The International Schools Review Forum

I noticed that there are a lot of jobs in good schools for immediate start. I am not looking for a job but was wondering why are there so many jobs in schools that won't interview you at the fair if you don't have IB and now are SO desperate?

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" Runners " ( especially with fairly new teachers in the international education field ) are common during the September - October, December and spring months. You see, this is when they REALLY realise what they are in for, as they teach away, get to know the students, meet the faculty, deal with the real pressures of the teaching profession ( which is a fair bit ) and being in different country with a different culture. Some people actually don't realise this ( especially newbies ) who go off on grand adventurous trains of thoughts that they will go over to North Africa, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and life would be completely great. Needless to say, the first few years of teaching are quite hard. There's so much to do, things to be mindful of as a rookie and such...especially in a premier or elite schools where the expectations will be quite high.

I've been doing this international teaching for 10 years now and currently work at a premier school in Tokyo ( bkonality was my previous username on here but for some reason, I couldn't log on the other day so I had to register again ).

Even at premier schools, we will have one of the one or two odd runners. They run not bc the school is terrible, but bc the pressures of real work are stressful, especially if they also have to deal with cultural differences and quirks.

And believe it or not, Japan is one of the easiest places to live and work in, in regards to international education. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and the other cities are filled with foreigners. Japan is known to be most accommodating to foreigners ( "Westerners", really ). The four seasons are beautiful ( minus the horrible natural catastrophes that have occurred this year ). The money is good. Japanese administrators are ever polite, helpful and go beyond their means to help newbies and anyone out, really. Foreign staff is usuallly of top calibre and have been in Japan for a very long time, so they have acclimatised well to the the cultural values and practices.

I mean, the most difficult thing that a "Westerner" would have to acclimatise to in Japan is the sense of obligation and to become "hard-working", which I think are NOT bad qualities or values to adopt at all. Everyone can use a bit of the ol' Japanese adherence to obligation and promises and work ethic.

As I mentioned before, I have worked at this premier school in Tokyo for over 5 years now. My first year was tough bc the expectations were really high. However, the rest of my time has been a breeze. Although I work hard by choice, if I didn't, then I will have a lot of time in my hands. School ends at 4 pm. We're not expected to run clubs. Weekends and national holidays galore allow for a lot of time for traveling around the country and doing a lot of fun stuff.

Are you at the school in Fuchu? Tokyo was a great place to live/work. We are in Beijing now and like it, but still miss many things about Japan/Japanese culture.

I won't disclose where it is exactly but yes, it's got the "fu" in it. Yes, Japan ( Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka ) is pretty amazing. I was here as a newbie at YIS around 10 years ago. I did that for around 3 years and felt the need to spread my wings. I ended up in Barcelona for 2 years and also loved it. I would have stayed in Barcelona forever but I got the once in a lifetime opportunity here in Tokyo, so now I am back and it's been 5 years ever since. I tend to go back and forth from Europe to Asia, in terms of career, because the continents have such a hold on me. Perhaps in a few years' time, I might go back to Europe.