Blacklist of schools.

[bigduke6]

That's harsh, Akisan2. I feel for you, but at least the potential employer was upfront about it. I did a demo once and the Taiwanese boss observed me with a TA. As soon as he saw me he stood up and walked out. The TA then went through the motions of watching my demo and interviewing me afterwards. Of course they weren't going to employ me because they thought I was too old. At least in your case they didn't waste too much of your time. TEFL in Taiwan is a funny old game.

With the age thing it seems all jobs have this factor worked into it in Taiwan. Hit 40, and you're decrepit and too old to work.

Also definitely depends on the school. Some schools have some really older guys working for them. The ones I have seen are pretty good. There are actually a few working at branches of the school I work at. Well into their 50's.

The schools that don't want to hire someone solely based on age, tend to be the ones looking for a dancing monkey.

[bismarck]

That's harsh, Akisan2. I feel for you, but at least the potential employer was upfront about it. I did a demo once and the Taiwanese boss observed me with a TA. As soon as he saw me he stood up and walked out. The TA then went through the motions of watching my demo and interviewing me afterwards. Of course they weren't going to employ me because they thought I was too old. At least in your case they didn't waste too much of your time. TEFL in Taiwan is a funny old game.

With the age thing it seems all jobs have this factor worked into it in Taiwan. Hit 40, and you're decrepit and too old to work.

Also definitely depends on the school. Some schools have some really older guys working for them. The ones I have seen are pretty good. There are actually a few working at branches of the school I work at. Well into their 50's.

The schools that don't want to hire someone solely based on age, tend to be the ones looking for a dancing monkey.

Very true. The chain school I work for during the day also has a few older blokes. It seems the independent operations are more prone to this sort of thing.

[Chavvinawa]

Just wanted to drop off an info.
If you are in Tainan, beware of Dona English school. It is at Wen Cheng road and Wen Xian 1st right next to PaPaSo restaurant.(Tainan North District)

The moment I walked in and asked if they had any teaching jobs available, the boss came and chuckled at me. Why? This is because I am not "White enough."(Her exact quote) At this moment I wasn't all that upset. However she continued to make some remarks that were completely unnecessary.
These all include but not limited to:

"Just look at you!"(About my skin color)
"Yeah we don't care."(About my credentials and my current experience)
"Our students ONLY want a white guy."
"You have to look like him."(Pointing to a white guy - Justin. Hi Justin! BTW you look like an A&F model! All right sorry Justin you have nothing to do with this. )

I started to chuckle because this started to feel like some really trashy comedy sitcom. I just walked off saying "Well, that's really unfortunate."

I was born in Japan, but I was raised in US. On the paper I am Japanese but in the end I am an Asian American. I am currently teaching at 3 different schools, all different age bracket, and have 2 degrees.(One from a state university and one from a post university. It is not a masters degree however...) I resided in US for 26 years and I was just shocked with this experience.

I've heard of these places and I knew they exist. However, having a first hand experience, it just blew me away. I felt an extreme shame that these racist people all share same Asian blood with me!

I realize this kind of topic wouldn't affect most you, but I just wanted to inform anyone that might have a similar situation with me.

Thanks for letting me rant!

Konnichiwa, Akisan. Sorry to hear about your rather unpleasant experience. Thanks for sharing, though. I, myself, am looking for teaching jobs in Taiwan at the moment as the university I've been working my bloody butt off for for almost 6 years here in the UK is making me redundant.
I was born in Taiwan, but I'm not even Taiwanese on paper now. I've spent most of my life in a wee city in Scotland, but I suspect I'll always be seen as a teaching assistant back in TWN. It seems to me a lot of the buxibans employ teachers not only to teach, but also for the purpose of window-dressing, which I find quite degrading.

[tomthorne]

Konnichiwa, Akisan. Sorry to hear about your rather unpleasant experience. Thanks for sharing, though. I, myself, am looking for teaching jobs in Taiwan at the moment as the university I've been working my bloody butt off for for almost 6 years here in the UK is making me redundant.
I was born in Taiwan, but I'm not even Taiwanese on paper now. I've spent most of my life in a wee city in Scotland, but I suspect I'll always be seen as a teaching assistant back in TWN. It seems to me a lot of the buxibans employ teachers not only to teach, but also for the purpose of window-dressing, which I find quite degrading.

If you have been working in a uni in the UK you should be qualified for a uni job here. Your ethnicity won't be a factor.

[Chavvinawa]

Not wanting to knock the value of such a thread on this forum, but such lists already exist.

A blacklist of bad schools, and more importantly a greenlist of good schools can be found at http://www.buxiban.com

I followed that link and it looks like that buxiban.com link directs to an generic Search/Ad site. The greenlist idea is great though, and just as important as a blacklist.

I thought it was just me, but I've got the same problem with the buxiban.com link. Has it been hacked or something?

[Tempo Gain]

That's been dead for a long time.

[Taiwan_Teacher]

I would like to make a post reaffirming Sanctus School in Taichung as a blacklist school. I currently suffered through an entire year there. I ignored the blacklist warning when starting there and should have known that the principal intentionally stopping me from communicating with the teachers before signing the contract was a portent of tags to come. Working there I realized hat this school does not honor anything written in the contract, forces unpaid overtime, will try to steal money from your salary if you do not count every penny, lie continuously, they do not pay for typhoon days or holidays ( despite it saying in the contract that they will), threaten to revoke bonuses for ridiculous reasons, do not give raises, give yearly pay cuts to Chinese teachers which causes a very unpleasant working environment, and will push you until you quit. They try to make you quit in order to avoid paying yearly bonuses. They also require foreign teachers to pay 1000 a month as a deposit in case you breach the contract. This is discriminatory because Chinese teachers do it have the same policy.

Of course I am a disgruntled teacher who recently quit. Despite this, I am not exaggerating anything in this post. I only feel terrible for the students. Before I arrived they had already gone through countless foreign teachers who quit under the barbaric policies of the school. I love my students and stayed with them for thirteen months, but ultimately the broken promises, lies, and deceit overcame my patience. If you choose to work there, be forewarned. Principal Sandy, and the boss Mr. Lai are truly evil.

[Chavvinawa]

Here's a story of what happened to me yesterday, after being invited for an interview from ELTS 英美語言 (http://www.elts.com.tw/) on Buxiban Street near Taipei Main Station.

I found the job via 104.com.tw, and my résumé clearly states that I have approximately three years of experience teaching adults conversational English, and four years experience teaching kindergarten and buxiban.

The girl who arranged my interview was very pleasant, as were the employees at the front desk when I got there. I then waited 15 minutes past the scheduled interview time, and finally the girl who arranged my interview came down from upstairs and apologized, because the people downstairs had not told her that I was waiting. That was okay, nothing too serious.

She then gave me a multiple-choice questionnaire regarding my work habits. Five questions. This was approximately how the five questions were phrased, and I kid you not, nor do I exaggerate:

1. If you did not agree with how much the school was willing to pay you, would you:
a) Accept it and know that this is the school's policy.
b) Argue with the school and demand that your pay be raised.

2. If you caught a cold one day, what would you do?
a) Come in and teach anyway, because the school and the students are important.
b) Call in sick, not caring about anyone else, nor caring about your responsibilities.

3. If you got into a car accident, how would you handle it?
a) Inform the school as soon as possible, show the medical proof to the school, and take responsibility by making up the classes at a later date.
b) Not tell the school at all, and just ignore your responsibility to the school.

I forget what the other two questions were, but they were along the same lines. I ask you, who would choose answers "b"?

This should've been a big clue to hurry up and get out of there... but, I just continued to prepare for the 15-minute teaching demo.

Anyway, so I prepared for about 15 minutes, and then told the first girl I was ready. So, she sends me back into the "employee training room" they had me sitting in, and then in comes a lady. The lady looks at my résumé and asks my name (my résumé has my name on it in big, bold lettering), and I tell her it's Shawn. Then, she looks over it and says I have no experience, and I tell her that I do, just look at the résumé! She says I have no experience teaching IELTS, TOEFL, GMAT, etc., so I tell her that it's true, I don't, but that wouldn't be a problem, I could learn easily. She replies, "This is a professional school. We teach these tests."

Pfft... "professional," eh? Teaching people how to pass a test is one type of learning, true, but it's not the best type. Furthermore, their sign outside in Chinese says that they also teach conversational English.

Anyway, so I stand up to start my demo and I ask her politely (even though she's been really gruff up to this point), "What's your name?"

She replies with, "Aleck-u-su" or something... and then barks, "What does it matter? Start your demo!"

I had it, then and there. So, I replied that I didn't want to work there and just walked out.

Well, that's my story! Draw what conclusions you will

What a dragon! I thought these TOEIC/TOEFL centres preferred Taiwanese tutors, who teach students the exam strategies in Chinese.. Sounds like a waste of space, that.

[niaoahgin]

Just wanted to drop off an info.
If you are in Tainan, beware of Dona English school. It is at Wen Cheng road and Wen Xian 1st right next to PaPaSo restaurant.(Tainan North District)

My condolences. This school should have been blacklisted for years. I had a friend (a white, Canadian female, by the way) who was applying for a part-time job there. This happened about 7 years ago. She was told to her face that she was unattractive, overweight and, obviously, inappropriate for the position. I was shocked and disgusted by this lack of respect or common decency. During the following year I heard a very similar story, also from a "white" person.

In a related story, I was once assisting my friend in finding a sub so that she could leave for a month vacation. I posted to the local forums and received a response from a kind lady who was willing to sub and had relevant experience. Through our conversation, I discerned that she was a native speaker and seemed to be fine for the position. I recommended her to my friend. The boss asked about her name (which sounded mid-eastern or north African, I can't recall exactly). She was concerned that the teacher might have "dark skin". My friend agreed that there was a distinct possibility that this teacher was not as white as snow. The remainder of the conversation proceeded as follows:

Boss: How black is she?
Pal: I don't know. She seems like a good teacher.
Boss: Is she as black as an African? The parents won't accept that.
Pal: I don't know.
Boss: Don't you know? The blacker they are the worse they are!
Pal:

Turns out that my friend turned that month holiday into a permanent departure. And good on her.

If there is any one quote from a Taiwanese buxiban boss that I will never forget it is this: "The blacker they are the worse they are".

[kaikai34]

If there is any one quote from a Taiwanese buxiban boss that I will never forget it is this: "The blacker they are the worse they are".

You should have corrected him ... It's the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice! - Ice Cube