Marriage and drinking? Been there, done that and got divorced because of it. My drinking (as well as his) played a part in that. Maybe it will happen again in the future but I'm in no rush.

I think I might have to really look outside the social circle provided by the school. It certainly is difficult to fit in without drinking or having kids.

Other than that, I love the school and the country. I just feel a bit left out. I wouldn't say I feel sad exactly, but perhaps lonely more often than I wish to do so.

Has anyone found it difficult before to fit in? I work at a big school in Asia with many great colleagues but as a non-drinking single find it difficult to find meaningful or productive ways to spend my spare time. It seems to be that unless you are young and drink a lot or have a family, it can be difficult to fit in. Has anybody else been in a similar situation? I don't seem to fit into either of the two camps any longer. Thanks.

Hi, if I was able to attend either Search BKK or Search LON but not both, and my focus is Europe principally, which one would you go to?

I know it seems to be BKK>LON>BOS>The rest, but does that change if Europe is where you ideally wish to be, and that is your favored destination?

Thanks

Are Western European schools hiring at Bangkok, or is it too early for most of them? I realize that in some EU countries than faculty do not have to let the school know of their intent - by law - until not so many months before the next year begins. Does this affect which is the best fair to go to if your focus is Europe.

Resurrecting an old post...

Where does TOK experience figure in this points list? Either as a teacher or as a coordinator? Or EE Coordinator? Do they count at all?

Does it count as being cross-certified at all if you have experience?

Thanks

higgsboson wrote:
> @Martella - I actually meant opening the mainland European market to a
> larger and more diverse pool of teachers than just teachers from the UK
> would be better for students. However, I do agree with finedude that
> American teachers are preferred over British teachers. Brits are just too
> high strung and suffer from what can only be described as a stick up the
> wazoo. American teachers are more laid back and easier to relate to.
> Students just prefer American teachers over British teachers, at least in
> my experience. I'm not saying Brits aren't effective and hard-working;
> American teachers are just more effective because they develop better
> relationships with teachers.

Stop lying.

American teachers are not preferred over British teachers. Nor, on the whole, is it the case vice versa. It's all about the individual. Effective is not a term that's ever been applied to your career, that much is obvious. Presumably Peter Higgs would have been more "effective" as an American?

I find Higgs Boson and Fine Dude's nationalistic generalization of British teachers to be offensive. No doubt they'll come out with some claptrap about it being based on their own experiences, but based on my experiences what they are saying amounts to lies. I've worked with N. Americans who were terrible teachers, and others that were simply not very nice people. However, I'd not equate that all teachers from N. America, as that's stereotyping and generalization. I've also worked with other N. Americans who were wonderful people, educators and friends. Likewise, most British teachers I have encountered have been wonderful as well. There are always some bad apples, but to make such sweeping statements as above about whole nationalities is just, well, nasty. I'd be concerned at having such prejudiced individuals as those two above named being allowed to influence children in a classroom setting. They are obviously not open-minded but instead prone to prejudice and stereotypes. Judge the person, not the country on their passport.

This board obviously has been pro-US and anti-UK for a while now, and is happy going down that divisive route. Good luck to them, but why not be honest and change the title of the website to prejudicednorthamericanantibritishteachersschoolreview.com?

Not really sure Traveller's ideas about British teachers are helpful to this site, nor to this topic which was apparently about curriculum, rather than an attempt for those with an axe to grind to rant about a whole nation's teachers and profession. As a teacher I try to consider the merits of both students and fellow teachers as individuals, rather than lumping them together as one nationality. Having worked at both British and American schools, I have not considered either to be representative of all teachers or all schools relating to that country. That seems to be beyond his or her capability that's a shame for them. We can all pick random anecdotes about negative dealings with people from a particularly country or ethnicity and make random, stereotypical generalizations, but is that really desirable?

There are both good, great, and awful American and British teachers, or Australian, Canadian, South African or indeed local hires. I'm sure most on here have met examples of all.

There's always been a big drinking culture at all schools I have either taught at, or had friends at. That adds up to quite a lot of schools, and all have had drinkers. However, there are always some teachers that eschew this part of the life as well.

As the majority of expat teachers are Brits, Americans, Aussies, Canadians, Kiwis etc., bring drinking tends to be far more the norm than perhaps it is in the latin culture societies of Southern Europe for example, although it's just a guess. You don't have to go far to find numerous drinking buddies in any of those Anglophone countries, so it's no surprise there are plenty of drinkers around.

Prime recruiting season is pretty much gone by the time the big fairs (Bangkok, London, Boston) have finished. That was months ago. You missed the boat for most jobs.

It doesn't mean that there aren't still jobs around. However, most if not all Tier 1 schools will have wrapped up all recruiting months ago, except for last minute things cropping up.

Kuwait is the equivalent of the late, dump job fairs.

If you're in Kuwait it's for one of two reasons"

1. You're a new international teacher, and want your foot in the door.
2. You're not new, but you're not the biggest catch for whatever reasons. Dependents, perhaps.

I've had many people extol working in Saudi Arabia to me.
I've had many people extol working in UAE to me.
I've had many people extol working in Oman to me.

Nobody has ever bigged up Kuwait. The "best" schools are still all profit, and not good places to work. I have that from a number of colleagues that worked in them. Go there, do a few years, and move on to somewhere better.

There also the United World Colleges in Singapore and Hong Kong.

UWCSEA and HK as well.

Apart from AES Delhi, what top schools are still recruiting more than an odd position or two?

I think the tier one schools are doing just fine. That includes JIS, which has had so much upheaval in recent years, or schools in those cities mentioned.

It often seems to be the same schools each year struggling to fill positions at this time of year. Do any good schools bother attending Spring Fairs?

It might be that AES Delhi is an outlier, nothing more.

There are also: ISM, JIS and TAS, i.e. the other half of IASAS.

Add...
Bangkok Patana,
NIST,
St. Joseph's Singapore,
Tanglin Trust,
Alice Smith KL,
British School Jakarta,
British School Manila,
Brent,
UNIS,
many, many in HK including HKIS.

As mentioned, there isn't a school amongst them that aren't profit driven as such, although what happens to that profit (back in the school/back pocket of owner) can be very different, but I'm not talking about any of the schools mentioned. There are some fine schools that have been mentioned in this thread so far, however.