Dog eat dog

I miss Kenya. I have started the job search again and today went to visit a school. It was a quick reminder to me of what it is like to work in England, and all that I think is wrong with the way things are done.

Before I went to the school I already had the application pack, I was quite looking forward to visiting what looked like a nice school to work in. I wasn't disappointed when I arrived, the staff were all friendly and smiling and welcoming even though they have probably already had lots of prospective applicants come looking around. As we went on our tour of the school we stopped off in one of the infant classes and there teaching was one of the girls from my year in college! I said hello and she asked how I was and it was all very brief because she was in the middle of teaching a lesson and I was in the middle of a tour. Then as we stepped back out of the classroom the head teacher said how that teacher (the one that I knew) was on a temporary contract and the job that was advertised was for possibly that class, though if the best teacher that they interview is key stage 2 then there would be a move around and they would go into the juniors and someone else would move down to fill the key stage 1 class. Immediately I went from feeling happy about the place to feeling decidedly uneasy. Who deserves the job? The girl who has been teaching there all year already and is probably very good at what she does, or another teacher to be chosen on the basis of an interview?

The problem as I see it is that there are too many teachers for schools to choose from, as a result, they are able to give a temporary contract one year and then the next year hedge their bets and advertise externally again instead of making permanent the teacher they already have. I lost my job as a result of this way of doing things last year, and I'm reluctant to be party to another school doing the same to someone else this year, particularly when I know the teacher they are doing it to. Is that the kind of school I want to work in? The problem lies in that all schools do it, and that I need a job. Somewhere along the line am I going to be the one that steals a job from someone else who probably should have it over me just because I perform better on interview day? I don't like it.

Is it the best way of employing people? I doubt it. Surely such an approach only serves to keep your workforce unsure of their jobs and forever fretting about losing it to someone more qualified/cheaper/more outgoing/with music skills/with sports skills/add in another level of expertise here.

Will I apply to the school now? Probably not. Will it make the blindest bit of difference to the chances of the girl that I know getting a job that I think she deserves? Probably not.