Job Discussion Forums

[foreignertobe]

Does anyone know anything about Schoolhouse Language Institute, in particular their Kaohsiung campuses? I have performed a search and have found nothing. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[demaratus]

They are a big chain in Kaohsiung. Most people like it there. Low stress, the emphasis is learning English is fun, so they may be less serious about results than some other schools, like most scools the bottom line is enrollment. I probably had 10 friends work there in the past and some who still do work there. Not a bad place to work at all.

[clark.w.griswald]

Schoolhouse have schools throughout the south of Taiwan including Kaohsiung, Tainan, Jiayi, and Pingdong. I have not heard anything bad about them which is a good sign as they would have a number of foreign teachers employed at any one time.

I think that this type of school is likely a good one to start out with if you are new to Taiwan as are most chain schools.

Just check your contract and make sure that you agree with the terms as there is very likely to be a breach penalty which is standard in most contracts. Check that the number of teaching and office hours are stated clearly and an overtime rate if one applies. Check your holidays.

Probably the biggest things to watch out for is kindergarten work and being asked to work at more than one of their schools.

You cannot legally work in a kindergarten no matter what the school tells you on this issue - but many foreigners do and never have any problems. If you are caught however you could well be deported.

If they want you to work at more than one school in their chain then they need to get you a seperate work permit for all work places and these need to be added to your ARC before you can legally work there no matter how many hours or how frequently you do work at their other schools.

All pretty standard in the industry so nothing against Schoolhouse.

[BigWally]

Being from K-Town i have spoken with many a Schoolhouse teacher, and it seems the one thing they do a bit different, is the number of unpaid hours teachers are expected to work. I've heard their expectations can be rather high in this department, especially around holidays (ie. setting up decorations, games, etc). Other than that it seems like a great school.

ganbei!

[demaratus]

Clark made some good points, but from what I have heard from friends who worked there was that they didnt have to work at other branches, unless they were asked to fill in for a day as a sub (never long term) if they had time in their schedules. Also conditions at schoolhouse vary from very good for some to just good for others, probably because of different ownership and management between schools. My old school worked on a similar curriculum to schoolhouse and I can say that it is easy to teach.

While they do a lot of decorating and such, I know it doesn't compare to some other places (ie. my old school) A friend who worked at schoolhouse after he worked at my school always laughed at me because his chain of the school did little extras while we did 2 extra hours a day for big holidays, however I laughed at him when I got a fat red envelope at CNY and he got a dinner and small bonus. But they also have been know to reward teachers who do a lot of extra stuff in the form of bonuses and are know as fair when giving raises. Also if you are long term there, some locations offer advancement/promotion possibilities in the form of management positions.

[Taylor]

Dear Readers,

Schoolhouse seems to have an organized curriculum without too much micro-management of 'how' you teach the lessons. As far as I know, they don't have any classes on weekends--allowing for more short trips around the island or private lessons (for a little cash income on the side).

Demartus mentioned that he received a 'fat red envelope at CNY'. Please be advised that this is extremely rare in the industry--for a foreign teacher to receive a "large" bonus at Chinese New Year. Would you be able to give more details on how much $...and which school...you are talking about, Demartus?

Best wishes in the Year of the Pig.

Taylor
Kaohsiung

[foreignertobe]

Thank you all for your responses. I work at a school currently and am rather happy there, although I am wanting to move to a city. Just want to make sure that I don't shoot myself in the foot by moving to a worse situation just for a change of environment.

[demaratus]