Shenzhen American International School
Shenzhen American International School
Any news on this school? I have friends with two young kids looking at the school and the one review I can find on ISR is not reassuring. Thank you in advance.
What are you looking for?
What kind of reassurance are you looking for? It's a 2nd tier school, they pay on time. Do your job, keep your head down, and be a bobble head. If your going to be a whiner, complainer, or prima donna, because its not like back home, your going to wear out your welcome really, really fast.
The school is a business, like many private/independent schools are, it's customers are the parents who pay tuition, and like any business it has to keep its customers happy. I think it's one of the biggest changes when a public school teacher moves overseas, and realizes they are working for a private school, and the whole organizational model changes. You don't have the same rights, and you will be valued only in so much as you actually add value to the school. Just doing your job, doesn't really count for anything.
Shenzhen is kind of a fun place to be, it's smaller and has more of a authentic feel to it. It would be easier on a family then somewhere like Shanghai, or Beijing.
The school is a business, like many private/independent schools are, it's customers are the parents who pay tuition, and like any business it has to keep its customers happy. I think it's one of the biggest changes when a public school teacher moves overseas, and realizes they are working for a private school, and the whole organizational model changes. You don't have the same rights, and you will be valued only in so much as you actually add value to the school. Just doing your job, doesn't really count for anything.
Shenzhen is kind of a fun place to be, it's smaller and has more of a authentic feel to it. It would be easier on a family then somewhere like Shanghai, or Beijing.
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eion_padraig
- Posts: 408
- Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:18 pm
Yeah, Shenzhen is real authentic. They build the whole city from farmland in 1979 to compete with Hong Kong back before the turnover back to China. The strangest thing about it is the lack of old people (retired) in the city. The two redeeming factors as far as I am concerned is its proximity to Hong Kong and the fact that Chinese people live there from all over China because of the economic opportunities there.
Reflection
For me, authentic has a lot to do with people. The people in Beijing, HK, Shanghai, just come off as elitist. It's like likening in NYC or LA. The people in Shenzhen, come from humble origins, went to school, and are really just living the equivalent of the American dream. They are for me far more friendly. I catch myself doing this all the time, in havin to remember that sometimes I speak of the lessor developed cities of China as if they were all rice paddies and thatch huts. Concrete, steel, and glass are just everywhere in Chinas cities., large and small.