Psychris,

I am also of Asian descent and had similar questions. I currently work at an IB school in China where there are several teachers of Asian origin. That being said, all the Asian teachers who are foreign hires have English as their mother tongue or have "native like" fluency. Perhaps the passport is more important than the ethnicity....

I am not a "veteran" but maybe can offer some advice with your current situation. There is a lot of ambiguity with what constitutes an "international school", so maybe you have to define this for yourself. My concept of an international school consists of a multinational/multilingual student population, local+expatriate staff, and an internationally accredited curriculum.

Judging from my previous job search, the schools that fit my definition will not likely hire teachers with no teacher certification. However, there seem to be many purported international schools that will hire teachers without qualified teacher status. From what I gather, these schools tend to be those where the student population is comprised of host country nationals.

I'm not sure about language teaching in Europe but I believe that multilingualism is always an asset. The language you would be teaching would probably depend on what you are certified to teach, which I presume is French. Schools will train non-IB qualified applicants if they deem you a favourable candidate.

Thank you all for your insights. I will be working this upcoming academic year in a school in China. From what I gather, the director who hired me seemed only interested in my educational background and experience. I'm sure that a North American passport and accent also comes into play. I have yet to see how my own experiences will unfold...

hello all, just wondering if three year teaching contracts were standard? Also, do you think it would be wise to negotiate the three years down to two without the employer revoking the contract?

Lone review on ISR was dismal. Anyone else have info on this school?

Thank you for your replies. The impetus for this query was brought about by some friends chatting about some examples of blatant discrimination while teaching in South Korea. Didn't matter if the person had a decidedly North American accent, just couldn't get past the non-white face. *sigh*

New to international teaching and am not sure what to expect -- ambivalence, acceptance, discrimination? It has only dawned on me that my ethnicity might be an issue....

Thanks for your reply durianfan. I'm new to international teaching and I would like to think that schools send two page word docs for my referees to fill out because I am a serious contender for the position. I'm sure my referees wouldn't appreciate having to fill something out everytime a school expresses interest.

I definintely think that 2 years experience (nationally mandated curriculum) is the preferred; however, I do know NQT's with ESL language teaching experience hired at IBO schools. Perhaps in these particular cases, the teacher candidate really has to shine...

Just had an interview with a school that went really smoothly. Interviewer said he would contact my referees. Sure enough, he sends out a reference check to all three of my referees listed. I'm confident that my referees only have positive things to say. Wondering if it was standard procedure to check referees only if seriously interested or am I competing with a number of select candidates which will eventually be whittled down to one? I'm concerned because I don't want my referees to be burdened by having to fill out a number of these reference checks if I choose to apply to other schools....