Job Discussion Forums

[james s]

Nesbitt have the same experiences with the korean schools and while you do earn more per month, you must work like a crazy man (in comparison with every job that I have had in my life, home and here).

At the end of the day, exhausted and worn out, not able to enjoy life, I felt the 14000 was not worth it.

When I went back to the old way, pt ing, earnings were far greater and time...I had time to live. You enjoy your Korean school in China.

I will never again.

Once burned shame on you. Twice burned shame on me.

[John Nesbitt]

On the contrary James

At my first school I started classes at 8:20 am and often didn't finish until 6:00 pm. I was teaching 8 levels of English as a Second Language and finishing my lesson plans and marking papers on my lunch breaks, in the evenings and on weekends. At half the pay.

At KIS, under the new mangement with new the Australian Principal, classes begin at 8:20 am and finish at 3:35 pm. One day a week we have a 45 minute staff meeting to discuss student progress and other items. The staff meetings have never gone longer than the scheduled 45 minutes. I am home most days (with the exception of the staff meeting) by 4:00 pm.

I teach ESL, English Literature and History and I have 24 - 45 minute classes a week. I have enough spares that I can complete my lesson plans, prepare course material and mark all papers and exams during office hours. I rarely have to do any work in the evening or on the weekends.

KIS is a full English Immersion programme with a unique ESL support programme.

I find the new programme refreshing and rewarding.

We have experienced considerable success in four months under this new system and our enrollment has more than double.

* We have students that couldn't speak English when they started in March 2007 that can (after only 4 months) engage in high level English conversations re world events, sports, the environment, etc.
* I have students that could only write one sentence answers in March that can now write 300 to 500 word essay answers on their exams.

John Nesbitt

[SnoopBot]

[John Nesbitt]

Yes SnoopBot,

It really is a great place to work. We have a tight knit group of teachers and being a small school we really get to work with the students and are actually achieving something.

John Nesbitt.

[SnoopBot]

[Lannister]

I thought I'd chime in and give an update about the Shanghai Korean School, since the last poster based his observations on what happened three years ago.

I was in the batch of teachers that came to work there right after he and his compatriots quit en masse, and the fact that I'm still here should give you an indication that is has apparently improved since he left. I actually have class quite shortly so I'll keep this brief and sweet.

Note: I work in Primary, and we have a very low teacher turnover because the kids at that age are much nicer than in secondary. I'm not sure what happens to the kids here when they turn 13 (well, outside the obvious), but they develop a wicked superiority complex (possibly related to living in a country where your parents consider themselves superior to the natives) and have no desire to work at all. But Primary is nice.

Benefits:
1: Excellent salary for China. Shanghai is expensive, but the 20,000 rmb a month salary goes a fair ways even here.
2: Paid holidays. Around 3 months paid holidays a year.
3: Standard teaching schedule - Mon-Fri, 8:30-4:00. No weekend, night obligations.
4: In Primary we have a friendly, dedicated staff.
5: Reasonable class load - 19/20 40 minute periods a week.
6: Kids are nice; though sometimes a bit rambunctious, there is no malice.
7: Shanghai is a cool place.

Negatives:
1: Pollution. Shanghai is not a clean place, though other areas of China are far worse (like Beijing)
2: The school is far removed from the city center. I commute over 1 hour one way each day to get here. Have to wake up at 6:25 to make it to school.
3: Parents have far too much clout at the school, and they foul things up. Administration has no spine. (as mentioned before, the 'no failing students', the general kow-tow to parents in any substantive matter)
4: Lots of vacation time but distributed poorly. Massive 6 week winter vacation does not include Christmas or New Years.

Overall a positive experience. I think some of the original poster's problems have either been cleared up or are isolated in the secondary school.