The International Schools Review Forum

Hello Folks,

My wife and I are getting ready for the Toronto Fair and were wondering if anyone had any experience or suggestions to pass on.

Thanks!!

Yes, I have been doing this. I also did a Search Fair in NZ back in 1996 but I'm just seeing if there's anything unique about Toronto. I certainly know that the range of schools is limited (unless you want to go to Kuwait). We've been waitlisted for Cambridge, but we're hopeful that something good is going to come out of Toronto.

Thanks!!

Its a much smaller and more laid back fair. You will find it s a lot less stressful, and the schools recruiters motivated to hire, they arent "waiting" for better to come along. Being "flexible and adaptable" is a very important and sought after trait, almost as important as being likable.
If your any type of qualified teacher, your likely to have a lot of interest taken in yourself, its an easy way of getting your ego stroked.
Probabley the biggest mistake teachers make is letting their professionalism slip, since your very likely to get intrest from several schools, it can lead you to believe your calling the shots.

Well, it sounds a lot like the NZ fair we went to in 1996.

We have taught about 20 years (2 years in Indonesia and 4 in South Korea) at international schools and public schools.

My wife is K-8 and I'm secondary (History and PE, but also have taught Psychology, Sociology, Geography, Economics) and have coached several winning teams in MUN (Cornell, MIT) and soccer.

I'm hoping we're sought after (still don't know about Kuwait), but we hope to go in with humility and a good sense of humour.

Thanks!!

It looks like there are few good schools this year, actually looks pretty bad. The only decent schools are Brent (I had a friend who liked it there), ASK, Seoul Foreign, AIS Riyadh (they tend not to hire here), and Singapore. Good Luck, you may want to hold off for Boston.....Ray Sparks is an awesome guy though....he is helpful....

We just received a message from Ray that it doesn't look good for Cambridge which really surprises me given we are a teaching couple and we have six years in the international school system (with 13 more here in Canada).

We are trying to keep an open mind but things are compounded with the fact that I'm a history/social studies guy. I have PE but haven't taught it in 13 years.

We will be prioritizing SFS, Yaounde (we worked with Paul Shepherd in Korea), Mont'Kiara, and Singapore, but you never know.

Thanks!!

Paul Shepherd is on his way out of Yaounde after this year. He has another job, but I forget where. Singapore Canadian School might be hiring - have you checked? SAS has pretty much done all their hiring. They had so few openings anyways. Have you looked at KIS Jeju in Korea? Or Chadwick in Songdo (new Aeropolis - google it, there was a great news story on it)?

MKIS didn't seem to have many openings. The director is also leaving after this year.

Chuck - ASK is definitely mid-second tier. They haven't changed their contract conditions or pay since 2000. Definitely a starting out/finishing up school with most teachers lasting 2 - 3 years only before moving on.

Good luck on the job hunts fellow teachers!

This not be true anymore but does Cameroon hire Canadians? I remember we were in line for a job there until the then director found out my wife only had Canadian citizenship. At the time health care was and issue because it was based at the embassy. Again, this is dated and may well have changed.