Job Discussion Forums

[meyanga]

Happy New Year everyone!

I have been teaching English for nearly 15 years in various different countries. I have an MA History, Trinity Cert TESOL, Trinity LTCL Diploma (with Distinction) and am 2/3 the way through a PhD in Applied Linguistics. So what's my problem????

I am a single mum with two kids age 7 and nearly 9. I need to find a job that pays sufficiently to allow me to put my children to an international school. I have been doing some research but wondered if any of you knew which schools/universities etc in China might be able to offer this.

Malaysia, for example, has reasonable salaries and affordable int schools, but a lot of weekend work. Hong Kong, has good salary, but schools are really expensive.

I have worked in Arab countries before and ideally would like to avoid them just now.

If any of you have any ideas about schools/jobs/locations that I might be overlooking in my search, I would be really grateful.

Many thanks

[auchtermuchty]

The only way it is possible is if you work at the International School itself. I would look for new schools opening in 2nd tier cities where the schools have a problem getting enough native speaking kids (they may have loads of kids from other Asian countries, which is not good for their marketing). They are often enthusiastic about teachers with kids. They may not be so enthusiastic about the single mum thing but it is worth a go.

[meyanga]

Thanks for that - I will certainly look into it. Re my shameful single mum status - I am not actually divorced from my children's father - do you think it would be worth just saying that he works somewhere else and that we visit in the holidays or something?

[auchtermuchty]

I think the schools would wonder more about how dedicated you would be to the job. But yes, if asked, you might just say your husband is working elsewhere.

I suggested 2nd tier cities, but I guess it is also worth looking at Beijing and Shanghai, too. One problem, though, is that the non-PGCE ESL positions tend to be local hires.

[meyanga]

Why would they wonder about how dedicated I would be to the job?

Perhaps China isn't for me. With a BC position in Malaysia I could manage to pay school fees, not much left over, but certainly enough. Or maybe it does just have to be back to somewhere in the Middle East....the search continues...

Many thanks for the advice

Meyanga

[WLamar]

[meyanga]

Will check it out...many thanks

[Non Sequitur]

PMd you

[jg]

No. I wouldn't subject my kids to the pollution if I were you, the effects on young lungs would be horrendous. I have been back in the states for 4 months now and i still have lasting effects. Also, international schools are quite expensive, and food quality is another urgent issue.

I have several Chinese friends who are trying mightily to get their kids out of China, even if it means sending them to live with relative strangers, just to escape the pollution. All their kids are 13 and younger, and they are desperate. The situation is bad, pollution (air, water, food, soil) is at scary levels.

I lived in China from 2003 - 2006, and then I went back for 9 months last year. The difference in levels of pollution was surprising. I formerly would laugh, sneer even, at people who were so alarmist about the pollution. I now feel that my previous attitude was cavalier, and thinking about the hacking cough I have developed, I don't know if I will ever go back for more than a vacation. I don't scare easily, but the lingering effects of the cough I developed have me slightly worried. It's one thing for a grown adult to make their own choice to come, but for kids? That's a tough one.

Again, I base all this on my experiences and those of my friends with kids, all of them Chinese. Their level of concern and fear is what is most sobering for me, sorry to sound as if I am trying to rain on any parade.

[thatsforsure]

Jg, I don't disagree with you on the pollution, but I think there's more than meets the eye with those parents. Chinese people have always been like that, or at least for the last 150 years, and that's why the Chinese diaspora is now so huge and far-reaching. It's a face-building exercise, it gives them a chance at a retirement payday and for whatever reason, it's just a trendy thing to do in Chinese culture. If the air quality became pristine tomorrow, I doubt the number of parents looking to send their kids overseas would decrease in any significant way.

[muffintop]

[thatsforsure]

There are many issues, although they're not necessarily what a Westerner might think they are. The ones we might name (desire for political freedom, safety and integrity) are not necessarily the ones they see. They usually have a vague sense that their kids can have a "better" life or be "rich" in a Western country. And it's also just a culturally established "good" thing to do at this point. so yeah, easier just to blame it on pollution. I don't think that's the real reason at all, though, because for the most part they're use to it and don't notice it any more than a fish notices the water. I don't see the Japanese leaving Tokyo because of fear of earthquakes.

[jg]

I wouldn't make the comparison between earthquakes and pollution because earthquake frequency and severity doesn't increase due to development. Earthquakes have the aura of an "beyond anyone's power" act, whereas pollution has gotten measurably worse and is directly correlated to tangible things. Remember, Chinese people above the age of 25 have seen marked changes in their lifetime, whereas most foreigners are measuring life in China in years, not decades. Imagine the fright you might feel having grown up in the midwest of the US, and in recent years coming to learn that much of the rich soil for which the midwest was famous for was now toxic, and that the Mississippi, Colorado, and Missouri rivers are all horribly befouled. 16,000 dead pigs floating down the Rio Grande, the horror!

I know there are people who are desperate to get out of China no matter what the cost, but IMO there is a new class of people who have an acute sense of helplessness at the increasing levels of pollution. If you only have one child, and your future is directly tied to his fortunes, you will get him out ASAP if you can.

If you read Chinese at all, or understand much of it, take a gander at the news, weibo, etc.

[Non Sequitur]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11188605
I know we're getting away from OP here but an off topic on reasons Chinese give for wanting out would be good.
My beef about Chinese coming to my country is that an act that should be aspirational is in fact exploitational.
80% of the stoppages at the border for bringing in bio-hazards are of returning resident Chinese.
Stoppages of banned substances through air freight and mail are predominantly to/from Chinese.
They also strip mine beaches for shellfish and take way over bag limits as well as undersize ones.
'Please let us come to your beautiful country and escape the pollution that is killing us and we'll turn it into the shithole we want to leave'.
Don't often vent, but there it is.

[thechangling]