The Easy to Follow Guide To International Schools For Teachers Seeking Overseas Employment #3

Military Schools

A US Department of Defense (DoD) school is a school that is attached to a military base abroad. The DoD is responsible for providing education for all school aged dependents of all military and civilian employees who are required to live abroad in order to do their jobs.

There are over 100 US Department of Defense schools in Europe, and currently there are 210 schools located around the world in 12 countries. You might encounter the children of military personnel in American schools abroad when there is no DOD school available.

The British Equivalent is Service Children’s Education (SCE) Schools who operate 27 schools world wide with the majority of them situated in Cyprus and Germany. SCE schools are designed to give the students the same kind of education they would receive if living in the UK and attending school there.

The good, the bad and the ugly of Military Schools…

The Good is that it's easy to evaluate the package you will receive because you will be employed on a national contract. If you are working for the SCE you will be employed on a British teaching contract, with a few extras. You will also be paid in Sterling. The same goes for a DoD school.

The Bad is that you'll have to pay TAX! One of the benefits that comes with teaching at an international school is that you can pay less tax or work in a tax free environment. When you work for a overseas military school you will be employed ‘in’ the country whose military the school serves.

The Ugly is that you’ll be teaching American or British students the relevant curriculum. You will miss out on experiencing a true multi-cultural classroom and all the benefits of teaching international children.

International 'Military' Schools

Taking up your new international school teaching post - get the right visa!

A Bad Day In The Life Of An International Teacher – Avoid Making This Mistake Yourself

Teaching overseas is the best way to combine great working conditions with living an exotic lifestyle. But it’s not without pitfalls for the unwary. I’m going to share a little story with you about how an experienced international teacher ended up having a really, really bad couple of days…

When you are getting ready to move overseas, you will definitely want to take a very close look at what kind of visa you need to get. Moving your teaching career abroad isn’t the same as going on holiday. You are not entering the country for tourism purposes, and most countries distinguish between tourism visas and, well, non-tourism visas!

You many need to get a non-immigrant visa, or a business visa or a working visa… there are many names and number designations that are country specific. For example, teachers who are moving to the United Kingdom require a working visa (or a working holiday visa if they’re under 30) but I needed a non-Immigrant B visa to enter Thailand to take up my post here.

Your new school will let you know what kind of visa you need to get, but you’ll probably have to go and apply for it at the embassy yourself, possibly with documentation that they’ll send to you. Ensure that you read every word in the emails and letters from your new school. And if you don’t understand something, ask for clarification. Here’s why…

In 2007 I started my new job in Thailand at an international school. When we first arrived at the school for our orientation, we were asked to hand in our passports so that the school administration staff could prepare our work permit applications. Our work permits were to take the place of our non-Immigrant B visas when they ran out in a couple of months. We were assured that in the interim, we it was quite legal for us to be working on our non-Immigrant B visas.

I was rather confused when one of my new colleagues leaned over and quietly asked me what a non-Immigrant B visa was. After a little questioning I realized that she didn’t have the right visa because she hadn’t read the instructions in a registered letter we’d received months earlier. The letter contained our official invitation of employment that we were supposed to take to a Thai embassy to get the non-Immigrant B visa which would allow us to work legally in Thailand. My colleague had thought the letter was just something for our records…

As a result my colleague had entered Thailand on a tourist visa which couldn’t be ‘converted’ into a work permit under the immigration rules. This was the beginning of a number of really bad days for her as she had to leave the country in order to get herself the correct visa.

Yes, she got to spend 5 days in Malaysia while the Thai embassy in Malaysia processed her visa application. But it meant that when she got back to Thailand with the correct visa:

• she had no time to prepare for the students starting school the next day
• she still had nowhere to live when most of the rest of us had already found apartments
• she was several hundred dollars out of pocket because she’d had to pay for the trip (hotel, flights, visa for Malaysia) herself.

And the real eye-opener of this story? This particular colleague was an experienced international teacher starting her third overseas position.

It can happen to us all, but don’t let this happen to you! Read everything and ask for further information when you come across something you don’t understand. It’s highly likely that the people contacting you about visas and other ‘house-keeping’ issues will speak English as an Additional Language and this can make communication challenging at times. Bear with it and don’t assume that you’ve understood until you’ve checked.

A quick tip for you – if you’re having trouble communicating with the administrative staff at your school, ask for a ‘buddy’ from among the teaching staff to contact you. Your buddy can help interpret the correspondence from the school and help you out with any questions you have!

International School Teaching - Get the Right Visa

International School Contracts - annual flights?

Different international schools will offer you a range of teaching contract conditions. Decide what you’re willing to accept before you begin interviewing and make the right choice for your teaching career.

For example if you choose to move to a location far away from your family, you won’t want to spend all the money you’ve made to fly your whole family home each year for a visit. This is where annual flights home are a must for me when I am deciding what conditions I'm looking for.

Some of it's regional, international schools throughout Asia and the Middle East generally offer excellent conditions, including flights home. Schools in Europe are a lot more miserly when it comes to conditions, you'll be lucky if you get anything. But then, you do get to live and work in Europe!

Knowing what you’re looking for doesn’t mean that you will get it, but it will mean that you can make informed decisions based on what’s being offered. You will still need to be flexible because there is considerable diversity in contract conditions offered around the world.

International School Contracts - annual flights

International School Contracts - How long is too long?

Consider the period of time you are willing to commit to your new school. There is a trend towards offering starting contracts of two years. My advice is to sign a contract for two years, initially, as it may take you a year or more to settle into the community. Then you can ask to sign contract renewals annually.

If I had signed a one year contract for my current school, I wouldn’t be here now, nor would I have just re-signed for an additional 12 months. It took me a year to get settled and find new hobbies and places to do my old hobbies.

To avoid making a mistake you will regret later you need to have a clear idea of what you want before you enter into any interview situation with the international schools’ recruiters. You also need to have some way of comparing the contract conditions that are offered by different schools, should you be offered more than one teaching position.

International School Contracts - what's a good length for you?

International School Contracts - What are you willing to accept?

When you are making the decision to work overseas, you will need to set some criteria for what contract conditions you are willing to accept.

If you have three or more children, you’ll be looking for a contract where the tuition fee for all of your children is waived. Otherwise you may end up spending a considerable amount of your take-home pay on tuition fees for your third child. The fees for international schools are high, frequently beyond what a teacher can afford to pay, even on the good salaries that are available for teachers at international schools. This makes sense when you think about it – it’s those salaries that pay overseas teachers so lucratively.

International School Contracts Tuition Fees

International School Contracts - Conditions to Look For...

When you are looking at teaching contracts for overseas teachers, there are nearly as many contract conditions as there are international schools.

International schools are often caught between a rock and a hard place. They need to comply with the laws of the country in which they are operating, ensure their conditions and salaries are competitive when compared to other international schools and balance all this with the fact that they have to work within a salary budget.

Here are some of the conditions you may encounter when you are offered an employment contract by an international school recruiter:


* initial cash settling-in payment
* sick pay
* maternity leave
* spouse visas
* baggage allowance at beginning and end of contract
* professional development
* extra-curricular activities stipend
* over-night trip allowance (or per diem)
* school fees waived for dependent children
* housing allowance
* medical cover
* pension contributions
* end of contract bonus
* annual flights home

International School Contract Conditions

Prank Day - Dread It or Love It? At An International School It's A Lot Of Fun

Today is the last day for the seniors who graduate this year. They have negotiated the pranks they are allowed to play with the senior management.

All in all, the pranks are a bit of fun and not the least bit disrespectful to either the staff or the other students. Prank Day was nothing like this in my previous school in the UK where it was always something to be firmly controlled in case of damage.

Today the students have covered the whole campus in ceran wrap (cling film). It was challenging to get into school this morning because they'd even strung it between the buildings!

They are also treating us to a 'joke of the hour' over the public announcement system, which is a little disruptive and the jokes so far have been really bad!

The one thing I objected to was handing over my exit pass (we take them off the students when they owe us some work), as that would mean I was trapped in the school for the whole day. I like to get my lunch from one of the vendors outside the school!

I think the reason that this Prank Day has been so easy is because the students we have here are international students who are raised in a society that respects schools and teachers.

International School Teaching

The Easy to Follow Guide To International Schools For Teachers Seeking Overseas Employment #2

English Speaking ‘International’ Schools

Some schools do not do a very good job of being an "international" school, instead they should be called English Speaking Schools. In fact, many schools springing up in the Middle East do call themselves just that because most of the students are local.

The student body of a genuine international school usually comes from outside the school’s host country. If the majority of the student body is local to the host country, then surely that negates it being an ‘international’ school? Simply on the grounds that it's practically a mono-cultural school.

Many international schools put a limit on the proportion of students that can come from the host country. These international schools often have a waiting list for local students.

The good, the bad and the ugly of English Speaking ‘International’ Schools…

The Good is that once again, there are a lot of them around, all looking for international teachers.

The Bad is that instead of enjoying a multi-cultural classroom with students that are enthusiastic and all have different experiences to bring to class discussions. You will be teaching wealthy children who possibly have no concept of what it is like to have to do things like chores and who may not have any concept of the real world.

The Ugly is that you will be teaching a class full of students who will share a common language that you don’t understand, mono-lingual classes being taught subject specific content in a language that isn’t their own can be a real struggle. You are not going into international teaching to work harder than you do at home!

English Speaking International Schools

10 Years Later On...

I am sitting in a coffee lounge in the lobby of a hotel in Singapore right now, across from my parents.

Finally, after 10 years of living and teaching overseas I have managed to meet up with my parents for a holiday together abroad.

In fact, this year I'm going to be spoiled because they are coming over to Thailand in a month to spend some time with me.

I am busy trying to plan an itinery for them that will work around me still being at work. Considering I'm finishing off a 10 day holiday myself this week, I had hoped they'd come and see me this April rather than in June. But they were pretty set on coming in June.

It doesn't matter, it'll be fun anyway!

The Easy to Follow Guide To International Schools For Teachers Seeking Overseas Employment #1

Private International Schools

Do not get confused, private international schools are businesses with directors who are intent on making an outstanding return on their investment (profit). There is a considerable amount of money to be made in providing private education in areas where the supply is less than demanded. This is simple Economic theory. However, for the teachers employed by this kind of international school it can be a mixed bag.

Many wealthy parents are demanding English language education for their children, and that has lead to a marked increase in the number of international schools worldwide. This is a particular feature of the Middle East and Asia, where new schools are almost constantly opening for students. The year I was looking for my current position teaching overseas there were a total of 5 new schools starting up in Dubai alone.

The good, the bad and the ugly of teaching overseas at private international schools…

The Good is that there are loads of them. There are a large number of private international schools for teachers to choose from.

The Bad is that while it is possible to balance good educational practice with the desire to make substantial profits, it is unlikely that in a battle between the two that providing a good education for the students will win. Teaching overseas should not involve you being required to ignore or turn your back on your teaching philosophy.

The Ugly is that you know when a school’s continued survival is dependent upon tuition money from the students' parents, how likely do you think it is that an international school will expel students that are negatively affecting the learning of others?

Privately Owned International Schools

Not all International Schools are Equal

An Easy-to-Follow Guide To International Schools For Teachers Seeking Overseas Employment

Considering the remarkable growth in the number of international schools in the world over the last couple of years, on top of the abundance already operating worldwide, it is no wonder you are probably completely confused at the idea of trying to choose the ‘best-fit' school for you.

Of course, that is assuming you have already made the decision to move your teaching career overseas and that you are simply looking for reliable information about what teaching abroad is all about and how to break into the small number of educational professionals teaching abroad worldwide. If you haven't, well why haven't you? Using my teaching credentials to secure a job teaching abroad was the best career decision I ever made.

But I'm straying from the point… this is all about helping you get all the details you need about the different kinds of international schools so that you can make an intelligent and well-informed decision for your future career. Teaching overseas can be littered with potholes to sink the new teacher.

International Schools

Selecting the Best Fit International School For Your Family #5

Which examinations will your children be working towards?

There are a number of examinations available for international school students, and you will need to understand the options before making any decisions about accepting an overseas employment contract.

I mentioned the IBO previously as being a school wide programme. It offers students at international schools (and many schools that aren't catering to expatriate children are also choosing to offer this curriculum too) a well rounded education that addresses the whole person, not just the part of them sitting the tests.

However many schools adopt bits and pieces of the programme. You may find that an international school offers the Diploma for the upper two years but offers the British IGCSE for Years 10 and 11. IGCSE is an examination based qualification, and the IBO Middle Years Programme has no externally moderated examination assessment, students get a certificate and a record of achievement. Many international schools have a mix and match attitude to the curricula they offer students.

International schools that run national curricula tend to prepare students for the related national exams. American schools overseas run a mixture of state curricula and AP courses.

I am primarily concerned with helping teachers get teaching jobs in international schools. In my last few posts I have listed just a few of the factors you’ll need to think about if you want to get a private education for your children through teaching abroad at an international school.

While I don’t have any children of my own, many of my colleagues who are international teachers do, and they believe that the education their children are receiving abroad is better than what they could get back home, wherever home may be.

Choosing the right International School

Selecting the Best Fit International School For Your Family #4

Which curricula does the school subscribe to?

There are international schools abroad that offer what is essentially a national curriculum. You can find international schools that are running the national curriculum from America, Britian, Australia, Canada, France (usually taught in French), and so on.

Securing a teaching contract in an international school that offers the national curriculum that you and your children are used to will help ease the transition into international education for both you and them. When you are doing your research, one clue to whether an international school is running a national curriculum is in the name of the school. For example, the British School of Rome or the British School of the Netherlands.

When you are looking for a good school for your children, you may run up against some curricula that you haven’t come across before. For example, there is the school wide system offered by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO). The IBO offers the Primary Years Programme up to Year 6, the Middle Years Programme from Years 7 to 11, and the Diploma Years Programme for Years 12 and 13.

Choosing the right International School

Selecting the Best Fit International School For Your Family #3

How many students are in the international school?

This is particularly of concern for parents of high school aged children as the number of students in a school may affect the number of subject choices offered at higher levels. For example, if there are only 30 students in the graduating class, then the school will have to limit the number of subjects being offered to make it cost effective. For example, a small international school may not have the numbers of students to run both business studies and economics. Or may not have the numbers to run maths higher, maths standard and maths studies. This can often affect profit and non-profit making international schools alike.

Additionally, the number of students in the school can affect the number and type of extra curricular activities offered, and therefore your child’s opportunities to experience team sports and other activities that are usually run after school.

One feature of international schools is the transitory nature of both the students and the teachers. The effect of a new student joining a class or a student leaving may be more deeply felt if there are only a handful of students in the class or year group.

When a school has a large number of students, this can also mean that the school is more likely to have a well-stocked library, well-equipped laboratories, up-to-date computer equipment and outdoor activity areas. This is usually true of larger international schools simply because there is a larger pot of money from which to fund these facilities.

On the other hand a school that has thousands of students, while usually offering a wide variety of subjects and activities for students, can often be an anonymous place for children. It is up to you to decide what a good balance is for you and your family.

Choosing the right International School.

Selecting the Best Fit International School For Your Family #2

Is the school accredited, or a member of an appropriate association?

International schools can become accredited by an organization that sets educational and operational standards for international education institutions. One such organization is the Council of International Schools (CIS). In order for an international school to become accredited by CIS, they must go through a rigorous appraisal process which looks at the staff and management, the facilities and, the quality of teaching and learning in the school.

This means that you can be reasonably confident leaning towards very confident that the quality of education provided by an international school that is accredited is high.

You can usually find out if an international school you are interested in applying to for a teaching position is accredited by visiting their website. Most schools that are accredited by an organization like CIS advertise their status on their webpage, brochures and stationery. Keep an eye out for logos and such. These will let you know which organisations have a relationship with the school.

Other organizations that offer accreditation for international schools are NEASC, COBISEC, ISCIS and the Association of Christian Schools International, to name a few.

Accreditation by one of these organizations is often as meaningful as receiving a good report from ERO in New Zealand or Ofsted in the UK.

The Best Fit International School for International Teachers and their Children

Selecting the Best Fit International School For Your Family #1

Is the school out to make a profit?

There are a number of different kinds of international schools to choose from, some are run by a board and are not designed to make a profit, and others are run by an individual or company in order to make a profit. Some are not even true international schools in that they don't serve the expatriate communtiy, but rather they offer an English language curriculum to children from the host country and there may be a few international students sprinkled into the mix.

As a teacher you will be concerned that the school’s educational philosophy matches your own. As a parent you want to insure that your children’s education is the priority of the school, rather than the amount of money spent on educational materials and the effect that will have on the school’s owner’s profit.

It is possible for international schools to make a profit and provide good quality private education to the students, but they can be hard to find. There are some directors or owners of international schools that may be more interested in the financial benefits of running a school than the education benefits to the students.

Be aware, both as a prospective employee and as a parent.

Selecting the Best Fit International School

International Schools - Secure a Private Education for Your Children Without Paying Any School Fees

Pick a country, any country, and there will be at least one international school there. Over 4000 International Schools offer private education for expatriate’s children worldwide. And, while most of the parents have to pay school fees, one of the conditions nearly always included in the contracts of international teachers is free education for the teachers’ children.

International schools need international teachers to staff them, that's where you come in! Did you know that you could secure a private education for your children without paying outrageous school fees? One of the contract conditions that is included in nearly all overseas hire teaching contracts is free education for the teachers children (sometimes limited to two children only).

Picking an international school abroad that suits both your children’s needs and yours can be challenging, but it is possible. In a recent interview I conducted with international teachers, Maggie Hos-McGrane, an international teacher of 19 years experience said that after she had completed her research she’d found only 30 of the more than 4000 international schools suited both her and her children.

There are a number of things you need to consider when you are looking at a teaching job abroad, and over the next few days I'll be talking about several of them. For more information and to hear some real teacher experiences, buy Overseas Teachers Talk - an Interview Series with International Teachers.

International School