School Politics

Dancing with coordinators

Sometimes it's better to keep teaching colleagues at arm's length

1st February 2012

The next term is fast approaching and many schools have job openings. Have you decided to apply to another school and look for a new teaching job because you have some conflict with your coordinator? If you don't plan to leave then how do you handle the conflict?

Teaching unions

Why isn’t there protection for foreign teachers in the form of teaching?

1st October 2009

When things go wrong, and they invariably do in any organisation where employees and employers reside without any form of arbitration, whom do you turn to for help? Who can negotiate for you and help you to ‘walk the walk’ and tread the fine line between demanding your rights and avoiding insulting your hosts?

Problems at your school

There are always problems where you work

15th January 2008

So there are 25 things wrong with your teaching job? Actually there are 25 things wrong with every teaching job - you just pray they don't all happen on the same day. As Phil explains, it's the way you handle these often 'minor inconveniences' that will make or break your time in Thailand.

Naive and ignorant

6th July 2007

So, who thinks that all western teachers can teach with the same standards, convictions and work ethic? Do you think that someone with degrees in education can’t teach more proficiently than someone with a degree in engineering?

Hubris vs humility at the helm

Why I decided that enough was enough

2nd August 2006

The Thai members of staff to whom I regularly voiced my concerns about the very visible slowing, sometimes even reverse pace, of the program’s progress, always said give it time. So I did. For a year, from the time our four deputies were very ceremoniously replaced, I waited and hoped something good would happen.

We don’t learn like that!

Arrogance at the top and the politics of language schools

1st July 2006

I realize that many language schools have a huge problem listening to their teachers, especially the native English teachers. It's as if they want us to shut up and tow the party line; don't rock the boat; don't try to fix things. How is anything suppose to change for the better in an atmosphere like that? It's not enough for many language schools to tell us what to teach; they also feel they need to tell us what to think. It's their way or the highway.

Making your mark

How to 'get along' with your school

1st February 2006

We have discussed the lead up to the job, so now let’s talk a bit about what a teacher can do at work to merit a passing grade or better with his or her students, colleagues and the administration