The International Schools Review Forum

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to let people know who may be interviewing with QSI about my interview process. I was interviewed this week and it went very well for the first hour. They talked to me a lot about my previous teaching experiences and were very interested in my ability and how I had already applied their mastery learning in my own classroom.

Then came the questions about morals, to which I answered that I don't affiliate with any religion, but I try to live the best morale life possible and they responded well. Then I was asked if I was of the "adam and eve persuasion, or the adam and adam persuasion". I replied by confidently saying that I don't believe it's an appropriate question to ask because it has no bearing on my ability to be an effective educator. They replied by asking again while choking down awkward laughs. I replied by letting them know that I was of the "adam and adam" persuasion, and the interview was abruptly ended...it was clear they were no longer interested in hiring me because of my sexual orientation.

Thus, if you are of any alternative lifestyle, don't waste your time applying to QSI because they clearly employ discriminatory hiring practices if they have any inclination you might be gay. I was extremely offended by such a rude question regardless of the religion affiliation the organization has. I have been a member of plenty of other organizations that claim to have the same moral stance as QSI, and my sexual orientation was not an issue. I'd like to know what kind of "morals" they are teaching their students because they are clearly not accepting of people who are good teachers and good people who may also be gay. Good luck to those who apply.

I also heard that they are very strict about smoking habits. Apparently, a teacher was near suspension due to her being caught smoking at a bar in her local community. I can imagine that if they are this strict about personal habits, then it can only be worse in how they react in regards to sexual orientation.

Smoking is a behavior that someone chooses to partake in, so not hiring smokers isn't discriminatory. I have to believe that not hiring a qualified educator because of his or sexual orientation is pretty discriminatory and not quite the same thing.

I am really sorry you had to experience this and am quite embarrassed that I work for an organization that condones such discriminatory hiring practices. I work for QSI and I am not surprised at all by your experience. While the organization does not make educational decisions based on religion, there is definitely a very strong religious undertone to everything about the organization.

I would not recommend anyone that is openly or not openly but possibly presumed as gay/lesbian work for this organization. While you may land at a school with an admin that is not worried about that, it is quite unlikely. I do not know anyone within QSI admin that is not very religious. For many of them, your sexual preference is a choice similar to smoking. I am absolutely not saying I agree with that at all. But, they do not hire smokers because they feel they are presenting a poor message to their students and in the same way they would feel that homosexual behavior presents an even worse message to the kids.

In all honesty, I would recommend you walk away from this and be thankful you didn’t take a position and then face massive issues once you got to your post. You also must realize that in many foreign countries you will be greatly endangering yourself and even committing a crime by engaging in homosexual behavior. Be careful.

Best of luck finding a job at a school or school system more accepting of your lifestyle.

P.S. Make sure you go back and edit your first post where you used “moraleâ€

[quote]P.S. Make sure you go back and edit your first post where you used “moraleâ€

This sounds similar to the experience I had interviewing with them a few years ago. In may case, the first hour also went well, until we hit the issue of morals. They continuously asked me about my religious background, in a whole variety of ways, which I refused to answer, because I don't believe it is any of their business. Ultimately, I was told that if I was an atheist, QSI was not the right place for me. Luckily, I had already come to the same conclusion myself. I was very put off by their delving into what I believe are personal matters.

Thank you everyone for the support. I think I would have been less offended had they simply asked "what is your sexual orientation - it is important we know because in certain countries it will not be acceptable if you are homosexual". Instead, they asked it in the most rude and offensive way possible and it was probably the most uncomfortable 15 minutes of my life.

At Danda - Thank you for the comments - I am very thankful that I didn't take a position and have moved passed being offended by it and am now thankful that I am not miserable at a school that doesn't accept me for who I am.

Again, thanks everyone - and to anyone applying with QSI think twice about it if you have any sort of alternative lifestyle.

Just thought it would be good to chime in here to add that I had a 2 hour interview with QSI a few weeks ago and religion and morals never came up once. It was a comfortable, great interview and we accepted a position. Since then, I have been in close contact with 4 teachers at my "new school" and again, religion has never been mentioned. Perhaps the recruiter is aware of which principals are ultra-religious or homophobic and does his best to prevent a catastrophic hiring situation.

[quote="KelBel"]Just thought it would be good to chime in here to add that I had a 2 hour interview with QSI a few weeks ago and religion and morals never came up once. It was a comfortable, great interview and we accepted a position. Since then, I have been in close contact with 4 teachers at my "new school" and again, religion has never been mentioned. Perhaps the recruiter is aware of which principals are ultra-religious or homophobic and does his best to prevent a catastrophic hiring situation.[/quote]

Heya KelBel:

How's it going? Getting excited about the move (or still overhwhelmed by the million things that need to get done)?

I would guess that the recruiter is homophobic and not making this decision to save the potential employee any hassle. The higher ups within QSI and most of the recruiters I have met are all very religious.

Most people that I work with were asked about their religion. I was interviewed by a director of another school and he did not ask about my religion at all and no one mentioned it when I emailed them about the two QSI schools that I have been at. However, both of the schools I have taught at have a very strong religious undertone to them. Like I said earlier, religion doesn't really influence educational decisions but it will impact your life. If you are religious you won't notice it and probably enjoy it but if you are not religious you may find it a bit annoying. I think that cooldude said it best when he said something like you cannot access the "golden friendship circle" if you do not attend church, church gatherings or even morning prayer meetings. You'll feel like an outsider looking in with the other teachers that are not religious or even the other religious teachers that are more moderate in their beliefs.

I've never lived in the bible-belt but I would imagine it is similar to that situation. Most of the people at the schools are religious and you will feel left out if you are not. However, as much as the Christian contingent would love for religion to shape the school, it doesn't. It does however shape the community of teachers.

I can't believe that, in 2011, someone asked you if you were of the 'Adam and Adam persuasion'. It almost seems too comical to be true. Your anecdote is enough to make me steer clear of the organisation.

Heck for S & G... you should had said you used to be from the Adam & Eve persuasion, but now you are the Adam & Adam persuasion. It would had been fun watching them work that puzzle out.


On a side note, my wife and I introduced ourselves to them at the signing table at a recent job fair. My wife is an art teacher. We were informed by them that they usually only hire local teachers to teach art. I was "OK" with that because we believe in an holistic approach to education. I believe all teachings positions are important and each position should be filled by the best possible candidate. I am not suggesting that host nation teachers aren't good teachers, but why single out Art for host nation teachers only.

BTW, in the review section of this website (which you have to pay for) a teacher of 20 years said that the school as a religious undertone about it. Then, an admin wrote something up that read like a advertisement flier.

-===

I agree - the entire situation was comical because it was the most awkward way of asking me my sexual orientation ever. I wish they had asked it right when I walked in rather than waste 90 minutes of my time telling me how great I am and how much of a good fit I'd be at their school in China.

I definitely dodged a bullet and am thankful - but I still wish I could get the word out more to those applying. Thanks everyone for responding and being supportive of my situation!

I've been put off by QSI because they are not just religious -- let's be clear here -- their definition, and the one that seems to be the default position in this discussion, is that "religious" = Christian. The two things are not synonymous. I've found that being an experienced international educator and person of different faith (I don't smoke, drink, am celibate, and take my responsibilities to be a role-model my students very seriously, while teaching them to understand and respect people of ALL faiths) has locked me out of quite a few great schools. So much for "internationalism".