Ageism

The British Council claim to be an organisation that offers equal opportunities to everyone and practices no discrimination of any kind.  These are certainly very commendable ideals.  However, the reality in the workplace is often very different, particularly with regard to ageism.  And the British Council is no exception.

Most people would hope that as they got older the amount of respect they would get would increase.  It's a very natural human wish.  However, in reality, the opposite is often true, in that as we get older we find ourselves being increasingly marginalised, unless, of course, we have already attained a position of considerable power and influence. This is true particularly after the age of about 55.  Basically, if you haven't made it by then, you probably won't.

Of course, most ageism is not a conscious act of discrimination, but almost a law of nature.  Younger people always have and always will see older people as irrelevant to their goals, wants, needs, ideals and realities.  So it's quite natural this might extend to the workplace too.  If the dominant group are in or around their mid-thirties, as is typical in the British Council, older teachers may well get short changed in terms of their general treatment and opportunities for career advancement, senior positions being saved for younger teachers.  Although this may not be an intentional policy, and may be merely a subconscious process, it is nevertheless very real and frustrating for the recipients.  That is why the BC need more than just a passive non-discrimination policy.  They need to be positively proactive to make sure that older teachers get fair treatment.  A typical BC type of statement like "that wouldn't be fair on other teachers" (Krystine Joyce) just doesn't hold up.  Everyone is a unique individual with their own special needs.  Blanket statements such as the one above devalue our worth as human beings.  This also applies particularly to distinct categories of teacher, notably those over 50.

I myself experienced the full brunt of ageism on many occasions during my career with the BC.  The first time I noticed it was when I did my DELTA back in 2008.  I was one of the oldest people on the course and I noticed that I was consistently given a second rate treatment throughout.  It's well known that trainers are expected to fail a couple of people on the orientation course.  Cambridge try to avoid everyone passing, as they're keen to maintain their reputation for being tough and stringent.  Consequently, any trainer is looking for a couple of likely candidates to fail.  And who better than someone older?  It's so easy to present an older person as being not fully with it or being outdated in style and technique or just plain slow and cumbersome.  And indeed throughout the whole course I felt that I had been selected and was actually being groomed for failure.  I seemed to be passed over in almost every situation, practical or theoretical.  And, sure enough, I did duly receive a double fail.  In contrast, when I later switched to the Trinity, which is much more teacher friendly, I passed everything with flying colours and actually even got a couple of distinctions.

The event, though, that sticks out most in my mind was in Bahrain, when I applied for a coordinator position.  There were only three candidates, myself and two younger female teachers, both around the 30 mark.  I had been with the BC six years at that point and had even helped extensively in developing IELTS programmes.  I had also had my Trinity Diploma for over two years.  I was fully ripe to move up to the next level, but amazingly the job was offered to one of the two female teachers ahead of me.  Nice though she was, this lady hadn't even finished her first two year contract with the BC and had only just one month before completed her DELTA.   I can't actually prove it, but my gut feeling was that this was an age related decision.  They wanted someone younger and more malleable.  They simply didn't see me as someone they wanted to work with on their management team.

So what are the solutions to this kind of thing?  Well, I think the first is something I have mentioned in previous posts, that interviews need to be much more holistic, rather than being merely the competency based interview, which is far too easy to manipulate.  For example, I remember in my interview one of the managers giving me a ridiculously convoluted question, obviously designed to trip me up.  Secondly, the management needs proactively to encourage older people to take up management positions.  Usually they have so much more to offer in terms of experience and most importantly in people skills.  They can do this by advertising specifically to encourage that age group, and also by actually using line managers to suggest posts that would be suitable for them, i.e. really work energetically to get older teachers to apply for management posts.  Another way would also be to give them preference in the event of a tied interview.  There could also be special workshop sessions or events to highlight the value and contributions of senior personnel.  Finally, line managers for older teacher need to be chosen carefully.  Giving them hardliners 25 years their junior just isn't a good idea.  It needs to be someone who might be sensitive their overall life situation.  Mostly importantly, though, is that the BC needs to interview candidates in a proper holistic way, taking into account their overall strengths and achievements, as well as loyalty and commitment to the organisation.

It's extremely unlikely that any of this will happen, however.  In fact, on all my recent visits to the BC I have noticed just how few older teachers there are now.  If anything the BC seems to be moving towards a policy of youth first, presumably because they feel that kind of teacher is more marketable and more up to date with the latest technology.

To be honest, I think the British Council should abandon the notion that they are a fair and non-discriminatory organisation.  I would guess that it's because they're a registered charity that they still have to maintain those ideals, but in my opinion the teaching centres should no longer come under the charity umbrella, since they are now blatantly competing in the market place just like any other school and are only paying lip service to those ideals of non-discrimination.

Contracts and Legal Issues

Most teachers when they sign a contract probably don't even notice many of the legal features of their contracts.  Understandably, they're usually more concerned about their salaries and benefits, etc., and assume that there won't be any glitches in their employment.  And usually they're right.  Nevertheless, it's always unwise as a point of principle not to read any contract fully and properly before signing it. 

One of the most interesting features of British Council contracts for teachers is that they almost all are subject to the law of the country the teaching centre is in rather than UK law.  What this means is that if you do have a dispute with the British Council for any reason, it will have to be done in the local courts of the country you are or were employed in.  In my opinion, this is a clever device the BC use to avoid taking responsibility.  I'll explain below.

Firstly, there's simply the awkwardness and complexity of contesting in a foreign court or tribunal system.  Initially, there's the obvious problem of language, not to mention possibly completely different cultural values, as in Muslim states for example.  But, even more importantly, what if you have already left the country, as was my case?   Yet another point is what if your case spans two different centres, again exactly as it was in my case (Bahrain and Malaysia)?  Which court do you go to?  The sheer impracticality of bringing a sustained case against the BC leaves most potential complainants completely frustrated.

I feel this is particularly hypocritical of the BC, because anyone who works for them knows that there is almost complete uniformity across all centres with regard to values, standards, procedures and practices.  To all intents and purposes one teaching centre is pretty much like another, with exactly the same forms, procedures, structures and positions.  Even the contracts are worded the same.  Often even the same people.  The BC is clearly one organisation spanning several countries with the basic blueprint ultimately coming from London.  You can argue legal technicalities till you're blue in the face, but it won't change that basic truth at ground level. 

In my opinion, this truth should be reflected in any contract's jurisdiction, which should include London as well as the local courts.  This would enable anyone who felt they had a genuine grievance to choose and continue at their leisure, knowing they have the support of the home legal system to fall back on.  Ironically, it would also make it easier for the BC in the unlikely event that they themselves wanted to bring a case.

While on the subject of the BC as a global organisation, the BC now only recruits through their regional HQ.  For example, if you wanted to work in Thailand you would have to apply through Singapore.  They've been doing this for several years now.  To me this is more confirmation that the BC is one organisation and is becoming increasingly centralised, which again should be reflected in the contract's jurisdiction.  It's an incredibly grey area, and to me a contradictory one, in that the BC say they want local centres to be more autonomous, yet are shackling them with further centralisation.

Anyway, I certainly hope none of you readers will ever have occasion to be involved in a dispute, but if you are, do be warned how complex it will be.

Malcolm Jardine - Obituary

Dear All,

I only learnt recently of Malcolm's sad passing away last year.  I googled to see if I could find any formal obituaries but was unable to find one.  So I'd just like to make my own small offering here, however insignificant it may be.

Firstly, I think Malcolm was liked by almost everyone he worked with.  He may not have had great leadership skills, but he was certainly one of the most friendly and affable people you could ever hope to meet.  He was always someone you felt you could talk to about almost anything.  He was also a great public servant and had that attitude in whatever he did.  Considering he was actually a Country Director he was exceptionally humble.  In fact, perhaps too much so, in that he often allowed lesser people around him to dominate him.

He owed much of his success to his willingness to go to places where others were unwilling to go.  A great example of this was Afghanistan, which certainly took some guts.  Of course, he was very much at home in the Muslim world, as he converted to Islam at some point (I'm afraid I don't know the exact date).  I don't know whether he was Sunni or Shia, but he was certainly very pious and embodied most of the qualities a Muslim should.  Being a Muslim enabled him to integrate and function in the MENA region, notably in Bahrain, where he was always noted for his friendly and unpatronising communication with the local staff.

I'm sure he will be missed by his family and friends