Hello everyone,
I'm really interested in applying for a position in Belgium or Germany. I'm currently an associate professor at a community college, but I have teaching credentials in social studies. I am not tenured, but in very good standing. As many of you know, the tenure process is precarious. If my department chair were to get the impression that I am *considering* leaving, I could jeopardize my employment (and since this is really competitive, I need to have the option to stay). Also, we are friendly with each other but I do not trust that she would give a decent evaluation if she is offended by my job search...and she WILL be offended.
What should I do about the evaluation?
Recommendation from current employer-help!
Reflection
Higher Ed faculty don't transition well to K-12, it depends what your resume is, and how long it's been since you've been out of the classroom. Most ISs don't give salary credit for higher ed either. Secondly, with such a narrow focus, you could be really frustrated and unsuccessful. In Europe Germany is the most common, and has the most schools. Few schools n Germany require EU passports. Belgium is a lot harder, there are only a few (about 4) schools, and ISB is often considered one of the top elite schools in the world. It's insanely competitive. Again, you'd have to tell us more about your resume.
Back to your question. If your chair is going to give you a bad reference in retaliation or for any reason, then don't use it. It will kill your job search. You either need to get someone else at your college to write it (preferably a dean, or VP, but a coworker if it has to be), drop the job from your resume, or find another job/position to bury the job and reference. Those are they only options.
Back to your question. If your chair is going to give you a bad reference in retaliation or for any reason, then don't use it. It will kill your job search. You either need to get someone else at your college to write it (preferably a dean, or VP, but a coworker if it has to be), drop the job from your resume, or find another job/position to bury the job and reference. Those are they only options.
Thanks for your input! I got the impression that I had to use a supervisor for the evaluation. A letter from a colleague would be easy to produce. I only have one full year in the classroom at the high school level, and seven years between a state university and a community college. I was in quantitative market research before I became a teacher.
Backup
OK backup, I sometimes assume people can read between the lines. You do HAVE to provide a supervisor, even if your recruiting agent accepts a coworkers evaluation, a school head/principal is going to ask about your last supervisor. If you tell them your supervisor reference is actually a coworker, they are going to ask why you didn't use your supervisor, or assume your last supervisor would say bad things about you. You need to 'paint' your coworker reference with a supervisor 'brush'.
So you have one year of high school teaching experience, that was 7 years ago? Your not going to get an IT position, anywhere (well maybe somewhere), but not in Germany, or Belgium, or anywhere in Euope. You've been out of the classroom way too long, and you don't even have the minimum 2 years experience. On top of that social studies doesn't have a lot of demand, and there are a lot of more currently/recently experienced teachers, sorry.
So you have one year of high school teaching experience, that was 7 years ago? Your not going to get an IT position, anywhere (well maybe somewhere), but not in Germany, or Belgium, or anywhere in Euope. You've been out of the classroom way too long, and you don't even have the minimum 2 years experience. On top of that social studies doesn't have a lot of demand, and there are a lot of more currently/recently experienced teachers, sorry.
I see what you mean with the evaluation , but I'm not sure why teaching at the post-secondary level in the same subject matter would count for nothing. My teaching evaluations are excellent and I have nearly the same teaching load as a hs teacher anyway, with scholarly obligations as well. I can see it not transferring fully-that's rare even within my industry.
Reflection
Well having done both, they are very different, it's not an issue about teaching load, it's the developmental stage of the students. You might ague that a senior or DIP 2 student isn't that much different then a college freshman. That argument breaks down as you apply them to lower grades such as 11th grade, 10th grade, etc. The curriclum structure is also different. In higher ed courses are specific overlap one another within a department. History majors take history classes, and the history department primarily does that and only that. In secondary, each department contributes to an integrated overall curriculum. We calaborate in developing the whole student, and in this case the student is a child, not a young adult.
We could have a whole discussion on this, but the reality is heads and admins don't equate them, and that's what matters.
We could have a whole discussion on this, but the reality is heads and admins don't equate them, and that's what matters.
You don't really need a letter. If you're using an agency, you'll probably have to use their online form. You usually need 3 professional references and you can get these from various supervisors. I didn't involve my principal in the process until I had been offered the position and they needed to do a background check. You can also tell them that you need the references now to join an organization that specializes in international teaching and that the membership is good for 3 years.