School profile highlights #6: Luanda Int’l School, Amer. School of Tokyo and Int’l School of Iceland

Members of International School Community have written some new and informative comments on the following schools:


Luanda International School (6 new comments):

New Comment: ” Housing is included in the benefits as well as the utilities (not including phone though).”

__________________________________________________________________________

American School of Tokyo (8 new comments):

New Comment: “Candidates should note that most foreign-hire teachers live near the main campus in Chofu, a suburban environment one hour west of downtown Tokyo by train.”

__________________________________________________________________________

International School of Iceland (3 new comments):

New Comment: “In 2008 the Dual Language Immersion Program was launched. Students in grades 1-2 were given the option of being either in the bilingual (Icelandic-English) stream or the English stream.”

Great resource: Want to work at an international school in Japan?

Directory Listings of International Schools for Japan

Wow!  There are many international schools in Japan.  Actually, a high number of visits to International School Community each month are from Japan.  So, it is no surprise that there are many expats in Japan wanting information about the international schools there.

Also, on their website they have an overview of the Japan educational system which is quite intriguing to look at.

Highlights from this page:

Japan has 23,633 elementary schools, 11,134 junior high schools, 5,450 senior high schools, 995 schools for the handicapped, 702 universities, 525 junior colleges, and 14,174 kindergartens (May 2003 figures). School attendance rate for the nine years of compulsory education is 99.98%.

The average class size in suburban schools is between 35-40 students, though the national average had dropped to 28.4 pupils per class in 1995. 70% of teachers teach all subjects as specialist teachers are rare in elementary schools.

A large percentage of parents (65.1%) tend to select the school based on hearsay.

Special education institutions exist: 70 schools for the deaf (rougakko); 107 for the blind (mougakko); 790 for those with disabilities (yougogakko). This number is considered to be inadequate.

So, who wants to work in Japan??

Check out the international schools listed in Japan on International School Community.

Traveling Around: California, United States

Traveling Around: California, United States

Can you relate? (to reverse culture shock)

(from an international teacher living in China)

  • Pointing to things in the restaurant menu that you’d like to order (like you do in China most of the times, even if you do know Mandarin!) and having your family and friends laugh at you because it is more customary to just say the item on the menu that you want.
  • Watching car after car slow down to let pedestrians cross the street as if they have the right of way.
  • Not hearing the honking of car horns everywhere when driving down the street.
  • Hearing the sound of a lawn mower
  • Driving to all the stores we want to go ourselves, not using public transportation or taxis.

(from an international teacher living in South Korea)

  • Actually knowing the difference between Korean and other Asian language when I see it on signs while in Los Angeles! (I never had a clue before!)
  • Seeing no one walking on the streets……….everyone is in a car or bus.
  • Getting a break from AFN (the Armed Forces Network) on the TV
  • No extreme climate in California
  • Noticing the “larger size” of Americans…..

If you are on a trip right now, away from your host country, write to us at admin@internationalschoolcommunity.com with your “Can you relate?” traveling experiences.  Tell us where you are traveling in the world, what you are seeing and how you are coping with any culture shock.  Once your Traveling Around experience is posted on our blog, International School Community will give 6 free months of premium membership!

All about schools

More features

Let's connect

Meet us on Facebook
Follow our Tweets
Join our Linked In Group

IS Community