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[inchinanow]

Hello fellow teachers! I am back in the USA now. I will probably remain here for the next several years. While I enjoyed my time teaching in China, I did not enjoy the management style that I encountered at several of the schools I taught at. I love the country of China, the students and the people. Basically I love the culture and I hope I can return someday. But some of the schools were more focused on making money than educating the students. I hope this can change. I guess I am an idealist. Below is the Exit Interview from the last school I taught at.


EXIT INTERVIEW
Shenzhen Nanshan Bilingual School AKA: Nanshan Chinese International College
CIE CENTER
2009/2010
_________________________

Note: The following Exit Interview is conducted in a question/answer format. Exit Interviews are routinely conducted when people are leaving an organization and their employment ends.
_________________________________

� What would you like to tell us first?
I appreciated the opportunity to teach here, but just because I accepted the job does not mean that I will compromise my honor, integrity or my values.
I stand firm on what I believe, and I am not prepared to change my core values in response to an atmosphere of fear and conformity.
I am a teacher first. Sometimes that means I teach in ways that are not so obvious, but more subtle. In this case I feel that the management of this school needs to start taking notes.

� Tell me about how you've come to decide to leave?
I want to return to my home country. I might have stayed another year if conditions and pay were better.
I am also tired of the disrespect and the lack of appreciation.

� What is your main reason for leaving?
I want to return home.

� What are the other reasons for your leaving?
The poor and negative working environment of the school. Lack of trust and poor communications.
I often felt unappreciated. I made big sacrifices to come and teach here, but they failed to recognize or appreciate that.
The school lacks effective leadership. This is really the root of all the problems.

� Why is this interview important or significant for you?
I feel that others should know how the school is rated, so that improvements can be made in the future.

� What was it about the school that concerned you particularly?
No respect or appreciation shown by the school administration (or false/fake appreciation).
Dishonesty and evasiveness
The feeling of fear among the staff
Ignoring my questions and concerns.
No effective and objective way to evaluate teachers.
Because of the political situation at the school, many of the teachers operate in �survival mode� and are not allowed to perform to the best of their ability.
Management�s obsessive compulsive behavior of trivial things, such as repeatedly checking my computers serial number; while ignoring potentially catastrophic things such as students exiting a 6th floor window, so that they could stand on the ledge and wash the windows. Students went unsupervised quite often. We even had a student get drunk once.
There is a perverted and dysfunctional culture at the school where some staff members get enjoyment from seeing others fail, quit or get fired. I remember once how some staff members reacted with happiness and glee whenever a coworker decided to leave the school or they were fired. They got a thrill out of seeing someone else fail or suffer.
Generally speaking the teaching environment is very uncomfortable.
Despite the fact that the school leaders promote the school as a �Western Style� school, there is little to distinguish it from a typical Chinese school. In fact, a government run Chinese State School may be better in many cases.

� What could have been done early on to prevent the situation developing and provide a basis for you to stay with us?
Improve trust, communication and reduce the fear-factor among staff. Many of the staff are very afraid to express themselves and let their creativity shine. Ultimately this is not good for students, because they have teachers which are inhibited in their ability to deliver excellent teaching.
Often I felt micromanaged, distracted or second guessed by an administration that had trouble doing their jobs.

� How would you have preferred the situation(s) to have been handled?
I would have appreciated more open and honest communication between staff and the administration.
I often felt ignored, disrespected or sidestepped. Many of my questions or concerns went ignored and unanswered.

� What opportunities can you see might have existed for the situation/problems to have been averted/dealt with satisfactorily?
They should have very quickly realized that their original choice for Deputy Director was adversely affecting the school. She was a total disaster. That situation was not dealt with decisively and it nearly took a mutiny of the staff to get her displaced. In the end, they let her �save face� and actually gave her a promotion and eventually sent her to another location.
Even after replacing her, we still faced many of the same negative issues, such as poor communication, lack of trust and disorganization. This is because many of the same non-performing family members remain at the helm of the school.
They are very careful about the �loss of face� among Chinese administrative or managerial staff, but they care nothing about a foreigner�s loss of face. I had a very unpleasant experience with this myself.

� What can you say about the processes and procedures or systems that have contributed to the problem(s)/your decision to leave?
I feel that the school lacks a well organized and consistent plan. It seems that decisions are made with little thought, logic, evidence or strategy. Teachers are evaluated by gossip.
They play games with teachers. Some of the common games are as follows:
� Ignoring you
� Playing stupid
� Giving you a new title, position or duty, without the power to accomplish anything
� Lying or giving false information
� Doing things behind your back
� Passive-aggressive attitudes
� Blaming you and gossiping about you
� Ignoring data or facts
� Backstabbing

� What specific suggestions would you have for how the organization could manage this situation/these issues better in future?
The first step towards improvement is to recognize the problems. Many of the family members and friends which run this school are too arrogant, in denial and they are totally blind to their own faults and shortcomings. Often I felt that they just didn�t care.
Some of the management, I am sure, have been pampered their whole lives by their rich families, so they do not have the character, substance, drive or resolve to accomplish anything.
One problem is nepotism and supporting non-performing people who do not have the skills or experience necessary to do their jobs. I often felt that the wrong group of people was running the school.
Stop making excuses, such as: �This is China� or �Other schools are worse� or �You are just being negative�.

� How do you feel about the organization?
I do not feel very positive about it and I am happy that I have decided to leave.
The school has the look and feel of a �prison� for students.
The environment is depressing and uninspiring.
The school lacks leadership.

� What has been good/enjoyable/satisfying for you in your time with us?
I enjoyed my teaching experience with the students. Despite the terrible management, I tried my best to help the students. My concern for the students was the only thing that kept me going from day-to-day at this school.

� What has been frustrating/difficult/upsetting to you in your time with us?
Dealing with the Chinese family members that are running this school. They are incompetent, lazy, arrogant, infantile, pompous and insulting. I often felt that they had no idea what they were doing. They looked down upon staff.
Without the Foreign Staff to complete tasks, such as building a database or setting-up a computer network, not much would get done at that school.
The Chinese Administration lacks the skills to effectively manage the school.

� What could you have done better or more for us had we given you the opportunity?
If I had been trusted, supported and been given more freedom, I could have improved the situation. They should have listened to my suggestions.
I felt that I could only teach at 25% of my ability because of all the drama and politics at the school.

� What extra responsibility would you have welcomed that you were not given?
The opportunity to be involved more in the CIE exam process, preparation and setup. I was sidestepped on this for no good reason and it ended up being a disaster for the students who took the exam. The people that prepared the Lab practical exam totally botched it.
I would have welcomed the opportunity to be more involved with student activities.

� How could the organization have enabled you to make fuller use of your capabilities and potential?
They often made bad decisions which interfered with my teaching, such as giving one of my classes to another teacher for no good reason. The evidence later supported the fact that this was a bad decision, but they failed to recognize it.

� What training would you have liked or needed that you did not get, and what effect would this have had?
We needed more training on teamwork and cooperation between Chinese and foreign staff.

� How well do think your training and development needs were assessed and met?
The school was in a state of turmoil because of the situation with the incompetent, foolish and toxic Deputy Director, so there was not much opportunity for needs assessment. They often made decisions based on feelings or gossip, rather than any facts, knowledge or assessments.

� What training and development was most helpful and enjoyable?
We had a team building exercise together with the students.

� What can you say about communications within the organization/your department?
We had a problem with teamwork because the school created a toxic situation in my department with some bad management decisions that were made early on.

� What improvements do you think can be made to internal customer service and employee relations?
Stop using staff as scapegoats. One example is the position of Subject Coordinator which has little real purpose other than to provide the administration with a scapegoat. The Subject Coordinators have no actual power to do anything.

� How would you describe the culture or 'feel' of the organization?
Full of fear, anger, boredom, frustration and mistrust. They have a high turnover rate which is often an indicator of these problems. One common coping mechanism people have is to just keep a very low profile, avoid communication, avoid confrontation and generally just keep quite, but I do not see this as a very healthy environment for all teachers.
Some teachers have also formed little groups or cliques, such as the Indian and the Filipino teachers hanging out together and generally excluding the teachers from Western Countries. The office politics and gossip are also way out of control.
Sometimes I felt that the Chinese staff also resented the foreign staff, perhaps because of pay differences.
Nobody is respectful of others in the office and often very loud conversations in Chinese would ensue with little regard for the other teachers who may be in the office working. The office was a place of constant interruptions.
Dirty and disorganized classrooms and a lack of support from Chinese staff. Students are coddled rather than disciplined, pushed, inspired and motivated to study. Lack of discipline at all levels of the organization.
You often see the staff flirting, giggling and laughing with students. This is inappropriate behavior for a teacher. Some of the Chinese staffs are very immature.

� What could you say about communications and relations between departments, and how these could be improved?
Give the departments some real power to get things done.

� Were you developed/inducted adequately for your role(s)?
My role was not fully explained during my interview. They modified the agreement once I got there. It was totally unexpected. Basically, they lied to me during the interview process, and I found a totally different situation once I arrived at the school.
None of the Chinese management has the ability to develop staff, with the exception of the new Foreign Head Teacher (he is Australian). But he will not fully support teachers, if it involves one ounce of risk to himself. He is an opportunist who assumed his position on the backs of others, after they sacrificed themselves and the dust had settled. While other teachers were tacking huge risks, and were involved in their difficult schedules and duties, he was busy �sucking- up� to the Chinese bosses.
The Head Teacher is a smart guy, but the foreign staff should not expect him to go out on a limb for them. He will save his own skin first. He was waiting in the wings being �Mr. Positive� while others were doing the dirty work to clear the path for his ascension.
I actually felt betrayed by this man, but I will not discuss this further.

� What improvement could be made to the way that you were inducted/prepared for your role(s)?
Prior to my assignment, I was not provided with any data or history about the students.
Lack of teaching materials.
The management should have realistic expectations.

� (For recent recruits of less than a year or so:) What did you think about the way we recruited you? How did the reality alter from your expectations when you first joined us? How could we have improved your own recruitment? How could your induction training have been improved?
Be more honest and avoid telling lies.
Give complete information.
Stop playing games.
Respond to questions

� How could you have been helped to better know/understand/work with other departments necessary for the organization to perform more effectively?
Practice real teamwork and cooperation. Less gossip and backstabbing.

� What can you say about the way your performance was measured, and the feedback to you of your performance results?
Everything was done for show and no decisions were made based upon facts, data or performance.
No objective way to measure teacher performance.

� How well do you think the appraisal system worked for you?
Not very well.
I felt that I was rated via gossip rather than by objective data and observations.
Some of the people evaluating me never attended my lesson for an observation.

� What would you say about how you were motivated, and how that could have been improved?
Showing appreciation, recognition, encouragement and support is a strong motivator for staff.
They do not do any of this unless they can get something out of it. So all activities like this are mostly for show.

� What suggestion would you make to improve working conditions, hours, shifts, amenities, etc?
Leave the teaching departments alone and let them do their jobs.
Be honest about problems and address them instead of ignoring them.
Stop the lying.
Tear down the curtain of fear and mistrust.

� What would you say about equipment and machinery that needs replacing or upgrading, or which isn't fully/properly used for any reason?
Everything constantly breaks down or often does not work at all.

� What can you say about the way you were managed?... On a day to day basis?....... And on a month to month basis?
My concerns were often ignored. Sometimes I was sabotaged or sidestepped.
They pay much attention and obsess about stupid and trivial stuff, yet totally ignore the important things.

� How would you have changed the expectations/objectives/aims (or absence of) that were placed on you? ...... And why?
Expectations based upon logic and reasonable data. The management is unrealistic and unreasonable, such as telling teachers that 80% of students must pass economics or chemistry, when many of them cannot even understand English very well!!!!

� What, if any, ridiculous examples of policy, rules, instructions, can you highlight?
Stupid meetings where a boss comes down and just recites some prepared statements in a meaningless way.
Their meetings are a one-way affair with little opportunity for teacher contributions or feedback.
Telling teachers that students must be pushed to take a CIE Exam that they are not prepared for.
Telling teachers that 80% must pass a subject.
Not listening to teachers.
Stop using teachers as scapegoats.

� What examples of ridiculous waste (material or effort), pointless reports, meetings, bureaucracy, etc., could you point to?
Too many for me to list.
One example is paying big salaries to non-productive family members that do not do anything but walk around looking at their cell-phones with a fake stupid smile on their face.
Pointless meetings

� How could the organization reduce stress levels among employees where stress is an issue?
Reduce the fear factor and improve moral among staff
Listen to staff
Trust staff
Have some team building activities
Offer more support
Reduce the office politics and gossip among staff

� How could the organization enable you to have made better use of your time?
Not to interfere with my schedule and teaching with stupid and unnecessary requirements, requests and meetings.
The administration tries to justify their existence in a very toxic and non-productive way. Because they really do not know what they are doing, confusion often carries over into the teaching area, and this is a huge distraction to the teaching staff.

� What things did the organization or management do to make your job more difficult/frustrating/non-productive?
Basically the school is very disorganized and decisions are made with little thought, planning or logic. I lacked trust and respect for the management, because they showed me no trust or respect, and they often performed their own duties in a sloppy and incompetent way.

� How can the organization gather and make better use of the views and experience of its people?
They need to get more honest feedback from staff. They do not really care what the staff thinks. The family members that run the school are self-absorbed, so they are not very sensitive to the needs of others. They look down upon the staff.

� Aside from the reason(s) you are leaving, how strongly were you attracted to committing to a long and developing career with us?
I was committed to helping my students, but it was very hard for me to give commitment to the management, because I had no respect for them. I often felt that they inhibited us from doing our jobs as teachers.

� What can the organization do to retain its best people (and not lose any more like you)?
The only thing I can think of is that the investors need to fire many of the family members that now occupy management chairs at the school and they need to replace them with people who can perform.

� Have you anything to say about your treatment from a discrimination or harassment perspective?
I felt a little disrespected because I was a foreigner. Call it nationalism or racism or whatever you want.
The Chinese staff would often gossip and lie about us behind our backs.

� Would you consider working again for us if the situation were right?
No way! I�m done!!!!!
I will never endure such a situation again. I stayed and finished the contract, but next time I will cut my losses and leave early if I have such a working environment in the future.

� Are you happy to say where you are going (if you have decided)?
Back to the �land of the free and the home of the brave!� Goodbye and have a nice life!!!!!!


For more some visual information about the school, please visit the following website:

http://s925.photobucket.com/albums/ad97/DickTracey16/