Hi everyone!
I just moved in Tainan from America and I am looking to work at a HCFR Buxiban, does anyone know if there are any in the area? Most of the ones I’ve found are located in or near Taipei but I would like to stay in Tainan. I am a very nice outgoing teacher with experience and looking to stay here for a few years.My Mandarin is so/so but I am studying hard everyday and believe I will have a good grasp soon. Any information would be helpful, such as names of schools and contact information and whether they may be hiring or not!
Thanks so much I love Taiwan so much for its culture, beauty, and the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life!!!
Most of the HCFR have closed down or are very special affairs due to low birth rate, high managerial skill* and parents just won’t/don’t accept it anymore. I would suggest networking with people in Tainan through one of the facebook groups or their message board(if it is still up). I’d suggest doing your first year at what you can tolerate and move from there.
*What makes them special is the commitment to quality and excellence from the foreign manager and him keeping it up.
I don’t think there are any in Tainan to begin with, maybe never have been. If you really want to live in Tainan, you’re going to have to find another type of school to work at. If you really want to work at one of these, you’ll probably have to improve your Chinese first. There is another one called ACES. It is run like an HCFR buxiban but may not actually be foreign run. They have one location in Kaohsiung if you at least want to stay in Southern Taiwan.
@Okami… Why do you say that they parents don’t accept these types of schools anymore?
Most parents have no perception of quality nor the ability of differentiation outside of price. It’s the same with school as it is with food here, how cheap is it.
I worked at a HCFR for almost 2 years. I loved it. I was talking to 2 ladies in Chinese about it and the wonderful things we do. One of them beamed and said with finality, “It’s so cheap!” with the other nodding away in agreement. I was They didn’t care that we taught better than the other cram schools, didn’t scream at kids or that the kids came out with real proficiency. This was an middle to upper middle class area.
The other issue is management. You can’t grow an HCFR like a chain. It requires not only good people who can follow directions and improvise, but most importantly it requires both great management with parents and employees. That former part is a hard requirement to meet. You need to be people-centric with your employees in a country that treats them like potatoes. The boss had issues with some people wanting to be potatoes. Bad teachers can sink your hard work fast.
They didn’t care that we taught better than the other cram schools, didn’t scream at kids or that the kids came out with real proficiency. This was an middle to upper middle class area.