To my knowledge, the highest paying British school in a city will generally pay less than the highest paying 'international' school or American school in the same city.

This is the case in basically every major East Asian city.

I'm currently at a school that is part of the Global Recruitment Collaborative. Our school has a rule that once you have officially given notice, you are eligible to register. I have joined along with a colleague from my department. There's a bunch of well established schools with excellent reputations using the site and candidates can scan through potential jobs much like the SA site. I know of three people who have secured very good jobs through this initiative last year. My school, which is frequently mentioned on this site in lists of top tier schools in Asia, is heading to the inaugural fair.

I would challenge Psyguy to provide details of a single recruitment event they have held prior to this one.

Thamespirate.

I keep forgetting that it's quite futile arguing with him. He contradicts himself with almost every post and will never address the original argument, only change the goalposts and throw out constant straw men and semi-literate red herrings. He never provides any data and never will. That's why in his mind he can never be wrong when he constantly refers to this fictional 'data' of his that he doesn't even present.

The only real value is pointing out his misinformation on posts in order to help those who actually want proper answers. The more people who are aware that he simply makes things up, the better.

Psyguy. You have not provided any "data". You're embarrasing yourself.

Do you ever wonder why you are endlessly called out on threads for making things up? Dozens and dozens of people continuously refute your nonsense and you refuse to believe that the common denominator is you?

Psyguy. I will say this again. There is absolutely nothing that you say that is supported by the literature.

Missy asks for for a synopsis for the PYP. I gave her one. You have provided ill-informed nonsense. It is not rare to have a stand alone mathematics unit. It is very common. Again, you are wrong.

On the exhibition; from the PYP literature: "The exhibition is collaborative and student-led, in-depth inquiry facilitated by teachers". Again, you are wrong.

Absolutely everything I have stated is outlined in the PYP literature and practised throughout the many IB world schools I have been priviledged to collaborate with. If you can justify any of your claims from the literature, I encourage you to do so.

Otherwise, stop misinforming teachers.

Its organic project based subject integration. If you ever heard of "reading across the curriculum" or "writing across the curriculum" or "technology across the curriculum", PYP is a group of subjects integrated across the curriculum that produce some kind of project as the outcome for a specific unifying theme.

No. It's not!

There is only one mandated project in the PYP, which is the exhibition in the final year of the programme. To define the IB as project based is simply incorrect. Although project work is encouraged, a unit of inquiry does not require a project. Nor must subjects be "integrated accross the curriculum". A unit can be designed to have a single subject focus or to be interdisciplinary. Your synopsis is not at all supported by the PYP literature.

Psyguy. I know it's important for you to sound like an authority on every topic and that you can never be wrong. However, many of your posts mislead international teachers. I implore you to refrain from posting on matters where it is obvious that you have no knowledge.

It's very amusing reading Americans discuss how 'cool' and 'relaxed' they are compated with Brits.

The PYP is a framework rather than a curriculum.

It prescribes a set of features that your curriculum (or units of inquiry) should contain, and a particular educational philosophy you are expected to adopt in its delivery - namely social constructivism.

Each unit you design has a 'central idea' and a set of 'lines of inquiry' in order for students to 'discover' particular understandings. The PYP has a list of suggested 'interdisciplinary themes' and 'key concepts' that should be interwoven through the unit.

In an ideal world, students could co-construct their inquiry questions, although PYP practitioners differ with respect to how feasible this interpretation is. As implied above, an inquiry approach (another term for discovery learning) is prescribed. Teachers differ in terms of how much guidance or scaffolding should accompany this inquiry approach. Many schools run PYP concurrently with a particular national curriculum or set of published standards.

Hope this helps

Agree with Psy Guy here. The lack of checks and balances in IE are such that teachers are a lot more wary of who they can be honest with. There is a much stronger power culture in the international game.

Of course primary sections of international schools are always looking for good male teachers. The assertion that parents ultimately decide what type of teachers they want for their children would be a reasonable point if it weren't for the fact that parents don't interview and hire international teachers - admin do.

A healthy mix of male and female elementary school teachers is not only good for children, but also good for school culture.

chilagringa wrote:
> each batch of new teachers becomes a separate social circle.

I find this a very interesting phenonenon, and one which often correlates inversely with the age and experience of the staff. Younger, less experienced and less socially adventurous staff tend to maintain the 'Newbie Group' gimmick for years after they arrive. The fewer friends people accumulate (within or outside school) as their time at a school progresses, the more steadfastly they rely on their 'Newbie' brunches and nights out.

My school has a nice mix. We're fortunate to have a bar right next to school which means there's always someone to unwind with on a Friday - irrespective of how closely you work with them. There's no expectation to stick around and nobody is vilified for not being a big drinker or . animal. The director and principals usually come for drink or two periodically and put money over the bar, then leave teachers to their own devices. Suits me down to the ground.

I'm hearing a lot of stories about recent upheaval at this school. Can anyone paint a detailed picture?

Ignore the hand-wringers, if you didn't apply through an agency, take the better sounding job and don't think twice about reneging on your initial contract. It's only been a couple of weeks and it's highly unlikely the school will think twice about it; admin types on here who tell you otherwise are either deceitful or in a very small minority. Most administrators are too busy getting on with looking for your replacement to invest the time and energy to blacklist or punish you.

The moralising argument that it's the same 'crime' as a school reneging on a contract is preposterous. Recruiting schools do not run the risk of uprooting their entire lives, only to be told they do not yet have a new physics teacher - unlike teachers themselves. They have the resources to find another teacher without too much fuss or interruption and the financial impact is a drop in the ocean for them.

Life's too short. Ignore the moralising and take the choice best for you.

Mr C

May I ask which program you're currently teaching? This will make a difference to your adjustment. I suspect MYP will be your steepest learning curve - as it was for me. I'm also a humanities (now called Individuals & Societies) teacher, so can give you some advice based on experience.

Psyguy

Thanks for reinforcing my argument for me.

"Thats the real miscarriage of justice in this issue, the judicial process did not provide a reasonable exploration of the facts, evidence and testimony to allow a definitive conclusion to be reached. That doesnt mean the Neil and his accomplice are innocent, or even not guilty, at best all it provides us is a "we dont know"."

And this is the failure of a court procedure you fail to acknowledge or understand. The burden of proof lies with the prosecution to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt. When we "DO NOT KNOW" as you yourself have expressed, it means that the prosecution have not proved thier case. Therefore, the only morally and legally accepted verdict is not guilty. You have contradicted yourself, time and time again. In a previous post you have suggested that you know that he is guilty, yet you acknolwedge now that you DO NOT KNOW.

"Jakarta Southern District court is not reputable, which you have no EVIDENCE that it is unreputable."

Yes I do, and it's been outlined to you countless times. You just ignore it at your convenience.

"The EVIDENCE was deemed inadmissible for a reason". No it wasn't. Against all international conventions. This is FACT, not opinion. And this does matter. I've repeated to you countless times and you continue to ignore this argument. When proper legal procedure have not been followed - something that WE KNOW AS FACT - then a miscarriage of justice has occurred. This is open and shut logic and no amount of sophistry and obfuscation from you changes that fact.

"phenomenon that are not understood can be accurately described as "magic""

I'll end with this, because this is the most profoundly stupid statement I have ever read on this forum.