In response to Ivy English School / Jiamusi, China (Every foreign teacher who has ever worked there)

My husband and I have just finished up a contract and are signing another. I think that if you like teaching and enjoy a changing schedule you will enjoy this school. One of the reasons I picked it is because it changes between the summer/winter and fall/spring schedule. This does mean that you won't always hit the base salary unless you want a lot of classes above the 25 stated in the contract.

The school provides a great, free apartment. It is large and clean. They do check it once a year and they will also check it if you go away on a trip. I guess one year there was a flood in one during a winter holiday and they have been paranoid since. The city is nice and green in the summer. The air isn't as polluted and there are usually blue skies. That was important to me because I missed them when I lived in Beijing. The cost of living here is also much lower than Beijing. I make less money than I did there but I get to save more here.

The classes are good. This is a private school that cares more about education than any of the others I have been too. You actually feel like you are doing something rather than making the school money. I really enjoy the mix of middle school and private school. I get bored pretty easily so I am very happy at this school. I also enjoy learning new skills and having the freedom to try new things I learn in the classroom and experiment with new ideas. Sometimes they work, other times they don't. The school does appreciate a teacher who keeps updating and trying to learn new things.

I have seen some foreigners come who have been very unhappy. I think those usually come with the idea that they can make a bunch of money without doing very much to get it. Our lesson plans are not provided. Our 4 office hours a week do not provide enough time to do the class preparation. Our contract may say 30 hours but you can expect to be putting in some hours at home. If you come in expecting to be doing a 35 - 40 hour week for your salary you will be happier.

Another thing I have seen foreigners get unhappy about is our teaching reports. Each class we need to turn a lesson plan in for the Chinese staff to approve. When you first get there they take them pretty seriously because they want to make sure you can teach. They will go over every detail with you and make sure they understand what you will do. That can feel pretty intimidating and many people don't like to be questioned. After a couple of months they usually ease up on the mico managing and only go over what they don't understand. Eventually your reports will run into each other so that you will have less and less to do. After the first 6 months I had the reports for one book finished and I still get new classes with that book so I can just re-use the old reports.

I hope that clears up some of the confusion on the thread. I can see why there are such a mix of comments. I think it comes down to expectation. A lot of the training schools don't care about class preparation or whether the students learn. Many schools you can just go in and mindlessly have the students memorize the sentences and words without doing anything before hand. This is not that kind of school. If you want to make money or experience China without learning to teach you probably won't be happy here.

My husband and I have been happy here. We think it has been a positive experience. We both enjoy teaching, our students and the working with the Chinese staff. If you are looking at this post you may be thinking of teaching here. I have left my email if you would like to ask any questions.