Pros
- Chilled admin/management (my direct supervisor had very good demeanour and attitude towards the other teachres) - Located in relatively good area (downtown-ish compared to other schools) - Colleagues were friendly and easy to get along with - Had lots of freedom with regards to what study content to teach pretty much, I was left alone to decide what to teach, as long as my lessons’ content was based on the school’s assigned textbooks) - Paperwork was at bare minimum (each and every one of us would submit some make-believe Mickey Mouse lesson plans that no one from the admin would give a rat’s butt about; this charade was all for the show and the lesson plans didn’t matter at all)
Cons
- Support from the admin/management was basically also at bare minimum (virtually left alone to deal with any school-related problems: i.e. difficult/failing students, whining parents, etc.) - Had to deal with students who couldn't care less about studying; they all were there to be pushed through the system so 75% of the student body was disengaged and disinterested in learning anything at all - 0 support from parents; virtually, you are left alone dealing with lazy and unmotivated students and you are supposed to somehow 'wave a magic wand' and miraculously turn them into decent students; and if you don’t inflate the term grades at the end of each term, you can expect a good chunk of entitled parents to reach out to you or directly go to the admins and demand explanation as if they actually cared about their children’s actual educational development. It’s all a numbers game! - Early clock in time: have to clock in at 7:30 sharp (even though probably on par with most schools of the same tier); any late arrival (even by a few minutes margin is considered as “tardiness “ and your paycheck gets docked - Summer camp classes; most teachers (especially primary school teachers) are required to teach extra classes even during holiday sessions so you do not get a full summer/winter holiday; on top of it, you get paid breadcrumbs in return - Have to do occasional overtime (off campus) outside of regular work hours in order to catch up with planning/grading/paperwork etc.; nothing out of the ordinary, but still a sore thumb to take into account