Hi there,

Does anyone want to share their opinion on this city. Both as a place to live and work. I have read the reviews on the site but would love to learn more. Is it as dangerous as people will have you believe?

Thanks

My school hit me with these surprising details recently:

[i]For foreign teachers who will be departing;

•The salaries of June-July-August months are paid on the regular salary days. (July 31, August 30)

•Apartments should be vacated by July 15th so that they can be prepared for incoming faculty members. [/i]

So basically, I am being evicted from my flat (and country, unless I want to rent an apartment or hotel for a month and a half) on July 15, with the school owing me two salary payments. And what if they chose to default on those payments? What then?

Nice, huh?

I plan to ask for everything upon departure, but I doubt they'll accept that. Dr. Spilchuk has been very sympathetic so far... :)

I have worked in Turkey for several years. It has not been the most rewarding time for me, professionally speaking. While Turkey is an amazing country, with more to see and do than anyone could ever wish for, working here is mind numbing. The system leaves much to be desired. Disorganized, bureaucratic, lousy with nepotism, cronyism and overall ethical breaches that would make you cringe. (Grade inflation, gross student absenteeism, blatant disregard for student conduct, etc...) The testing system here is simply unreal, the end all be all for all students and staff.

Speak up about your frustrations and you will ostracised. If you are comfortable swallowing up your opinions, as many are, you will do just fine. Learning the language is a must, thankfully it isn't such a difficult language to learn.

Ankara is not the greatest city in Turkey, it is just a big urban maze, with little physical beauty. It does have some amazing political history, well worth checking out but little else. Istanbul is a short 5 hour bus ride away though!

I have not heard much of TED, but can pretty much guarantee it is par for the course in regards to other Turkish schools. And yes, these "international" schools are anything but. They are very much national private schools ( a few exceptions aside: MEF Int'l and IICS in Istanbul).

Just to further my point, 100% of the teachers hired in my "class" of 10 teachers are departing after their two year contract. Four of those left after the first year.

Visit Turkey, work elsewhere.

Does anyone have any information on a state in the US where professional teaching certificates never expire because an educator is overseas? Like, they go into some kind of limbo? I have an HOD who has tried to convince me that there is such a thing. I cannot imagine it!

Thanks for your reply. Sounds about right. Everyone I talk to is like, "there are no jobs, stay where you are, at least you have a job." Unfortunately, I work in Turkey and while it is a lovely country, I have got to get out of here. 4 years have passed. Parents have aged, gotten sick, grandparents died, brothers have had babies, friends married and divorced. You get the picture! Missing home in combination with Turkish school burn out makes it impossible to deny: I've got to get home. Roll the dice, see what's up. We have some savings, the house market in our area is super attractive, so we'll give it a shot.

Does anyone have any info about the above agency? I am coming back to the US after a 4 year stint overseas and I cannot seem to get a return email from this group after I submitted my application. It has been over 3 weeks, a couple of emails, and zilch.

*Anyone know of another good agency I can work with for placement back in the US?

What would it take to lure me back to N.America to teach?

Answer:

Working four years in a couple Turkish private "schools" located in Istanbul. Beautiful city, but... anyway... LOL...

(More than that, I miss [u]home[/u], and everything that goes along with living in beautiful Sarasota, FL. Simple.)

Mark Harmon in Summer School. Or... more realistically, Carl Reiner from the same film.

Summer is almost here! :)

Teaching is about "fit." Right? You teach best in an enviroment which "fits" you best. Right?

Some love the IBO, they live it, breathe it and embrace it. For some the IBO is not a good fit. This is probably for a variety of reasons, specific to each individual. In my school the PYP coordinator is an absolute JOKE. She has turned off many, many people on staff. This is why I chose to not interview with schools that have imbibed the the IBO (PYP specific) Kool-Aide. Maybe one day I will try again, but the program here is absolutely horrid. I needed some distance.

I encourage others who feel the same way to step aside and let others find their fit.

There is no reason to get combative with one another over personal opinions. Don't you think?

As a side note I would love to see how many candidate schools don't achieve fullauthorization. I imagine it is close to 0 percent. And it is not because these schools are IBO "quality." But the check cleared!

"If there are problems with a school this will come through in the administration of the programme that you teach - whatever that programme is."

you got it there. 21 days until lifeisnotsobad!

:D

I agree with both of you to a point.

Having learners learn how to test, accept failure and success at the MYP level seems important. I have to think that the anxiety levels could be higher than if the child was assessed throughout school-dom. Also, please remember that assessment is helpful to teachers in terms of planning, special needs, etc... Keep in mind all of these assessment needn't count a ton towards their average. I am not a "two tests a quarter" teacher.

Mike, of course teaching should be fun. But having benchmarks and standards which are assessed in one way or another does not make it drag to teach, teach. Our schools (US) got pretty bad due to a larger number of teachers/administrators with no accountability and high irreponsibility.

But I agree, some of the "puttin' on a show!" that comes with PYP/MYP can be a bit nauseating. Just hasn't been my cup of teaching.

Yes, my "school" has tremendous problems with their IB framework. In Turkey there are National standards, than each school has it's own standards (in some cases), than the IBO has it's suggestions. On top of that there is always the dialog about which language the instruction should be in. With EFLers that is a HUGE question. My current place of employment is attempting to serve all of their masters equally at the same time. It is comical to watch at times. When the PYP/IB folks come we all have to make it look like it is all we teach. When the Minisrty of Education comes we have to pretend there isn't so much of the PYP/IB happening, rather strict Turkish National Curriculum. Comedy.

As I see it this type of "assessment fear" for the good of the children, their parents, the local or international reputation of the school is totally out of line with the rest of higher education as a whole. My degrees have all been acquired through assessment, for example I would not be a certified teacher had I not passed a series of standardized tests. I would not have been accepted to a good university without good scores on my SAT/ACT etc... And when I finally go and get that Graduate degree I'll need to take and pass the GRE standardized test.

I love assessment. Aside from all the above it is a great diagnostic tool. I can know very quicky if my class grasped a concept or not. If they all bomb that means I bombed as a teacher. If they all pass than I am comfortable and can move on. The healthy mix usually occurs and than enables me to single out certain students to give them a bit extra to help get over the "hump."

You have to fail sometimes in life to gain perspective on what is important and where a persons strengths and weaknesses lie. My two cents.

21 days until the end of PYP!

No problems mon.

You just can't be a pimp and a prostitute too.

Right there with you Mike. Only I am dealing with the PYP.

So happy to report that next year I will not be! Maybe I will try it again somewhere else one day... but here in Turkish Ministry schools, no way hombre.

It has been a long two years... happy it is over and I survived without serious physical injury.

How do you plan to get certification online? I think you may have to go to the US to get your teacher certification? If not I am curious about the program you have chosen.