CZOIC?

[ISRian]

Hi, I did a search here, but not much came up. I also saw the info on the Search Ass site.
Has anyone had any experience with Oxford International College of Changzhou?
It's a relatively new school and it has just moved to an impressive looking new campus on a lake (they've even got a rowing club).
It seems to have a predominately Chinese student base, but their approach to education seems to be more worldly. I can't be too picky as I'm looking for my first international posting after teaching ESL in Taiwan for 11 years.
Thoughts on the school or on the area in general?

Thanks!

[eion_padraig]

Living in Changzhou is going to be a very Chinese experience for better or worse. I haven't been to Changzhou, but I have been to other cities in the region of a similar size. Good place to learn Chinese (or continue where you left off in Tawain) and experience local culture - bad place to find foreign goods and services. Being on the railway line to head to Shanghai and Nanjing easily will be nice for weekends you need to get away, but you'd want to find out how long that takes. The old, not so fast trains on that route used to take 3 1/2 hours to and from Nanjing, so I'd expect it's fairly convenient.

Again, it's going to be a Chinese private school. Good facilities are easy and cheap to build in China, but the quality depends a lot more on the leadership. As long as the kids have strong enough English skills that you can prove to your next employer that you weren't continuing with the ESL track, a place like this could be a stepping stone to a place higher up the ladder after a few years.

Have you spent time in the Mainland before? I know people who've come from Taiwan to live in China and it can be a bit of a shock. It sounds like Taiwan keeps a lot of the nice things that China has without some of the big downsides.

Good luck.

[ISRian]

Thanks for your input, eion; I appreciate it.

I'm sure it will be a bit of a shock. Taiwan is like China lite. I wish we didn't have to move, but the options here are limited.

I have an interview this week, so that will help me get a feel for it. Any idea what tier CZOIC would be considered to be?
Thanks again!

[eion_padraig]

Good luck ISRian. I'm of the opinion that Chinese private schools are pretty much all third tier schools, but there may be exceptions. Largely I see them being poorly run and managed.

Good luck.

[PsyGuy]

I agree with eion_padraig, its a third tier school for Chinese students with Chinese management. Its basically going to be a bilingual school in the middle of nowhere.