The International Schools Review Forum

Completely agree. Cupcakes would hold at minimum the same veracity as your "data." They'd also taste better, too.

@interteach

Could not be in stronger agreement.

Hi all,
First time poster...

I have been following this thread periodically, due to some recent stress I've had in my current position. I have never had to deal with as much gossip and related nonsense as I have where I am right now. I am hanging on for the duration of my contract, but it is challenging to say the least.

I realize that you will encounter cliques and gossip anywhere you go, but it is rampant here! For instance, I have never encountered a situation where certain admin engages in gossip with teachers, to spread rumours about somebody, much less me. Unfortunately, I can't prove the gossip about me, which makes me feel a little crazy. It feels like I'm back in middle school or something, which is nuts!

I haven't given these colleagues any ammunition against me, nor have I done anything wrong to anybody. It's a situation, I think, where I probably just rub somebody the wrong way. I'd be lying if I say it didn't hurt. I do my job; I'm friendly to everybody; I offer help if someone needs it; I'm incredibly flexible and adaptable; and I don't engage in harmful gossip myself. I suppose I'm just looking for advice about how to rise above it. I have one more year, and then I'll look at moving on. For now, I'm simply trying to get on with my job, and continue to form strong relationships with the kids and parents alike.

Like I said, I've been overseas for a while now, and this is the first school where I've had to deal with such immaturity. So, I see this as a challenge to learn something from.

Thanks for any and all advice!

Those types of situations did not happen to me, but we observed it happen to others--rampant gossiping about private, personal, confidential matters, teachers spending more time aligning themselves or fighting to maintain their small patch of control even if it meant hanging out someone else to dry...we kept our heads down, worked hard, and worked even harder to stay away from those types of conversations and to provide positive constructive advice when asked about what someone should do. That being said, in a situation like that, we felt that if it happens to others, it's only a matter of time before it would happen to us, so we quickly worked on moving on!

@just.the.truth

Edus never actually grow up, too many DTs/ITs and Leadership are the same as they were in senior school, they just got older. Those places are not going to go away, not under the current paradigm of K12/KS edu.
When you dont give gossips anything to use against you, they just make it up, there is nothing you could have done.
You cant rise above it, you cant o to work in the mud without getting dirty, its a losing battle. That doesnt mean you should be an active part of it, but you arent going to change the environment you are in. Honestly, if you had the mental fortitude to rise above this you wouldnt have written in, and you wouldnt have been feeling the way you have stated you felt. Thats not a bad thing, the DTs/ITs that claim sticks and stones, and nothing gets to them, are that way because nothing gets in at all. You cant be sensitive to others without being vulnerable as well.

What I dont get is why your choosing to martyr yourself, I get the value of sacrifice in being an edu. There is no other profession that requires a degree where the expectation is you do the job for whatever parents or the politicians deem to give you. Youve got a whole year of this and your going to stay for what? A ref isnt worth it, even assuming you get a positive one and your leadership doesnt back stab you and characterize your lack of game playing as uncooperative or a non collaborator. Its late I realize but what does it hurt to look what options/opportunities are available? Its one thing to deal with this if you have too, its another to choose it. This isnt going to get better, youre better off looking now than doing it in October of next term.

I agree with Psy Guy in that looking for a job isn't harmful this late. I got an offer from a fairly high tier school late in the hiring season (May-is). However, by that point I had signed a contract with a much lower tier of school.

I also know of someone else who got an offer fairly late in the hiring season at a top tier school.

Even the top schools I imagine get a curveball thrown at them in terms of hiring (e.g. someone on staff suddenly has to leave for a family emergency, other emergencies of a similar nature).

Back to the original point of the first post, I think that it's wrong for a teacher of good conscious to simply be happy at a school that is not serving to meet the potential of the students or faculty members. Being happy in such an environment and looking down at the "negative" teachers who are pissed that the school is so dysfunctional strikes me as being part of the problem at best and incredibly self-serving at worst.

Not a perfect world... Sometimes making the best for yourself out of what you have is the best an IT can do. Stressing yourself over how things should be and not dealing with how things are is inviting a lot of unhappiness in ones life.

Question: Is it worth posting a review on a school over workplace negativity? I am not sure, as there were some positives to the place too. Any way, the negativity came from the fact that a lot of the local teachers spent a lot of their free time in a general space for all employees (kind of like an employee lounge but solely for working) gossiping and complaining about this and that (and sometimes other teachers). IMO the issue comes from the fact that admin either seems oblivious to this fact or knows about it and does not care. Both are bad for different reasons IMO but do not equal a positive work environment no matter what. This is the same school from another post I made that tells teachers if they are coming back (or not) on the last day of school/last day of the contract (both are the same day). They also don't have teachers sign a contract until like February or early March for some odd reason. At least the two years I was there.

To put that last point in perspective, the school year starts August 1 for teacher, 2 or 3 weeks later for students, ends June 30 for teachers, early June for students. I signed both contracts (this year and next year) before I even arrived to my current job, as a comparison.

This was my first IS experience but I am starting to realize there were some things that were off. The students perform very well but are pushed a lot and by some measures (that the school seems to selectively advertise) are top 3 in a country chalk full of ISs.

@MusicTravel30

Sure, reviews are information, its communication among professionals. What you describe as "negativity" though is just your POV. There are ITs that would love a place in the IS where they can talk freely about whatever is bothering them or frustrating them instead of having to bottle it up and take it home or off site with them. There are many ITs that would consider that very progressive and supportive.

leadership knew about it, and passivly encouraged that, its easier to gather intelligence when the exchange of that intelligence is convenient and accessible. They were probably listening through the HVAC venting or keeping their ear to the ground about what was transpiring and what ITs and DTs were talking about. Thats a lot easier then sending out operatives to local socializing venues for ITs and having to rely on a report.

Last day dismissals minimize blow back as it reduces the opportunity for ITs to respond, and worse retaliate.

Late contract signings reduce the need for coordinating reprinting of contract changes and reduce the organization tasking of maintaining those contracts and documents throughout the year.

Pressure to perform is from parents, every parent thats paying top coin for an IE education pictures their child getting into a top Ivy Uni and you need high marks for that. Thats IE and thats everywhere.

Every IS (no matter whether it is Tier 1 or Tier 3) has some form of "toxicity" in the work place that amps up people's need to vent (i.e. gossip). My advice would be....
- Be friendly, cordial, polite and yet keep a "distance" to your colleagues: Try not to get too close or reveal any personal information about yourself.
- Build a strong social circle of non-teacher friends outside of school. Keep the teacher friend circle separate from non-teacher friend circles at all cost.
- Avoid gossip at all cost. Sometimes, admin can be the gossip mongers themselves and they want to see if you can be part of the "in group" by gossiping about someone and see how you react to it. Always do the polite Mona Lisa smile and excuse yourself from gossiping by simply saying, "Ah, I don't know the person enough" and change the topic as well as you can.
- Avoid showing your own negative emotions or thoughts.
- Humour and "easy going" nature wins
- Playing a smart "political game" without the gossip is an art