Advice on Growing as a Professional

[santacruzin1]

...while at a poorly-run, dysfunctional and unstable school.

What would you suggest I do in this situation? Or, if you started at a crap IS, and worked your way into something better, how did you do it?

I'm a newly-qualified teacher, did TeacherReady while teaching EFL in Korea. Did my teaching field experience at a great school in Seoul, but they didn't have any openings for my subject area (Social Studies 6-12) when I finished. Took my chances on a school in Vietnam, knew that it wasn't going to be great, and let's just say the reviews on the paid side are 110% accurate. There's no PD budget, any PD given (if given at all...) in-house is a joke, admin aren't actually certified admin/don't have experience running other schools, ever-changing student & staff rules and inconsistently-applied consequences, loony assessment policies, little grade-level/subject collaboration, etc. etc. I just try to give my students the best lessons I can.

I've already footed the bill for my own PD a few times (Kagan workshops, Google Level 1 & 2, a recent edtech conference in HCMC), and I'm willing to continue doing so - but what I'm really trying to figure out is, how can I use this crisis of a school/work environment as an opportunity to grow as a teacher?

[wrldtrvlr123]

Well done getting yourself certified and a job teaching in an "int'l school". Also kudos to you for wanting to actually do a good job/better job even though you could probably mail it in and no one would much notice.

Get your couple of years of experience there, keep doing research on best practices (much of which does not require any significant financial layout on your part), try to implement some of them and then try to move on to something better. If you are willing/able to invest your own money you might look into something like an EARCOS Conference where you would learn a lot and probably make some useful connections for the future.

https://www.earcos.org/

[santacruzin1]

Thanks for the kudos - it does feel good to have got this far, even if it's not the greatest of schools.

Your advice (keeping up on best practices in pedagogy & attending EARCOS) sounds like what I was expecting - good to have it confirmed by another person.

Moving on to something better - that's the other thing I'm looking for advice on. I fear that having worked where I'm at is going to be a red flag to recruiters/Heads - is showing a consistent professional development & networking enough to mitigate that?

[eion_padraig]

Get to know other international teachers in the area and network.

Depending on your subject you may be able to find ways to collaborate with folks at other schools. Some examples I can think of are some coaches who have helped organize tournaments at their school and worked with other coaches. I've known counselors to help organize conferences at nearby schools with the other school's counselors.

Is there a topic you can present at while attending professional conferences. If you're footing the bill yourself being a presenter is something you could add to your resume.

My school has hired good teachers from some of the nearby schools that are not so good. Even if you don't get hired to one of the other nearby schools, when your friends move onto other schools they can help you find good opportunities elsewhere.

Eion

[joe30]

My advice is sit back, relax, hand out the worksheets and think nothing of it. Sounds like you have a fairly cushy job. Admin that don't give a damn are a lot easier to work for than those with high standards.

[mickeymoo]

I am in a similar situation, where given the nature of the school, it is very difficult to grow as a teacher. Perhaps try some new things with your best class, and work out the limited space on which you can operate. Ride out your time and move upwards and onwards.

[thebeard]

I agree with Joe30. Just don't get a paper cut passing out those worksheets. On a serious note if you're at a school that is dysfunctional you probably have a lot of time to implement best practices and improve your teaching. Depending on your leadership I would probably keep it low key unless you know someone else in your school is also trying to improve. Since you're a decent teacher if you start saying things in staff meetings "Hey I've been trying this in my classroom and I wanted to share..." you might be perceived as a threat and could start to deal with some of the negative things this site helps teachers guard against.

[Thames Pirate]

While your paper cut comment was tongue in cheek, sadly, Joe was serious.

On another note, OP, can you use the time to pad your resume? Teach a new subject or take on a leadership role or coach a sport? I would be bucking for curriculum experience (IB, AP, new subject, whatever) and roles like Head of Department or Whatever-Coordinator (service/CAS/curriculum/MYP or a job like program director). Then just focus on getting good experiences, implementing all the PD you have already had, and maybe seeing if a more experienced colleague can act as an unofficial mentor.

I will also echo the kudos.

[sid]

Grow as a professional by concentrating on the kids in front of you. What does each one need? What more can you do for each? One has a working memory issue. Learn how to help him. One has a cognitive delay. What to do? Etc. Google, you colleagues and a subscription to the ASCD database can go a long way, and you'll be a better teacher for it.

[santacruzin1]

Thanks for the helpful replies everyone.

Presenting at a conference is something I've thought of, but I feel a bit insecure about that though since I'm a 1st year teacher - what expertise do I really have? Same with taking on a leadership role - I'd like to, but 5+ years from now. This school isn't even really organized into PS/MS/HS, let alone departments. I suppose I am de facto department head for secondary social studies, since I'm the only person teaching it. There are several campuses owned by the same company though, if I transferred to another branch, possibly I could make that official.

Admin already know that I try to innovate in the classroom. They don't seem to care either way, although I'm not sure how much I trust them. I've never tried to push something school-wide (I don't talk in staff meetings - I learned quickly no good will come of that here). I try to just keep it to my classes or helping out other teachers any way I can, brainstorming lesson or project ideas, helping them find tech tools. I suppose that's the best I can hope for here.

I am teaching IGCSE Global Perspectives this year, and supposed to teach IGCSE 1st Language English next year as well. The school talked about offering A-levels next year, which I was very excited about, but we are too small right now to justify it. So I've at least got some IGCSE experience out of it. A little bit odd for an American I suppose - do British schools typically view that with suspicion, or is experience the main thing, regardless of what country I'm from? Obviously, all schools are different but if you had to generalize?

Again, thanks for all the replies - there are definitely (many) days where I feel like taking the worksheet route, and ask myself, why am I working so hard for a school that probably doesn't deserve it; but that feels like giving up, and I think that's not right for me - not in my 1st year at least.

[sid]

You've got a choice to make.

Route A: Put your time in, keep your head down, do as little as possible, move on as soon as you reasonably can. Downsides: you'll probably be a worse teacher when you leave than you are now. Habits become ingrained, and learning how to do very little can turn into an addiction. Also, you'll have little to say or show when a recruiter asks you about your experiences in an interview. Upsides: No fuss, no muss.

Route B: Do what you can to suck up to admin in hopes it'll turn into good references and possible promotion. Downsides: Your admin don't sound like the type you should hitch your wagon to. Get good at what they like, and what kind of teacher will you really be? Long-term prospects could be limited in terms of what skills you develop, and whether any respectable recruiters out there will take it seriously when your current admin says nice things about you. Upsides: Possible promotion within your current organization.

Route C: Do what you can to improve yourself in the ways that really matter. Teach yourself to be a better teacher. Downsides: It's work. Upsides: Transferable skills useful in any school. Actual things to talk about when interviewing for your next post.

I like Route C, in case that isn't obvious.

[santacruzin1]

sid - good way to break it down. Route C is definitely the way to go, hard work notwithstanding.

Thanks again everyone! Gives me a little glimmer of hope in an otherwise rotten week.

[Thames Pirate]

For the record, Route C is likely to move you up the tiers of schools more quickly in the long run, though of course it sucks in the immediate. I, too, like Route C--get what you can for your own improvement (PD, unofficial mentoring, lots of reading, etc.) and do right by kids. Really, if you focus on doing right by kids, the rest will come. After all, that's why we teach, right? Great breakdown, sid!

[joe30]

Route A provides the best effort to wages ratio. You're not getting paid anymore for putting these extra hours in, so don't. If a recruiter asks about your experiences, do what everyone does - exaggerate to make yourself sound better. That's what literally the whole world does on their CV's.

[mamava]

In terms of looking more attractive for the next job--can you coach or start a program...MUN? Running club? Service organization like Roots and Shoots? Decent schools look for people with initiative who participate or start things...maybe there's a way to do that at your school.

For PD, look for PD that focuses on current trends...teaching writing in your content area, standards-based assessments, alternative assessments, EAL in the mainstream classroom, social-emotional learning, differentiation, collaboration, mindfulness, etc. It's hard if you are spending your own money, but if you are still in Asia, you are close to big PD areas like Bangkok, Singapore, KL, Hong Kong, etc. I work at what is considered a good school on this site and several of those are hot topics for us--and my friends and former colleagues who work at the big schools in Asia are also attending PD on these issues. Check out Earcos or NESA weekend PD opportunities. If you are not at an IB school or you are not IB experienced, you can also do that.

A lot of people will scoff at some of these ideas, but my experience has been that if you don't have the experience (and some of the experience is hard to get in a bad school)...the PD can give you information about the ideas and trends. Some would require a school system support--others can be implemented on your own. I think schools would want to hear someone talk about not only what they've done, but what they would like to do and how they see themselves doing that in terms of professional goals and growth. I do learning support, and I'm often asked questions in interviews about things I don't do--curriculum alignment, assessment practices in the classroom, etc. Even though I don't specifically do those things, I have to be able to understand them and speak to my role in those whole school or divisional practices.

Good luck!