OK that was a little tongue in cheek, so being serious now I have to really disagree with Ichiro on this, for some of the following main reasons.

1) While not the most common, a fair number of schools (a number being in the middle east) only issue 1 year contracts. There is no disgrace to COMPLETING a contract of any length with a good reference that is NOT going to look bad. Thats just how some schools work.

2) Even at schools where its not common, schools that typically offer initial 2 year contracts offer, for various reasons (mainly maternity leave replacements) 1 year "temporary" contracts.

3) The international school arena is a small one, and heads know that no one wants to stay in the third tier schools, or bad schools, and many people who break contract at these types of schools, usually find employment at other schools with little if any marks against them.

I get the sense your at one of these types of schools, and since your leaving at the end of your contract, no ones going to fault you for that.

Another option (again serious face) if your issue is more about getting out of the school and environment your in, then moving to a better school (or if your not likely to get a good reference), is to leave the year at this school off your resume/CV. You got your current job and position without much experience, its very reasonable you could get another tier 2 position for next year with the same previous experience you had before.

Sure, Inflate your resume (its not the noblest answer). Schools usually only check and verify the last school/place of employment. They will get glowing review from that school, and not bother going deeper down the list. Just put a couple years before that at a school that shut down or closed.

I only write that because you already deferred all the normal, acceptable responses. Really, there isnt a lot of rocket science to an international teachers career. It really involves doing those things you already stated. You put in your time (two years) at the bottom or middle and work your way up.

Either that or you get lucky... In that no amount of advice can really help you, except if you want more luck take more risks (though in this case luck means both the "good" kind and the "bad" kind).

Yeah Ditto, the ISR reviews for China (and asia) are full of them.

Honestly, though for this type of school, the person was either naive, or desperate. Schools (even the bad ones) need teachers, and like everyone they want to maximize the return on their investment. Im sure they would like to be a better school, and have better students, and have more money, and bigger budgets, more prestige, and reputation but not everyone can be WAB or BIS. They are just making due with the resources they have. What youve described is pretty typical of "public" schools just about everywhere, they are there to educate the masses. This is just one of the schools new teachers have to suffer through before they move on to something better, and if it wasnt for the legions of schools like this, there wouldnt be a better school for comparison.

Well depends on the school and the location. It happens on occasion but unless you have key stage or GCSE/IGCSE experience I doubt youd be taken seriously. Its kind of like not having IB experience, except their arent a lot of tier 2 British schools that will train someone. Again though the cost of applying (emailing a resume, etc) is really zero, just dont get frustrated if nothing happens. British teachers that would like to teach in an "American" school have the same issue.

Your best chance is to find a British school that offers IB as well (and hope they are desperate, because the UK has a lot of unemployed teachers as well), and after a couple years there pick up enough experience, you could leverage that at a full British school.

I like the idea of looking at the staff profile pages as well, sadly most schools dont put up much even if they do have teacher profiles. Usually you get a photo, name, and what subject grade they teach, and brits look a lot like americans (or I just cant tell the difference).

I'd send it to the Head... HR, doesnt hire people, and id hate all that effort and expense not to get into the bosses hands.

Cant say I'd ever do it, but cant say i wouldn't see it being effective either. I guess its brilliant if it works, and if it didnt and i kept it to only a couple of schools i wouldn't feel like Id be out a LOT of money or anything. We got a couple hand delivered application, and although they didnt come fedex/dhl, i remember thinking "great now I have to type the email address into the computer by hand" though I will say their applications did "stand out" a little more in a stack of cheap white paper print outs. None of them got into the final interview pile though (style doesnt compensate for a lack of experience). I do remember the VP for Learning Support asking about where they might have gotten the paper (it was printed on a milky vellum).

First, IB training isnt the same as IB experience, one doesnt equal the other, and schools are really looking for IB experience. Second, the "training" workshops/seminars even at the level 2 (assessment) and level 3 (leadership) levels really arent all that helpful or even in depth. I cant see a school giving an admin who only had IB training serious credit for it.

To answer your question, while IB schools reallyw ant a principal who has IB experience (because your the one that usually does the training, mentoring and IB paperwork) there are 2nd and 3rd tier schools in China that will probably take you and give you a shot. You spend 2-3 years doing that, and then youd be ready for a tier 1 school. They wont be the better schools though, and will most likely be "for profit" which might sour you on the whole experience.

Since this is an anonymous forum, how does anyone know what anyone else says is true...

My last 2 positions (both in Italy, and now in Denmark) i got on my own, applying directly. The big schools like to hire as quickly as they can. The fairs can be so exhausting and everyone wants an interview with them, so the fewer vacancies they have to fill the better. the only downside for me at least is filling out those online applications. its so repetitive.

Honestly though I dont think it matters. The cost of emailing your materials is zero.

They were brand new when I was back in China (and the secondary program, is REALLY new). Tom Kline is one of those admins that supports the school and board first and teachers second (thats not all bad though, an admin who doesnt do what their boss (the board) wants finds they arent an admin anymore). The school is really more focused on primary and only a small secondary program, as that was what their first focus was, and while they are an IB world school, the secondary school hasnt really caught on (mainly because there are already several very good secondary schools in Shanghai). The package is good, though not the best or the elite in Shanghai (the provided housing is actually very nice), it puts them solidly in the tier 1 schools. Shanghai is expensive and only gets more and more expensive, living in Shanghai is more like living in Hong Kong then the rest of China. You can very quickly and easily spend a lot of money in Shanghai. The students are what youd expect from a private school in Shanghai. They arent the top but theyre also not the worst (the parents pretty much bought them into the school).

Now the bad news. My biggest peeve is how they are trying to ride on WAB's (Western Academy of Beijing) name. The two are different, WAB is run very much like a non profit, and WISS is run more as a for profit. Some of their policies are restrictive. For instance most schools in China pay a yearly bonus, WISS doesnt pay the bonus until your third year (given you get all three years), that has to be a concern. I think if you had 2 or fewer years IB experience, and wanted to live in "the city", and werent looking to change the world (because my sense was there was a business culture, that didnt alwasy see the students and education as the bottom line) WISS could be a good post, until you hit the 4-5 year mark and would be competitive for the elite schools.

<quote>Im very happy with myself, and have a lot of self esteem...</quote>

You should check your grammar. It should be "I'm", and "I have".

The ellipses isnt appropriate as you already have a half stop, and your statement continues on the same idea.

Oh i get it (and it is witty), im just disinclined to acquiesce.

Im very happy with myself, and have a lot of self esteem, i dont need to give in to peer pressure because being happy with being me is just fine. Whats the use in being cool, if you cant be yourself anyway.

Depending on your EU citizenship you may have an easier time getting a work authorization, but its not always long term or guaranteed. It will likely be much easier for you then it was for me.

The money is better then average, but depending where you came from its nothing special. Its basically a local package, and as an admin I make "about" what they are offering for a teacher, and although i live in Copenhagen and im doing OK financially, im not able to live the high life, (taxes here are very high, but provide very strong social services).

Lastly, sunrise is at about 8:00am, and sun set happens at about 3:00pm, during the long winter. It doesnt leave a lot of "day" time to do anything.

Consumer Price Index basically. Costs in Thailand are very cheap, and inexpensive, especially for labor. They also consider their payroll costs a significant and valuable investment.

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