I know the pay is usually $650-$800/hour if you work, say, 20 hours a week. What does that actually mean? Is the pay typically only for class time? Meaning, are you supposed to prep in your own time?
You understand it perfectly.
soooome schools will have 50min classes and then 10mins if your “prep/rest” time. But that is not the norm
And anytime they ask you for something “little” it is on your time. And if you bring that up, they will act offended or as if you don’t care about “the children!”
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Oh no! Think of the children! 
Thanks for the speedy reply.
Yeah, asking to be paid for your work (WHAT?!) always comes down to a fascinating conversation related to how much you should “take your work seriously” and things that are “an inherent part of your job” (and, by that logic, mean you shouldn’t be paid for them.). For cram schools, you’re covered under the LSA. Being at work = legally obligated to receive pay. Never do any work for your employer outside of your paid work hours. Its people who think it makes themselves look hardworking for “stressfully” spending their day off at Starbucks doing lesson planning that screws everyone over from an “actually being paid a fair wage” standpoint.
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Some of these jobs can be just dancing monkey babysitter. Go in, play some games and put on a show, go home. Prep isn’t really necessary when you’ve been doing it for years, marking isn’t fun for anyone
A job that requires prep and marking should have an appropriate hourly wage.
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Wait… I was asking about cram schools. So the answer is no, the $650-800 includes prep time?
@balance in the answer you gave me above, were you talking about cram schools?
I always thought of cram school teaching as the hourly rate being one third preparation time and two thirds teaching time. I negotiated accordingly.
If you’re going for a cram school job, just make sure you have very, very, very explicitly laid out salary information in your contract. Every teaching job ive ever been offered outside of the MOE’s FET program has initially suggested that the hourly rate is for teaching and that prep work and communication books are for me to do on my own time. This would be in violation of the LSA, because that means there is work i am expected to do for my job that i am not paid for. That also immediately cuts the hourly rate practically in half. So, if you’ve been offered NT$800/hr, make sure there is “for all duties performed in and for the school” or something to that effect. Otherwise, they will tell you that they’re paying you SO MUCH and you should be grateful, because other people don’t make that much, so doing these “expected tasks” unpaid should not be something you “complain” about.
Could they fire you if you call their bluff and tell them you don’t? Let’s say you’re the best damn teacher they’ve ever seen at their two-bit Mickey Mouse buxiban… could you reply “I only care as much as you’re paying me, Jack. If that’s not good enough for you, I heard America Fun Time English Castle across the street is hiring!”
One could try. The reality is that there are very, very few cram schools in Taiwan that give any poops about their teacher quality. Even “good” private schools are quite content to throw their heads back, laugh, and let you know that there are plenty of white people with Taiwanese wives who’ll happily take your job for half what you’re being paid. Parents dont really seem to express much displeasure, so long as the hardworking Taiwanese teachers pick up enough of the slack.
In Oz the hourly salary around NT$850 an hour more or less. I have a friend who started in ESL after completing her degree in Education back in the 80’s. Even then she had lesson planning not paid for. At least in Taiwan you don’t actually need a qualification in Education or a Degree in English to be able to teach here. Any two year associate degree or bachelor degree will do. That’s if you need a work permit. If you have JFRV or APRC there is no educational requirement as you don’t need a work permit.
The average ESL teacher’s salary is $41.11 per hour.
So it seems the answer is that they’re supposed to pay you for prep work, but most places don’t.
How likely is it for someone to find a place that actually pays you for prep time? Are you only shooting yourself in the foot and lowering your chances of being hired if you demand it during the interview?
I’m not actually looking for a cram school job, but I’m comparing other opportunities to how much hourly pay I can expect from a cram school job. Hard to get a gauge if most people spend time outside of paid hours for prep.
Making any demands in an interview is a good way to lose any job
For me, if they’re going to pay 1000 and hour, I can do a little prep. For one on one, can do a little grading. For 800 an hour, I can walk the students through the materials the school provides, no grading, and I will be seeing those materials for the first time in the classroom. For less than 800 an hour, I wouldn’t expect to even be enthusiastic.
Seems there’s a steady enough supply of people who can be in the classroom regardless of quality, and if they’re not worried about quality than you don’t need to be.
So the hourly pay structure will be very variable. Some schools will try to pay as little as possible and squeeze the teachers for every drop they can. Some will be more reasonable and generous. Some foreign cram school teachers are basically unqualified and have to take what they can get, some are highly trained and experienced and don’t need to prep because they already have years of preparation in binders and boxes
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If you’re working for 650 you’re being ripped off
don’t accept any lower than 700 as a newbie teacher, and that’s for in and out jobs where you’re not doing any lesson planning or taking work home.
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What do you mean by no lesson planning? Even if you’re provided with a lesson plan you still have to read it and figure out how to teach it. I don’t see how anyone could walk into a group class with no idea about what and how they are going to teach and not make a complete hash of it. One-on-ones perhaps it could work.
I’ve winged it a couple of times in the past for various reasons, and I can do it. But, it’s never been good teaching.
Alright there’s always some form of preparation you’re correct, but it’s minimal.
There’s gigs out there that after a couple months running through the motions you know how everything works with the curriculum. ( granted these schools are usually more anqingban than buxiban).
If I was expected to deal with multiple hours of marking and lesson planning at home I would be asking for more than 750. Otherwise it’s not worth it, easier to swap schools somewhere that will be an in and out job. Or at least a place happy to pay office hours to deal with it.
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I haven’t done much cram school teaching for a fair while, but IME the clue to minimum preparation time was usually schools who required loads of bookwork with young learners, or places like GVO with adults. It was tricky to find places that paid well and didn’t require much prep, or at least the appearance of a lot of prep.
I taught at gvo before and there was no bookwork. They give you a magazine article for each class. I just used it as a springboard to a deeper lesson. I really think they need a computer and a projector in their classes though (maybe they added them I taught there in 2019).
Other than the super low pay, the job was easy and fun. I never even met my boss, the boss would just call me. Even hired me over the phone which was strange. But yeah 500 an hour is super low. If it hadn’t been a second job and if I hadn’t been desperate for extra cash, no way I would have taken such a low pay. But I think go is the Lowest paying school for foreign teachers in Taiwan.
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Some woman on the East coast told me she gets $650 an hour at GVO so I wonder if some people negotiated with them.
I got $500 an hour before when I worked there but they never raised my pay since 2010. And they paid $500 whether you lived in a small town in Jiayi or downtown Taipei. In 2010 it was decent money but not with the cost of living now. I wouldn’t accept that today.
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Like I said I was desperate and had a different job that was 650 an hour. It’s just that job was giving me difficulty and was messing with my teaching hours its a long story. Anyway it was ok since I was planning on leaving and only needed a few months of work to cover bills before my flight
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