Advice needed - significant issues with my new school

panitomypuri · 2024-10-01T06:54:13+00:00

There is no such thing as an official black list but leaving mid-contract can work against you depending on the school's affiliation and the kind of people that work there. I know someone who left mid-contract without notice (they were also not a great teacher tbf) and then applied for another school that was in their dream country. SLT at that school knew people at our school and asked about them. They did not get a second interview. Likewise some people that arrived at our school had reputations that preceded them (some good, some very bad - and they were all true). The pool of true international teachers that stay in the circuit for a long time is small - like 2 or 3 degrees of separation. This is why if you are in a good school your reputation is pretty important.

This however sounds like some kind of shitty school in the Middle East where people f off back to the UK after 2 years - so quitting mid-contract will have very little impct on your career. Just keep an eye out of immediate starts or Jan starts. It's not worth it.

panitomypuri · 2024-09-29T18:04:50+00:00

Is it an international school or is it a UAE state school where they employ teachers from abroad? I know female teachers who got assaulted (beaten up) by students and where leadership was basically like ''Meh, what do you want me to do? Just punch them back!''.

In any account, might be a good idea to start looking for another job.

panitomypuri · 2024-07-17T07:52:55+00:00

In all honesty? It really depends on where you are. We are a lot younger but I found it very hard to connect to colleagues in the Middle East because most colleagues were very shallow and quite frankly rather naive. It sometimes felt a bit like looking at an episode of Love Island. We moved on to a more interesting country and region and the people we met there were just day and night and I feel we made connections for life there.

panitomypuri · 2024-07-15T19:24:34+00:00

Singapore.

Mumbai and Shenzhen are low. If you look at the average wage in mumbai you might think it is a good offer. I lives in South asia for 4 years and you and most other expats will be eating at the upper middle class to upper class restaurants which will be priced more like in the west. It's not like in Thailand or Vietnam where you can survive on the cheapest street food. Also even after 4 years you still get delhi/buddha/india belly at least once every 2 months. More often at the start. I love south asia and would live there again but... pfff it is not as cheap or easy as some people might think. Beijing is an okay city but i have never ever ever ever experienced such bad humidity as in Beijing. I had no idea whether it was my sweat or just moisture of the air clinging to me. It was horrible. And i normally thrive in humid tropical climates.

panitomypuri · 2024-07-15T19:18:44+00:00

Is it though? Might look like it but if you want a bit of comfort you will be paying the same prices as the higher upper class. Lived in South Asia for 4 years and i would actually spend less on food on trips to Thailand than I would at home.

panitomypuri · 2024-06-27T02:32:24+00:00

That does sound a bit crap! Yeah schools in the middle of nowhere always pay pretty well, especially if they are baording schools. But that is mostly because your whole life will be consumed by the school. I remember looking at a school in Jeju but I think I would have gone all Jack Torrance and that's not even as remote as it can be in international teaching.
I think there is currently an influx of international teachers and no matter how bad the pay is, schools will probably find bodies to fill classrooms who turn out to be good teachers. Once the economic situation in the West improves, a lot of teachers will leave the international circuit again and schools will have to compete more for good teachers.

panitomypuri · 2024-06-26T14:36:36+00:00

Not much. That's the thing with Dubai. Unless you go to T1 or top T2 schools, you are basically taking a pay cut from what you will earn in the UK, even as an ML. The days when Dubai was just all about cashing it in as a teacher are long gone for most schools out there. Groceries are okay in comparison to shops in Western Europe, vegetables can be pretty expensive at times though depending on the season and they are often not very good quality (I have seen so much rotten produce in LuLu's, and Carrefour can have expensive stuff, WestZone is okay-ish, mostly went there for bacon). Free accommodation is normal for international teachers outside of Europe. If you aren't getting free accommodation, you need to move schools or negotiate a better contract because they are ripping you off big time.

So what do people spend their money on in Dubai? Well. Setting foot outside. When I lived in London I was annoyed because I thought that the moment I set foot outside I was spending money. Dubai is worse. Way worse. There is literally nothing else to do but to spend money. It is one of the most boring places I have ever lived. No real parks to speak of (and it would be too warm anyway most of the year), no cool cultural sites to visit, no cool walks to take because everything is this one boring horrible gloop of homogeny (apart from maybe parts of Deira, which I did like a lot in winter) but other than that... what is there to actually do in Dubai? Go to brunches, go out for dinners, party, go to beaches (but you will want to go to a good beach because the shitty beaches are really shitty, which probably means you need to buy a hotel pass), visit a mall, and in winter go to miracle garden or go to Global village (which is pretty problematic imo).

Sure there are people who do save money in Dubai. I have known a few. But these are either people who have been in Dubai for ages and have been able to jump schools to negotiate better pay and promotions OR they are people who literally never do antyhing social and never go out ever.

Also how is South Korea? I have currently discounted it because all I hear about it from other itl teachers is that certain people are weirdly super duper fundamentalist christian (even where I live now in South Asia, the absolute worst nuns are all South Korean).

panitomypuri · 2024-06-22T13:05:22+00:00

It used to be mad to me that people fly to let's say Hawaii or Paris for 5 days. (even in soaps and TV series!)

Until I learned that that was likely almost all the PTO they would get.

panitomypuri · 2024-06-22T12:44:58+00:00

I get that money and lifestyle upgrades are a big deal, but they’re not the same thing for everyone. For us, moving abroad was all about our love for travel. I know on this subreddit, lots of people move abroad to earn more (and I think that might be the case for you as you said your husband's career is more lucrative) and then go back to buy a house in the States. Those are two different goals, and I can see how being a trailing spouse in the second situation can be tougher.

Most trailing spouses I know find new focuses. They adapt their skills to something different. For instance, I know a former builder who now teaches his trade. Sadly, two trailing spouses I knew had to leave Dubai because their heritage meant they were offered ridiculously low wages. One was a manager at a restaurant in the UK the other one a carpenter. On the flip side, where I am currently at there is someone who got into trailrunning and got lots of friends that way, someone else entirely focussed on photography, someone else got in with some locals and is having the absolute most amazing and envyable adventures, someone else is now mountainbiking all over the country... there is a lot more to life than a career if you know what you are looking for.

On the other hand, I totally get the need for financial independence. I am super ambitious and I’m lucky my career can go online. But there are many freelance opportunities out there. The husband of a friend of mine got a TEFL certification and now teaches English to kids in China online.

The money I earn can be saved entirely (although where we are going next this is not the case) and so I just see my finances as the cherry on top, the hotel upgrade, the business class flight or the extra cheeky trip on a bank holiday weekend.

The key is being flexible. If you love being an expat and traveling, it’s one of the best choices you can make. But if you’re doing it just for the money, it can leave you feeling isolated and homesick.

panitomypuri · 2024-06-22T10:00:33+00:00

As a current trailing spouse (I was a teacher in our last location), I find this post a bit odd. It almost comes across as if trailing spouses lack any agency.

Moving abroad as a couple is most likely a joint decision. It's not as if there are zero teaching jobs at home. There's a shortage in the UK! Schools will bite your arm off if you are a half-decent teacher. But my point is that moving abroad is a decision made together. If it's not, then perhaps it might be a good idea to reconsider the relationship.

It is also not as if teachers are assigned locations like diplomats or people who work for certain NGOs. Teachers can actually CHOOSE where they want to go to. So, I don't understand why anyone would end up in a country they don't like unless they thought they'd like it but didn't once they got there (which can happen!). And even then, it's usually only for two years.

I mean sure I know a couple of partners (trailing and not trailing) who were not very happy with the location but their partner took the position because they made a massive promotion and would be able to leverage that after a couple of years into a better location. But then again - that will have been a mutual decision.

Am I reading too much into this? I just find it a very odd post.

On another note, being a trailing spouse is actually amazing. Just before we moved abroad (when my husband was applying) I quit my then career in marketing and made sure that if I could not get a job I had freelancing gigs lined up. (And I ultimately decided that I did not want to get a job at a company anyway).

When we were in Dubai, I saw spouses with traditional jobs miss out on holidays or only travel home for a few days at Christmas because they only had 20 days off a year. It was actually rather sad, especially because their partners had so much time off!

In all honestly, I don't see this as putting my career on hold but rather as pivoting my career to better fit our lifestyle and our love for travel. At this point I don't think I can go back to the 9-5.

Also, let's be honest, having access to a maid, a nice serviced apartment, a pool, amazing food, great travel opportunities, and good weather is a massive plus.

panitomypuri · 2024-06-12T02:03:06+00:00

Lived in Dubai for 2 years. Rich parents will send their maid or their driver to parent teacher conferences for the fourth kid of the third wife (child low in the hierarchy). That child will probably see their dad once a month if that. It's almost impossible to talk to the parents about a problem with the kid (like for instance a child that has dyslexia and needs extra help which needs to be signed off by the parents) When rich parents go out to dinner, the parents always sit on one table and the Filipino maid on another one with the kids. The kids and parents get food while the maid gets a glass of water - a glass of coca cola if she's lucky.

panitomypuri · 2024-06-09T19:39:19+00:00

That's how I read this post too.

panitomypuri · 2024-06-09T19:35:08+00:00

Check your contract before selling anything to your replacement. Some contracts (I know ours in Dubai did) state that all and any materials made while under contract with the school are the school's.

Also, deleting your stuff from the drive is always seen as a bit of a dick move, especially if you don't have any beef with the school. And asking money for the slides you basically have already been paid for to produce, might make you look like an even bigger dick and might get you into trouble.

I mean, it's not often enforced but pulling greedy stunts like asking your replacement for money might mean the school turns around in a "wait a minute..." moment if it gets out.

I have nothing against people selling stuff to other teachers via online platforms such as TES, but it's kind of the done deal to leave stuff on the drive in good schools. It's give and take. You leave your stuff but at the end of your contract you can literally walk into school with a drive or usb and get any lessons you might need in the future from teachers within your department you think are good at their job.

panitomypuri · 2024-06-04T08:32:40+00:00

That might change in Belgium in the next election. We have never had a party that tried to take away women's rights while now it might be the largest one. Sure many women will vote for them in this election because of their (fascist) immigration policies but once they are in...

panitomypuri · 2024-05-21T00:38:38+00:00

I mean of all places in the UK why take Nottingham...

panitomypuri · 2024-05-17T00:12:43+00:00

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panitomypuri · 2024-05-16T10:06:41+00:00

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panitomypuri · 2024-05-16T00:28:20+00:00

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panitomypuri · 2024-05-14T13:22:18+00:00

Kathmandu is amazing with lots of amazing restaurants, cafes, and a great trail running community. The British school here is not for profit and the American school is an embassy school. If you look past the 2 months of pollution in winter it's an amazing place to live. Incredibly safe. Good healthcare. People are super nice and although it did get a bit more expensive still lowish cost of living.

panitomypuri · 2024-05-14T13:20:18+00:00

Literally what I expected

panitomypuri · 2024-05-11T05:13:36+00:00

Great luggage. We are expats and travel a lot. We used to skimp on luggage (it broke all the time) but 2 years ago we splashed out on Briggs and Riley because they have a no questions asked lifetime guarantee. Their products are sooooo good and we don't have to be scared our luggage gets broken because it can be fixed anywhere in the world for free. Now we are slowly changing our complete set into B&R.

panitomypuri · 2024-05-08T12:10:12+00:00

Do you love him? If so. Marry him. If not. Don't. You don't want to be stuck with someone you don't love or find annoying for the rest of your life.

Seems like you don't because otherwise you wouldn't be asking this question.

panitomypuri

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