There are fine International Schools in every country of the world. But when it comes to unscrupulous schools taking advantage of international educators, little has changed since International Schools Review first went on line in 2003. Go to complete article.
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Anonymous~If you can’t find anything on the school, don’t go. There was a new school in Asia that looked like a castle, but in every picture, there were NO students or other humans. Strangest thing I’ve seen in a long time. I wonder what the scoop is on this school? It was about four months ago that I found the school on TIE. Others wrote in wondering what the deal was, too. I’m just wondering what the real story was. I couldn’t find ANYTHING on that school. I wish I could remember its name. For all I know, it could have been a great deal, but my antennae were up and so were my goose bumps.
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I would have to agree with Phil above. As a new teacher, this site is a goldmine of information but I still am cautious. I can’t seem to find any information ( good or bad ) on the international school that currently offered me a position.
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I am not sure if anyone else has had the same problem, but I find it very difficult to use the reviews on the ISR website.
The reason being.. well, the vast majority of schools seem to have such negative reviews. Almost every school receives poor reviews. Where do we go to find good international schools? Surely some of the international schools in the world are decent?
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Thank God for publishing this article. I wished I knew about ISR before I accepted a contract. In my case I did do the research and I could not find anything as the school was very new, and if there was anything posted it was all in a foreign language that I could not understand. I should have taken this as a warning but at the time I did not. The school in Germany mentioned in your article is indeed the International School Heiligengaus. Over the brief months I worked at this school there was food shortages and teachers having nervous breakdowns and ending up in the hospital. It was the most deplorable working condition of my life. This school is now faced with media pressure from parents, staff and labor unions for it’s unethical practices. I do feel some international teaching union needs to created to help protect teachers who leave there native countries to work at such non ethical schools. I feel this is the only way. The IB needs to be held accountable for this school as there are teaching staff that are not certified teachers much less trained educators, if you consider former subways sandwich workers to be educators be my guest. In addition the school owner is actually an animal doctor with plans on opening other schools so a lot more needs to be done. The good thing is now that this school has been exposed in the German media parents and teachers are starting to pay attention to this school owner bad behavior
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This article was, for me, a timely heads-up reminder to check out a school thoroughly before signing on that dotted line. The recruiting fairs are SO emotionally driven that in the excitement of receiving an offer, it’s easy to forget that a school and position need to be scrutinized from every angle.
And now I have a new question to ask a recruiter during an interview: What is your policy on “holding” a teacher’s passport? YOU would never do that at your school, WOULD YOU? If a recruiter even hesitated, it would arouse my suspicions and, most likely, be a deal-breaker for me. To be in a foreign land w/ perhaps no passport sounds beyond the pale. I’m well-traveled and plenty tough, but have you read (here on ISR) some of the horrible experiences teachers have had?
Wow, ISR, that’s a warning I appreciate receiving from you. Thanks for ALL you do!
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Well, that’s not the most black and white question. I’ve worked in 6 schools in 3 different countries, and every single one has needed to take my passport for a few days or weeks at a time to complete visas, process paperwork, etc., at different points during each contract. Some of these are top-tier schools, some are tiny local ventures never heard of outside their neighborhood. All were above board and all were completely trustworthy with my passport.
I think you mean hold a teacher’s passport for the duration of his or her stay, but I’m just saying that there are legitimate times a school needs to take your passport for a while.
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Such corrupt institutions will exist unless there is more accountability. ISR is a helpful tool, but unless the accrediting agencies, local and international authorities play an active role, not much will change. This is especially true in the gulf countries. Still, educators must research, research, and research when making their decision.
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Despite all these reports, teachers putting their own future on the line, the schools you must be leery of still continue to operate. Corrupt and incompetent heads of schools still hold their position or just move on to other schools. I just finished a contract where my new head of school had just been fired from her previous position. These schools and heads of school are still represented at the various fairs. Yes do your research!
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Unfortunately, I have to agree completely with this article. The problem becomes once you have been living abroad for a while it becomes difficult to step back into the American system and the choices of “good” schools abroad by definition of fairness and good and legal leadership/administration practices seem hard to find….I think there are even more frightening stories that would be posted but teachers are too afraid to speak.
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