Job Discussion Forums

[museful]

aka Whalton Foreign Language School Taicang

If you are considering working for this school, please feel free to contact me here for more information.

Imagine a scale as follows:

1. Highly Recommended
2. Recommended
3. Soft Pass
4. Hard Pass

This school is a 3. Soft Pass.

PROS:

22k package (18.5k or 19k after tax) as an ESL teacher without certification.
8 hour days / Lunch counted (as of now)

CONS:

Mosquitos (School feels like a swamp). Students walk around with electric mosquito rackets. This is no joke.
Small town feel. There's a Wanda Plaza mall and a Wal-mart.
Inflexible Leadership that tells you what you want to hear and don't follow through.
Promise you everything, provide a contract with nothing.
No materials. No curriculum.
22 classes (up to 24 and they will use them) / Extra duties (you will do extra work)
Slow HR. Very slow.

These are general comments. There's more. A few specific things that have happened to teachers.

Two teachers fled without notice.
Three were fired. All had teaching certifications. Fired for challenging status quo.
Two teachers (at least) contracted a specific subject. Upon arrival, given other age level outside of subject area.
High school teachers required to monitor students for night study (2 hours 10 minutes once a week)
High school subject teachers required to teach middle school. You will teach a few HS classes with a majority of middle school.
Kindergarten will have zero breaks.
No offices for teachers. HS teachers were kicked out of their office.
Horrible bathrooms (normal in China).
Teaching subjects to students that don't speak English.
Students thrown out of the local program are sent to the international program.

Bottom line: If you are a certified teacher, you can do better. If you are an ESL teacher without certification and you want to try and break the 20k barrier -- worth a shot to see if it is bearable. You will work harder here than other places. Much harder.

[rioux]

[rocket man]

the high school stuff sounds typical of what I've seen of these so-called "international programs" in China.

Night study duty is becoming common.

International programs have become a dumping ground for students who are discipline problems in the regular programs.

Same curriculum and HR issues. Bet these foreign teachers had to clock in and out.

I'd avoid all of these programs now