Job Discussion Forums

[ShanghaiSurprise]

Hello to all the veterans in China,

I'm wondering if anyone can share their thoughts about working for the International School of Beijing.

The salary seems attractive but I'm unsure what the working environment is like.

Does anyone know how hard it is to get a job at this school?


I welcome any type of feedback regarding this school, or your opinions of a comparison to any other international schools in Beijing or Shanghai.

Much appreciated.

[ShanghaiSurprise]

bump

[gengrant]

You may want to post this question over at internationalschoolsreview.com as this forum is more for ESL teachers, while the ISR site is for International school teachers...

just a thought.

[ShanghaiSurprise]

Thanks for the link.

Unfortunately it's a pay site and from the look of the reviews that I can sample, it's a bit more of a "leave a review" board rather than a discussion of the job like here on Dave's.

I'll keep looking though to see if there is more on that site.


If anyone else knows of any information or where i can find information I'd appreciate your input.

Cheers

[william wallace]

There's a lot of competition for the few truly international schools in Beijing,so you must apply quite early.I would say it is best to have 3-5 years experience post-B.Ed/PGCE in a real K-12 job.There are many fake international schools in China,but the sure fire litmus test is the salaries.

[ShanghaiSurprise]

William,

What salaries are you referring to that are that pass the litmus test?

How many schools in Beijing or Shanghai are considered top of the line?

[william wallace]

There are "International Schools" by name that have salaries even-Steven with regular ESL mills-They manage to swindle some non-Chinese students into attending classes(usually 3rd and 2nd World) to brush up their English and immersion in Mandarin.Most non-retired certified teachers never really take these jobs as the salaries are too low.(3-10K RMB)

The second tier "International Schools" may have the go-ahead from UK, Aus, Can etc..governments(joint ventured),but their monitoring is lax, and they don't keep a close eye on the prescribed curriculum.These schools are cherries for the rich Chinese's little emperors.The salaries fall between the low-level international schools and the top tier ones, and the perks tend to be meager.(6-14 K RMB)
The top tier require all that a regular teacher in a K-12 would expect - License,proper copies of transcripts etc.. The perks are much better,and so is the salary for teachers with 5+ years post degree experience.(20-40K RMB)
While I only have 3 credits of a B.Ed(so nothing!),I do have some friends working at the top tier schools and their apartments are large and spacious ex-pat.
I interviewed for one of the middle tiered schools,and they wanted to see a copy of my B.A.( I gave them transcripts) AND my M.Ts degree,but they wanted a copy of the degree itself - the pay is 11 K RMB. and the so-called airfare reimbursement is for 6 K RMB(not enough!) That's typical of low end quasi-international schools.

[ShanghaiSurprise]

WilliamWallace,

Thanks for the input. I appreciate your information.

What would you say is the starting salary of the schools that can be considered of the top level of international schools?

I have heard of different levels of jobs but I'm not sure what constitutes a low-end top-level job.

Would you say that 15,000 RMB would fit that criteria? Maybe 12,000 RMB? Or would it be higher at 20,000 RMB?

I'm just trying to get an idea of the starting wage of what can end up resulting in a good long-term position.

Thanks

[SnoopBot]

These real international schools require "TEACHING CERTIFICATION" from your home country. So the certification is the most important part and then real IB experience is the second part.

Many teaching at these places only have a BA/BS degree and PGDE/PGCE.
A few actually have a BEd. Most do not have TESOL certs as they do CONTENT LEVEL teaching and NOT ESL teaching.

You must have some certification in a Content area such as:

Physics
Math
Sciences

Now look at the qualifications required for those top end low paying Chinese University positions

MA Ed with TESOL cert + Applied Linguistics +3 years experience for 6000 RMB a month. PhD for 6500 RMB a month.

In China it is backward, the University positions are low paid and low ended while the K-12 jobs pay higher. The higher the education the same it does not matter.

The KEY is TEACHER CERTIFICATION at the K-12 level.

Someone with a dual PhD from Harvard University would still be rejected at the IS level.

I've looked at the teaching staff bio's when they used to post them online. Most were not impressive at all, but the pay level was good compared to university teaching. Most of the IS websites have removed their staff bio's now, it might still be possible to find out where your experience and qualifications fall and determine a salary level.

The IS circuits favor UK/AUS teachers. I can only speculate why..(PGCE/PGDE are valid for life with NO requirement for CCEU for license, thus you can have a 1970's Computer Science degree and a PGCE and still be certified as a teacher even if indication of teacher fossilization is evident)

Teaching Certification is required to renew IB certification, no certification equals NO authorization for diplomatic voucher payments. This is where they get their big bucks from.

[william wallace]

Yeah with Snoopbot; the certified WITH a few years post-certification experience you really look at what you'd get in Canada or the UK.I know one person with a new B.Ed but no experience and they wouldn't take him in Beijing, he had to go to Guangzhou,and that was for 19,000 RMB with free housing and the perks(medical and FULL airfare, maybe more?)

[SnoopBot]

[ShanghaiSurprise]

Thanks for the information guys, I find it very useful.

I don't have a professional teaching certificate but I have an MBA. I was offered an IB (Intl Bacc) job at a key middle school in Shanghai but turned it down. They were also requesting IB experience but for some reason overlooked it for me.

Since I was accepted for that school I'm not sure if I would be accepted at others.

Do you think that some aspects can be overlooked if I can get to know the recruiter and therefore have a good recommendation?

Do you guys have any other recommendations for some good international schools in Shanghai and Beijing?

I appreciate your help so far. Thanks.

[SnoopBot]