International School (British or Australian curriculum)

I was just wondering if anyone has taught at an Australian or British International School in China? I'm looking for primary/elementary teaching opportunities for just a short time (3-6 months). I've previously taught EFL in Korea and China but I don't want to do that again right now (I'd like to teach other subjects as well, if I did teach EFL again it would be long-term). My long-term goal is to get a primary teaching job in Australia (I'm doing casual work in Sydney now and I don't always get work). If anyone knows of a good international school which hires short-term please let me know.

I can't answer your question, although I am interested in what people have to say, but I have a question about the teaching market in Australia.... I've read/heard both that there is a teacher shortage and an oversupply in Australia.  So I'm not sure which to believe.  What do you think?  Any direct knowledge or impressions about that?

Actually, I have the same long term goal you have.  Good luck

I can't answer your question, although I am interested in what people have to say, but I have a question about the teaching market in Australia.... I've read/heard both that there is a teacher shortage and an oversupply in Australia.  So I'm not sure which to believe.  What do you think?  Any direct knowledge or impressions about that?

Actually, I have the same long term goal you have.  Good luck

I have an Aussie friend who is a legit primary school teacher. It is said there is a teacher shortage, but he had a hell of a time getting a job despite being experienced. Maybe high school is different, especially for science and maths.  He said the job application process was very corporate, and you're dealing with recent graduate females who have been coached to the max on how to get a job. Permanent jobs are very hard to get indeed, so you're having to re-apply for your own job every year. Sounds grim.

I can't answer your question, although I am interested in what people have to say, but I have a question about the teaching market in Australia.... I've read/heard both that there is a teacher shortage and an oversupply in Australia.  So I'm not sure which to believe.  What do you think?  Any direct knowledge or impressions about that?

Actually, I have the same long term goal you have.  Good luck

I have an Aussie friend who is a legit primary school teacher. It is said there is a teacher shortage, but he had a hell of a time getting a job despite being experienced. Maybe high school is different, especially for science and maths.  He said the job application process was very corporate, and you're dealing with recent graduate females who have been coached to the max on how to get a job. Permanent jobs are very hard to get indeed, so you're having to re-apply for your own job every year. Sounds grim.

Bloody 'ell, does sound grim.  I've been told that male primary teachers are in particular short supply, but wish I knew how valid that was. 

But there has been a push to get teachers out into the small countries towns, especially in NSW, so I hope that is still the case when i get qualified.  Everyone wants to work in the big cities, can't for the life of me understand why.  Give me a small country primary school and a small acreage hobby farm and I'll be a happy fella.

(apologies for hijacking your thread OP)

There is no shortage in the capital cities or coastal towns (and in Australia compared to the US and Canada not many people live inland). For high school teachers, there is a little demand for Maths and Science but generally overall it's hard to get full-time or part-time teaching work (there is casual work however it's a very unreliable source of income and generally an anxious way to live not knowing if or where you're working the next day or that same morning). I'd happily go rural or remote short-term (I just live with my girlfriend back in south-western Sydney so I'll discuss that with her if I ever get a job offer, if I wasn't with her I may very well have returned to Guangdong to teach long-term at an international school). I believed the 'lie' that there's a shortage of public elementary and high school teachers and fell for it hook, line and sinker (and that if you're male you'll easily get a public elementary job).

I live here in China and am working in my second "international" school here. I put it in quotes, because the student populace is 99% Chinese. We are teaching IGCSE though, and are a registered Cambridge school (though the ink isn't quite dry on that). That said, I've been in China four years and can account for the market in general in the context that it is rather easy to find available positions with international schools (even ones with larger percentage of actual international students), but you'll be running into a big wall with your desire to have a short contract. I'm on a two year contract, and they're really hoping that I at least stay for a third, to see through the 10th graders that I started with. The documentation process for getting a legitimate job in China now, is going to take you more than three months, so I'd think well hard about considering the possibility of of such a short term contract. Otherwise, you shouldn't have trouble if you are certified and ready to go. I'm pretty sure that schools are looking for their August term's teachers now, so you'd be in a good way to think about that intake.
Good luck!