What would you do if your supervisor is making mistakes that will eventually be blamed on you?

Question

I tried to explain this to my dad, but he couldn't understand the situation. He was a principal for 20 years and never encountered anything like this! This is how it goes: We are 4 foreign teachers at a private school in Korea. We are asked to host an English Camp. We put everything together and at the last minute things get changed by the supervisor. The camp bombs and the kids are not happy. The pictures on the school website shows one teacher looking down, the other one laughing and me sitting down. This however not explained to the viewers. I'm sitting down, because I'm assisting another teacher doing a "restaurant class". The teacher looking down is using the computer to show a scene during a "movie class"! If the kids are happy, the parents are happy and now we look like the idiots that put it all together! The super changed all our plans and the computer teacher took a lot of shitty pics making us look bad! What would you do if you knew that both of them were IN for you as well?

The problem I have is that the principal thinks the world of our super and it must be some kind of crush he has on her. So everything she says is kinda seen as truth! What she will do, is say that we planned it and it bombed! And he will believe it because of his infatuation with her! This is a problem that seems to affect many other Korean teachers as well. He is old and will believe everything he hears. He is easily influenced by others and the teachers know it. Some use it to their advantage. But most just accept it, because it's very difficult to get rid of him even if he is senile! I'm truly worried about the kids and their education as well as the parents and their opinion!

Answer 1

If I were you I would start to build a case, find all the paperwork you can, every note she made or anything in writing that she did when making her changes.

Just keep it together until you have a chance to show it to a parents group to prove that its not your fault. Send copies to the headmaster and the person in charge of the area - the one above him.

Show it to anyone you can but be prepared to be really unpopular or even have to move your job if you do this because you are the outsider and all the rest will rally around her.

Answer 2

Jikes, Porgie!! Thats totally unfair.

I know one thing, I would not let him make me the scape goat, I would get together with some people and try to figure some way to make this work out or just make it better. You might just prove to everybody who really should get the blame.

Good Luck!!


Get some teachers together and go talk to him together in a group. I see no reason for him not to listen and do something about the situation......

Answer 3

I've had that happen before and it is a very tough situation to be in. I actually had my manager/owner of the franchise start cheating me on pay for hours I had worked. A different situation but I think the same solution. I called the franchise and asked them what someone should do without mentioning names. They told me to talk to his "consultant" at the franchise and have them discuss it with him. It worked out fine and I ended up getting back paid for all the hours he forgot to give me. Good Luck to you!

-Angie

Answer 4

that's a tough one..

Try asking yourself everytime you do something, how it looks to others looking in..

whenever your supervisor makes a change keep track of what the change was and when he did it.

try to find someone who is on your side and see if they can help you brainstorm to get out of this situation.. the more people on your side, the easier it is to cope with tough problems like that.

try to put yourself in their shoes to try to figure out why they are doing this.. maybe you can sympathize with them?

Answer 5

Bad one but happens to all of us outside there in the 'open'. To go and talk to them might be an option, but then, will it help?

Sorry about that mate! Best of luck there.