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.

Just finishing up 18 months at Ivy.

It has been great.

Received my salary every month.

Some months I earned 8000¥, other months I earned 14000¥. On average, I earned about 11000¥ per month, plus a free apartment, which is clean and spacious, as well as properly maintained.

I learnt a lot in the past 18 months, as this was my 1st experience of teaching English in China.

Jiamusi is a beautiful city, as far as cities go. The river-front as amazing. We loved spending time on Willow Island, visiting Tsi Fung Mountain and traveling to surrounding towns.

It is easy to get around. 1 ¥ for a bus ride. 6 ¥ for a taxi.

Cost of living is low. If you want Western Food, you're going to pay a little more 130 ¥ for a pizza at Pizza Hut, but our family (7 people) eat out for less than 180 ¥ and that includes our drinks.

We love the markets. Got myself a pair of Tommy Hilfigger Jeans for 100 ¥ the other day and taking a train somewhere is easy.

It is cold in Winter (-25ºC), but apartments and most buildings have heating. It is rainy in Summer, but also green and beautiful.

The school's staff is kind and capable. Like anywhere, we love some and we don't love others. We made some great friends.

If you're just looking for a job, this won't be for you. This school has had its fair shair of dissapointed Americans coming here to make a few bucks, before they are too old.

If you love kids, if you love people, if you love teaching, then this is an amazing opportunity.

At Ivy you teach small classes (6 - 15 students) and they are mostly young (6 -12 years old).

You also teach at Public School in big classes (50 - 80 students), mostly 13 - 15 year olds.

At Ivy (and now at most of the Public Schools) there are smart boards, which makes teaching very easy, if you are willing to take the time, prepare well and offer a good class.

In the past 18 months I've worked alongside different people (mostly Americans). The ones who wanted to teach, who really loved kids and cared enough to prepare for classes flourished. The ones who just came to make a few bucks hated every moment and left with a lot of anger.

Teaching is hard work, if you care to be a good teacher. You take time to make a fishing rod or a telescope for a single class, something you might never use again, because you know it is the best tool to teach the kids what they need to grasp.

If you're not that guy, I wouldn't come to Jiamusi.

The Chinese staff are serious about what they do.

You work legally on a Z Visa.

The director is kind and caring, looking after you as if you are the most precious teacher in the world.

For me and my family (my wife of 20 years, our 4 kids and my sister) it was a good and very safe first experience of China.

We've explored Heilongjiang Province and because Ivy and Jiamusi was good to us, we are now off to the little University Town of Liangxiang, where we hope to see and experience more, while doing our best to be exceptional teachers.

That is why Ivy is recruiting right now.

It could be wonderful for you.

But I imagine if you're just another dissapointed person, you'll be dissapointed here as well. We tend to take our dissapointment or success with us, wherever we go.

If you have more questions, mail me on theunispienaar@gmail.com .... as we were choosing our next job, it was great to speak to teachers who'd been there before, and thinking about it now, 18 months ago, when we were newbys, it would've been great to talk to someone who had some first hand experience of the place.

T

I am dismayed by the comments on this thread. I am a teacher at Ivy and have had a very positive experience. There is an old saying that says what one says about someone else says more about the speaker than those they are speaking about. In other words, our words reflect our heart. I am paid on time and correctly. I only work about 25 hours a week and have a fully furnished apartment which belongs to the school. The inspections last less than a minute and is an opportunity to check for issues that need to be repaired. I have provided my full name and email address. You can find me on Facebook where I post pictures of my adventures.

Excuse me a) I'm British b) stop been so patronising. I've got a degree plus I'm back at Uni. So how dare you. Patronising beyond belief. Other post was fact not fiction. Everyone experiences things differently so how can you presume????!

Honestly some people.

I was the first teacher to work at the Ivy English school from 2004-05 and overall it was a brilliant experience. Had my ups and downs, but that was because I was a foreigner living in an entirely different culture. China was a real eye-opener and back then it was easy to see how it would progress into an exciting and world leading country. I enjoyed working with the children and Mei Han and her family were very kind to me. They knew my likes and dislikes and respected me a lot. Sometimes I felt that it was hard to be independent, but when you live in another country, you take their conditions. However now I'm doing my nurse training and would love to go back to China one day, I feel that if you respect others, they normally respect you back.

who was the comment directed 2 ?

I don’t know what you are going on about, but you obviously have no idea what you are talking about.

If you have been in China for too long then you need to get back in touch with reality. “This school is crap” in no way qualifies as a school review and only a person with a chemical imbalance would think it does.

The OP has nothing about the center’s daily operations, students, classes, etc, and nothing to show that the center has violated the employment contract (SAFEA??) in any way. It sounds more like the spiteful writings of someone who was fired for spending more time in the bar than planning for classes.

I think either you missed the point or your one of the TA at his training center... As from my eyes, he's saying privacy is a serious issue ! As per my college the apartment is checked, once when I arrive, and once when I move to another school. ( end of June ish )

Your post is so typical of a GW, one who doesn't actually like or know anything about china but since you make what you think is a decent salary you will fawn and pretend to know everything about the country. You don't listen to anyone with real, first hand experience of anything negative about your host country probably because you are using your "china is great" mentality to counterbalance some form of emotional imbalance on your own part.

You're the one who needs to do everyone on this board a favor and go back to wherever you came from. All you do is lie and post drivel without providing ANY proof that this "school" is worth working for.

The "Ivy English School" is located in the Northwestern part of China in the province of Heilongjiang. This "Ivy Education" in Qidong is located right north of Shanghai in the province of Jiangsu. It's a very small city with a population of less than a million. Undeveloped compared to other parts of Jiangsu. Hope this helps.

The main goal for a private school teacher in China is to follow chinglish lesson plans, and make loads of money for the boss. Your or you're level of English is more than sufficient to achieve that. Yes, you should have your living area inspected regularly. If I were in charge I would inspect your shoes hands and nails before you enter the classroom. There are far to many Smart Alec unkempt arrogant young teachers around.

The main goal for a middle school or university teacher should be to provide light relief and a once-weekly break for students, away from the discipline required from their Chinese teachers. No real teaching required here either. Most English university teachers are old, some nearly incontinent; so, more respect must be shown; inspecting their living areas would be completely out of order.

your boring and blind or living in a dream world.. Which is it ? Perhaps all of the above ?

Don’t be influenced by posters in support of Ivy English School. You really do not know who they are.

It is wise to give it a wide berth.