The International Schools Review Forum

A friend of mine who has been teaching overseas for 15years (AND STILL has not come to her senses and returned to teaching in the U.S.) asked me if there were any international schools that were "fun", ie. reasonable workload, etc. A school that did not want or try to be the "best international school in (fill in the blank) and was happy to pay a decent wage and just do their thing educating students to be better people.

I told her, NO!!!
Those kind of schools pay nothing and are pure dysfunctional hells.

If anyone disagrees or can help her, post a reply.

Be honest with the poor naive dear, please and do't get her hopes up.

I'm at a school that your friend might like. The package, compared to other schools, isn't very good, but I have a comfortable life, and pay my mortgage in the U.S. The school's been around a long time and takes good care of the foreign hires.

Is it perfect? Of course not. There's certainly room for improvement, in my opinion, but I know I'm a short-timer (I did extend my contract) and cannot expect to be an agent of change except in my classroom.

Good luck finding any school that is your perfect and ideal fit, regardless of the criteria. No matter what you do, you have to be flexible. If your friend does this, then there's no reason to not find a number of schools that she would enjoy. :) (now granted, I'm certain that there would also be a number of schools she would not enjoy, no matter how flexible she is).

Hi PsyGuy, what school are you at in Italy, if you don't mind me asking?
Would be interested to hear.

Thanks I totally understand.

Thanks, Guys,
But you are not helping withstatements like:
"Yes, I know a good school but I'm not going to tell you the name."
Come on people, we are using fake names.
What good is this site if no REAL information is ever passed around?

For some context, what schools does your friend think are too stressful?

I'd like to offer these schools as places that might fit the bill. Reasonable work loads, some savings potential, worthwhile travel opportunities, comfortable life style and professional work environment. Of course none of these are without their problems.

My 2 cents:
AAS in Sofia, BG,
Escuela Campo Alegre, Venezuela
Koc school in Turkey
Brent International School, Philippines
- INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, India

I've should have schools in Thailand or Vietnam on my list, but I don't know them that well.

Anybody agree/disagree?

EVERY school has its issues, but I guess it wouldn't be as dreadful in these:

- New International School, Thailand
- Brent International School Manila, Philippines
- Singapore American School
- Busan Foreign School

,

[quote="ichiro"]The first three schools you mention are very highly respected. So maybe you are the dreadful part of the equation?[/quote]

wow... where did that come from? what's up with the attitude? I've taught in some of these schools and do know that EVERY school will have their issues. Why would I list these schools down if I didn't think they were good.

I've been teaching interantionally for a while and have absolutely loved most of my experiences. However, I do belive that most international schools are not of the 'fun' variety.

What I mean by this is that in my experience (both at schools I've worked at and schools my mates have come from or moved on to) most schools are either run poorly (some are a complete joke) or are run well but place unreasonable expectations on their staff. The latter category compensate their slavedriver mentality by paying really well, too. So, not sure one can really complain. Well, you can always complain...

Escuela Campo Alegre is an excellent school and it's also quite a bit of fun. It pays well and runs well. But, Caracas is a disaster at the moment. There's always a but, no?

anappleaday, I think ichiro misread your post, and thought you were saying the schools you listed were dreadful, rather than the opposite.

Hi calcidirigore,

I'm glad we agree on Escuela Campo Alegre.

[quote="ichiro"]The first three schools you mention are very highly respected. So maybe you are the dreadful part of the equation?[/quote]

I think he misread 'in' as 'as'.

Has she considered working at some type of alternative school (either at home or abroad)?