I’m a new member here. My wife and I are considering the possibility of moving to Taiwan sometime in next few years. My wife was born and raised in Taiwan. We met 17 years ago while I was teaching at a high school in Taichung. I taught mostly math classes and some English classes when needed. I completed two years at the school in Taiwan.
I’m currently a high school teacher at a high performing school in the US. I have had my current position for 15 years. I have a Master’s in Education, and I’m at MA +60 on the salary scale (one step below PhD).
The only reason we are considering this move is because my wife may have a chance to transfer to the Taiwan branch of her company.
With my teaching experience and educational background, what sort of salary cold I reasonably expect if we decide to make the move to Taiwan?
We have an elementary aged daughter, so that also complicates the decision for us.
I have a feeling making this move might have more cons than pros. I just thought I would throw this out there to this well informed community.
You are overqualified to be an ESL teacher, so don’t do that.
You may wish to look into teaching Math (or whatever you are teaching now) at an international school. The pay is usually higher than local schools.
I can’t speak for the specific salary range you can expect, but I can give you a handy guide for comparing salaries: If you made $60k TWD a month in Taiwan, that would be equivalent to making $60k USD a year in a similar sized city in the US, when you take cost of living into consideration.
You can probably get an adjunct or contract lecturer position at a mid-tier university. Can’t be a professor without a PhD though. There’s a bit of ageism against foreign hires (I think they advertise us more on our looks than our qualifications sometimes), so if you’re over 50 or so it might be a bit harder (though not impossible).
Your salary will be a lot lower than what you’re used to in the US. Even with a uni job, you’re looking at 60-80k NTD a month. Some international schools and public schools pay more, but there’s more teaching hours and other strings attached.
Your feeling may be correct. In a vacuum I’d stick with your current job in the US. You’re obviously doing this for your wife… just don’t put yourself in a position where you end up resenting her for it. Really have a good, long, hard think about whether you want to do this. Maybe it’ll be good for your family, probably not so good for your career. Aside from that, there’s also the ever increasing background noise regarding China. Hopefully that’ll amount to nothing, but there’s just a bit of uncertainty about this lovely island’s future nowadays.
My contract lecturer position nets me around 65-70k NTD a month depending on hours and extracurricular work. Maybe I’m underpaid, but that’s where im at. You got something different?
EDIT: Whoops. Year = month. 7am here and brain no work well without
As a highly qualified teacher with an MEd (not a PhD), you’d want to be looking at the very best international schools and not the uni system which would almost certainly pay less.
One more point: you mentioned your daughter is at the elementary school level. What do you wish for her?
The bits I’ve gathered on forumosa (I am not a parent) seem to indicate that the elementary school system is pretty good but the pressure really starts ramping up in middle school. Your wife would be well aware of this system, and you might be too. Would you be OK with this kind of education?
If you’re willing to be Mr. Mom for a while, and you’re patient, it might be more fulfilling to build your reputation as a private tutor. I’ve had opportunities to be a salaried normal school teacher, and it is a really tough sell.
Alan85-Thanks for the handy salary comparison guide.
DrewC- Yes, that would be much lower than I am used to. I’ve been fortunate to teach at a high paying school district here. I’m in my early 40s, so I hope that won’t be too detrimental. Yes, I feel like making this move would most likely be detrimental to my career; especially with regard to the pension benefits I would lose.
KINGKONGDONK- How I came to teach what I have been teaching for 15 years is a strange story. My undergrad is in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Child Psychology (I know…strange pairing). I decided late in my undergraduate work that I wanted to go into teaching. It was too late to change majors, so I threw in enough education and educational psychology courses to get a minor in Child Psych. My undergraduate degree was enough for me to get hired to teach high school math in Taiwan (not sure how that was above board, but I wasn’t going to complain). I realized I loved teaching, so I went back to the states to get my graduate degree in education. My Master’s degree certification is 5-12. I am licensed to teach CTE (Career and Technical Education). CTE is a large umbrella and I chose that because I enjoy teaching technical and hands-on type classes. CTE is not something that many other countries offer, so that could be an issue.
The school I work for hired me to create a Culinary Arts program. They paid for me to attend extensive culinary training and have allowed me to just run with this program over the last 15 years. It is such a cool program. I love food science and I love to cook, so this is kind of a dream job. I realize this is a unique subject and could limit my options. However, I have taught child psychology, investments, and personal finance classes as well over the years. I’m also the go to in-house math substitute when I have availability during my prep period.
aftersivak- My daughters education is certainly something I am thinking about. She is currently in a Chinese Language Immersion program (70% Mandarin, 30% English) that I am very impressed with. Her education is probably my largest concern when it come to this possible move.
I’m curious if anyone has made the change from teaching in the US mid-career to teaching in Taiwan with a family? I would have many questions about that experience.
Anything that improves the food options in Taiwan sounds good to me. I think there’s a few of us here who might be willing to contribute to your flight ticket.
KINGKONGDONK- How I came to teach what I have been teaching for 15 years is a strange story. My undergrad is in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Child Psychology (I know…strange pairing). I decided late in my undergraduate work that I wanted to go into teaching. It was too late to change majors, so I threw in enough education and educational psychology courses to get a minor in Child Psych. My undergraduate degree was enough for me to get hired to teach high school math in Taiwan (not sure how that was above board, but I wasn’t going to complain). I realized I loved teaching, so I went back to the states to get my graduate degree in education. My Master’s degree certification is 5-12. I am licensed to teach CTE (Career and Technical Education). CTE is a large umbrella and I chose that because I enjoy teaching technical and hands-on type classes. CTE is not something that many other countries offer, so that could be an issue.
Well from everything you told us, I don’t suggest making the move to Taiwan unless you are comfortable taking a massive pay cut OR are able to get into a tier 1 international school. Your qualifications and experience SHOULD be good enough.
You need to apply to tier 1 international schools in Taiwan. Tier 1 is Taipei American School and probably Taipei European School. Those are your PROPER international schools. Salary will be range anywhere from 4,000-6,500 usd per month. In taiwanese money with your qualification you want to aim for around 150,000-200,000 NTD per month. I’d try to g for 200,000 per month. You’ll also get your daughters tuition paid for fully in a solid school with other international kids.
Do some research on when hiring seasons are for those schools. There are plenty of good websites which help people like yourself get hired at PROPER international schools. Watch out though, LOT of bullshit.
AND I CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
Taiwan has a LOT of bullshit private schools under the guise of international schools. With your experience and qualifications you need to steer far far clear of the horseshit schools. LOTS OF THEM OUT THERE.
If you are straight out of college young dude then i’d say go work in a shitty language school for a year see how it goes, but you are a well established individual in your home country. You might be able to get away with the whole ACT/SAT tutoring teoic whatever the fuck they got going on, but you’ll always be in competition with somebody who is FAR LESS QUALIFIED than you. You can make it work, don’t get me wrong, but you really need to do your research on this because you’re not a 21 year old fresh out of college. Some people go to Taiwan to fill some experience and move on or stay grinding at language schools.
You can always reinvent your self as well, but I wouldn’t go work in Taiwan for anything less than Tier 1 international schools or a very solid university job which you MAY be able to achieve with your qualifications.
This is just my opinion, but I do have some experience with Taiwan and feel like I can offer this insight.
Do not give up on your pension, moving here might not be a big jump financially for you (unless your wife makes big bucks) and giving up on pension benefits will harm you long term.
you will be here for 3 or 4 years, but you will be a retiree for 20 or more…
Another reason I was curious about salary prospects is because many school districts in the US have been forced to take cost containment measures due to the pandemic shut down and student enrollment decreases we have seen since then.
I’m hearing rumblings of possible staff cuts for the 24-25 school year at my district. With this in mind, I thought I would start doing some research on teaching possibilities in Taiwan in case these “cost containment” measures lead to me losing my position. If this does happen, I want to have a plan in place. I also see value in my daughter having the experience of living in a different country.
It is disappointing to hear that only one or two schools would offer a package that would be similar (minus pension benefits) to what I have right now.
Again, if anyone has made a mid-career move to teaching at an international school in Taiwan, I would love to have a discussion with you.
My wife may also have the ability to work remotely, so I’m also wondering if anyone has worked at an international school in another country that might be a better option.
