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A Real International School?

 
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evaforsure



Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 1217

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 3:37 am    Post subject: A Real International School? Reply with quote

http://www.esljobs.com/china/new-school-new-life-new-start-in-changchun-xinyu-education-school-10/

Just received this ad across my desk and wondered if anyone if familar with theis school and does it allow Chinese students..or is it an expat school ... if an expat school;is it english or german?...

Salary: 4200-6000RMB per month. Seems low for an international school...

Work schedule: 80 hours a month.


Students level: 3�28 years old. Seems a large gap for a school that is just starting up .... how many 28 yr olds could they have...
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foreignDevil



Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 580

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 3:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it is a real international school, it will be accredited by an international body. If the school has a website, they will prominently display this accreditation, if they have it.

I didn't see a link to any website. Anyway, it just looks like another private school to me. At that low salary, they are not seriously trying to attract certified teachers.

In fact, I am almost positive they have no accreditation.. the only hiring requirements: be a "native speaker" from a white people country. A school with real accreditation must conform to certain hiring standards, i.e., teachers must have teaching certification from their home country etc.
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evaforsure



Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 1217

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 5:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
A school with real accreditation must conform to certain hiring standards, i.e., teachers must have teaching certification from their home country etc.


If this were only true...but many internationals have teachers armed with no more than BAs..talking about some of the best in Beijing...
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foreignDevil



Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 580

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 7:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

evaforsure wrote:
Quote:
A school with real accreditation must conform to certain hiring standards, i.e., teachers must have teaching certification from their home country etc.


If this were only true...but many internationals have teachers armed with no more than BAs..talking about some of the best in Beijing...


Really? Is that true? An accredited school is hiring non-credentialed teachers? It could be they are getting away with it by hiring them as "substitutes." Generally the credential requirements for substitute teachers, even at a good school, are pretty minimal.
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evaforsure



Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 1217

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know of several last year that were hired with only BAs.. Yet to see what happens this year...some schools are closing......but not the whole roll call of teachers...and they were paid less....some of the second rate interntionals like BIBS hires almost all their teachers with out certs and have been know to hire teachers without BAs ........


Quote:
An accredited school is hiring non-credentialed teachers?


Many are not accredited..... for example the Jewish school doesnt even have a lic.
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foreignDevil



Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 580

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 12:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Without knowing any information about specific schools you might be talking about.. I wonder just how "international" they actually are. American parents or French parents or "Jewish" parents here as expats will not put their children into a school without accreditation. How could they? For one, it would seriously jeopardize their children's ability to transfer to a new school when the family is reassigned to another country. And two: the employer who has assigned the parent to work here, and who usually foots the bill for the school tuition, would never pay out large sums to a non-accredited school.

I'm not arguing with you here. Wink Just thinking aloud about the nature of these so-called "international" schools.
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evaforsure



Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 1217

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
American parents or French parents or "Jewish" parents here as expats will not put their children into a school without accreditation. How could they? For one, it would seriously jeopardize their children's ability to transfer to a new school when the family is reassigned to another country. And two: the employer who has assigned the parent to work here, and who usually foots the bill for the school tuition, would never pay out large sums to a non-accredited school.



All I can say .. is you would be surprised....yes parents do have limitations as to places and funds to pay for education and overseas companies are not as willing as in the past to finance education on a grand scale.. and many of the expats who are in major cities... are not making the big buck that allow unchecked spending in any aspect of family life. .housing in Beijing rent can start at 3000 rmb and the expat abodes run much more than that...as far as transferring .. not sure how that is handled...but fr example the Jewish school doesn�t provide visas through the school ( in the past) but rather through a another business...now as always situations can change and schools will tend to work towards gaining accreditation �this is a process that takes time�.

BZIS closed two years ago and their teachers filtered out to other schools (some of the Best known in Beijing).. none of which had teaching certs.. as I have said before BIBS has been going through several administrators seeking a magic bean that would grow accreditation....The Aussie School.... which claimed to be accredited.. just closed ...their teachers do not have certs...and will be moved to another section of the school...the overseas prep section....

I understand that most have the idea that all internationals should be accredited.. but TIC
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Ariadne



Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 960

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 5:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

foreignDevil..

There are lots of reasons an expat might put their kids in a school that isn't accredited. Maybe they are homeschooling the kids but want them to have some social interactions. Maybe the school is close to where they live and it's just easier. Maybe their friends have kids in the school and they can team up on the transportation issue. There might be a certain teacher or class at the school that really appeals to the parents or the kids. If the kids are youngish there wouldn't be any real problem getting them into other schools down the pike. In the US the public schools have to take all comers, whatever their previous education. It might be different elsewhere but there would probably be some provision for testing into or out of a particular grade in a new school. Companies paying for tuition might (I don't know) pay an allowance for schooling, like a housing allowance.

.
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foreignDevil



Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 580

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ariadne wrote:
foreignDevil..

There are lots of reasons an expat might put their kids in a school that isn't accredited. Maybe they are homeschooling the kids but want them to have some social interactions. Maybe the school is close to where they live and it's just easier. Maybe their friends have kids in the school and they can team up on the transportation issue. There might be a certain teacher or class at the school that really appeals to the parents or the kids. If the kids are youngish there wouldn't be any real problem getting them into other schools down the pike. In the US the public schools have to take all comers, whatever their previous education. It might be different elsewhere but there would probably be some provision for testing into or out of a particular grade in a new school. Companies paying for tuition might (I don't know) pay an allowance for schooling, like a housing allowance.

.


Yes, you're right. My initial statement was overly simplistic. You list some good reasons.

But I cannot help but suspect at least some of these schools use "international" as a marketing ploy more than anything else.
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Adeem



Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 163
Location: Where da teachin' is

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The name of the school does not indicate in any way that it is an international school, so this whole argument is pointless. Just because they stick International in the title doesn't make it so. It doesn't even look like an actual school, but a training centre (hence the wide age range).

Some people on the board could be more helpful sometimes, rather than just b*tching and arguing amongst themselves.
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foreignDevil



Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 580

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Adeem wrote:
The name of the school does not indicate in any way that it is an international school, so this whole argument is pointless. Just because they stick International in the title doesn't make it so. It doesn't even look like an actual school, but a training centre (hence the wide age range).

Some people on the board could be more helpful sometimes, rather than just b*tching and arguing amongst themselves.


Actually, no one here was arguing or "bit$ching," as you put it. Rolling Eyes

I raised the issue of accreditation, and I also initially pointed out that the advertisement in question doesn't seem to be an internationally accredited school. It looks to be, as you said, a training center.

Someone else pointed out that some schools operate without accreditation, yet still do manage to attract international expat students.

So which part of this discussion constitutes "bitch#ing" and "arguing," from your perspective?



Rolling Eyes
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Adeem



Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 163
Location: Where da teachin' is

PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok, I withdraw the b*tching comment. My point was that all of this fuss about whether the school was accredited or not, and whether accredited schools hire this or that teacher could easily have been avoided by a cursory glance at the title of the school in question, and the simple deduction that it was in no way an international school, meaning that the issue of accreditation was somewhat superfluous to this thread.

And yes, accredited schools in my neck of the woods do hire unaccredited educators, though I am not sure about sub-BA denizens.....


Very Happy
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Robin53



Joined: 24 Oct 2008
Posts: 74
Location: New Zealand

PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:59 pm    Post subject: A real international school Reply with quote

I live well away from Beijing and Shanghai in a remote province, and there are no "real" international schools here. However over the years I keep an eye on the job vacancies and my impression is that a lot of the schools in China which attach the name "international" to themselves are doing so for marketing purposes. Also the salaries are well below what a "real" international school would offer, so they are just cashing in on the idea of a "real" international school.

A good point made in this topic was that because of the international financial crisis companies with ex-patriot employees can no longer afford the part of the employment package which includes school fees. I've also heard they now prefer to send single employees on overseas postings. However there will always be a need for international schools even during a financial crisis or worse - they have been around for 100 years or more.

On adapting to a family's needs for their child's education I thought Ariadne's suggestions made good sense.
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