Job Discussion Forums

[americancolleen]

Hello,
I am a certified teacher (New York State secondary English, grades 7-12) with a significant amount of high school teaching experience in American independent schools. I am in my late thirties.

I am considering seeking a public school teaching job in Taiwan, mostly to experience a different culture and educational system. I love languages and plan to pursue the study of Mandarin to the best of my ability. I understand that I would likely qualify for a position in an international school, but I would really like to try something different.

I am researching the possibilities using the websites of Footprints, Teach Away, and Reach to Teach, but I would be in interested in advice that could be offered by people who have worked in Taiwan's public's schools ( or know people who have). Basically I am wondering, was it a good experience and what do you wish you had known that no one told you?

Thank you!

americancolleen

[s_lteacher]

I am teaching in a primary school in MiaoLi County. On a map, this looks conveniently close to Taipei and it's only a 2 or 2 1/2 hour train ride away. Culturally, it's much much further. I am one of a handful of westerners in the city where I live and work and this is the biggest town around. There are no bookstores selling English language anything and very very few people speak English or have ever spoken with a foreigner.

Folks are very nice, Taiwan is beautiful, cheap, all the mod cons are available,but if you're posted to a small, rural area just be ready to be very, very lonely. Seriously. One of the schools has had three teachers leave because of the isolation. One of the teachers in this area speaks Chinese, lived in mainland China for years and even he is lonely and a little bored.

[americancolleen]

Thank you so much for your candid response!

Would you mind if I asked a few more questions:

1) Are you treated well at your school? (I mean not cheated or exploited). Do you find the work situation tolerable?

2) Have you had any luck learning Chinese? In town such as yours, would there be many opportunities to practice if I wanted to try or are foreign teachers pretty isolated? (It sounds like your friend feels knowing the language doesn't help too much).

3) Do you absolutely need a scooter? I often walk two miles each way to my job in the U.S., but I don't like the idea of using a scooter too much.

[s_lteacher]

Hi again. People here aren't Chinese teachers but if you're willing to make almost any effort they will happily teach you nouns and common phrases; there are some local languages spoken but as far as I know pretty much everyone speaks Mandarin so if that's a goal for you, Taiwan is a great choice. If you go to the Tealit.com website, there's a section of ads posted by people who want to do Language Exchange, learning English and teaching you Chinese.

Fairness? Well, it's teaching so a school's needs change and as is true in the US, each school's principal and administration has a lot of autonomy. For example, I was promised a single co-teacher and a set curriculum and my principal nixed that so now I teach without a regular co-teacher (it wouldn't matter much anyway, even people who are English teachers out here in the sticks typically don't speak very good English and their teaching methods are very different or old-fashioned when contrasted with US teaching styles) and have no curriculum at all. Which would be great if I were an experienced ESL teacher and used to working with primary kids but neither is true so I'm struggling to come up with appropriate lessons. Other Americans/Canadians working in the county do have set curricula and/or a single co-teacher. The number of teaching hours also varies a great deal, with some of us only teaching 15 hours and some teaching up to 24.

So far complaints have been about how we view our contract terms and how folks here look at contracts. One thing for sure, the management system here is very 'top down' and folks don't question or argue with management.

The school day is much longer than is the norm in the US - 8 to 5 isn't unusual; I work from 7:30 until 4:00 and we've had only one scheduled day off since the first day of school. This isn't considered onerous or unsual here, so it's my American perspective that says it's a long working day for a teacher. Junior and senior high school students frequently stay in school until 5 and go to school on weekends and if you taught at that level, you can expect to be required to work at least some weekends. If you're assigned to a junior or senior high school, try to get a very clear outline of the hours you'll be expected to work. Some of the foreign teachers here who work in a junior high school will have to go to school during the scheduled Chinese New Year holiday because some students have to go to school during that time and the teachers only learned of this about a month ago.

For me, the students visit my classroom but other teachers travel around the school and a couple of teachers are assigned to more than one school simply because some of the schools here are so very small (as in fewer than a total of 60 students for grades 1-6). Which brings up the scooter issue.

I chose an apartment within walking distance of school and shopping, which is easy to do in Taiwan. In most towns and cities I've visited, a scooter isn't really necessary for everyday living. Transport is excellent, in most towns, with both bus and trains regularly scheduled every day. So far, only two of the 14 foreign teachers in this county have gotten scooters so I guess that tells you something. I like walking, most Taiwanese don't and are astonished when I tell them that I walk to work and to go shopping, etc. Personally, since I can't read any signs and people seem to drive quite recklessly here, I doubt I'd ever get a scooter in Taiwan.

[americancolleen]

Thank you--this is good advice. I am seriously looking into this, but I want to make sure I am as well informed as possible. I have taught for ten years in the U.S.--at two different schools--and it turned out the grass WASN'T greener. I want to make sure I go into this with my eyes open. This is very helpful.