Every review on this site is negative
Re: Every review on this site is negative
Even if you had the best admin, by your next contract, you could be working under a different principal or head of school. I have worked at not-for-profit schools all my life and have seen some great as well as not-so-great managers. I try to do my job to the best of my abilities avoiding parental complaints or conferences with the admin. As long as you don't break rules and contribute significantly to school life, you'dn't be worried about micromanagers. Most stress comes from taking things personally at every step. So, remove your ego out of the equation.
Re: Every review on this site is negative
Fine Dude hit it right on the head.
It is so hard to find a good international school because of the transient nature of the admin. One year all is well and you are ready to continue on the path to excellence then a new head or principal comes in and they have to build their resumes so that they can get their next job so they get rid of what works or tweak what has been working or decide to implement the Common Core or Standards Based Assessment or Inquiry Based Learning or...
It is so hard to find a good international school because of the transient nature of the admin. One year all is well and you are ready to continue on the path to excellence then a new head or principal comes in and they have to build their resumes so that they can get their next job so they get rid of what works or tweak what has been working or decide to implement the Common Core or Standards Based Assessment or Inquiry Based Learning or...
Discussion
My list of priorities, and its important to emphasis that they are more priorities is different, but mostly on the issue of savings as I have two pensions.
1) Cost of living isn't something you can do much about either. if you want to live in the WE your cost of living is always going to be skewed to the high side, but that cost buys you quality of life. Its different preferences per the individual some are mercenaries about the coin and some want the dolce vita.
2) I agree about housing and housing allowance, even if its small, how it compares to market costs and expenses is often a good indicator of the attitude leadership and ever more importantly the Resigio Effect of how ownership perceives its ITs. Ownership that wants its ITs to live well and comfortably, takes pride in not only their presence but their contentment and happiness. When ownership skimps on the housing they are more concerned with appearance and accounting.
3) I agree with teaching resources, to the extent of what an IS has as far as materials and resources depends on what needs to be done with those resources. A school with lots of resources but little in the way of finished manipulative means the IS intends you the IT to make everything (add 2-3 hours to your day). Along those lines an IS that doesnt provide much in the way of resources supplies an easy rational to the IT in not having to do very much, give an IT class texts and youll have a lot of lecture and reading, and not much else.
4) Could not care less about the diversity of the student body. I dont find any trends that hold up well across ISs. I care more about the parent body than the students.
5) Agree with ASPs, the less the commitment to ASPs the more focus there is on the instructional program, and the more my time is valued. I would add meetings to ASPs. One meeting a week is my tolerance limit (assuming different meetings). ISs that have multiple meetings a week dont know what they are doing or have leadership that needs to validate its existence.
6) You can control to an extent your leadership team in how you influence them. This is where having a sycophant face really helps. Most leadership doesnt know a thing about many of the subjects or curriculum requirements. They are basically looking for acquiescence (agreeing with what they say) and student engagement (its better to have students engaged in a senseless activity than having them reading independently even if the reading is meaningful).
I tend to agree with @joe30, the crusader/martyr leadership is worse than the micro-manager, because at some point (after your first year) the micro-manager will be happy because youve done everything their way. The crusader is never happy, theres always more you could or should be doing. Its a bottomless pit of work that must always be fed.
Where I disagree is that the worst leadership is "parent leadership" when class or grade or homeroom moms have more say over what you do, how to do it, and when then anyone on the leadership staff. Why because these parents have no supervision, they usually have a direct ear to someone in ownership and they dont report to senior leadership or anyone else. If you EVER have an interview with a parent as part of the recruiting process, run.
Of course leadership changes and most new leadership has a need to validate themselves and their value which typically means "activity".
1) Cost of living isn't something you can do much about either. if you want to live in the WE your cost of living is always going to be skewed to the high side, but that cost buys you quality of life. Its different preferences per the individual some are mercenaries about the coin and some want the dolce vita.
2) I agree about housing and housing allowance, even if its small, how it compares to market costs and expenses is often a good indicator of the attitude leadership and ever more importantly the Resigio Effect of how ownership perceives its ITs. Ownership that wants its ITs to live well and comfortably, takes pride in not only their presence but their contentment and happiness. When ownership skimps on the housing they are more concerned with appearance and accounting.
3) I agree with teaching resources, to the extent of what an IS has as far as materials and resources depends on what needs to be done with those resources. A school with lots of resources but little in the way of finished manipulative means the IS intends you the IT to make everything (add 2-3 hours to your day). Along those lines an IS that doesnt provide much in the way of resources supplies an easy rational to the IT in not having to do very much, give an IT class texts and youll have a lot of lecture and reading, and not much else.
4) Could not care less about the diversity of the student body. I dont find any trends that hold up well across ISs. I care more about the parent body than the students.
5) Agree with ASPs, the less the commitment to ASPs the more focus there is on the instructional program, and the more my time is valued. I would add meetings to ASPs. One meeting a week is my tolerance limit (assuming different meetings). ISs that have multiple meetings a week dont know what they are doing or have leadership that needs to validate its existence.
6) You can control to an extent your leadership team in how you influence them. This is where having a sycophant face really helps. Most leadership doesnt know a thing about many of the subjects or curriculum requirements. They are basically looking for acquiescence (agreeing with what they say) and student engagement (its better to have students engaged in a senseless activity than having them reading independently even if the reading is meaningful).
I tend to agree with @joe30, the crusader/martyr leadership is worse than the micro-manager, because at some point (after your first year) the micro-manager will be happy because youve done everything their way. The crusader is never happy, theres always more you could or should be doing. Its a bottomless pit of work that must always be fed.
Where I disagree is that the worst leadership is "parent leadership" when class or grade or homeroom moms have more say over what you do, how to do it, and when then anyone on the leadership staff. Why because these parents have no supervision, they usually have a direct ear to someone in ownership and they dont report to senior leadership or anyone else. If you EVER have an interview with a parent as part of the recruiting process, run.
Of course leadership changes and most new leadership has a need to validate themselves and their value which typically means "activity".