Different Types of Public School Positions | Teaching English in Taiwan

In this video, I describe the three different teaching options that my recruiter gave me-discussing the positives and negatives-when I got hired to teach at a public middle school in Taiwan. As always, please give me a thumbs up and let me know what you think down in the comments!

[@Diana_Free]

That was brave of you to let the recruiter pick your teaching environment. I’m glad that you ultimately don’t regret where you ended up :) Office life is tough, but it’s good that your maintaining a positive attitude.

[@ryfree]

Yes, office life can be difficult but also so darn interesting. Sounds like you have some experience in that field? Thanks as always for your lovely encouragement Diana :)

[@Diana_Free]

@@ryfree Haha, that’s true. Only a smidge. I used to work in an office with some characters. Thank you for your videos 😀

[@chipwhitley]

Love your videos man, please keep making them.

[@ryfree]

Thank you for the encouragement, I will!

[@TravelingTice]

Interesting! At first I would think having foreign coworkers was the best option because you can “stick together” as you’re all in the same boat, but hearing about the drama it could involve it might indeed not be the best option 😅

[@Art_Wine_And_Anarchy]

When I worked in an IELTS program, I got stuck in the unenviable position of babysitting the others due to one of our crew members oversleeping and being late for class, which severely violated your contract.

[@ryfree]

Goodness gracious, it sounds like your coworker owed you a big favor after that. Thanks for sharing man!

[@cookingwithhua7237]

There’s no escaping the office politics. Sounds like you worked it out. You mentioned traveling teachers did some things that you weren’t required to do. What were they?

[@ryfree]

Hi Hua, thanks for the comment. To answer your question: there was about a month or two where I saw them working their butts off (pressured by one of the upstairs bosses) designing curriculum for some other program. They seemed pretty frustrated at the time. One other thing I forgot to mention about the traveling teachers is that they tend to teach some of their classes online (for reasons like it didn't work out in the schedule to drive them out to their school or something like that). Hope that helps!

[@cookingwithhua7237]

@@ryfree Yes and thank you! Could you make a video on the cost of living there? Thanks again!

[@ryfree]

@@cookingwithhua7237 Great! Yes, I'll have that video for you soon!

[@TonyMontana-pe6vf]

Great video Ryan. I a question. Do I need to have a teaching degree or teaching certificate to work at public schools in Taiwan? If I do not have a teacher degree or teaching certificate what are my options to get an esl teaching job in Taiwan? And lastly, which city would you say is the best to look for jobs? Where are the most number of jobs in Taiwan? I have a degree but it is not related to teaching. And i have two years of teaching esl in Vietnam.

[@ryfree]

Thanks for stopping by. To answer your questions, yes you do need a teaching certificate to work at a public school in Taiwan but a substitute teaching license will suffice for that. If you're an American, I highly recommend applying for an Illinois sub license through their website as it's good for 5 years. If you want to work without a sub or teaching license, you can find plenty of ESL jobs in the private sector such as cram schools which are always advertising for candidates. When it comes to cities, just ask yourself what you're looking for. The cities in the far North are colder and damper in the Winter. Down in Kaohsiung where I currently reside, it's much warmer. The middle is in between. Best of luck!

[@CC-rc6ys]

Hey Ryan! Thanks for making Taiwan teaching content, its been super helpful for people like me who are thinking of making the move. Would you say that a public school gig is generally much more demanding than working for a cram school? I see a lot of language in public school contracts that imply a lot more responsibilities outside teaching. As for your insight on teachers not getting along with each other, I respect your choice to keep it vague and private, but not getting along with your coworkers is a worldwide problem lol. So I am curious is there anything about the teaching environment in Taiwan or typical personalities in foreign teachers you meet in Taiwan that causes these types of friction? For example, I’ve noticed at one school there was a lot of tension between the local teachers and the foreign teachers due to the difference in pay. Also reminds me of a saying, “if you think everyone in the room is an a**hole, chances are you are the a**hole” LOL

[@ryfree]

My apologies for the late reply. To answer your questions: I haven't worked at one myself but from what others have told me, you have the potential to earn a lot more money at a cram school (assuming you're really good at it and grind) but they generally have much higher expectations. The big money comes from opening your own cram school and building a large body of students but that is definitely a lot of work. As for public school contracts, I too was daunted by the vague language that implied lots of extra work but found that it really wasn't that much in the end and most of it could simply be done in a half-assed manner because no one really cared. There are some things they do care about but a lot of it is simply formalities to check off a list and submit to their bosses. On office tension, from what others have told me you're absolutely right-it's just a natural byproduct of the environment. I had dipped in and out of small offices before but this was my first full-time semi-large office so maybe that's why it took me by surprise. That said, I've heard from both veteran foreign teachers and local staff that there's usually more drama when there's multiple foreign teachers working at the same school vs being solo. In my case, it wasn't difference in pay (as we never discussed or knew what the others made) but more differences in consideration. My school made it pretty clear that they considered me a great teacher and that the others needed large improvement. I happen to be white and the others happened to be black, so while the boss maintained that my special treatment was merely due to talent and ability, there were accusations of racism that further soured the relationship between some of my foreign coworkers and local management. And lastly about who the asshole in the room was, I felt vindicated because the one woman who usually was out to get me was completely abandoned by all her friends and most of the local teachers by the end of the year while I was not. So it was her, not me! LOL. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!