Working and Living in the Spice Islands

Inside Tips on Teaching English in Indonesia

By Wayne Johnson

Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia

“But, aren’t you scared of the bombs and terrorists?” said my friend when I announced I was leaving my job in South Korea to move to Indonesia.

Unfortunately, this can be an all too familiar question when you announce to your friends or family that you are going to live and work in Indonesia. But, despite the dramatic travel warnings and negative press about the country, Indonesia really is a hidden gem and what’s more, one which offers good wages and a high standard of living.

I had long wanted to visit this archipelago of 17,000 islands, filled as I was with images of Komodo Dragons, Sumatran jungles, and exotic Balinese beaches. Even the names of the islands, Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi conjured up images of adventure.

Harvesting in the rice fields of Bali.

So you could say I was a little bit shocked when I was first confronted by the polluted, dirty, crowded megalopolis that is Jakarta. Nothing could be further removed from the Indonesia of my imagination. So you may be asking yourself, why I am still here after nearly three years?

Jakarta seen from the harbor.

There are three reasons:

• the people
• the way of life
• the work

Few are the countries in the world where for $400 a month you can live in a house or apartment with a swimming pool, tennis courts, a maid, and a driver. And what is even more amazing is that it is all easily affordable on a teacher’s salary.

Teaching Jobs in Indonesia

There are three kinds of teaching jobs available here, with most of them being in Jakarta. The language schools such as English First (EF): Indonesia offer a good entry point for those with limited or no teaching qualifications and little teaching experience, but the drawbacks are that they pay relatively low wages and require evening and weekend work. On the opposite end of the scale are the international schools with higher rates of pay and the requirement that the teacher has a teaching qualification from their home country. However, in Indonesia there is a third option — the fee-paying National Plus schools which follow an international and local curriculum. There are scores of these schools, and native English speakers are in high demand because most of the school programs are delivered in English. Salaries at these schools start at around USD 1,500 but can often top USD 2,000 after tax. Bearing in mind that a good salary for an Indonesian graduate is US$300 per month and you can see what a good deal that represents. Experience teaching either IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) or IB (International Baccalaureate) programs is an advantage, but not essential. Previously it was difficult to get these jobs if you were outside the country, but increasingly schools are recruiting directly from overseas.

In National Plus schools it is highly likely that the vast majority of your students will be ethnic Chinese Indonesian. These students will often come from very privileged backgrounds and often are not used to following rules, coming as they do from environments where they have maids and drivers ready to do their every bidding. You may also sometimes find a lack of willingness to study (particularly boys) as often they know that no matter what their final results are, they will have a job in the family business when they finish. They can also be over-protected, with even students of 16 and 17 never having been allowed to spend a night away from their parents. Having said that though, the positives definitely out-weigh the negatives, Indonesian students are on the whole very polite and welcoming to teachers (particularly in Primary schools) and even the unruly ones are not nearly as bad as what you might expect to find in a western school. I have also found that when they are allowed to perform tasks or activities that allow them to be more independent they revel in the opportunity. Some good examples of this include forming sports teams or taking them on an over-night camping trip. In their social circle study takes precedence over sport and other activities, which means that the students get stressed and tired easily due to their heavy study load. If you want a sure-fire way to make yourself popular and to keep the students interested, then you will need to introduce fun activities into the classroom to help alleviate their stress.

Like anywhere in the world of English teaching, it is important to do your research before embarking on your new job. Employers and employment practices may not be like what you are used to in the west. Corruption is endemic in Indonesian society and there is still a deferential culture to bosses, no matter how hair-brained some of their decisions may seem. And while I would never recommend staying silent if you disagree with something you experience, bear in mind that shouting and arguing in general is frowned upon, particularly in Java. However, despite the chaos of Jakartan life Indonesians tend to be kind and friendly people who rarely get angry, and they are only too willing to offer a warm welcome to those who decide to make their country their home.

Wayne Johnson comes from a town in the north of England and after graduating from University moved into a career in journalism. After experiencing the bright lights of London for eight years and working on various magazines and internet sites, he decided to travel across Asia and now resides in Indonesia where he works as a freelance journalist and teacher and when not working indulges in his favourite past-times of football and travel.