Teachers' mother tongue

[A parent at OFS]

I attended a curriculum talk for kindy at OFS.
I was surprised that several of their teachers (not assistants but the main teachers) spoke with obvious Indian or Chinese accents.  In one case, it was quite a thick accent.

I seem to recall that a part of the deal (in exchange for the $20,000 per annum fee) was that they employ native speakers of English.  This obviously has not happened.  

How is it in other schools?

[SAS parent]

2 kids at SAS - this is our second year there, so out of 4 teachers we've had so far, all 4 have been native English speakers. Now, the teacher's aides may not all be native speakers, definitely a little heavier on the Singlish. But, being an American school, I wouldn't expect they'd get away with very many non-native English speakers as teachers - particularly in the early grades.

Does OFS proclaim to have only native-English speaking teachers?

[tonguetwisted]

I see where you are coming from but I would also say that I would prefer to have a great teacher irrespective of their accent. For example I removed my child from a school where the English speaking expat teacher was awful. I then put my child in another school and the teacher was from India. I tell you that teacher was AMAZING. However, I also do see your point. In fact I rejected one International Kindy on the East Coast for my child because they charged at the top end of the International school fees and my son's teacher would have been a Singaporean teacher. My argument was that if I wanted a SP teacher then I can go down the road to a local Kindy and pay half your prices - which ultimately I did and I had a great teacher.

Accent aside, I would want to know my teachers qualifications and experience. If International schools are charging the earth then they should at least have qualified and experienced teachers, wherever they are from.

[Native Accent]

A heavy accent is not necessarily an indication of whether a person is a native speaker or not.  Just think about the extreme regional accents in the UK!  Singaporeans would claim to be native English speakers.  Whether many of them would accept them as such is open to debate!

[A parent at OFS]

I really couldn't tell if they are great teachers or not.  I did notice that all of them read their course objectives from a print of the powerpoint slide they were showing, which indicated to me that they don't know the objectives by heart and cannot express the objectivees in their own words.  That also worried me (or maybe I am a picky parent.)

Interestingly when somebody put up his hand to ask a question, he was told to wait to the end but when we got to the end, the last powerpoint slide said "Thank you and Goodnight" which was what was read out by the teacher with the heaviest accent.  Then all the teachers stood up and the meeting was declared at an end.  For sure, you could ask individual questions but, it seemed to me that they were discouraging any discussion as a group.  Perhaps because they got grief in similar meetings previously and had no stomach for it.

I don't know, for sure, if OFS guaranteed native English speakers but I'd say this must be, at least, an implied term of the contract.  After all, if you go to a Chinese restaurant and find that the menu is chock full of pizzas and burgers you'd feel that you have been misled.  If I wanted my son to be taught in foreign accents, I'd save a lot of money by sending him to a Singaporean school (where he would learn better math in compensation).

[agreewithabove]

I agree, but my problem is not with the accent, but where they were educated. India  and Singapore have a reputation for rote memorization. 
Out of my 2 kids 3 years at International Schools I had 2 years of Singaporean, 1 Indian  3 Australian one of which was a feral bogan on her first year of teaching. I paid 140k+ and I felt ripped off.
We are home schooling for 1 year while we decide whether Singapore is really the place we want our kids to go to school. I spent a couple of thousand on books and resources and have a few international field trips planned and still come in way under budget. I feel like my money is well spent.
If you want western trained teachers you may have to pay the big $$ and get on the wait lists for UWC and Co.

[an aside]

I agree, but my problem is not with the accent, but where they were educated. India  and Singapore have a reputation for rote memorization. 
Out of my 2 kids 3 years at International Schools I had 2 years of Singaporean, 1 Indian  3 Australian one of which was a feral bogan on her first year of teaching. I paid 140k+ and I felt ripped off.
We are home schooling for 1 year while we decide whether Singapore is really the place we want our kids to go to school. I spent a couple of thousand on books and resources and have a few international field trips planned and still come in way under budget. I feel like my money is well spent.
If you want western trained teachers you may have to pay the big $$ and get on the wait lists for UWC and Co.

Feral bogan - where the hell did you drag that expression up from!

I had to look it up - so from what I understand, you're saying she was common?

So now it's not just where they're educated, it's what their background is 

[Admittedly]

I just looked at the list of primary school teachers at Tanglin Trust.  The overwhelming majority are educated in former polys.  Not a hotbed of intellectual challenge, is it?!

[Oh No]

You cannot be serious!  It would be bad enough if they were red-brick trained, but former polys?  That is scandalous!  Has any concerned parent thought to raise this issue with the school?  That our offspring are in contact with such levels of society on a daily basis is deeply troubling.

[Admittedly]

OK, ok...teaching little kids must be well within their capabilities.  I take my comment back.

[born teachers]

They say that you are born a teacher - you cannot be made one!

The most outstanding teacher my daughter ever had, probably had less qualifications than most.  However, she had such an amazing relationship with the children, and not only did they perform extremely well academically because they wanted to please her, but they learnt a lot about the important values in life such as family and friends. 

It is not all about qualifications - it is about being able to reach the children.

[fareastjunebug]

OP

So would a German accent be OK? French? Scottish? Cockney? North American redneck? Valley girl? Jersey girl (well, really just the tri-state area, but let's not be picky)? Where does the line get drawn?

I'd be much more curious about the experiences of other children in their classes and their certifications. Ask around.

[I'm with FarEastJuneBug]

In an international school I'd expect to hear a variety of accents. I'd be far more interested in a teacher's interaction with the children, passion for teaching, experience and education (in that order) for my Kindy or Elementary school child. To point out that you have an issue with Chinese or Indian accents means what exactly, that you want non-Asian teachers for your kids? Or would a British born and educated Chinese or Indian be acceptable because they don't sound Asian? Go to England or the U.S. and you'd hear hundreds of different accents. It's not the accent that makes the teacher. I had some amazing teachers in school and I can't remember what accents they had! 

[Agreewithabove]

OP

So would a German accent be OK? French? Scottish? Cockney? North American redneck? Valley girl? Jersey girl (well, really just the tri-state area, but let's not be picky)? Where does the line get drawn?

I'd be much more curious about the experiences of other children in their classes and their certifications. Ask around.

For me yes that would be ok because they have been trained and educated in a non rote environment, and this is the only difference between paying 20k or sending them to a local school.  The op is asking what she is paying her 20k for when she could get the same thing for free at a local school. 
As for the bogan teacher -she would have never passed an interview in Australia. It's frustrating that the schools here get so desperate for teachers, when we are paying such high fees.

[Fwiw]

Also they seem to put locals in kindy positions because it is really hard to recruit staff, they probably have no choice.