gdaish, I would say there is no substitute for good research. Read as much on this forum as you can. List out countries in which you'd be willing to live (maybe 10 countries? More? Less?). Try to research every school in those countries. Do forum searches with those countries as search terms...

I'm in the Philippines. Here, I'd say Brent Manila, IS Manila, and British School Manila are all great schools. Brent Subic, Brent Baguio, and Cebu International are good entry level schools to go for two or three years to get some international experience.

Ask people. Find people in countries of interest and ask them directly.

It is a process. Get your foot in the door. Get some IB experience. Enjoy the ride. It is a great experience, if you are open to it.

I agree. Much better

interteach, that seems like a bit of a personal attack. I think Psyguy's post was over the line. No need to attack? I dunno. Seems like we can call someone out w/out attacking...

Lightstays, good points. Because of Psyguys profile on the sight, and previous posts, we all have a pretty good idea where he teaches. I don't think there is any sort of legal line crossed, though. I just feel like if I were the parent I would feel like my kid's problems were being paraded to make a tangental point, which to me would feel like a breach of trust.

This brings up an interesting side-discussion. Sites like this absolutely rely on transparency and honesty, yet some level of professional respect for confidentiality is important for a school environment. How do we decide on those lines that ought not be crossed?

1st point - psyguy, it is a total breach of confidentiality and professionalism for you to share that story on line. You should delete the post. I appreciate the intent, but you've crossed a professional line.

2nd point - to the original post, there really is a shocking disparity between the best international schools and the worst... The top tier schools, like the Jakarta Internationals and United World Colleges of the world really are some of the very best schools on the planet. They offer amazing teaching, incredible opportunities, and wonderful international climates. Any teacher or parent would be proud to be associated with a school like that. The next tier down has some great schools as well. They are typified by less package and a smaller population from which to draw a student body. They are often still very well run, but a bit more limited in what they can accomplish. Still, very good schools. Then there is the third tier: for profit schools, ESL academies, local schools disguised as international schools, etc... Not every school in this situation is third tier, but way too many of them are. They are sometimes well intentioned, but often not. They can be really quite gruesome.

The principals, as Psyguy said, are often caught between managing and educating. It is a tough place to be. They can never call every decision "right." Some people are going to be disgruntled. Some choices are going to stink.

The difficulty with ISR is that it is absolutely necessary in order to ward people away from the border-line evil third tier schools. But at the same time, it gives disgruntled employees an opportunity to anonymously vent about borderline admin. The solution is MORE TRANSPARENCY. When there are 30 reviews of a school and 28 of them are reasonable, then the two screaming maniacs will stick out and people will know they are nuts. When a school only has two reviews, nobody knows if the two bad reviews are really indicative of anything. Again, the only real long term solution is MORE TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION. We all need to be speaking reasonably and often about our schools, in a professional, discreet, and respectful way. It is like wikipedia - the solution is more participation.

for some reason, since the site update, I'm no longer receiving my daily updates on job posting activities in the last 24 hours. I emailed them and they are working on it. Anyone else have the same issue?

Jim

Brent vs ISM -

Both are very good schools. ISM is probably considered more "tier 1" world wide, but Brent is very solid. The package is better at ISM, but you can still save some money at Brent.

Brentville has been an amazing place to raise kids. They love it. Very good neighborhood vibe. Very safe. It's a bit like "Pleasantville," which drives some of the single teachers nuts. Many of the singles end up living in Makati or Alabang. With the completed construction on the south super-highway you can get back and forth between Brent and Makati in less than 30 minutes most of the time now-a-days, but the tolls have gotten a lot more expensive.

ISM is probably a bit more high pressure, but not ridiculously so. It is a well-run school. You can be a 7-3 teacher at Brent, but that isn't at all the norm. I put in good hours to do my job, especially near IB deadlines. We have quite a few dedicated teachers who really put in the hours.

The leadership crisis thing is behind them. I'd be happy to send my kids there or Brent. They are both very good...

Brent isn't massively "christian-y" as was implied earlier. It is a Christian school, but many of the teachers are completely non-religious and it isn't a problem at all. The teachers in the lower school are more religious, on average, than in the middle or upper school. The school is diverse and accommodating of religious difference. Everyone has to go to a 30 minute chapel once a week, but they aren't always religious in focus. Career talks, student presentations, guest speakers, etc.

The IB policies at Brent are completely open. Any kid who wants to take IB can. As a result, our average scores are around 32/33. I think ISM is probably closer to 36/37 on average. This has pros and cons. We get remarkable growth out of our kids, and we get them into some great colleges, but we may not have as "cerebral" an environment in our IB HL classes. I haven't taught at ISM, but this is the impression I've gotten from a couple of friends who have.

They both have plusses and minuses. It depends on what you are looking for, I suppose.