Job Discussion Forums

[happyc]

'people start to act in relation to the freedom of power an environment gives them - prehaps in certain circumstances there is too much freedom here!!!!!'
Vikak; I think you have it spot on. I looked up that research project; definitely food for thought. It will be very interesting to see how they (Admin) handle teaching back here in Australia on their return!
'Chinahopeful'- I actually heard about the job (at Yew Chung) through work colleagues here in Australia. As mentioned earlier- keep in mind the pay may be good- but is it worth it?! I have now been back in Oz for 2 years and have successfully applied for leave from Jan. 2007- really looking forward to another o/s 'stint'!
I don't have another position lined up yet- though have been getting a few 'nibbles'. I think one of the best ways to find work is go to a search engine and simply type in the key words 'international school
country name '. Most schools have job vacancies listed on their websites.
Dubai has quite a large number of international schools and the pay is FANTASTIC- as you are probably already aware. Moscow is another option- few are aware of great pay/conditions over there.
Work colleagues have been warning me that many of the International Schools have been lowering their wages over recent years. Maybe due to living conditions no longer being so intolerable/more teachers are willing to work in these countries?! Just guessing here.
Good luck!

[happyc]

Sorry 'Chinahopeful'- forgot to mention most contracts are 2 years.
Here are a couple of links to Chinese International Schools which I have heard are reputable- though I'm sure some may not agree!
www.isb.bj.edu.cn
www.dulwichcollege.cn
www.bishanghai.com

Even if they have no positions currently listed; send your cv in regardless- I know when Yew Chung required new staff they didn't advertise- just asked for word of mouth referrals.
There are some very dodgy schools in China (as I'm sure you have read through discussion boards!)- so keep up the research!!

[Steppenwolf]

Why should anyone get jealous of the original poster? He or she has studiously avoided answering some pertinent questions - such as what is he or she going to teach?
H/she surely isn't going to teach oral English, and he/she will have to deliver much more than what you have to in a regular mainland Chinese school setting.

Teaching in Hong Kong for example required that I teach to a British exam, not one you could design by yourself.

That put a lot of extra pressure on the teacher that most oral English teachers could not absorb.

[wailing_imam]

I too get paid a sensible overseas salary too, paid into an overseas bank account. It's nice earning a little more money and getting the benefits.

However, I have done this before in China and found that I was working three times harder than those on the 4500RMB salary, and was expected to look better (not wear baggy jeans and baseball cap into class) and deal with a lot more. I had to be very independent and got very little support from the school whose students I was teaching.

Then again, this independence can be a blessing because the 4500RMB teachers were given a lot of nonsense from the staff and generally treated fairly awfully.

[happyc]

Wailing_Iman- your experience in China sounded very similar to mine! We also had to dress very well and had to work extremely hard- with minimal Admin support- if any! The school certainly more than got their monies worth out of us! We had Chinese co-teachers who were paid about 4500RMB per month (and made it very clear they weren't happy about this). They were very polite and worked very hard but were still treated like 'inferior beings' by a number of staff. They had a very high staff turn-over, which was no surprise.
If you took into account the number of hours worked (not even considering the extra stresses put on by Admin), I am on a much better wage in Australia. Saying that, I loved living in China and the students were absolute joys to teach!

[Sgt Killjoy]

I think the key is that many of us don't go abroad to get rich, we go abroad for the experience of it. Life gets in the way and money does become an issue, but all we really want is a caring employer who pays us a reasonable wage on time and doesn't give us too much BS.

[happyc]

Sgt Killjoy- I agree many of us do go for the experience, though unfortunately money certainly does factor in as you mentioned (paying off a house, enjoying my 'vino' and needing travelling money). In retrospect, I wish I could have quit within the first year as I would have preferred to work for a lower wage and had an employer who actually cared. I always say to people happiness and health are more important than anything... but fully admit I didn't heed my own words. Oh well, lesson learnt for my next sojourn o/s.
ps; thanks also for the web links- going to check them out now!

[Steppenwolf]

The travelling types are not the guys that want the experience; they want to prolong their university days and get paid for it. The Chinese side has seldom allowed them to fool them; they hire white rfaces not for teaching purposes but for marketing reasons. No wonder many FTs feel abused; they ARE being abused but they are also abusing this system which allows them to enjoy holidays in a foreign country.

[happyc]

_________________
Steppenwolf- just asking for clarification- you mentioned 'travelling types are not the guys that want the experience; they want to prolong their university days and get paid for it'... what 'experience' are you talking about- teaching experience/cultural experience...?
I certainly love travelling and experiencing different cultures, and will be quite open and honest that's one of the many reasons why I work o/s, other reasons include my enjoyment in learning about different educational systems/curriculums, etc... and it has certainly made me a better teacher. I am way past my Uni days- too old for going through THAT experience again!
I was hired simply because the (generally) Western expat community would like to have their children recieve a 'Western education' by a qualified and experienced 'Western' educated teacher. I never saw anything more to it than that at the school I was employed.