Trees or a forest?

GC has written another blog for us to enjoy, this time about working in a toxic environment.

Sometimes we do allow few to ruin our experience and we should look past the 'trees' and see the entire forest.

Another thought was that if the school does not allow you to speak to anyone in the school during interview/decision making time.....this is when the warning bells start going off.....

Great thoughts here:

Are you working in a ‘toxic’ international school?

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find out if your new International school has a ‘toxic’ work environment or not. Unless you have previous school contacts or can contact existing staff, you will likely arrive at your new school unaware of its ‘toxicity’. School review websites may also give you an idea, but how do you know it wasn’t the ‘toxic’ person writing the review?

Of course, it will take you several months to realise if your new school has a negative atmosphere or not. As in life, you should never judge a book by its cover and wait a while before making judgements on your work colleagues, management and the school as a whole.

The international teaching circuit, from my experience, can have difficulties in recruiting the staff and management for schools. In any business or organisation, the quality of product or service is only as good as the people who create or deliver it. International schools are no exception. So, when poor recruitment decisions have been made, this can allow negative, and unproductive personnel into the work environment. These people, will slowly begin to affect their colleagues, the school systems and unfortunately educational standards of the school and students. What is challenging for new and experienced international teaching staff, is the fact that you may have travelled thousands of miles and moved yourself and your family to a new country, culture and school. It’s then not that easy to reverse the process. The financial and emotional investment can make it difficult for you go home.

As I mentioned previously, recruiting the right staff is key. However, this appears to be quite problematic. International schools are recruiting staff from countries with questionable education standards and qualifications. They also seem to want to focus on recruiting staff with PhDs rather than qualified teachers. There also appears to be a problem in checking references to ensure that the school has not recruited a ‘fraud’. This then begins to create a mixture of staff that have different agendas and objectives. ‘Toxic’ teachers and managers are fully aware that once they have their contract, it will take time and effort to remove them from their role. These ‘toxic’ personnel know that once they secure one position, it is quite easy to secure the next position.

How do you know that your school is ‘toxic’? Well, it will take time to get to know the people you work with and the culture of the school. Of course, ‘toxic’ people are not wearing signs around their neck promoting their ‘toxicity’. They are also quite manipulative and clandestine. Teaching is a pressurised job, and we as teachers are not always walking around with a smile on our face. But, if you are noticing unhappy or demotivated colleagues, particularly in staff meetings, then this may indicate problems. Also, if teachers are constantly moaning, then this would be a clear sign. Gossiping and underhand behaviour will become apparent, even though it may take time to realise. People who you thought were helpful and supportive may not have (actually) been that.

So, if you find yourself working in this ‘toxic’ international teaching environment, what should you do? Well, you could always leave, but this is probably unrealistic; it won’t reflect well on you or your next application process and will cost you financially.

You could confront the ‘toxic’ people, but this may be quite challenging, a waste of your time and play into their hands. Don’t forget, these people enjoy the attention. My advice would be to not get too familiar with your colleagues. This may not sound particularly friendly, especially as they are your colleagues, and you circle of friends outside of the school is zero.

However, relationships should develop honestly and naturally, but in the weird gold fish bowl of an international school, friendships and relationships can often be forced. Give it time, focus on your teaching and never engage in negative or petty gossip, no matter if you believe that you have some moral right to do so.

For the first few months, focus on your teaching and enjoying the world and environment outside of your school environment. You can control how much you allow ‘toxic’ people into your life. However, you must be aware that they exist first. Ultimately, if you can avoid the ‘toxic’ folk and get on with your job, but you still want to leave, then that’s when you can begin to find another position, if you wish. Or hopefully, your positive and aware attitude to reduce ‘toxicity’ could begin to reduce these toxic’ levels and ultimately create a more positive attitude in the school.

Good luck and be aware of ‘toxic’ folk!

GC