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finding jobs in international schools

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vmag
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finding jobs in international schools

Post by vmag » Sat, 30 Apr 2011 5:06 pm

Hi,
Does anyone have any tips on how to get a job in International Schools in singapore for someone who wants to move to singapore? I have contacted a couple of schools and they seem reluctant to hire someone who does not have appropriate pass. And looking at some other posts about MOE teachers, that does not sound appealing at someone. This is for someone who is a well-experienced, very good science teacher...and I am sure that a school would be glad to have the person as a teacher i.e. once they show willingness to hire. One of the schools told me that they hire wives of someone already working in singapore. Not sure how good the education at such a school with non-professional teachers would be, but they seem to be doing good business.

Anyhow, any pointers would be helpful.

thanks

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sat, 30 Apr 2011 6:35 pm

The best pointer I could give you deals with your attitude towards other professional teachers. It is quite off-putting to start with. There is nothing wrong with hiring trailing spouses that were teachers before but elected to follow their spouses due to the spouse's career which may well be paying considerably more if, say, working in the financial district. You post smacks of a personal ego trip without even knowing the background of those you are condemning. :roll:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by vmag » Sat, 30 Apr 2011 7:42 pm

I have a lot of respect for professional teachers. And I have nothing against hiring spouses who were teachers before or have skills needed for teaching otherwise. However the impression I was clearly was that the International School did not want to get involved with immigration paperwork and were more willing to pick "teachers" available easily. To clarify, I am not condenming anyone. They probably have perfectly valid reasons for following this....i just felt it is unfair to the parents who send their wards to those schools....my humble opinion.

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sat, 30 Apr 2011 8:13 pm

It's considerably cheaper to hire teachers who are trailing spouses as they don't have to pay all of the expat perks like housing, and other perks as the primary spouse is already receiving these perks for the family. (The perks could conceivably add up to half of a package's total value) At the end of the day, if one want the schools to remain competitive cost wise, then they have to find ways to conserve funds. As it is, International Schools like the American School are already charging something like 20~30K/year/child. Facilities here, just like housing are extremely expensive so you trim where it's possibly.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Re: finding jobs in international schools

Post by k1w1 » Fri, 06 May 2011 2:04 pm

vmag wrote:Hi,
Does anyone have any tips on how to get a job in International Schools in singapore for someone who wants to move to singapore? I have contacted a couple of schools and they seem reluctant to hire someone who does not have appropriate pass. And looking at some other posts about MOE teachers, that does not sound appealing at someone. This is for someone who is a well-experienced, very good science teacher...and I am sure that a school would be glad to have the person as a teacher i.e. once they show willingness to hire. One of the schools told me that they hire wives of someone already working in singapore. Not sure how good the education at such a school with non-professional teachers would be, but they seem to be doing good business.

Anyhow, any pointers would be helpful.

thanks
A school will apply for a pass for someone they want to hire. What kind of work are you applying for - just supply teaching? In that case, you need a current pass.

Some schools will not hire teachers from certain backgrounds/training because their methodologies and ideologies are not what the school is looking for.

Re: the trailing spouses - Teachers need to register with the MOE before they are permitted to teach in a school, including those already on passes. The school needs to show that the teacher is appropriately trained or has skills that mean they will be able to teach. No, there are not (that I have ever heard of) expat wives teaching classes without a shred of education or training. I have heard of many teachers who are locally hired, but they are still qualified to be in the classroom. Some schools will hire people who are not formally trained teachers to work in ESL classes for instance, if that person is an experienced degree holder and has ESL certification - but even that is rare and only if they can't get someone suitably qualified.

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Post by vmag » Sun, 08 May 2011 10:48 am

I am trying to help someone find a secondary science teacher's job in singapore. The person has been a reputed teacher for many years back home. My understanding is that the school hiring the person would need to help get the right pass. Hence I tried to contact a few schools for finding teaching opportunities there. However it hasn't been successful so far.

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Post by k1w1 » Wed, 11 May 2011 8:18 am

vmag wrote:I am trying to help someone find a secondary science teacher's job in singapore. The person has been a reputed teacher for many years back home. My understanding is that the school hiring the person would need to help get the right pass. Hence I tried to contact a few schools for finding teaching opportunities there. However it hasn't been successful so far.
It's no wonder you've had no luck!

Where's "back home"? Somewhere without the internet or a telephone line? Why are you cold-calling for someone else? No one is going to take you or your friend seriously with this kind of unprofessional behaviour.

A truly competent teacher (or anything really) will be able to write their own application letter and resume, and apply for jobs themselves. There are reputable agents and job fairs to go to as well. Getting a mate to call some schools for you does not bode well for your friend's ability to plan, think or communicate - qualities most schools would consider fairly vital in teaching staff. :roll:

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Post by Laxidasical » Thu, 19 May 2011 2:24 pm

I'll bite.

One of the best place for job postings is http://www.tieonline.com. It requires a subscription to view the postings, but if your friend is serious about teaching internationally, then $30USD won't hurt them too much.

Internationalschoolsreview.com is a decent site to get an idea if the school is any good. Take the reviews, both positive and negative, with a large bucket of salt.

Good luck.

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