The International Schools Review Forum

When UWCSEA is discussed on this forum, the workload is often mentioned. I'm curious as to what a "heavy workload" actually means here. Does it mean that the days are packed with little downtime, does it mean you will be working until 8 pm everyday, or does it just mean you will be taking on a lot of extracurricular's. Can anyone with experience or who knows someone who has worked there describe what a standard work-day at UWCSEA would be like? Also, how does this workload compare to other upper tier schools in Asia/SE Asia? I personally am quite happy to work very hard while at work and coach a team/run a club/help students with hw probs etc, but still like to go home early enough that I can either spend time with friends/family or do some form of recreation other than work a couple times a week. Thanks!

Never worked there myself but I have colleagues who have. The consensus is that they work you to death. Going home at 8pm is normal. Not sure about your other queries. I would never want to work there; I'm too old anyway. Apparently it's very difficult to secure a job as a teacher there unless you are under 35 years of age.

Heard its pretty bad, but not as bad as some third tier lower schools will work you.

I used to sub at UWC in Singapore. The main reason the workload is huge is the number of preps. If you're a teacher at Singapore American School teaching science or math, you have maybe two preps, and in some cases only one. At UWCSEA, the philosophy is that if you are teaching perhaps science, you should experience as many grade levels as possible, so you might have grade 6, 7, 11, and 12 science, or math. All this adds so much to the preparation time.

Its a combination of excessive preps, and that UWC has a lot of production requirements; its not just a lesson plan, you need to do curriculum mapping and bubble planers, and then the class meeting, department meeting, its a lot of production tasking. Other ISs such as ASL are similar.

Exhaustive work requirements are not exclusive to upper tier ISs, and in general the work load is less than a third tier IS thats creating a curriculum, or an IS thats going though accreditation or authorization. Upper tier ISs usually have an established curriculum, and ITs arent micromanaged, its why its unusual.

Everyone does ASPs thats just implied unless your at a regulated IS.

My former teaching partner moved to UWCSEA. The school places a lot of emphasis on service. They have service coordinators at all levels. You work 6 of 8 blocks. They do try to keep you at one grade level now. If you are hired as a MS science teacher you will, most likely, be teaching one grade level, occasionally two. You are expected to do extra-curricular every term. 8pm might be pushing it. You definitely work more there then at SAS.

At most top schools you teach 5 of 8 and are expected to do one extracurricular a year. So it is more.