i went to this conference yesterday and today. you have to know that since i've moved to my new country of adoption, i've felt like i was on another planet, professionally speaking. the school system, regulations, education, research, problems, everything is different here and it's been interesting to learn how things work but i've felt very isolated too (and i've talked to several people in the field of TESOL who, when they left the US, felt the same. TESOL/ESL is a very US-centered field). plus i'm not working in my "area of expertise," which has been a constant worry since i didn't know if i should keep my old research topics or start anew with something related to my current job.
after talking with two important people at the conference (one from here and one from the US who knows exactly where i come from), here's the conclusion: i'll keep working on the stuff i know best, try to integrate some "sellable" stuff into my current job in case i want to go back to my old field some day, and look for another job in a year if things don't improve.
this is going to be tough because i feel very "removed" from my old "world." issues that were issues before are no longer issues here. i work in a different context that doesn't care about no child left behind or TESOL or TQ or english only or ... i work in a country where esl is seen as nothing more than "last resort help for people who can't survive without it and that we can't kick out at least not yet because they bring too much money in." i work at a school where we can't teach an esl course because it would lower the prestige of the university and so we have to call our course by a different name and also teach other things than esl skills and accept students who don't need esl help in our course in order to have the right to have a course for esl students. i am so sad for this school and for this country.
if i look for a job, though, it will be in this country, i don't want to go back to the US, even if i miss the professional environment a lot, and i mean A LOT. i certainly don't miss a certain president...
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Maybe things are very different in other universities in Canada... I do not know for you, and it differs a lot depending on the fields, but in my own field the university where you are is not even on the map (in terms of research) because it is considered a teaching school - there nothing bad to it but when I got an offer last year I was told to think twice before accepting and to decide whether I wanted to do real research in the future or not. The teaching side is also veeeery different and although it is the same field, the philosophy behind the teaching is veeeeeery different. All I try to say is: in my field, one could not draw conclusions about Canada just by spending a few month in this university, because there is a world of difference between there and here... Now that you have been around for some time, do you think you could find the work environment you are missing elsewhere in Canada? or is it reaaly different everywhere in Canada and in the US?
musarde: it IS different in canada and in the us, but i've just talked with several people who have programs like the one i'm looking for. it's just that i thought i could try there, even though it wasn't really in my field, but i was made several promises that won't happen for real and i see that the differences between what i want to do and what i'm doing are just too big and i'm stuck. i WILL give it a try for another year, though, but that'll be it, and i don't want to lose sleep over it anymore. and my contract says 40% teaching and 40% research, so trust me, i AM supposed to do research!
Tough situation and I think your plan is the best given the situation. I did not mean that your university does not ASK you to do research, it is just that they were asking me 2 teaching loads more per year than any other university in Canada, PLUS research. So I talked with people from my field who started there and left after a while who said that given the teaching load and the amount of students, they could not do research... so the idea I got (and it is just based on a few conversations!) is that they want to gain legitimacy by having scholars that publish a lot, so they ask us to do research and promise the moon to attract good or promising researchers, but they keep asking for the same teaching loads (and service!) as when they were a real polytechnique or teaching school. I am glad I got this other offer because I would probably be stuck with teaching now (and very special teaching, different from what I do) with no time to do research... I do not have ANY service to do during the first year (I guess I will be paying for that next year ;) )
So again I think your plan is the best and it leaves you time to get to know the other local universities... so... maybe I'll see you around next year :)
Bon courage !
musarde: your analysis of the situation here is sadly very close to what's happening. the "promesses" were made to the six new hires in my department and we are all mad, now, because we realize why we were really hired (for our reputation, our research, etc.) and what we are now asked to do. very unfair. i've heard that they have serious problems of retention of new hires, here, and i know understand why a lot better!
by the way, i'm hoping to go to your new city soon, to talk to someone at that other university there (not yours, the smaller one, there's someone there i want to meet). will you be there sometime this winter?
I found a wonderful new appartment, I have it as of Dec 1st and will be moving in Dec 18th... if you are interested in some pics I can send a selection... :o) You are most welcome!
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