Venezuela is an EXTREMELLY, and I mean EXTREMELY dangerous country. I worked there for years and left because I knew too many people that had been shot, kidnapped, or had their homes robbed at gunpoint. No one is safe there anywhere, especially not if you're a Gringo!

It doesn't matter what the recruiters or directors want. It matters what the principals want. I have seen people sacked - from PE teachers to pre-school teachers, because, while their English was perfectly fine for these positions, the parents complained if they were not from the States, and did not have a perfect American accent.

I think that stinks, but that is the reality of it. Parents who pay heaps of money to send their kids to an American school want American-sounding or born and raised teachers. They also threw a fit about one of our pre-school assistants, because she is currently getting her BA through U-Phoenix on-line. She is originally from a Latin American country, but her English is quite good. She is married to an American. Yet they still complain.

I'm speaking from experience, as someone whose fiancee is a non-native English speaker. The outlook is grim for us as an international teacher. The only way he could maybe get a job would be to be a Spanish teacher where there are none available, and possibly get paid as a local.

There are no rights or protection in international schools, and they can basically do whatever they want. It all depends on the school and the admin.

Good luck!

Hi there. Does anyone have any first hand information on Emirates National School in Abu Dhabi? Or of the Renson administrators?

They want to interview me, and any input would really be helpful, especially after the review I read.

Thanks much!

One post from a disgruntled or angry teacher is not going to ruin the career of a director, nor is it going to bring down a well-run school. One bad evaluation from an unfair director, however, can destroy the career of a teacher.

We are professionals. We have the right and the need to be informed, and to do so without our jobs being put on the line. I don't think that anyone undertaking the huge decision to become an international teacher is simply going to read one or two messages and decide against that school. I also think that most of us have the wits to know when a teacher is just spewing hate, and the criticism is unfounded, or, at best, exaggerated.

However, when five or 10 or 20 people start writing in with the same complaints, maybe it is time for that director to go, or rethink his ways. Sometimes it is the owner of the school that is the problem. While the director may suffer for this, he or she made the decision to work at that school, and if that person cannot make improvements, he or she would move on.

I view this as a place for colleagues to get together to talk about their working conditions, like normal people do when they go out for a beer after work. The difference is, we have thousands of miles between us, and do not have that luxury. When my friends who want to work at my school call me and want to know about the conditions, I tell them, just as I do here.

I think it is ridiculous to put a no-name restriction on this site. When our potential employers call our current or past directors to ask about us, they do not have a no-name policy. The teacher evaluations that I just read from my director, which he will give to the board, were harsh and unprofessional (in my view). That's not stopping him. Mine was actually one of the better ones, but I feel badly for the others who got slammed simply because the director's wife doesn't like them.

We have no other recourse. Administrators rarely have any other accountability. And don't forget, this is a place to say positive things about directors and schools as well, which I have seen much of. When I am a director, I look forward to being able to read the anonymous comments of my staff. I feel this will help me understand them better, and become a better administrator.

As international teachers, we leave the security of our homes, and unions, and laws that protect us, and we have no idea what we are getting into. I 100% disagree with this post. This is the only protection that international teachers have. Our lives are run by overzealous rich housewives, and directors that are accountable to no one. There is no school board or employee rights organization to go to. We do not even have the security of the laws of our home country! What other recourse do we have?

Directors should know that they will be held accountable, and that their actions do affect their future. The more names, the better! This is a place for us international teachers (and directors) to come together and speak freely about our work environment, much as we would in the break room, or if we were giving advice to a friend about which school to work at in our home town. You are completely missing the entire point of this forum!