers out there. I know I had a decent one.

Best foot forward.

[coz0630]

i worked for that school and THIS situation does not surprise me one bit. my colleagues and i couldn't wait for our contracts to expire (needless to say - 8 of us left at the end of our contracts). during that period teachers quit or just never showed up for work anymore because of "the board" ha ha...they mean KG!! the turnover in that school is hilarious - the sad thing is the parents don't even ask why>>>>>it's daycare for the snobby>>>>>new money.

what a sad excuse for a school!!!

you're better off!!! don't get the wrong impression about turkey because there are a lot of great schools here.

good luck!!

[Little_Dove]

[Little_Dove]