Hi,

I have ongoing issues with a particularly administrator. They have pulled me up for various issues, all of them trivial and were I to be notified I would have been able to fix many of them quickly. I'm generally considered a popular teacher with my students and I have received good performance reviews from the students (confidential surveys on a variety of teaching practices) I am on good terms with most staff members etc. I would consider myself a decent teacher.

Anyway, due to issues with the admin and school culture I decided to leave. I secured a job at another school in another country (it helped that I had a connection there). The admin that I have had issues with told me they would give a reasonable although not glowing reference, however when they were contacted by my new employer she gave a scathing reference. Despite this (and through having to provide a lot of proof to contradict her reference), I still manage to get the job.

Fast forward to now. I was called in for a meeting with 6 admin to discuss a variety of issues. These include not adhering to the dress code (I wore jeans for a couple of days due to my pants splitting and waiting for them to be repaired, I have always followed the dress code previous to this). Having a messy desk (I have never been told off about this and I cleaned it immediately once told off), and not providing timely and adequate assessment (I have never been late with submitting end of term exam marks grades and reports, I provide individualised comments - their issue was not providing comments on the exam, which few teachers do because we have been told it is not necessary).

Anyway, now they are threatening to take away my entitlements (end of contract bonus pay and airfare) and worst of all contacting my future employer due to their ' duty to report grave concerns'. Further, I fear I can be fired at any moment for a trivial reason.

They also cited complaints from teachers and students yet would not going into details about who those people are, which I believe for such a serious meeting should be necessary (I am happy if they omit the students names, but for the teachers they should be specific). They commonly use this tactic, and before when I have asked teachers if they said anything they said no and that the admin was being dishonest.

I don't know what to do. Has anyone been in a situation like this before?

My Search Account is no longer active because I secured employment, I have paid for my airfare with my new job, started the process of collecting everything for immigration, signed the contract etc. I only have two and a half months left at this job.

I am planning on speaking to my Search Associate for advice. This school does not have a good reputation and this administration has a history of this sort of behaviour.

All I feel I can do is either resign before they potentially fire me, or play along and agree to have them observe my classes whenever and then if they don't like something they claim they can immediately terminate my contract.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks.

Thanks for your response,

Was there anything you did resolve the situation?

Fortunately, my Head of Department and the Head of IB MYP have both agreed to be referees and to my knowledge have written positive confidential references and have directly observed my classes. I am hoping this is good enough.

I have an interview today for a position that I don't have much vested interest in, so it will be interesting if they contact my boss, what the reaction will be this time.

I am just worried that any luck I have in important fairs like Bangkok my boss will obstruct those too.

Hi,

I recently had an interview with a school that was an excellent fit (in terms of subjects taught and because I was referred by a friend of one of the admins). Anyway, the interview went well. However, the exec principal asked why I hadn't included my head of school as a referee. As I had only just notified my school I wouldn't be returning, I told them that I hadn't yet put them as a reference. He asked for their contact details which I gave.

Anyway, I didn't get the job and no other of my references were contacted besides this admin. When asked for feedback by the school I was applying fo, they said the main reason they didn't hire me was because of the poor reference.

I have had a few run ins with this admin throughout the year. They don't like me. I am not saying I am a perfect teacher, but their justification for such a dislike/bad reference is reflective of issues on their end - they are known for having done this several times before. I get on well with the students, results have been good, references from supervisors and more junior admin are good, as are reviews from students and parents. Nothing that should cause a bad reference. I had even spoken to them and said that if I do not renew my contract, I would hope to get a reasonable reference. They agreed to do this. However, they have not upheld their end of the bargain.

Fortunately, I have not put them down as a confidential search associates reference. Nor will I be putting them on my CV. However, how do I deal with this situation if a school wants to contact them?

Should I talk to this admin about the issue? And what would I even say?

Should I just explain to prospective employees if they ask they we have butted heads a few times and that I fear the reference may not be positive, but if they do contact them to also contact the other referees which will give a more balanced viewpoint?

What are my options here?

Thanks, Psyguy.

Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

I live in Taiwan.

At the moment the AQI in Kaohsiung is over 150 quite regularly. It stays at around this for about 4 months of the year. During the wet season it is under 100. Some days it is close to 200.

Comparably it is as bad as some cities in China. It is much worse than Bangkok or Saigon.

If you drive a scooter you will get even more health effects and exposure from the air pollution.

I often have a headache, stuffy nose and a cough.

So yeah, the air pollution is bad in winter but probably not bad enough to stop you from coming. Further, there is a significant difference in air quality in the south vs. Taipei. Taipei has much better air quality due to it not being so close to lots oil refineries, coal power plants and other heavy industries.

You can't drink the water down south either due to chemical contaminants.

I currently live in Taiwan and it is a forgotten jewel.

The people are awesome, it is modern, convenient and safe. You can get by quite easily without learning Chinese. However, it is more expensive than Vietnam though. Cost of living would be similar to Bangkok if you don't live in Taipei. In Taipei rent is more expensive than Bangkok.

If you are a single male you will definitely enjoy it here. Saving potential is better outside of Taipei (rent is quite high in Taipei whilst quite cheap in the bigger cities outside of Taipei). However, Taipei has a better nightlife.

If you favour safety, convenience, better public transport and a dating scene as good as Bangkok, Taiwan is a good choice. It does not have as big an expat scene or nightlife as Bangkok though. That could be a blessing in disguise or a negative depending on what you want.

Hi guys,

I was wondering which fair would be better for decent schools in Asia? Hong Kong or Bangkok?

I want to stay in Asia (I live there now) and I have two years teaching experience in international schools (IB MYP) and can teach across three subject areas plus 3.5 years of teaching experience in my home country. I have a Masters degree and a teaching licence from my home country. The only issue is that I have had a big personality clash with one administrator at my school. There is good potential for a bad confidential reference (even though they have said they will not do that). However, I should be able to secure a good reference from two other people at my school. I will probably need a reference from this admin though due to their seniority.

Anyway, I have heard the Bangkok fair is better but is very competitive. What is the Hong Kong fair like? Is it mainly represented by schools in Asia? What is the quality of the schools like.

The school I have been teaching at isn't the best and I would like to work somewhere better. However, I don't want to attend a fair and not get a job either.

Thanks in advance.

I'll first state that I really enjoy the current country I am living in. If work was half decent, I would happily stay here much longer. However, I am thinking at the least relocating jobs and as a result, probably having to relocate countries. One of the main reasons is some of the terrible admin at the school. I have had poor bosses before, but one in particular seems to be particularly vindictive and difficulty to get along with. They don't seem to like me much. They also have conflict with many of the teachers. Unfortunately, they are the boss that I have to deal with the most and their reference may count the most.

I will applying through Search and I will have numerous years of experience back home and plus my 2 years abroad at an IB school. I also have good references from my previous referees and my a good degree. I am pretty confident I can get decent references off other people from my current job.

Anyway, how much does one bad reference hurt you when gaining employment somewhere else? Has anyone knowingly had a bad reference on their profile? What was the impact. Are employers understanding of this?

I'm not aiming to be getting a job at a top school (it would be nice) but somewhere half decent would be ok too.

I have been tentatively offered a position in Bangkok. This would be my first IS position. They have all but said I will be hired but they are just having to work out teaching loads and the like. they have said that early in 2016 they will make the offer formally. It is in a subject area I would really like to continue teaching in but that doesn't have many other jobs advertised for it. Also, Bangkok is my first preference of places to live in the world. I have some friends there and I am familiar with the city.

However, the pay is quite a bit lower than many of the other schools that are advertised on Search Associates. They also do not offer housing/housing allowance or relocation funds.

I still do have the option of looking for other jobs until the start of 2016.

So what would you guys do for your first IS position? Go for the ideal location or go for a place that pays much more money?

I was wondering if people can give me some up to date information on this school as the reviews in the paid section are old. I'm interested in the middle school/high school.

1. What are the administration like?
2. What is the pay like compared to other schools? Are accomodation packages available?
3. What is the workload like? I read on their HR site that you are expected to be at school from 7am to 4pm. Is this normal for international schools in Bangkok? I also heard you are expected to be on duty at lunch time too. How much extra work is expected and how many free periods do you get a week/fortnight?
4. (edited by moderator - we ask you please not ask for or provide evaluation type material on the forum. The member area or the site is for that purpose - thanks for your cooperation)
5. What are the students like?
6. If no accomodation provided, how hard is it to find a furnished one bedroom apartment near to the school?

Any other info would be greatly appreciated.