I think that it is very wrong when my hard working, dedicated and professional South African colleagues are criticised because they do not have English accents. I also think that it is wrong when parents are working in an international environment, but then they expect that their children only to be taught by teachers who have B.B.C. English accents. I also think that it is very wrong for teachers to be judged simply on their accents, rather than on the other skills and talents that they can offer to their school and to their pupils. I also think that it is very wrong when the management of Park House School is slandered, when in fact it is probable that they have tried to hire the best teachers that were available.
I am not assuming that the parents of my pupils are always talking in English to their children. I know that, for many of the parents of my pupils, English is not their first language. I do not have a problem with that, but perhaps Karen does. You, howewever, seem to assume that it is very easy for Park House (or any other school in Doha) to hire properly qualified teachers from England. The fact that Park House has hired some South African teachers suggests that this is not really so easy.
In your post you mentioned that parents are paying a "very expensive fee for an English school". I do not know where you get this idea from, as there are no English schools in Qatar. All of the schools that I know of employ teachers from all over the world and, on the whole, the pupils certainly are not "English". At my school, Newton International, there are teachers from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and probably from other countries as well. The school is supposed to follow the English National Curriculum, but in fact the English National Curriculum does not include Islamic Studies and Arabic. If Karen wants to send her child to a truly Englih school, then it follows that the logical thing to do is for her to send her child to a school in England. If you think that this it is very wong or unprofessional of me to say this, well, you are entitled to your opinion.
I think that it is very wrong when my hard working, dedicated and professional South African colleagues are criticised because they do not have English accents. I also think that it is wrong when parents are working in an international environment, but then they expect that their children only to be taught by teachers who have B.B.C. English accents. I also think that it is very wrong for teachers to be judged simply on their accents, rather than on the other skills and talents that they can offer to their school and to their pupils. I also think that it is very wrong when the management of Park House School is slandered, when in fact it is probable that they have tried to hire the best teachers that were available.
I am not assuming that the parents of my pupils are always talking in English to their children. I know that, for many of the parents of my pupils, English is not their first language. I do not have a problem with that, but perhaps Karen does. You, howewever, seem to assume that it is very easy for Park House (or any other school in Doha) to hire properly qualified teachers from England. The fact that Park House has hired some South African teachers suggests that this is not really so easy.
In your post you mentioned that parents are paying a "very expensive fee for an English school". I do not know where you get this idea from, as there are no English schools in Qatar. All of the schools that I know of employ teachers from all over the world and, on the whole, the pupils certainly are not "English". At my school, Newton International, there are teachers from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and probably from other countries as well. The school is supposed to follow the English National Curriculum, but in fact the English National Curriculum does not include Islamic Studies and Arabic. If Karen wants to send her child to a truly Englih school, then it follows that the logical thing to do is for her to send her child to a school in England. If you think that this it is very wong or unprofessional of me to say this, well, you are entitled to your opinion.