Pros
We always got paid on time.
Cons
I have a list of grievances, but first and foremost I should bring up that I almost DIED while teaching here and I received no assistance from the school. They actually wanted me to come in and teach instead of going to the hospital, where I ultimately found out my kidneys had shut down. After my diagnosis, they still wanted me to come back and teach the same day. I must reiterate that I was literally DYING and they wanted me to continue working so they could squeeze just a little more profit from me before I croaked. The ESL teachers are paid significantly less than the high school teachers, and we have the disadvantage of a Chinese administration instead of a Western one. The Chinese administration does not care about the teachers and will offer no assistance. When my health issues began, they refused to help me get to a hospital. Eventually they relented when another foreign teacher said he'd leave to take me. The Chinese teacher they ended up sending with me took me to a closed hospital. My health was not a concern to them and honestly a bother. The "benefit" of getting paid less than the high school teachers meant we were able to live on campus. These were advertised as fully furnished dwellings. This was only partly true. My bed only had a box spring and no mattress, which meant it was more comfortable to sleep on the floor than on the bed. Additionally the entire building had a mold problem that the school refused to deal with. My entire apartment was covered in mold and I was never able to get rid of it. My water and power was often shut off with no explanation. Our Chinese English teacher colleagues knew very little to no English. It was shocking to me that these folks had managed to graduate with an English degree and no proficiency in the language. This obviously created problems in the classroom because the students learned two different versions of grammar/pronunciation/etc. On top of that these colleagues were very jealous of foreign teachers and made the administration give us even more tasks and made me spend even more time at school. These teachers maybe only had to teach 1-2 classes a day and spent the rest of the time watching Chinese Soap Operas, but still felt like they were working harder because they came in earlier. Because the Chinese teachers were streaming all these shows, I was unable to get lesson plan material off the internet. I was given one ridiculous textbook as my teaching materials and it was never enough for even half a class. I began to heavily rely on outside materials for my classes, and because the internet was so slow it took me hours to do something that would typically only take me 20 minutes. We were required to fill out a bunch of paperwork, including lesson plans and disciplinary notes, that the administration never looked at. I could have literally written anything I wanted on these and it wouldn't have mattered - no one looked at it. All this paperwork was a colossal waste of time. The discipline issues at the school were eye-opening as a Westerner. Maple Leaf would allow students to abuse and viciously bully other students. My FIRST DAY at the school I saw one kid sucker-punch another student, and the teacher did nothing. I would later learn that this is how the school deals with violence on campus. Fortunately I was not a new teacher so I had experience in behavior management, but I still struggled in one class where a particular student would attempt to be as disruptive as possible. He'd often hit female students in the face, make load moaning noises while I was talking, and run around the classroom and throw things, all to get attention. At first I thought the student was mentally disabled, but when his mother visited the classroom he behaved normally. The administration never did anything about this student even though he was intentionally disrupting the education of other students. Maple Leaf is RACIST. One of the foreign teachers was not white, and they told her, TO HER FACE, that they wanted to fire her because she is "black." Unfortunately for Maple Leaf, finding foreign teachers is difficult, and it's even more difficult to find qualified and competent teachers. My coworker dealt with the abuse professionally and luckily got out of the situation. My advice to any teacher wanting to teach abroad is to avoid Maple Leaf like the plague. You're not only putting your mental well-being and career in jeopardy, but your health as well!