I would think that it would vary wildly depending on the country where you are trying to buy the home.

This is to ADMIN or anyone else who has found an answer before.

It seems that some type of discussion would be nice on the pay side. It is great to be able to read reviews, but it would be nicer to be able to also discuss them.

It seems that we are constrained on this side because we can't really discuss the payside without crossing a line.

This forum is great for general discussion, but i'd really like to be able to discuss the nitty gritty and details of reviews.

The TES also limits discussion about individual schools.

Anyway, i enjoy the site, i'd just like to see it go to the next level.

I suppose that i should also be happy that i have a roof over my head during the time that i'm in school. Not everyone has that.

If someone was teaching in a refugee camp, or for a local barangay school in the Philippines, then they could talk about doing their job for purely altruistic reasons. But most of us are talking about organizations that portray themselves as top educational institutions, taught by 'authentic' well-qualified western staff, and charge a large sum for it.

That is the realm of it being a profession. It may be a profession that i love, and get great personal satisfaction from, but it is still a profession. So, i do feel entitled to, and worth, a good wage, benefits, and working conditions. I, like all of you, give a lot back for that.

Ideally, it is a two way street. I'm lucky for the opportunity, they are lucky to have me. One of the things that does annoy me about teaching, is that the 'good of the kids' is often used as a tool of manipulation against teachers. We are expected to give more of our time, ability, and resources altruistically, while the other players aren't asked to do the same. Asking for more money isn't necessarily being greedy, it may simply mean standing up for your worth.

the school where i'm teaching in the philippines is supposedly set up as a not-for-profit school. I haven't checked the paperwork, but it is clearly a for-profit school with all of the negativity that the label implies.

I would assume that most of the embassy supported schools are non-profit.

in the end, i think that it does mean something, but you have to dig a bit to find out exactly what that is in each case.

In chicago, we were paid for every day that we were in the school. Some of you are calling it 'extra' pay. It doesn't really seem extra to expect to be paid for the days that you are working.

Back to expectations, how about at the elementary level? We are trying to plan out a schedule for next year. I asked how many preps we should build into the elementary schedule. The headmaster said 3 per week.

We have a 7 hour day. This means that the elementary teachers have their students in front of them 32 out of 35 hours that the school is open. That doesn't really seem that productive. In the U.S., the friends i have that teach elementary school typically teach 25 and have other activites for 2 periods a day--PE, art, music, language, or whatever else.

All of the teachers are new to the school, so they for the most part don't have experience with the texts or imaginary curriculum that we are following.

And back to the service days at the beginning of the year, our report date is 1 day before the year starts. No assistance with housing, transportation, insurance, nada, zip, zilch. For those of you at a better place, be glad.

Hey Ichiro,

I did do a write up on the pay side. It was before we got a new headmaster. But things haven't really changed much. I'll do updates as things change here.

The local hire thing, i understand your thinking. But i have a different take on it. The philippine school system skips grades 7 and 8. So you graduate from high school after only 10 years of school. While i'm sure that there are qualified filipino teachers in country, their education is lacking compared to foreign hires, in my experience.

Couple that with the fact that no foreigner, or well-off filipino will accept that they are paying top tuition for filipino teachers. The end result is that except in some specialty subjects like P.E., we don't hire local teachers.

The headmasters position has been that he can easily get 'good' licensed teachers for a very small salary. I suppose that you can do that in some cases. But i've seen what he has brought in so far, and imho, he isn't pulling the kind of teachers that you need to get a school started.

Parents are paying big money, and the staff is on par with a underperforming U.S. school. His theory seems to be if the guy has a white face and a bad tie, then everyone will think that they have a great amount of ability.

The school is a new international school. Next September starts our second year. We are planning for about 50 students in grades k-11 (no 12 till next year). Right now, the students are about 90% Korean. The board of directors is Korean. The headmaster is a Brit. We are using an American Curriculum, which no one seems to really understand. That is confusing me a bit, because there isn't really much to it.

Besides asking us to prep 6 classes in the fall, they also want us to start developing curriculum. Those of you who have been around long enough, know that there is a thrown together type of curriculum that is worthless. And a well thought out and planned type of curriculum, which can guide the school. I'm not big on wasting my time like that. Either I do it well, or i don't like to do it.

But i don't see how i can do 6 classes plus extra-curricular stuff well and write a quality curriculum.

The writing is on the wall. I'll finish out next year, then like you said, i will have 2 years international experience under my belt and i'll start looking for the next post.

22k is a pretty good salary for many parts of the Philippines. Especially if you wanted to live at a local level. But, to have a decent standard of living in a city like manila or angeles and some others, it isn't going to go too far, especially with a family.

Random notes of other topics--
There is no handbook as of yet. Minimal contracts that are one-way, meaning since everything isn't spelled out, they change the agreement as they go. They have paid regularly and on time. That is the only plus as of now. Morale from expat-teachers, local admin and staff is very low. The korean owners are arrogant and clueless.

Thanks for the input from everyone.

Hi, i'm entering my second year at an international school. I realize that the expectations will vary wildly, but i want to get an idea of some others experiences.

How many classes are you expected to teach per day?

How many preps?

How much after school work (extracurricular, not grading and planning)

minimum salary?

Like i said, i'm expecting wild fluctuations, so please describe your school a bit.

To give a bit of background, i moved to the philippines with no intention of working. A new international school was opening up in my area, so i put in a resume. The initial group of teachers got hired at a decent salary.

But the new teachers are coming in at what i can't imagine living on. The new head of school insists that you can get quality teachers for the much lower salary. For the first year, i taught 6 classes, four of them needing preps. Then i taught an afterschool test prep class.

This year it looks like they are trying to have us teach 7 classes--all of them unique, so 7 preps. It will at least be 6 classes with 6 preps.

As for salary, initially we were at $36,000 including housing allowance. The new hires are coming in at $22,000 all in, less in some cases.

The combination of high course load, with high preps and what seems like a very small salary makes it seem not even remotely worth the time. Luckily, i'm still on the old pay scale, but that may change next year.

Thanks in advance for any input that you can offer.