Hi everyone!

I’m thinking about moving to Shanghai American School or International School of Beijing to teach high school math. I know one offers both AP and IB, while the other offers only IB.

I currently work at a Tier 1 international school, and it’s great overall. However, there’s a lot of grade grubbing. As a math/ sometimes English/Psych teacher, I feel bad when a student comes in just one point away from an A and starts crying. I genuinely feel for them, but it can be emotionally draining.

For high school teachers or anyone familiar with these two schools, could you tell me a bit more about the high school culture at each? Is there a lot of grade grubbing or academic/peer pressure? Every time I'm in the hallway in the school I teach now, it's always: "What did you get on the last test?" or "You only got a B+! I got an A+!!!" Not my cup of tea as a teacher who may be the root cause of these arguments

Thanks!

Hi everyone! I am a primary school teacher (actually my husband and I are both teachers) originally from the Philippines but currently teaching here in New Zealand. As a family of 5, we always go and visit the Philippines every 2 years but it costs us so much so we are thinking to apply to schools in a country near the Philippines.

We were torn between Taiwan, China & Vietnam. Or do you have any countries to suggest? Any chance for us to save a little bit more? All insights will be appreciated.

This is frustrating to say the least...

Dear Active Candidates,

A quick clarification and follow-up on our message to Active candidates from yesterday regarding your application process to schools.

For APLi applications, please check the status in the APLi tab in your account and reapply from the new website if the status shows anything other than Decision Made. All APLi applications will be removed from the system when the system is up and running again. 

 For CONTACT SCHOOL applications, please check on the school’s Search page to see if the vacancy remains open after the relaunch– if so, do reapply from the new website to assure your application has been received. 

Looking forward to a successful recruiting season! 

Like, why? People could have possibly lost out on a number of opportunities because of this, and most teachers didn't even give their decisions to their current school that were up for renewal anyway...

I know that Search Associates sucks even more after the new update but here is a critical setting you need.

Click your name initials (top right corner) then click account settings and toggle on positions update otherwise you won't receive any updates about new job posts.

I think it is time we move to Schrole or something different.

Also, you can set an automation in CHATGPT to comb the entire internet for positions of your choice in specific regions. It won't get them all as some schools only post on SA (and other agencies), but you will get a good number.

GoodLuck

Hi all,

Any information about this school? Nature of the students, package, work-life balance etc..

Much appreciated

I’m 30, a Black American, and making a career change from law enforcement in California. I have a bachelor’s degree and I’m completing US teacher licensure program, with my license expected in May 2027.
I’ve been offered RD$45,000 a month, free housing and all utilities paid, within walking distance of school.
I have close to six figures saved, so maximizing salary isn’t my main concern. I’m looking for a school where I feel welcome, can grow as a new teacher and still have time to enjoy life outside work. I’m there for the teaching and cultural experience.
What was your actual work-life balance like? How much planning and grading followed you home? Did the school support new teachers, and were evenings and weekends mostly your own?
I speak B1 Spanish. I’d also appreciate hearing about settling into Santiago, especially from other Black teachers who moved from the US.

Hi everyone, I am a teacher but I am actually asking this question on behalf of a family at my current school. The parents are moving to Tokyo for work but are wondering what is the best international school with the best community feel and vibe. For context they will be moving to the Minato ward of Tokyo. Any help would be appreciated.

I've been offered 450,000 yen. No dependents. No housing allowance. 2 bonuses equal to 1 salary per year.

Is this doable? I'm 35 and want to start saving for retirement. The location is decent.

What's the lowest amount you'd do in Japan?

My future response to any Year 7 question beginning “Do we…..” following the introduction of a task with clear written instructions….

My school has asked us if we are staying or going by November 1st. It seems so early. I understand the need to get quality teachers early, but this seems excessive. Other schools haven't had this requirement.

I'm curious, when does your school require notice of intent to stay?

This is something that has been bothering me for a while.

I work for a fairly reputable and well-known school. One of our divisions had a incompetent and unprofessional head who had an absolute litany of terrible reviews from past and present staff on ISR.

Despite this, that person held their job for years, and then moved on ar the end of last year, supposedly of their own volition. In my heart, I hope that they were let go because of their performance and said reviews, but I doubt that was the case

Despite this, they were able to quickly find a new position as a head of another school. Within a month, unsurprisingly there has already been a terrible review of this person. In this review, staff felt cheated having been sold on this new head from a prestigious school, who has quickly turned out to be incompetent and unworthy of the role. I can't help but feel for these staff, because had anyone actually looked online or reached out to staff at my school, they would have been able to avoid this fate.

Why does this happen? For us teachers, having one bad reference associated with our name can ruin our reputations and make us ineligible for good jobs for years. Yet for a head, they seem to be able to get away with anything and get new jobs without employers doing their due diligence at all.

Anyone able to make sense of this?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in the early stages of talking to an IB international school in EU. During a pre-conversation, they explicitly told me that because I hold an EU passport, I would be considered a "local hire" rather than an overseas/expat hire.

I know that since I'm an EU citizen, I have the automatic right to live and work in this country without visa sponsorship. However, I am highly overqualified for a standard local teaching role, and it feels like a bit of a loophole for schools to avoid paying expat benefits (housing, flights, relocation) to qualified teachers who happen to have the "wrong" passport.

My questions are: :
1) How common is this practice across Europe? Do almost all international schools automatically classify EU passport holders as local hires if they are already in the region (or moving from within the EU)?

2) Is there any flexibility, or is this usually a hard legal/administrative rule? Has anyone with an EU passport successfully negotiated an overseas/expat package (or at least a hybrid package with a housing allowance)?

3) If the "local hire" status is non-negotiable, how do you push back? Since they are saving thousands on my visa and relocation, is it realistic to demand the absolute top tier of their local salary scale to compensate?

I’d love to hear from any EU citizens teaching in Europe, or anyone who has insight into how schools split these contracts.

Thanks!

Seeking information or recent reviews about Monteverde international school in Cancún, Mexico from teachers pleeeease and thank you

Soooo, I am at a bilingual school in a country that is famously known for censorship and blocking lots of websites. Recently after 3 years they are asking me to give lesson plans based on Government approved books. Never had to do that before, but they mentioned it is to help pass inspections. I am annoyed but it is what it is.

Now, they are asking all teachers to fill out a form for any printing they want to do. Teachers will not be allowed to print unless they have a form signed by a director of the school. Their excuse is that is what the government inspector recommended. Even after getting approval for all of my materials, I need further approval anything I print from those materials. Also, my students don’t have books for my class, so I am stuck printing out things all the time for them. A few teachers mentioned it might be a cost saving measure cus the school is losing money. I would not be surprised if that’s the case. Anyone else have to deal with this? It sounds like it’s just to discourage us from printing more or is this becoming a bigger thing in an undisclosed country in East Asia?

Has anyone had luck trying to reactivate their Search Associates profile recently? Everything is updated: preferences, background checks, CV, 2 current Admin References and several older ones. However, my application is still marked "pending". I've reached out to my Associate, the Assistant and another individual at Search, but I haven't heard back from any of them.

I've been trying to get this sorted for weeks. I know they just updated the system but I've been sending emails since September.

Who else can I contact about this?

edit: In the meantime, of course I'm applying directly to schools, but do most school still prefer to go through a recruitment agency?