The International Schools Review Forum

I have noticed that in cities in Colombia in particular, housing is frequently provided with the stipulation that a single teacher will be housed with another single teacher.

What if I do not want to live with another single teacher? Does anyone have direct (versus speculative) experience with this?

Gracias!

Whenever housing has been provided, my first question is always: Do singles have to share? If yes, I thank the interviewer and explain that my roommate days are long over. One recruiter said that "maybe" they could work something out for me, but I am not willing to sign a contract on maybe.

For me, my own apartment is one of the most basic parts of the package that any school should provide now. When I first moved overseas I had an open mind to sharing, but that was a few years ago. Some schools won't provide any housing at all, and those that offer shared accommodation are clearly making an effort, but my room mate days were over at about 28 so I interpret shared accommodation to mean "this place is maybe better for younger teachers/new graduates. We clearly don't have a lot of money so don't expect too much". Forgive me if that's a generalization or if there are elite schools out there offering shared housing, but that's not my experience and I haven't been offered shared housing for a VERY long time. Maybe it's a regional thing? I've always been in the Middle East and S.E. Asia/

Shared housing is more common in big chain language school positions then in ISs. In ISs its usually seen in SCA and low tier ME schools. No school thats worth working at requires single teachers to share housing. If they do, then inmans POV is very accurate. These schools are usually cheap, or have limited budgets. If they are cheap on housing they are going to be cheap on everything else from your classroom and department budget to their insurance policy. These schools think nothing though of pushing excessive demands on their teachers. In such cases theses schools give the word and verse "were paying you so much more then local teachers" or "the cost of living is so low your making a fortune".

If a school offers shared housing and thats not acceptable, then say so. "Im sorry my housing expectations would require private housing". Dont sign a contract on a maybe, possibly or "we will see what we can do". Either a school can or they cant, and the HOS is the person that can and should be able to answer that right then and there.

Shared housing is more common in big chain language school positions then in ISs. In ISs its usually seen in SCA and low tier ME schools. No school thats worth working at requires single teachers to share housing. If they do, then inmans POV is very accurate. These schools are usually cheap, or have limited budgets. If they are cheap on housing they are going to be cheap on everything else from your classroom and department budget to their insurance policy. These schools think nothing though of pushing excessive demands on their teachers. In such cases theses schools give the word and verse "were paying you so much more then local teachers" or "the cost of living is so low your making a fortune".

If a school offers shared housing and thats not acceptable, then say so. "Im sorry my housing expectations would require private housing". Dont sign a contract on a maybe, possibly or "we will see what we can do". Either a school can or they cant, and the HOS is the person that can and should be able to answer that right then and there.