Teaching in the United Kingdom

I have a number of teachers who signed up to receive my TeachOverseas.info newsletter because they are interested in teaching in the UK. This isn't really what my site is about, although I have information on teaching in the UK, NZ and Aussie on the site.

The reason I'm not focussing on assisting teachers find teaching positions in those countries, is that most of the international teachers I work with have begun teaching overseas to get out of teaching in state schools in the UK, NZ and Aussie.

I started my international teaching career in TEFL. Then moved into teaching high school Technology. My first international teaching job was in a position in a state school in the UK. I spent 4 years total in the UK teaching high school, and I learnt a lot about the teaching craft and education in general.

I'm not knocking teaching in the UK. For NZers and Australians, it's a fantastic way to earn decent money whilst on your "big OE". But if you've gone that far, why not go a step farther and teach internationally.

All those things you don't like about teaching in state schools? Well, you don't have to deal with discipline problems, lack of enthusiasm, poor attendance, lack of resources, etc. here in the international school circuit.

Aussies and Kiwis are very desirable teachers for international school recruiters because we have a reputation for being adaptable, adventurous and trust-worthy.

Stick your neck out there and check out international teaching. Believe me, not one international educator I've talked to has any regrets about deciding to go into teaching overseas!

International Footballers in Your Midst

It's crazy the things I'm finding out about my colleagues as I interview them for my new product, Overseas Teachers Talk.

This morning I interviewed the Vice Principal in Charge of Curriculm and discovered that he played in the football (soccer) world cup. He played for the Bahamas team for which he was selected when he was teaching in the Bahamas.

How crazy is that?

Apparently he is also one of the players you can choose in a FIFA Playstation game, because he's registered with FIFA as an international football player.

Do you think he'd have been selected to play for England, if he'd remained teaching in the UK? Probably not, he might be an awesome footballer, but is he in Beckham's league?

In my mind, this is a prime example of how teaching overseas can open up completely new and surprising opportunities for international teachers. NOT just in education.

What opportunities could be out there awaiting you? Don't hesitate, get out there and start applying to International Schools today!

To be a university lecturer? I think not!

As you might have guessed, I work at an international school. So, I practice what I preach, I teach overseas. I'm currently based in Thailand and have been here for 18 months now.

On Monday evenings I go to a belly-dancing class. There must be something wrong with my accents because many of my colleagues and friends thought I did ballet dancing until they saw me perform with my class at one of the fairs last November.

But that's not the point of my post, nor is it the fact that it's truly odd to be learning Egyptian style belly dancing whilst teaching abroad in Thailand. I'd try Thai dancing but I can't bend my fingers backwards!

The point...

I was talking to my dance instructor, who works at one of the universities as a lecturer about holidays, and I was shocked at what I learned.

I'd always thought that university lecturers had it much better than international high school teachers, but I was wrong.

Teachers who teach overseas may be required to be in school for 180 to 195 days a year, and the rest of the year is divided into various holidays for which we are paid. My bellydance teachers only receives two weeks paid holiday a year. She can take the summer vacation off, but she will not be paid for any of it. She usually chooses to teach over the summer break so that she can earn some money.

Those conditions sound a lot like when I taught TEFL at private language schools. I got out of that kind of teaching because I HAD to work over the summer in order to have any savings. If I hadn't taught summer school I would have used up all the money I'd managed to put aside throughout the year.

So, do you want to be an Overseas university lecturer? I certainly don't! I think I'm onto a great thing here in Thailand. Teaching overseas at an international school is definitely the cream of the crop of opportunities out there!

Europe and the aged

I thought I should add an addendum to my last post. If you are desperate to teach in Europe, are over the age of 55 and don't have European Union Citizenship, you might be out of luck. Within the European Union, many countries are refusing to give working visas to non-European workers (applying for the first time) who are over 55.

I'm not saying it's impossible to get teaching jobs in Europe once you've turned 56, I'm saying you might not find it easy to find one, and that you may need to look at a European country that isn't a member of the EU.

How old is too old?

And on the other side of the coin, how young is too young? I'm talking about teaching abroad, of course.

I received an email from a lovely lady called Marlene who is very keen to move her teaching career abroad, but is concerned that, at 57, she is too old!

Here is an excerpt from my book, The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School that deals with just this topic:

"Age (at both ends of the scale)
Age might be an issue in some countries because of visa requirements, but usually more mature people are attractive to international schools because they are believed to be stable.

On the other hand, many schools operate a salary scale that makes less experienced (which frequently means younger) teacher financially attractive to schools.

If you are used to being on the top of the pay scale, you might want to ask if the salary step you start on is capped. I have heard that some schools require all new teachers to the school to start on the same salary step, regardless of years of experience."

As I told Marlene, there are some schools that will not offer you a new full-time teaching contract after you turn 60, and there are some that will. Also, there are some countries which will not grant you a new working visa after you pass the age of 60. However, for every country or school that won't you will find a school or country that will.

If you are approaching 60, don't let this information put you off teaching abroad. Even if the country you desire working in the most is one that has the over 60 rule, you can certainly pack a number of unforgettable experiences into the years before you reach the big 6-0.

Mature teachers have a lot to offer schools and many recruiters recognise this fact.