Every so often International School Community is looking to highlight one of our members in our Member Spotlight blog category. This month we interviewed Tr. Ponnumuthu Thankaraj:
Tell us about your background. Where are you from?
I am a Mathematics Teacher and I love teaching mathematics for slow learners as well as gifted ones. I have done my Masters of Science with Major Mathematics from Vinayaga Missions University, at Salem, India. Also I have a degree in Education from Tamilnadu Teachers Education University, at Chennai. I have done a E-Comerce cource from Informatics Computer Institute Noida, Delhi which helped me to involve students into modern technology. I had a training with Cambridge International Examinations for A and As Level Mathematics through Gandhi School, Anchol, Jakarta Indonesia. I had a nine months training from Institute for Total Revolution, Vedichhi, Valod District Gujaraat, India. During my school days, I used to be very shy in nature, but now I have improved a lot and able to Train the Trainer position for a couple of times. I am basically from a small town called Mondaikad at Kanyakumari District of Tamilnadu, India.
How did you get started in the international teaching community?
My first International Experience was with Holyland International School at Kathmandu, Nepal, which I went by train and bus as mode of travel around three thousand kilometers from my home town with extreme climatic change from 32 degree Celsius to -2 degree Celsius on January 9th 1993. Even though there is no visa requirement to enter into Nepal, I consider it as my first International Teaching Community.
Which international schools have you worked at? Please share some aspects of the schools that made them unique and fun places in which to work.
#. Holyland International School, Kathmandu, Nepal
#. Greenland International School, Kathmandu,Nepal
#. Learning Realm International School, (LRI) Kathmandu, Nepal
# Arena Multimedia, Noida, UP, India
# Under Ministry of Education, Republic of Maldives 3 schools
Laimagu School, Shaviyani Attol,
Male English School, Male’,
Majeedyya School, Male’
# Cathedral Vidya School, Lonavala, Pune, India
# Bina Bungsa School, Semarang & PIK-Jakarta, Indonesia
# Under Gandhi Group of Schools
Gandhi Memorial International School and
Gandhi School, Anchol
# Singapore International School, PIK-Jakarta
# GemsEducation Our Own, Fujairah, UAE, and now at
# Ayyeyarwaddy International School, Mandalay, Myanmar.
By teaching in above schools I followed, national school curriculum, IGCSE, A & O-Level, IB and State Common Core Syllabuses.
Describe your latest cultural encounter (or reverse cultural encounter) in your current placement, one that put a smile on your face.
While working in Indonesia and Myanmar, the People are very polite and respectful. I was selected as “The Most Patient Teacher-Secondary” from Singapore International School made me to smile since it happened within three months time. From AIS, Mandalay I had a lot of fun by riding motor bikes for 9 hours with a group of 7 teachers and the water-festival at school premises made me happy which one can feel it by experience only. Students happily call me Teacher Pon Pon; it makes me to smile at times. Implementing Student Centered Learning by the slogan “Each One Teach One” , gave me satisfaction of teaching learning through Peer and Teachers as well as one to one learning. At one instance, without knowing local language, my barber shaved my mustache instead of trimming it. It makes me self-smile whenever I thought of the situation how it happened 🙂 It is really fun as we are here from different countries and being one family like environment during luncheon.
What are some important things that you look for when you are searching for a new position at an international school?
I prefer not to bargain for salaries, it should be according to the qualification and experiences as per the school. I had couple of experiences to bargain it. It really made me to think how can a Teacher to bargain like a business person with the school. The complete Teacher Resources for the particular class should be provided by the school, which will save a lot of time of preparation of lessons, instead of searching the resource itself. As I am highly capable of teaching middle school and High school, managing students is not a concern for me. There should be free internet facility for additional search of ideas/ images/project models etc.
In exactly 5 words, how would you describe the international school teaching experience?
Training the Students to Become Global Citizen.
Thanks Tr. Ponnumuthu Thankaraj!
If you are a member of International School Community and would like to be our next member spotlight, contact us here. If we choose to highlight you, you will get a coupon code to receive one year free of premium access to our website!
Do you think you have what it takes to be a veteran international school teacher like Tr. Ponnumuthu Thankaraj? What character traits does it take? We have an article on our blog that discusses this very question. It is called the “Top 10 Character Traits of a Seasoned International School Teacher“. Read the whole article here.
Comparing the Schools and Comments: Working in Switzerland
Around the world, there are cities that have more than one international school. Many times there is an American school, a British School, and an international school that uses an international curriculum.
Some cities, though, have MANY international schools! When that is the case, how do the comments about each school compare to each other?
This blog series looks at comparing some of these comments, all coming from international schools in the same city.
Switzerland
Currently, we have 30 schools listed in Switzerland on International School Community.
14 of these schools have had comments submitted on them. Here are a few that have the most submitted comments:
Inter-community School Zurich (61 Total Comments)
International School Basel (41 Total Comments)
International School of Lausanne (19 Total Comments)
International School Zug and Luzern (32 Total Comments)
Leysin American School (69 Total Comments)
John F. Kennedy International School (25 Total Comments)
Obersee Bilingual School AG (22 Total Comments)
TASIS The American School in Switzerland (32 Total Comments)
Zurich International School (25 Total Comments)
Hiring Policies
“I interviewed with them over Skype about 2 years ago. The administers were really nice and it was more of a dialogue rather than a list of questions. There was an issue with moving my application forward because of the new visa application restrictions imposed on the school. Thus being from the U.S. in this instance was not an advantage in the hiring process. Their follow-up communication was pretty good though; which was done via email.” – Zurich International School
“I was hired through Search Associates. But I’m pretty sure they recruit with other agencies too.” – TASIS The American School in Switzerland
“The school does go to the London fairs, but like the previous common mentioned, they do look for teaching couples before hiring single teachers. There are also new visa restrictions underway limiting the number non-EU students and staff that can work at/attend the school.” – Leysin American School
School Campus
“The High School is on a purpose-built site on a small industrial estate. The Primary School is in an old chalet/convent with some newer buildings added on. The Middle School is on the same campus as the Primary and was purpose-built a few years ago. Surrounding area is open country.” – International School Zug and Luzern
“ISB is split onto two campuses, with pre-K to Grade 5 being on one and Grades 6 to 12 being on another. The school is expanding even further, opening a third campus for Grade 6 next year. The school building is great. New building, large classrooms with beautiful views of the countryside and plenty of whiteboards and interactive boards. The Grade 6 to 12 campus also has a new all weather outdoor soccer field.” – International School Basel
“There are a number of buildings that make up this campus. The buildings were made within the last decade, make mostly of reinforced concrete. The secondary building is pretty nice. There are a number of floors and many classrooms with big windows. It can get a bit noisy in the common areas. The cafeteria is pretty big, where the students eat lunch. That same cafeteria can be divided into a 1/3 for teachers to hold meetings.” – Inter-community School Zurich
Housing Information
“Housing is expensive. Rent, utilities and medical insurance is well over half my salary.” – International School Zug and Luzern
“There is a housing allowance/benefit, but it is taxed. A number of staff live in school owned buildings. If you have friends/family come to visit you, there is a building that can house them for free or for only 10 CHF a night. It is a simple/barebones room “hotel”, but it is nice of the school to offer this benefit. The rooms have heated floors as well.” – Leysin American School
“No housing allowance.” – International School Basel
“Housing options vary but tend to be 1-2 bedroom apartments (some within dorms). Dormitory Parents earn 20,000 CHF additional. Most expats may rent subsidized apartments through the school. These include furnishings, utilities, DSL and cleaning service for on-campus apartments.” – TASIS The American School in Switzerland
Health insurance and medical benefits.
“You pay for your own health insurance, and for a family it can be up to 1000 chf per month.” – Inter-community School Zurich
“Health Care is incredibly expensive, because your insurance policy covers nothing under your deductible ($500 for full-time teachers/admin, $600 for kids, and $2500 for traveling spouse/part-time staff. This is after paying almost $600 a month in insurance payments for our family of four.” – TASIS The American School in Switzerland
“Not provided, all out-of-pocket with different levels of insurance available.” – International School Basel
“Health care is very good, but expensive. You could expect to pay between 250 – 450 USD per month insurance. Taxes are low, so this is a factor to consider. All workers in Switzerland are obliged to take out a private insurance, but for the standard package this includes all pre-existing conditions.” – International School Zug and Luzern
(These are just 4 of the 65 different comments topics that on each school profile page on our website.)
If you work at an international school in Switzerland, share what you know. Consider becoming a Mayor for unlimited premium membership!