Though the question includes comments about working in Libreville.

Once again the original question gets sidetracked, the OP didn't ask whether the reports were true or false they simply asked for advice on what a good average score might be on ISR.

Lots of stuff to think about but in the end if you really want to teach overseas you need to just throw your hat in the ring and see what happens. Nobody can predict with any accuracy what any particular school is looking for in any particular year, but I do know that if you don't apply and put yourself out there you won't be teaching overseas next year.

A few years ago my school took the position that they would hire the best teacher available. Sometimes that means a single teacher but often it means a teacher with dependents, sometimes a trailing spouse and sometimes a trailing spouse and kids. What that means in terms of longevity and commitment to the school I can't tell you.

Ultimately its the parents, they are the ones paying the freight and if they don't want an IB school, an AP school or any other type of school they won't enroll their kids and the school goes under. It happens all the time.

In the end it depends on hooking up with a school that pays well and then staying put, putting on the golden handcuffs can be both a blessing and a curse.

sid wrote:
> It also often happens that an incoming leader has been brought in for a specific
> reason, set by the board. Implement the IB, add a STEAM program, improve the level
> of English, whatever it might be that the board wants.

Trust me, these aren't the kind of changes I've seen new principals make, in fact the need for structural kinds of changes are obvious to almost everyone. It's the processes that are put in place that are literally just put in place without explanation, or obvious board support, that I'm talking about. A recent MS principal tried to do some visioning, hoping to change the MS within his first year, it blew up in his face and after hours spent by his teachers in countless meetings he just quietly dropped the whole thing. Another principal decided we needed a whole new grading policy, we ended up with a bunch of shiny A4 brochures after a year of study and the whole thing was gutted within a couple of years (which is an entirely different story). Teaching is a full time and busy profession without having to take on the whims of a principal who is trying to make their mark within their first year without knowing what the school really needs to do to improve.

sid wrote:
> I disagree about waiting and seeing.

and I wasn't implying that if there is poor teaching practice that it should be ignored by a new administrator. However, I have seen two new administrators come into our school in the past five years and try to remake the school in their image by making institution wide changes without understanding the culture of the institution. Those changes had nothing to do with what was happening in an individual classroom and their actions caused far more harm than they helped. If those two admins could have waited to see what worked and what wasn't working their reputation wouldn't have taken such a hit.

Don't try to remake the school in your own image during the first month or even year of leadership. Sit back and observe what's working and what's not before making changes. Listen to your teachers, they can have a very good feel of the pulse of the school. If you are implementing a new initiative, make sure you aren't just padding your resume and thinking of your next job.

I agree with everything mybeard says, which is one reason we left. The in-house PD drove me crazy.

QSI does offer "real" IB, after all IB was created in part to level the playing field. My daughter graduated with her diploma and going to QSI has never held her back. I think teaching IB at a QSI school if you've never taught it before would be a great way of getting your foot in that door.

I moved from a QSI school to a top tier Asian School as did 5 of my current colleagues, though from different QSI schools. I think its your body of work that attracts attention, and sure if you spend years at QSI that might say something about you. However, a contract or two at a QSI school is not going to doom your international teaching career especially if you take advantage of working in a smaller school and take on responsibilities you might not have the opportunity to tackle in a larger school.

Depending on the school's location I wouldn't immediately turn my nose up at working for QSI, and if you have family and multiple dependents it might work out well for you.

Haven't I seen this thread somewhere before?

I've worked in both Europe and Asia and they each have their up and downsides. I save a great deal more money in Asia but there was nothing like a day in Vienna, Budapest or Prague. But then again sitting on a Thai beach at New Years was pretty special as was exploring the Borneo Rainforest. And yet Barcelona on a beautiful day can't be beat.

Why is it so hard to accept that there are advantages and disadvantages to both, and for fun lets throw Africa into the mix, and move on. I'm not sure why anyone has to make such a voracious argument unless they are either unhappy where they are or disappointed where they are not.

Shanghai Schools including
YCIS
Concordia
Shanghai American
SCIS

many others

In Shanghai it is possible right up to the year you turn 65.

Our paycheques got hit in China last month. The Yuan's sudden devaluation was a hard pill to swallow.