Complaint Review: ISM Academy/International Quito Ecuador - Quito Nationwide

Your report is a matter of persepective. I survived two years. However, that being said I will attempt to give a balanced evaluation of both the good and bad. As with all inter-cultural experiences there is more than just a rosy or a ugly picture.

The Good.

Working for ISM is legitimately a cultural experience. The students are reasonable when compared to other crossections of Ecuadorian society. They work hard although they do sabatoge each other's work intentionally to get ahead of other students. Lost books, work or assignments are common.

The Admin works hard to please the parents.

Teachers have some access to resources such as posters and other school supplies that are provided for by the parents.

It is a partial English Language Immersion school. Only the upper grades have really good English teachers.

You will have a particulary Ecuadorian experience if you work here.

They often provide free housing and transport to work.

The Bad

They break immigration law. They encourage foreigners to come to the country with just a tourist visa or business visa. Neither of these visas are approved by Ecuadorian Law for work purposes. They also illegally transport foriegners to Columbia or Peru to "renew" the tourist Visa by having their victim leave the country leagally and then hide in the vehicle and then reenter Ecuador with out getting the victim/teacher's passport stamped. They then repeat this process in six months but in reverse to create the illusion of the teacher being out of the country for those six months to get another tourist visa... all while they are paying said teacher under the table and probably avoiding taxes.

They are unscrupulous.

They break Ecuadorian Labor Law. They have paid teachers with out filing the proper paper work.

They engage in preadatory business practices to eliminate teachers they want to get rid of. The value of human labor is incredibly low.

They don't have a cultural aclimation system. Their administrative staff is fully Ecuadorian in their manners... meaning in order to get what you may need as far as visas, days off, medical leave, and other essentials you will have to litterally be on them daily to make sure the work gets done in a timely fashion. (I say daily because that means weekly/daily when you are a busy teacher....)

They are prejudiced for foreigners teaching English. This means that if you are not very experienced they will have the expectation that you will be absolutely awesome! You better get really good a your job really fast to make sure those high expectations are met.

They are not a Christian school... (though they do try.) This is because though the lower elementary is taught with Christian Curriculum like Abeka, they also used a competing curriculum, Santillana (The Ecuadorian Public Curriculum) and this Curriculum teaches Evolution and Athism. The teachers are also a mixed bag of religions. Some are Protestant, Catholic, Atheist, Agnostic, Whatever... The requirements for employment are not religion by any stretch of the imagination.

They have a toxic teacher work environment. Gossip and lies were a way for teachers to sabatoge other's positions and take it for themselves. (Fostered by their unrealistic and unfortunate obession with having foreign teachers. This pits the Ecuadorians against the Foreigners because Ecuadorians reason that those jobs could have been theirs.)

The Administration doesn't communicate consistently with foreigners regarding Professional Development or Performance Improvement.

The Administration has never really had a fixed school calendar with things being done at the last minute with little thought or preparation prior to execution. The first days of school are usually a chaotic disaster.

The Culture

Ecuadorians do not communicate their cultural expectations very well... because... well... you are supposed to know it.

A portion of the population believes that "Expressiveness" and being loud is rude. (Specifically the way Americans, Australians and "Loud expressive peoples" communicate.) 

The Ecuadorian Bureaucratic culture is impenitrable. Corruption is common. Palanca (Political Leverage) is often how people get work and power. Nepotism is common. The working class has often been exploited by the rich.

Foreigners are targeted by theives because they are percieved to be rich. An I-phone is worth three months wadges.

Ecuadorians have a culture of living in the moment both at home and at work. This leads to a pretty chaotic work envornoment when new systems or schedules are introduced.

Ecuadorian Parents often manipulate their school Adiminstrators to get what they want. If you get on the good side of the parents you could work for any school almost indefinately. This puts Foreigners at an even greater disadvantage... because some are not proficient in Spanish.

 I am so sorry to read about your experience and really hope that you have found yourself in a good place for you now. Everyone's experience is different and in fairness to those of you doing your research about schools to teach at in Ecuador, I would like to offer the following about my experience as a foreign teacher at ISM International Academy. For me it was awesome. I learned so much about teaching and formed lasting friendships with students, other teachers and administrators. It is super hard work, as the writer has fairly stated. For sure teaching is challenging wherever you are, but teaching in a foreign country with all the layers added of a new culture, language, rules and economy, is especially challenging. Yet, I loved my experience not only because of the rigor of the challenge but also because it was real. I was truly immersed in another way of doing things. I noticed some foreign teachers who had difficulty often had expectations that things would run the same way they did in their country. First it is important to know that every school in Ecuador has to follow government regulations, which include, as the writer said, that failing students is very difficult. Yet by following very meticulous procedures the school can fail students when merited, a few cases of which I knew personally during my tenure there. I believe some foreign teachers have come from other foreign countries where they have been put on a pedestal by the school and the parents.

Expecting this same treatment at ISM will cause problems for you. This is not so in Ecuador, so do not expect it. You will work side by side with Ecuadorian teachers without any special treatment, which for me was the experience I was looking for. And in fact this was one of the best parts of my job - the community I had with the other teachers. It is a great privilege to become part of it. You mentioned the family ownership of the school, and surely there are downsides to all types of ownership, but something extremely positive at ISM is the sense of community and compassion they have cultivated from the top down, if you are open to it. I faced enormous personal challenges in my tenure at the school and their support for me was steadfast. ISM is not a religiously affiliated school, though their vision and mission indicate Christian values. For me, Christianity is an inside job, not something I expect from my environment. I have been in many environments that claim to be Christian but are not. Be the light, and you will find others that are too, and you will be able to combat the negative forces that will be present in any environment you are in, Christian or not.

I love this school, first for the students. These are not the rich elite of Ecuador. These are the middle class who you can really impact to make a change in their future, and lead them to opportunities they might not have had otherwise. I love the Ecuadorian teachers with an amazing work ethic and who have mastered some teaching techniques that I really admire and try to imitate. I love the administration which can surely be stern, yet totally nurturing too. They are not perfect, their procedures are not perfect, yet they have their heart in the right place and they are some very hard working people. I admire how they address both Ecuadorian government requirements and their own vision for the future. I admire their high standards and ongoing pursuit of excellence. ISM is in fact an IB school and has been for many years due to the IB Diploma Program. They have recently been in the process of getting certified for the IB Middle Years Program, which I believe is what the writer refers to. So my advice is if you want to chill out and travel with a little teaching on the side, this is not the place for you. If you want things to be run the way you think they should be run, this is not the place for you. But if you are looking for a true teaching challenge, an opportunity to make real friendships with Ecuadorians, experience the culture from the inside out, and engage with students that will challenge you but make your heart sing for a long time, then consider ISM.