The International Schools Review Forum

After reading numerous posts about schools and their work/time expectations of teachers, I'm curious as to how that compares to my own experience and workload. What might be one person's "get their pound of flesh" school might be "no big deal and business as usual" to another teacher. I think it'd be great if we can somehow quantify what we do and then make our own conclusions and decide if a school is the right fit or not. Obviously, there will always be some subjectivity involved but it would help me tremendously to see what exactly does a laid back/high stress school look like.
So, I'll start off by describing my current situation and if anyone else would like to share what their normal day looks like, I'd really appreciate it!

-I'm just picking the variables that I think affect me the most right now, feel free to add your own descriptors-

FYI- I'm currently teaching in a public school in the rural midwest of the US.

- Hours (on average) worked per week (including weekends):50-55. However, many teachers at my school do not put in as many hours. (I think I'm a slow worker plus I switched subject areas and am a new coach)

-Number of students:152

- General disposition/ability of students: about 2/3 are pretty unmotivated; wide range of abilities; some students are great. I really enjoy working with them but at times it can be very disheartening.

- Hours prep/plan time per week: alternates between 3 hours per week and 4.5 hours per week.

- Number of different classes (preps): 3

- Lunch: 25 min (I only include this because it seems some international schools have a significantly longer lunch period-could be wishful thinking).

- Pressure regarding expected student achievement: Up until this year I would say there was no pressure at all. Nobody ever looked at grades. Now, due to very low graduation rates, everyone is expected to do everything possible to improve student achievement. It's a long overdue and much needed change in philosophy but it has created a lot more work for teachers (which I'm OK with). On the other hand, AP classes are probably mostly ignored and nobody really cares (except the students and teacher) what scores students get.

- Teacher assistant/aide: No. I teach science classes with several lab activities- a lab assistant would be wonderful, but that's never going to happen.

In a nutshell, I think I put in a substantial amount of time and effort. I wonder if a teacher's life is pretty much the same everywhere and I just need to suck it up, or can I continue to daydream about one day having a life again. :)

Depends a lot on the school and region. I never worked harder as a teacher then when I was in Kyoto/Japan. China was work, but off time was off time, and there was more of it. Thailand was pretty easy but the social life was a lot more taxing, and it had its own vices. Italy wasnt as easy as Denmark, but only by a little. Even within a particular country workloads vary drastically between 2nd tier and the elite schools. Ichiro works much harder then I did when I was in Thailand, but he teaches at ISb ("THE" elite school).

As for myself now, I'm an admin, and I've posted this breakdown before, so the rest is a repost...
I've never been an administrator in the USA, I havent been in an american classroom in half a decade.

First, I'm a junior admin, I'm not a principal or head. I dont have supervisory authority over staff (I cant hire, fire, or discipline staff. I cant write a staff member up and I cant reprimand them). My formal title is "IB Coordinator" though officially its "Academic Coordinator". I teach at the international school in a municipal district which is about as close to a public school as you can get here. In practicality I'm the Academic Vice Principal. Our school has three principals: 1 each for PYP, MYP, and DIP. Above them at central office there is a Director of Education, and above them a commissioner of Children's Services. We have three VP's (Academic, Students, Support Services), and below them we have a counselor, librarian (IT coordinator), and a administrative representative (admin assistant/receptionist/clerk).

We dont have nearly the number of disciplinary problems you could imagine, we have maybe 1 or 2 a week. Most of them are very minor infractions, like dress code violations. We have maybe 2 altercations (fights) a year. I do see students and can impose disciplinary measures, but my scope is limited to those infractions of an academic nature. we have a VP of Students who does the rest. Most of our behavior infractions honestly involve special ed (learning support) students who have been integrated into the general classroom. The discipline problems we do have are typically the cutting up, goofing off, attention seeking types of infractions, I dont see those kids (I only mention the dress code above, because dress code violations fall under the academic honor code, not the student handbook. I dont know why.)

We have staff meetings almost never. Once a month and people tend to have reasons for not attending. The admin team meets more often and more regularly. The reason we dont have a lot of staff meetings, is because nothing gets accomplished. They are very big on "buy-in" and consensus here. The beginning of the year and end of the year meeting (or PD) can encompass a single issue, such as last years lunch room rules. which took the staff 5 days over the course of a month to adapt, and only got approved at the beginning of the year by student council.

We dont have state testing we do IB testing in 11/12 grade and thats a whole other animal. We dont have state mandated testing at lower grade levels. The whole high stakes testing as you have under NCLB in the USA just doesnt exist here. That said secondary education break off at the end of 9th grade with the majority of students entering "Gymnasium", they sit for the STX admission exams upon completing the 9th year. Upon graduation they sit for the Studentereksamen which is an exit level test. The Gymnasium, system is a lot like the IB system accept it lasts 3 years. Students choose a path (many are available, though typically each school offers a natural science, a social science, and a liberal/fine arts path), in the system and designate subjects of A, B, C. A subjects are studied for all three years B subjects 2, and C subjects 1 year. I dont deal with any of that though, because were the international school, and our curriculum is all IBO.

There is no annual formal teacher evaluation. Unless a teacher has issues, in which case that is overseen my the principal. I do walk throughs on occasion, which involve walking down the hall and observing from the hall (all of our classrooms (except for the music studio) are class facing the hallway. There is no prescribed form, but I do have an "Observation" note form if I see something to cause concern (filling one of these out is a big deal here).

We have designated PD days. Five days before the start of the year, 5 days at the end of the year, and 1 day between terms (we have a tri-mester system, with each quarter 3 months long not counting holidays, and summer) with the last week of the trimester being designated exam period. Our school policy requires each course to conclude with a formative and summative examination (though the examination need not be a test, it can be a final project or paper). PD at our school involves a lot of "IB" curriculum alignment. We dont really do new methods seminars, or pedagogy type of workshops. In my experience I havent had much of those types of PD anywhere outside the USA.

My day is way, way, way more relaxed. In fact the reason im able to post a lot on this forum is I have little to do. Most of my day involves meeting with parents, and other professionals. Our school runs very smoothly because we do a lot of preemptive intervention. Its really stealth social engineering. I spend a lot of my day reviewing grades and student progress, looking for abnormalities that signify a problem. I then consult with other professionals and admins to address the issue before its even a problem. One example: the students in the early years art class had a high percentage of side talk during project time. As a result, we moved the large round easel tables out and replaced them with long tables so that students only had 2 neighbors instead of 4. Once this was approved it happened in a day, over night. The approval process took an afternoon. I had an american student MYP 1 student who was having a difficult time grasping fractions. Once I received the report, talked to the counselor, and student services VP, we invited the student to earn community service hours (a requirement) to tutor 5th graders in math in our after school program. By working with these younger students as a tutor, under direction and instruction of teachers his math grades have significantly improved.

My typical day: Humm.

8:00am arrive at school. Have tea and danish in faculty lounge. Read newspaper on iPad.

8:20 Go to office. Logon to computer.

8:30 Classes start. Curse at computer, because I dont read Danish. Logon to Ipad to check email.

8:45 Go to mail room, compliment receptionist on outfit.

9:00 Throw mail away (its all in danish). Email departments where mail notices came from and request update (writing email in english).

9:30 Go to bathroom.

9:35 Get hot coco from teachers lounge.

9:45 Drop by PYP principal's office.

10:00 Drop By MYP principals office

10:15 Drop by DIP principals office.

10:30 Start Lunch Rounds

10:45 Log onto OCC, start presentation that will never be used.

10:59 Look at appointments. Teacher coming into ask for money at 11am

11:05 Teacher meeting. No you cant have money for glitter paint, have you checked our HUGELY equipped supply closet or talked to the art teacher. I'll send her an email on your behalf.

11:31 Teacher has glitter paint.

12:00 Check appointments for parent conferences. 1 meeting at 1:30pm

12:02 Check Email.

12:06 Go to teacher lounge for hot tea.

12:10 visit with Counselor

12:30 Eat lunch with PYP 5 students. Discuss Justin Bieber and why Selena Gomez broke up with him.

1:00 Thank cafeteria staff for doing such a great job.

1:02 Listen to Cafeteria monitors/aids report. Take notes.

1:05 send email to VP of Students on lunch issues (none).

1:10 Go to bathroom.

1:25 Go to office, grab folder, and notepad. Wait for parent to arrive at front of school.

1:40 Parent arrives, go to conference room 1. offer parent some water, fruit and pastry. Parent accepts.

2:20 Parent leaves.

2:25 Go to office, check email.

2:30 School is over. Monitor PYP playground and pickup gate. Smile and greet parents.

2:45 Go to cafeteria for after school program. Check in with teachers.

2:50 Go to office Check Email. Write up parent conference notes.

3:00 Go to bar, have beer. Look at appointment calendar for tomorrow.

4:30 Grab supper, Pizza Margarita. Read Book.

6:30 Go home.

I'm sure your post is tongue in cheek - but I do hope for your sake that none of your supervisors read this forum!

I wasnt trying to be funny, it might come off as that, but its really pretty accurate.

It's inaccurate in the sense that you conveniently neglected to mention the hours you seem to spend on this forum!

And please don't send people to the art teacher for supplies. We order supplies for our students' use, not for the entire school.

If i added all my time on the computer it would have been a much longer post.

Our art department is stocked and supplied differently.

I've posted comparable info from our secondary and am trying to not put a judgement on any of it. I am leaning it towards the Sciences since that is your field

-Number of students:185

- General disposition/ability of students: usual mix of highly motivated and high achievers and those at the other end of the spectrum

Lunch: 40 minutes with duty a couple of times a year

- Pressure regarding expected student achievement: From the parents and students. Parents have high expectations for grades for their students and of the teachers to help them get there. High expectations from the superintendent to connect with kids and to help them achieve. In the MS zeros aren't allowed.

- Teacher assistant/aide: Yes, one lab assistant for science department.

-Hours per week: Most teachers put in extra hours - it's the nature of the beast. The first year is always the toughest but after that, if people come in on the weekend it's only for a couple of hours. There are, of course, times when it's busier than others and coaches are spread even thinner.

- preps: 2 to 3

-Planning time: Teachers teach 5 of 8.

Thanks for the feedback!

@psyguy:
Thanks for the detailed answer. You seem to be enjoying your job and have apparently found the holy grail of work/life balance. Congrats!

@overseasvet2:
Very interesting info. I was surprised at the number of students. Is this per teacher? If so, it sounds like class sizes are pretty big. I was under the impression that international schools in general had fewer students in each class as compared to the US. Am I wrong?
Again, thanks for posting.

@frees1spirit:
Your reply really worried me. Looking at the hours of plan time and number of students, I would have automatically assumed you could get most everything done within the normal school day. Yet you are putting in quite a few extra hours! And you stated that's pretty common among teachers. I'm curious about this. Would you mind going into some detail as to why that's the case? (For example: you are working on curriculum; are part of a couple of committees; you prepare some amazing lessons etc, etc)
And also do you feel your salary and/or lifestyle make up for the long hours?
Thanks many times over the feedback!

Teaching in Europe

- Hours 40 (although I arrive about 30 minutes early per day)

-Number of students: 75

- General disposition/ability of students: Depends on the year. I've had years where 80% want to come to school and are very enthused about learning and had a couple years where mediocrity was the norm.

- Hours prep/plan time per week: 10 hours per week (1 block on M and W, 2 blocks on T and R, 3 short blocks on F)

- Number of different classes (preps): 2

- Lunch: 45 min

- Pressure regarding expected student achievement: I don't feel this too much. But I work in MS where parents are happy if there kids are engaged in learning science.

- Teacher assistant/aide: Yes. This is a BIG help.

Yes, you can dream about having a life again! Working conditions at top tier schools are far better than those in the states.

Sorry - was writing the total number in HS. Classes are capped around 20.

@overseasvet2: Ok, I like those numbers a lot more now. :)

@Matt: You just made my day! I can now have hope...


Would love to get more comparisons, so if anybody else is game to share what their day looks like, please feel free to add on to the examples.

Thanks!

In my experience having both worked in Asia (Japan, Thailand and China) and Europe (Italy and Denmark), europe tends to be less stress and less intense on workload and hours. Then again asia usually beats most european countries when it comes to academic scores.

To add to the data:

I teach in Asia

Hours (on average) worked per week (including weekends): about 55-60, which I'd say is about normal

- Number of students: roughly 70

- General disposition/ability of students: Generally pretty motivated, but there is the usual range. They're generally nice kids and I enjoy them.

- Classes are 90 minutes long. Teachers teach 5 out of 8 periods, which are on a rotating schedule (so three one day, two the next). In addition to this, we have meetings during school time and after school.

- Number of different classes (preps): 5

- Lunch: 45 minutes. Duty once every 8 school days.

- Pressure regarding expected student achievement: Reasonably high expectations.

- Teacher assistant/aide: There is a lab tech for the science department.

WORK PLACE : Tokyo, Japan

TYPE OF SCHOOL : Elite/premier.

NUMBER OF STUDENTS ( my students - not the whole school of course ): 10-15. ( Yes, very small )

NUMBER OF WORK HOURS : 35

NUMBER OF WORK HOURS I ACTUALLY WORK : 55
* We have the weekends and national holidays off ( which are plenty ), but I actually independently choose to come in and work in the classroom or home, prepping, reinventing the wheel if I have to etc.

NUMBER OF PREP IN THE DAY : 2 - 3 periods

LUNCH HOUR : 1 hr.


STUDENT DISPOSITION : Highly motivated, academic, extremely disciplined, bright. Right now, they are pulling an average of B + to an A - in Math, Science and Language.

PRESSURE FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT : High. We get regular, frequent, top professional development and we have markers to apply it. Results are expected on a monthly basis.

TEACHER / ASSISTANT AIDE : Fair. One or two specialists in the class when / if needed. Right now, my class is fairly small and all are high achievers with little to no " special challenges ".

PARENTAL SUPPORT : High. Most parents want the same type of consistency in the classroom and in the home. They prefer teachers who really know what to do, is on the ball, very precise, motivated and well, strict. They prefer teachers that are authoritative rather than the " friendly, fun, crazy, wild " teacher.

PAY & SALARY BENEFITS : High. $ 90 k and up. Most who have been here for years are in the 6-digit figures.