May 29, 2007

Using Leverage to Land Your International Teaching Job

The definition of leverage, according to About.com is an "increasing the rate of return from an investment."

How does this relate to teaching abroad?

Whether you are teaching abroad or you have a domestic teaching job, there are many ways you can increase the benefit to you from the investment of teaching. The key to successful leveraging is knowledge of the concept and strategic planning before tactical implementation.

Using Leverage To Get Your First Teaching Job Abroad

Thank you Stephanie Relfe www.relfe.com Leverage the experience you already have by putting together a targeted resume that reflects your strengths.

International school recruiters are looking for teachers that have experience with multilingual or multicultural classes, but have you pointed this out on your resume? Make it clear that you have worked with students from different cultures and you'll be one step closer to landing your first teaching job abroad. This can be done as easily as describing the student cohort in broad terms when you list the schools at which you've previously worked.

Many schools abroad are smaller than domestic schools, and so many recruiters are looking for teachers that have a range of diverse experiences to offer to the school. If you have taught other subjects than the position you are applying for, then put this in your resume, with subtlety. Be careful that you aren't taking away from the fact that you are a specialist in the field for which you're applying!

International schools usually run extensive extra-curricular programs, especially schools that offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programmes. Faculty members are expected to contribute to the extra-curricular program, which means you can leverage your life experiences to secure your first job abroad. The IB emphasises creativity, service and action, which boils down, at the most basic level, to sports, arts and community service. If you have experience organising outdoor activities, coaching sports, teaching craft or hobbies, then you need to include this in your resume.

One key thing to remember when you're applying for a teaching job abroad is that recruiters are looking at the 'whole' person to see how they'll fit into the faculty, the culture, and what they'll contribute to the school community. Everything that you can bring to the school should be included in your application pack, so that the recruiter has an opportunity to 'meet' the person, not just the teacher.

Finally, if you don't have experience teaching multicultural or multilingual students, you can get experience by enrolling for and completing a certificate in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). This is a sure-fire way to prove your willingness to learn more about the issues international students face, and your willingness to adapt. To improve your chances of landing a teaching job abroad, you can get a TEFL certificate online.

Leveraging your skills to land your first teaching job in an international school.

May 28, 2007

Getting a Teaching Job Abroad is not as difficult as you'd think

There are over 4000 international schools worldwide and they all need teachers. The international teaching job market is a competitive one because many teachers see the benefits of teaching abroad. With the right attitude, knowledge and resources you can land your own lucrative teaching job in an international school!

May 23, 2007

International Teaching and Culture Shock

The Up-Side of the Frustration Stage

Finally you will start to see the funny side of it all and most of the things that made you angry during the frustration stage will either cause you to laugh or you’ll be able to shrug your shoulders and pass it off as being a feature of your new home. When you’re in this stage of the cycle you’ll begin to remember your old home without your rose-coloured glasses again.

You may wonder how I can write with so much confidence about culture shock, and it’s because I’ve experienced it all. I’ve moved country 7 times in the last 11 years and each time I’ve been hit with culture shock. Sometimes only a mild dose, but it’s always there.

Culture shock has never put me off seeking teaching jobs abroad. I recognise it and work with it. In previous posts I’ve given you 5 methods of alleviating the stress of culture shock. Remember that all international teachers feel culture shock to some degree. You won’t be alone, so don’t let it stop you from enjoying the fantastic experiences you’ll have teaching abroad.

May 21, 2007

Strategies to cope with the stress of culture shock when you're teaching internationally

1. Learn some of the local language before you leave home. You’ve signed a contract that means you’re going to be living in your host country for 1-2 years, learning the language will help you get around and make friends. Some great ways to learn the local language while you’re still at home…

2. Take time to get used to the new time zone, the different weather and smells, sounds etc.

3. Begin building friendships as soon as you arrive and meet the other new teachers. You’ll form a bond with these teachers in the first year especially because they’ll be coping with culture shock as well. This will be your support group.

4. Stay in touch with people you’ve left at home. In my most recent move I found the best medicine for the frustration phase was an email from my old colleagues telling me how unsatisfied they were at my previous school.

5. Cut yourself some slack. When you recognise the symptoms of culture shock, give yourself a break, watch a favourite movie, look at pictures from home, have a meal at your favourite restaurant. Revel in the great things you’re experiencing in your new home so that you can put your frustration in perspective.

International schools and culture shock

May 20, 2007

International School Teaching - Recognise Culture Shock for What it Is...

Recognising culture shock for what it is and acknowledging which stage you’re in is the first step to lessening the grip it has on you. For example, if you suddenly feel like you hate your new teaching job because of how hard it is to make the purchasing department understand what it is you’re trying to order, recognising this as an effect of culture shock can help you adjust your behaviour.

When you first get to your new home you’ll feel happy to be there and everything you see or experience will be wonderful and new. This is the ‘honeymoon’ stage of culture shock and it feels great! It can last from several days to several months. This is the time where you’ll be sending loads of emails to your friend using words and phrases like ‘awesome’, ‘best decision I’ve ever made’, ‘don’t know why I didn’t do this years ago’. Recognise this stage of culture shock and enjoy it.

Next comes the period of frustration, full of situations like the example above. When you sink into this part of the cycle you’ll begin to dislike everything about your new home. It’ll be too hard, too smelly, too hot, too loud, and everything else ‘too’!

This is also when homesickness could strike you with a vengeance. You may find yourself developing a hostile attitude towards every one not of your own nationality and culture. Your old home will suddenly seem like the best place in the world and you may regret ever leaving it.

International schools culture shock

May 17, 2007

International School Teaching - you may not recognise culture shock for what it is...

All international school teachers experience culture shock, whether they're moving from the US to the UK, or from the UK to Saudi Arabia. It's going to happen, the best thing is to be prepared and recognise it when it's happening...

Factors that can contribute to culture shock are :

  • People speaking a different language, dialect or with an unfamiliar accent.
  • Dealing with a different currnecy, money that is a different colour, feel and value. Keeping track of exchange rates can become a tiresome chore when living abroad, so once you’ve received your first paycheck, don’t bother. Earn local, spend local!
  • People behaving in unfamiliar ways, even local customs can vary from one end of a country to another.
  • Spicy and/or unfamiliar food. You may need to substitute ‘like’ ingredients in your favourite recipes too.
  • People staring at you, if you are in a country where your skin colour or facial features stand out as being different, this will happen.

On top of this you’ll be the new teacher in school, so the procedures and policies will be different to what you’re used to at home.

International School - recognising culture shock

May 14, 2007

International School Teaching and Culture Shock

Culture shock is the term used to describe how people feel when they are exposed to an unfamiliar culture or way of life, and the feeling of disorientation and separateness they experience. It’s a condition that every international teacher feels in varying degrees, whether they’re new to teaching abroad or old hands at it.

Luckily culture shock follows a fairly predictable cycle and there are a number of ways you can prepare for it and lessen the impact of it once you’ve made the move overseas.

Unfortunately, when describing culture shock, it comes across as a negative thing to be avoided at all costs, and I’ve just told you it’s inevitable for anyone wanting to teach abroad. It’s important for you to remember that teaching overseas is an opportunity to explore other cultures and enjoy a better teaching environment. Yes, you will experience culture shock, but you can manage this and it’s not all bad!

International school teaching - culture shock

International School Teaching - the best decision you'll ever make!

Teaching at an international school is an opportunity to put your credentials to good use. You’ll be able to support yourself, and often have more left over at the end of the month than you would at home, and travel extensively to exotic destinations you’ve only ever dreamed about.

And guess what? Internationals school principals have been discussing the looming shortage of international teachers!

That’s right, with the sudden explosion in the number of schools opening for business in the last couple of years there’s been an equal explosion in the number of positions recruiters need to fill… but as yet there hasn’t been the required increase in teachers applying.

You do the math on that one and it all comes out to be a positive move in your favour.

International School Teacher Shortage

May 12, 2007

Will I make enough money teaching in an international school?

Exactly how much is enough? Especially when you take into account the cost of living in some countries! This is a hard one to answer because we all have different opinions on how much is enough, don’t we?

However, my answer is this… do your homework! It is possible to make loads and loads and put your investment portfolio on the map (or cover the map with your travels! Or both?), but it really depends where you go. Western Europe doesn’t have the same potential for earning that the Middle East or South East Asia has, but almost all international schools will pay you enough to live reasonably well. Although even in Western Europe, some schools pay better than others, and Eastern Europe is different again because of the low cost of living.

International schools - how much will they pay me?

May 10, 2007

Do I need TEFL to teach at an international school?

Let's start with that acronym, TEFL is Teaching English as a Foreign Language. If you've been researching overseas teaching for a while you'll definitely have run up against this one. Whether you need one to get a job teaching abroad for an international school all depends on what kind of credentials and experience you already have...

A TEFL qualification is easy to get and can be a quick way into teaching jobs abroad. If you don’t have a teaching qualification, then you probably don’t have any other option. With a TEFL certificate you can teach the English as a Second Language classes that are offered at most schools catering to international students.

Based on my experience doing both, teaching EFL or ESL at an international school is preferable to teaching at a private language school, I'll talk more about this in future posts. So plan your job-hunt accordingly.

Also, if your experience is all in mono-lingual and mono-cultural situations, then getting a TEFL qualification to add to your current credentials will only improve your chances. It will show recruiters that you are prepared for the issues you’ll encounter in your multi-cultural classes abroad.

As I said you can quickly and easily upskill with a TEFL certificate. You don't even need to leave the comfort of your own home! I've assessed some online and 'vacation' courses that you can utilise to get yourself a TEFL certificate.

Read more about online TEFL courses, and courses you can do abroad...

International schools and TEFL

May 9, 2007

Will an international school employ me if I've got children?

Yes they will! You may have some trouble if you’ve got 7 kids and you’re a single parent, or something similar, simply because the recruiters know you probably won’t be able to manage on a single teacher’s salary and allowances.

Contracts for overseas hired teachers often include such perks as free tuition for your children (often limited to two, but not always), so you’ll get a private education for your children too.

It's safe to say that, within reason, teachers with children are in no way penalised for having children. In fact some schools prefer to employ teachers with children because families are believed to be more stable in the international education environment.

Will an international school employ me if I've got children?

May 7, 2007

Where can I teach in an international school? How can I find out?

There are over 4000 international schools of varying sizes worldwide and all of them need teachers. So the answer to the first question is… just about anywhere!

One way you can find out whether there’s an international school where you’d like to work is to ‘Google it’. I simply typed in ‘international school Bangkok” and up popped a whole page of listings.

For an even tighter search you can limit the results to show only websites with '.ac' or '.edu' the two website extensions for educational institutions commonly used.

Of course this isn’t the way to go about landing your new teaching job abroad, but you can certainly check out how many schools are available in the destinations you’re interested in.

Where can I teach in an international school?

Teach at an International School and Never Have to Supplement Your Income Again!

For 8 of the last 9 years I've been doing supplementary work to add to my income. I even took on extra work whilst I was teaching abroad, but that was before I started teaching at an international school...

Learn ways to supplement your teaching income at 5 Ways for Teachers to Make Extra Money, or secure a job at an international school and never have to take on extra work again!

My Guide will show you the quickest and easiest way to find your own international school teaching job (and it's possible to work in a place where you don't have to pay TAX, too!)

Don't work your butt off to make enough money to live on, you can work your butt a little and make more than enough money to live on when you teach overseas.

May 3, 2007

International Teaching - Life Long Learning

One of the catch phrases of recent years has been life long learning. Teachers are meant to instil this credo in our students and to model it. One of the easiest and most rewarding ways of modelling life long learning is to teach in an international school.

Living overseas is a learning experience. Nothing comes easy when you don't speak the language very well, don't have your own transportation and the products you're used to probably aren't available anyway.

Sound negative? Oh no! It's anything but... life is challenging and interesting and full of surprises when you're making your way through another culture and language. I move often because when it starts getting easy, it starts getting boring.

Teaching abroad is all about creative problem-solving. Learn more about teaching in international schools today, from teachers who are doing it right now!

Teaching in an International School - What to take with you when you move overseas...

Having moved country 7 times in the last 10 years I needed to develop a system to make sure that I took everything with me that I needed.

I know the time right before you move overseas to take up your teaching post is a really stressful one, so I made a short video with my list of top 10 things you should take with you.

Watch it online now and enjoy!

May 1, 2007

The Easy to Follow Guide To International Schools For Teachers Seeking Overseas Employment #4

Private Board-Run International Schools

Let’s face it, most international schools are going to be private in some way or another. What reason would any government have to run a special school for foreign children? I can think of a few and none of them particularly good!

And so, you’re going to be stuck with a private school. But this doesn’t have to be all bad.

Private board-run international schools are really the best kind of school you can come across in the overseas teaching circuit. These schools are run on a not-for-profit basis where any and all profits are usually ploughed back into the school in order to fund future improvements.

The board is often made up of a mixture of local business people and officials (to ease the school’s relationship with officials), parents and teachers. The primary goal of these schools is more likely to be to provide an excellent education for students because you’ve got educators and parents on the decision making body.

The good, the bad and the ugly of Private Board-Run International Schools…

The Good is that quality education is the number one priority of the people with the decision making power.

The Bad which isn't all that bad... it's just that when board members include people who are not trained educators, sometimes they have some trouble prioritising issues the way education administrators would. And if the terms of office are restricted, then they may only think in the short-term rather than the long term.

The Ugly is that sometimes cultural differences can affect the good of the school. In some countries, maintaining or enhancing the 'status' of the school can take precedence over good education for the students. Or even good hiring decisions.

However, this is the kind of school you really want to be working for!

Private Board-Run International Schools