Job Discussion Forums

[hoshi]

Hey everybody! Have any of you worked at an international school? I don't really know anything about them, but I've seen people refer to them in posts here.
You see, I'd really like to teach high school physics (in English) overseas. It seems like that might be a good way to do it, but I don't know whether it's worth it or even where to start.
Thanks in advance!

[markle]

[hoshi]

Seriously, try finding anything useful on "international schools" with the search function. I sure couldn't.

Again I ask: has anyone here taught at one? If so, how are they? How did you get the job?

[Glenski]

The search function comes up with whatever it can. Your luck will depend on what search terms you give it. Just "international schools" is not enough.

Did you try the FAQ sticky on job ads?
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=49577

Basically, the few people here who have posted about international schools all say that they pay more than eikaiwa, they often take couples, and they hire through job fairs like markle wrote (see internal link on the thread above).

I have been telling people that they require a teaching license from your home country plus a year or 2 of experience there, but I read on another forum that this may not always be the case. Confirm if you can.

Their calendar is usually based on a western one, so it starts in September, not April.

I have some PM information from a persion who wrote to me about international schools based on personal experience. PM me if you want to see it.

[G Cthulhu]

[ndorfn]

i work at a so-called international school, but everything other than english is taught in japanese. guess you might want to be aware that the term is used flexibly.

[Glenski]

[Alberta605]

I went round for dinner at the house of the chairperson of the PTA at an international school the other day. His son is a student there and is trying to get into a good university. His first language isn't English and his GPA isn't exactly sparkling. So his dad has all his common application essays written by a masters level native speaker and also intends to use them so his son can gain extra credit in his English classes. Naughty naughty! After all that I was hardly surprised to hear that the English teacher in question is fully aware of all this but feels it to be unremarkable.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

hoshi: Google either International School Services or Search Associates. You are clearly out of sinc with hiring times as these folks (including University of Northern Iowa, Ohio State University, and, I believe, Queens University in Canada) always recruit in the Junuary-March time span.

All of the other info above is correct. As they are accrediated in the West, they require valid teaching certificates from the respective countries and prefer hiring teaching couples or...ahem... the odd few who don't mind sharing accomodations.

NCTBA

[G Cthulhu]

[Florizalll]

Beware of the "International School" title in Japan. Some private high schools and eikawa's use the term to describe the type of students they enroll- Japanese natives who have interest in studying abroad and as such take classes in a variety of languages or take content classes- like the maths or sciences- in English.

However, there are a few International schools who enroll only ex-patriot students. These schools provide an atmosphere that follows a particular system of education- American, British, Canadian, IB. The atmosphere of the school- schedule, faculty, extra-curriculars- provide an experience for students which they would likely get at an academic private school in their home country.

Most of these schools hire certified and experienced teachers from job fairs abroad. However, there are circumstances when the schools hire locally (substitutes, maternity leave, etc) Teachers hired domestically don't get the same perks as those hired abroad- housing stipends, return flights home for vacations, shipping expenses- but do earn the same salary as stipulated in the guides. These salaries are competetive with salaries full time teachers make in their home country although they are paid in yen.

That's all I'll offer. You need to do the rest of the leg work as the market is already really competive and the networks within the schools are pretty tight.

[ironopolis]

I don't really know much about International Schools in Japan, be they genuinely international or otherwise. But, I'd suggest the above post's caution would be well heeded.

There is ever more widespread use of the word "International" in school titles in Japan, in a euphemistic and often quite misleading way. It does seem to be used sometimes to make institutions that would otherwise be unappealing, sound better than they really are. I've come across a couple of high schools near me that are now called Kokusai (International) Something-something and it appears they changed the name because they'd previously been known as the bottom schools in their area.

I also know one guy who was perhaps in a similar position to the OP. I don't know exactly how the situation came about, but he was a qualified maths/science teacher in his home country and came to a job in Japan, expecting to be teaching science in a school with "International" in the title. It turned out they just wanted him to be an eikaiwa teacher and he never taught science here at all. I believe he was ultimately fairly happy with the job conditions anyway, but it would suggest there's some potential out there for confusion or being misled.

[chinagirl]

The top tier of international schools are accredited outside of Japan. American School are usually certified by WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) or have standing with IB. Check for those things, otherwise it may as well just be a Japanese school with the name "international" in the title. Also a quick look at the student body makeup will give some hints. Also, as previously mentioned, schools that accept teachers without standard teaching licenses in their home countries are not usually true international schools in the sense that is usually spoken about. These schools usually hire through Search Associates and ISS.

[johanne]

Yes, any internatioanl school certified by WACS or CIS (Council of International Schools) is likely to be genuine. This is a much better way to check if it's a real international school than looking at the student body, as all the schools with have some Japanese students on their books.