I know this school is looking for teachers but the reviews on here are pretty awful.
The school has no cafeteria and no drinking water.
Teachers have to bring their own supply.
School hours seem rather long and when there is a problem with the water from the well (????) toilets backup according to reviews.
Question:
1) Have things improved at this school and with housing ?
Thanks.
Latest update on American School Marakkesh ? Good or Bad ?
Around a few years ago, I received an interview from this school. They were so intent on having me. The interviewers at the time ( J. Brugnieau - the headmaster, and the Elementary Coordinator - a young Moroccan man whose name I forget ) seemed very nice, but I can tell the following right away :
1. It is a Moroccan school disguised as an "international" school.
2. They were very vague and coy about the technology.
3. There was an air of " ancient / conservative " thinking that swarmed around the two. Not sure what it was...but I felt like I was being interviewed by people from the 1950s.
4. I got a sense of " nepotism / small-school " syndrome. I am not sure if it was bc the Elementary Coordinator seemed too young, too suave or seemed to dominate the headmaster. That's something that I don't particularly find favourable as a future teacher at a given school : I look for strong, wise headmasters who won't be manipulated by certain people.
The reviews seem accurate enough. I also looked at the track record of their teachers. Most do not stay longer than a year and I wondered why as some of them are teaching couples and if you think about it, despite some of the hardships of daily Morocco, Marrakech is a fascinating, wonderful place. In the end, when they offered me $ 17, 000 USD as the salary ( net ), I just had to say " No ". It was just gob-smackingly appalling. With my credentials, I am making 6-figures in Tokyo at my current school. Before that, I was making close to $ 80, 000 USD at another school in Tokyo. The housing pictures they sent me were decent enough though. It was an older building but it wasn't bad looking.
1. It is a Moroccan school disguised as an "international" school.
2. They were very vague and coy about the technology.
3. There was an air of " ancient / conservative " thinking that swarmed around the two. Not sure what it was...but I felt like I was being interviewed by people from the 1950s.
4. I got a sense of " nepotism / small-school " syndrome. I am not sure if it was bc the Elementary Coordinator seemed too young, too suave or seemed to dominate the headmaster. That's something that I don't particularly find favourable as a future teacher at a given school : I look for strong, wise headmasters who won't be manipulated by certain people.
The reviews seem accurate enough. I also looked at the track record of their teachers. Most do not stay longer than a year and I wondered why as some of them are teaching couples and if you think about it, despite some of the hardships of daily Morocco, Marrakech is a fascinating, wonderful place. In the end, when they offered me $ 17, 000 USD as the salary ( net ), I just had to say " No ". It was just gob-smackingly appalling. With my credentials, I am making 6-figures in Tokyo at my current school. Before that, I was making close to $ 80, 000 USD at another school in Tokyo. The housing pictures they sent me were decent enough though. It was an older building but it wasn't bad looking.
Last edited by mbovi on Mon Apr 22, 2013 7:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
@missy: I too interviewed with this school a few years ago and was offered a position. I recall the salary offered was a bit higher than what movie mentioned, but I also did not get a good feeling about the school. I think it might be an okay post, for someone still trying to get into international teaching, but I declined because I was just coming off a bad posting with a school head that didn't respect international teachers, and I wasn't willing to gambit in that happening again.
Well, I believe that it's not just the salary but a few things that pervaded during the interview that made me realise : " This is definitely not the place I would want to work in, despite Marakkech being so beautiful and exciting ".
1. The Elementary Coordinator, Mouad Tijani : He didn't exactly invoke a great sense of trust, integrity and respect from me. Despite the fact that he was extremely polite, he had the air of a " suave salesman " trying to sell me something. Now, I know that in REALLY top tier or premier international schools, it's usually ME doing all the selling and persuading. However, I felt that it was the other way around with my interview. Furthermore, there was a pervading sense of power OVER the headmaster. The headmaster sat muted, shrivelled up in a chair while Tijani did all the talking and was leaning forward, often answering for the headmaster. In fact, I don't even remember the headmaster asking me a question...it was all about Tijani. Judging from the google search and so on, he seems to dabble ( if not control ), the business aspect of the school. Now, more often than not, in a struggling school such as the AMS, an educator dabbling in the business aspect of school cannot INHERENTLY be good for the professional vocation...as some things " have to give " ( e.g. maybe less books or less resources on things that really matter, so as to make way for things to look " good " to parents at schools - entice more business ).
2. NO DRINKING WATER : I know a few things in this world :
a) Drinking water is a necessity of life....especially in hot, dry countries.
b) Morocco is in Africa.
c) Africa is hot.
Why is there NO drinking water? Is it that difficult to get a plastic bottle that dispenses clean, filtered water for teachers, children and parents to drink?
Is this me imposing a " Westernised " view of how life should be? Nope, not really. Morocco is not a severely underdeveloped country with a great concentration of dying refugees due to civil war. Even more so, Marrakech is a high-destination / tourist area.
I thought of one thing : If I can't even have access to drinking water on regular days, I can imagine how hard it would be during the Ramadan where I would have to openly fast...without water....teaching a class of 26 or so, with unruly students.
1. The Elementary Coordinator, Mouad Tijani : He didn't exactly invoke a great sense of trust, integrity and respect from me. Despite the fact that he was extremely polite, he had the air of a " suave salesman " trying to sell me something. Now, I know that in REALLY top tier or premier international schools, it's usually ME doing all the selling and persuading. However, I felt that it was the other way around with my interview. Furthermore, there was a pervading sense of power OVER the headmaster. The headmaster sat muted, shrivelled up in a chair while Tijani did all the talking and was leaning forward, often answering for the headmaster. In fact, I don't even remember the headmaster asking me a question...it was all about Tijani. Judging from the google search and so on, he seems to dabble ( if not control ), the business aspect of the school. Now, more often than not, in a struggling school such as the AMS, an educator dabbling in the business aspect of school cannot INHERENTLY be good for the professional vocation...as some things " have to give " ( e.g. maybe less books or less resources on things that really matter, so as to make way for things to look " good " to parents at schools - entice more business ).
2. NO DRINKING WATER : I know a few things in this world :
a) Drinking water is a necessity of life....especially in hot, dry countries.
b) Morocco is in Africa.
c) Africa is hot.
Why is there NO drinking water? Is it that difficult to get a plastic bottle that dispenses clean, filtered water for teachers, children and parents to drink?
Is this me imposing a " Westernised " view of how life should be? Nope, not really. Morocco is not a severely underdeveloped country with a great concentration of dying refugees due to civil war. Even more so, Marrakech is a high-destination / tourist area.
I thought of one thing : If I can't even have access to drinking water on regular days, I can imagine how hard it would be during the Ramadan where I would have to openly fast...without water....teaching a class of 26 or so, with unruly students.
[quote="mamanaia"]@missy: I too interviewed with this school a few years ago and was offered a position. I recall the salary offered was a bit higher than what movie mentioned, but I also did not get a good feeling about the school. I think it might be an okay post, for someone still trying to get into international teaching, but I declined because I was just coming off a bad posting with a school head that didn't respect international teachers, and I wasn't willing to gambit in that happening again.[/quote]
I think that they offered me that salary bc at the time, I was a very young teacher ( relatively new in the game ). They probably thought that I would jump at the chance. As a teacher with certain credentials and also, starting up my 2nd post at a premier school in Tokyo ( the 1st one is a Tier 1 school as well ), I know that I can request the following : $ 50, 000 K ( net ) and over. Right now, I am making 6-figures.
I suppose it's the countries that one chooses. I could go to Turkey right now and get a salary of $ 24, 000 / year....but why would I want to do that when I know that East Asia, Europe and some ( very small percentage ) schools in the Middle East pay much more than that?
It may seem like money, money, money is on my mind...but as an international education teacher, I think we have to stop taking the whole " martyr " role and be a bit more shrewd when it comes to negotiating our finances that will sustain our living. After all, we don't receive pension from our home govts and we have made a conscious, informed decision to work abroad with all its challenges ( along with its great perks ).
I think that they offered me that salary bc at the time, I was a very young teacher ( relatively new in the game ). They probably thought that I would jump at the chance. As a teacher with certain credentials and also, starting up my 2nd post at a premier school in Tokyo ( the 1st one is a Tier 1 school as well ), I know that I can request the following : $ 50, 000 K ( net ) and over. Right now, I am making 6-figures.
I suppose it's the countries that one chooses. I could go to Turkey right now and get a salary of $ 24, 000 / year....but why would I want to do that when I know that East Asia, Europe and some ( very small percentage ) schools in the Middle East pay much more than that?
It may seem like money, money, money is on my mind...but as an international education teacher, I think we have to stop taking the whole " martyr " role and be a bit more shrewd when it comes to negotiating our finances that will sustain our living. After all, we don't receive pension from our home govts and we have made a conscious, informed decision to work abroad with all its challenges ( along with its great perks ).
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Its an utter hole of a school. It consistently makes my top ten worst schools in the world and even on that last its near the worst.
Many of the "admins" are F&F of ownership. The western admin are just figureheads, to fill a chair/desk and for the schools marketing and advertising.
The school is ALWAYS, ALWAYS recruiting, especially westerners and white faces. Its one of the last refuges for the for teachers before poverty, and the salary locally is pathetic comapred to any western standard. You cant even use experience there to move up to a better school after two years since ive heard recruiters ask candidates "Why did you stay 2 years?" They blatantly lie about everything regarding the school to recruit anyone, and as soon as the issue of money and expenses come up, they want you to pay for everything and anything and reimburse you "later" which will invariably turn out to be a lie and becoming a rip off.
Ive never had a teacher ever say anything good about the school.
Many of the "admins" are F&F of ownership. The western admin are just figureheads, to fill a chair/desk and for the schools marketing and advertising.
The school is ALWAYS, ALWAYS recruiting, especially westerners and white faces. Its one of the last refuges for the for teachers before poverty, and the salary locally is pathetic comapred to any western standard. You cant even use experience there to move up to a better school after two years since ive heard recruiters ask candidates "Why did you stay 2 years?" They blatantly lie about everything regarding the school to recruit anyone, and as soon as the issue of money and expenses come up, they want you to pay for everything and anything and reimburse you "later" which will invariably turn out to be a lie and becoming a rip off.
Ive never had a teacher ever say anything good about the school.
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Education Oasis
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Re: Latest update on American School Marakkesh ? Good or Bad
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ADMIN NOTE: Please do not post evaluation type material to the blog. A discussion of physical make up of school, location, cost of living, make up of student body, etc is fine. Evaluating the performance of admin, assigning tier ratings, etc., is evaluation type material and belongs in the member area of the site. If you have extensive information on this school you might post here that you have posted a review to the member area of the site so that this poster can be alerted to the review.
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This post has been removed by admin.
ADMIN NOTE: Please do not post evaluation type material to the blog. A discussion of physical make up of school, location, cost of living, make up of student body, etc is fine. Evaluating the performance of admin, assigning tier ratings, etc., is evaluation type material and belongs in the member area of the site. If you have extensive information on this school you might post here that you have posted a review to the member area of the site so that this poster can be alerted to the review.
Thanks for your cooperation
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Admin cheerleader post.
Review and evaluation material is not permitted in the open forum.
Review and evaluation material is not permitted in the open forum.
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Amusing User Name
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Re: Latest update on American School Marakkesh ? Good or Bad
As a disinterested observer, I'd just like to say that as all the previous posts are just this side of actual reviews, being more like candid exchanges in the spirit of collegial bonhomie. PsyGuy, calling for admin and citing the "no reviews" in the open forum policy, is uncalled for and counterproductive.
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@Amusing User Name
Youre not a disinterested observer if you post, that by definition makes you a participant.
It may very well be counter productive, and though Id rather it not be the case, there is a member forum specifically for evaluation type of posts, thats what it is there for, thats where it can be the most productive without the forum subjecting itself to risk.
Youre not a disinterested observer if you post, that by definition makes you a participant.
It may very well be counter productive, and though Id rather it not be the case, there is a member forum specifically for evaluation type of posts, thats what it is there for, thats where it can be the most productive without the forum subjecting itself to risk.
Re: Latest update on American School Marakkesh ? Good or Bad
@AUN - do not cross the forum sheriff!
@dave - I think you misunderstand the meaning of "disinterested" - as in "not having an interest", "not being biased", "not having a dog in the fight", "being neutral" etc etc. I think @AUN was being perfectly plain in that he was neither defending nor attacking this particular school. It was your response that was of concern.
@dave - I think you misunderstand the meaning of "disinterested" - as in "not having an interest", "not being biased", "not having a dog in the fight", "being neutral" etc etc. I think @AUN was being perfectly plain in that he was neither defending nor attacking this particular school. It was your response that was of concern.
Re: Latest update on American School Marakkesh ? Good or Bad
@Education Oasis - was the salary you mentioned before or after tax?