Job Discussion Forums

[wingsgirl]

DedicatedTeacher:

[Middle East Beast]

[johnslat]

Dear wingsgirl,

"I'd post good things about SABIS, but I don't think anyone on this board would like it, and I'm not here to be bashed."

A little disingenuous there. I mean, you must have known that you might well get "bashed" whether you posted those "good things" or just wrote that you could.

So, what the heck - give us a little of your background, post some good things, and see what happens.

The truth is the best defense.

Regards,
John

[babur]

[DedicatedTeacher]

[GOTL]

First and foremost, anyone attempting to take their own life is no small matter to be trifled with. And from my own personal experience in terms of being employed by SABIS; I can not guarantee that matter was addressed.
However, what I can tell you is that when things like this occur it is often dealt with internally with only the highest management staff knows.
Secondly, under what conditions was the gun pulled on the teacher and who was present. Not that this kind of action is acceptable but clearly there are pieces missing from the posting.
Wingsgirl, please do share the positive aspects from your experience of you time employed by the organizations. Such things provide a more balance view.
Personally, I found the students to be wonderful and parents concerned about their children. Most found the requirements and teaching methods in a positive light. Am I saying that from a western prospective everything was roses and peaches, no? But SABIS is in the business of education.
Finely Babur, why would the PDK or even the general population give a crap if SABIS stayed or went? I am having the hardest time believing in any posting that the �The Kurds want the school to be relocated.� Relocated to where and why
If this is the case than why has construction taken place for all three schools and the SABIS University been constructed or in process.
Just the facts Danno, just the facts.

[GOTL]

Just one more thing wingsgirl, it is far better to be bashed and stand for our ideals and experiences than to remain silent just out of desire to not be bashed. Seriously, your input and sharing of your positive experience at the very least attempts to provide balance because right now, here on this forum (do a search if you need proof) anything which is at all linked to this organization is heavely leaning towards negative postings.
If the organization is growing, changing and improving than others must be shared by all who are witnessing it.
Why does this matter you ask? Because ultimately change is the only thing which we can count on in life. Well others say death and taxes but change also. Organization and people have two choices adaption or elimination.
SABIS/ISC has taken one step I think towards progress , at least I hope from every fiber in my being because the students deserve only the very best in their education process.
They are requiring that the teachers they are hiring to work in the UAE have actually degrees and backgrounds of education. They are also requiring teachers working for SABIS University have Masters in TELF to teach English there.

[veiledsentiments]

SABIS University?? Where? Based on whose curriculum?

VS

[Middle East Beast]

[GOTL]

VS,
look at the link www.sabisuniversity.net . I am unsure how long it has been operating but it is in Erbil.

They are advertising a position with the university which is included in the Teachers Needed in Kurdistan International School of Choueifat -- Saturday, 25 June 2011, at 4:34 p.m.
The ad reads "SABIS� University is also seeking a candidate for a full-time faculty position in English for its Erbil, Kurdistan campus. Responsibilities include teaching remedial and advanced English courses at the College of Business and Management Studies and at the College of Education.

Other responsibilities include: curriculum development, advising, and recruitment of undergraduate students. The successful candidate will also be expected to serve on department, college, and university committees. "

Sounds like part of the Uni position is assisting in curriculum development. A earlier post listed one of the requirement for the position to be a Masters in TEFL or related field but it is no longer up.

[GOTL]

"Most found...? It would take a scientific poll to lend credibility to such a claim. If you've got that, then super."

Yes MEB, as I stated before I found. Not that every teacher found, not that every single parent since the beginning of ISC-Erbil but what I found, from a personal experience that the the parents and students I have spoken with and have on going contact with support the methodology of the ISC or Sabis model.


If the majority of parents disliked the curriculum than the enrollment of ISC-Erbil, ISC-Suli, and ISC-Duhok would not continue to grow. Think of a basic business model. If there was not a market for SABIS/ISC in Kurdistan it wouldnt exist.At least at the level it does currently.

As perplexing that is to the western teachers there is something about the whole system which appeals to the parents in the region.

[veiledsentiments]

Yes, the parents like a system of old fashioned memorization and test test test test... teach to the test... and test test test. It is what they are used to and think it is a useful system. The fact is that professional Western trained teachers find it to be pretty much a travesty to even call it an education. But, it is their country and their system and for those who can tolerate this sort of thing... or who are comfortable with a very structured system... they usually pay on time.

What I have seen over the years with the high volume of negative posts and blogs relates to the fact that many, if not most, non-Arab teachers don't do well in the system. They often feel, and very likely are, discriminated against in many of the Sabis branches. Especially new graduates with a good BA in education who are confused by a system that disagrees with what they had been taught in their degrees. I have often told new grads who went there for their first job - it is a place that will hire newbies were zero experience - to use the job to learn classroom management. Most Sabis branches seem to maintain a decent level of discipline - another reason that they appeal to Arab parents.

Another problem for those that teach at Sabis is that the top level International schools look at experience at Sabis as a negative on your CV.

VS

[veiledsentiments]

[DedicatedTeacher]

Please remember they are Kurds, and many of them have at the very least a strong dislike towards Arabs. Associating these people with the Arabs is a huge cultural insult. Many of the families have experiences with current pedagogy from several areas of the world. The reason they choose SABIS is not by choice. They choose it because it is their only option. What other schools do you know of for children in the area? Right now I have friends there that are hiring private tutors for their kids instead of sending them to the SABIS schools. I have a lot more information on that school than what I will ever share due to who told me, but I know the situation is not as rosy as SABIS would like for people to know. I have heard from several reliable sources about the gun and suicide incidents. I have also heard several sides of the stories, and it is real easy to filter the crap from the truth. If you have a positive experience with the school, and I know it to be true I will gladly confirm it. At this point though I have yet hear specific positive examples.

[babur]