I need some time to sort out my thoughts, and time is rather hard to come by. I have two more interviews and then a "social" where you talk with recruiters some more, and sometimes come to a decision.
And the headhunters insist that you make a decision NOW! By the end of the fair, or 24 hours after the offer, whichever is later. Which doesn't allow a lot of time for introspection or reflection. And at this point, I need some. This is usually where I'd make a list or pros and cons, but since I have this blog, I'll do it with you.
I have received some very strong interest from a few schools, but no one has made an offer. But then there's this (from a recruiter who was forthright about his openings not being a good fit for my particular wants and desires at this time):
All too often candidates (and schools) come to fair and are rushed into making a decision and then end up in the wrong place. So, you end up with a CV that reflects a lot of movement and change? Why? Not because you don't want to form a relationship with a school, but you weren't patient enough to find the right job.
Then again, don't take that job and it could be your sister's basement for you. (A possibility the sister in question adroitly ignored when it was semi-jokingly related to her in an email.)
So, here is what I'm looking at.
At the current top of my list is an international school in Shanghai. The recruiter seemed to love my ESL knowledge, and maybe I oversold it. I don't have an ESL specialist credential thingy, I just have done it every day of my teaching career -- some days better than others, mind you. However, they were willing to consider my candidacy for geography, although maybe as an ESL support role? I'd need more details to see if I'd be a teacher in my own. But then again, supporting others could be cool. It would be different. However, the best things about the school were this 1) in their presentation, the principal/head whatever said they did have a lot of initiatives, but they firmly believed in providing the time, resources, and training to filly implement the initiatives and 2) the recruiter loved it when I said I was looking for a school that would let me grow and develop in a position and not end up pigeon-holed. And it's in Shanghai, so I wouldn't have to leave China, but it'd still be cosmopolitan.
Next are the two Korean schools. One seems keener than the other, but do want to talk to me again. They rushed me out of the room at the end, so I didn't get to ask about lateral transfers. However, they set up another meeting for tomorrow, so I can ask them then. Korea comes with some downsides: they are both on (the same) island, so it's not anywhere near as cosmopolitan as my current location. But civilization seems nearby (one boasted a staff bar -- yes, as in alcohol), and the opportunities for clean air and outdoor adventure abound. The more-interested school demand boarding duties and the other has weekly Saturday morning activities which are less ideal in a Western mindset. Still, I'm minded that I do like hanging out with my students, so it wouldn't be the end of the world and I'd get IB training out of both of them. School 1, however, isn't making any decisions until Monday at the earliest. If I get another offer before then...
Then there's Dubai. It's an "American" school with benchmarks and common assessments and professional development and all that. Structure that sounds lovely after my loosey-goosey life at a Chinese high school, but might turn into a paperwork nightmare. There's a reason why teachers who teach abroad don't return to teaching in the U.S. Ten again, it might be the structure that I need to take my beginning practice to the next level. (I'd put me beyond emerging, but I've only been doing this for four years, and I keep on changing curriculums. It takes time to become a master; we know this about our students, why don't we know this about our teachers?) She seemed positive yesterday, and when I got a small letter in my "mailbox" today, I was sure that she'd say that it was great but she'd decided to go with another candidate. Not so. It was by no means an offer, but an encouraging comment to talk to her this evening.
Next is a strange school I can't make up my mind about. I sense it's the sort of thing that if I accept, and it's good, it will be the place I always talk about. It will be the experiment that showed me just how amazing education can be. Or it will be a disaster and I will run screaming. It's an international school, but attached to a Chinese national school. All students must be foreign passport holders (which doesn't mean they aren't Chinese, just that they were born in a hospital in Australia). They want people who can teach lots of things, because it's a small school. And they're building an IB program. But they can't see me teaching social studies for a couple of years. But he couldn't really tell me what he saw as my position. Maybe I framed the question wrong, but they wanted my "bottom line". How little was too little? What was a deal-breaker? All of which turned me off. It's testing, buddy, you have a salary scale. Tell me what it is and I'll immediately tell you if it's good for me. But, the principal seemed genuinely concerned with talking to his staff and listening to our wants and needs, and that right there is the thing that made me respect and appreciate my previous principal. He took 45 minutes to actively listen to what I was feeling about what was going on in the school. But the manager? owner? couldn't just tell me what they did want me to teach for the next two years. In Xi'An. Which is nowhere. Well, as nowhere as a large Chinese city can be. I've been there. The Subway (sandwich shop) is a big deal with the ex-pats.
Then: Indonesia. They made me read these pages out of these proprietarial books on "change" and "the role of the teacher", which smacked of best practices wrapped up in an expensive consultant package. He asked me what I thought, and I said it sounded like best practices in education. (I skipped the overpriced part.) They are IB and he impressed me by noticing that I am obviously passionate about education, even if I don't have IB experience. He wanted to send then a note or a message about if we "clicked" after I had some time to consider it. This is my consideration, and maybe my "overpriced" comment says it all.
Then there's Bahrain. Bahrain seems to want me, although they are waiting until they interview everyone, which I respect. The lead man said I had great answers (I don't give grades, students earn them, based on rubrics that make assessment transparent, so students and children can suck it; I know badly behaved boys -- I taught gangstas in Cali; if you tell me to do something that goes against my beliefs, I will first try to figure out why and understand it from your perspective.) But that you have to ask about teaching difficult boys makes me think I want to stick with my well-behaved angels for awhile longer. And the dynamic in the room was just weird. I'm afraid I might feel uncomfortable a lot of the time.
OK, I must get down to the "social", but thanks for listening. Decisions still await (there's a dream history job IN Beijing -- and the cool part of Beijing, not the crappy far-away part of Beijing that I've applied to but have heard nothing from), but I feel a little better.
- Do you really care this was posted using BlogPress from my iPad?
Location:Bangkok, Thailand
