For many people (myself included when I was working in the UK) overseas teaching is a bit of a cop out. I used to think it's for teachers who couldn't hack it in the UK or who wanted to make a quick buck in the Middle East. When receiving applications for a vacancy in my department I used to disregard the applications from teachers working at British school overseas as I thought that they didn't have what it takes to be successful in a UK school.
Then I decided to leave the UK and work overseas.
I made this decision in conjunction with my wife (who's also a teacher) as we couldn't save enough money to get on the property ladder whilst working in the UK and the workload was becoming unbearable (sound familiar?). We decided to apply for jobs in the Middle East, go and save enough money for a deposit on a house in the UK and then come back 2 years later- a fool proof plan, or so we thought!
We are now in our third year living and teaching in Thailand!
So how did it all come about and why are we staying internationally?
We initially chucked some CVs about to schools in the Middle East. Unknowingly to us, most international schools complete their recruitment before February Half Term and we had just started looking at the end of February! We had no luck in our applications to the Middle East so we then applied for some jobs further afield, one of these being to Regents International School, which is located in Pattaya in Thailand.
2 days later we had an email from the Deputy Head offering us Skype interviews the next morning. We got up at 5am to get ready for separate interviews on skype and completed these within 30 mins each. Within 24 hours we had accepted an offer and were getting ready to tell our friends and family that we were leaving the country in the following August.
* Be warned our process was so quick due to the lateness in the academic year- when we interview for new staff now we have 3 rounds of interviews with an Assistant Head then Head of Secondary and finally with the Principal.
It was a nerve racking process moving half way across the world to a school we'd only seen through the internet and being greeted by bosses who'd we only met through skype, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made.
The students we teach are the nicest kids you could ever hope to come across. They are polite, driven and ambitious. The school has an annual speaking competition where students compete to give the best Ted Talk style speech. In most schools in the UK these students would have been ridiculed in, but here the winners are treated like rock stars! the students go above and beyond and are hungry to develop themselves. It is not emotionally draining like it was in the UK, you are able to focus your energies on teaching and enjoying your lessons.
The staff are not the washed up, weak teachers that I once thought international teachers were. They are dynamic, adventurous and caring and they all have amazing stories of places they have worked around the world and the experiences that they have had.
The leadership team ensure that staff are accountable, but don't go overboard. The understand that managing the flow of workload is essential to creating an amazing experience for staff and students. An example of this is during our first year I took on a maternity cover position for the Assistant Head of Secondary. There was no money given and no extra time in my timetable so I did my 80% teaching load, Head of Year 10 and Assistant Head for the rest of the academic year and never took work home once.
The facilities are out of this world. I'm a PE teacher and we have a double size sports hall, fitness suite, covered astro turf, 2 large fields, a full 400m polyurethane running track, a 25m swimming pool, a baby swimming pool and 2 dance studios. The students appreciate the facilities and look after them.
Our inspections happen every 2-3 years and we get 10 months notice of the dates. We ensure that everything is done for the benefit of the students and don't spend our time putting together reams of evidence to prove what we are doing as the inspection team comes in and works with us in a totally none threatening manner. It's extremely refreshing!
Every year we get to decide if we'd like to extend our contract for another year. There's no pressure and the Principal supports you regardless of whether your decision is to stay or to leave.
We love teaching internationally and I believe that we found an amazing school to do it in, however there are downsides to the decision; you're a long way from friends and family (although you do build strong relationships with people you work with), it can be hard if something serious happens at home and you are thousands of miles away, you have to complete reams of paperwork once you're living in a foreign country- jobs such as converting a driving licence from UK to Thai turn into a day of paperwork and bureaucracy, but for us the positives far out way the negatives. If you get frustrated by this it will soon fade away when you're laying on your sun lounger by the pool sipping on a cold beer!
I've had a few teachers contact me on Twitter to ask about moving abroad and wanting some tips so here are my key points to make sure you have a positive experience:
1. Pick you country- in South East Asia the students are famous for their good behaviour and incredible manners. This isn't the case in all countries so read reviews first.
2. Research the school- there are some 'interesting' schools out there. Make sure you know what you're getting yourself in to. Try to avoid small 'for profit' schools and target larger companies (we work for Nord Anglia and I can't speak highly enough of them) or 'not for profit' schools. The better ones will make sure you are taken care of from a HR and professional development perspective.
3. Ask the right questions at interview- the skype interview is your chance to find out what it's like living in the country/area you're potentially moving to so have some questions prepared. Pattaya (where we live) is the number one sex tourism spot in the world- without the reassurance and information we received from the senior leaders we interviewed with, we wouldn't have moved here due to it's reputation.
4. Embrace the challenge- it's going to be a tough move. You will get homesick at some point. You will get frustrated that you can't speak the language occasionally. Embrace the wonder of immersing yourself in a different culture and enjoy the challenge.
If you're considering moving abroad to work then good luck and feel free to ask me any questions (@Mikeharrowell). If you're not, then just be safe in the knowledge that there is another option to quitting the profession if it becomes too much for you in the UK. There are a whole world of experiences out there and teaching can be your gateway to these.
Then I decided to leave the UK and work overseas.
I made this decision in conjunction with my wife (who's also a teacher) as we couldn't save enough money to get on the property ladder whilst working in the UK and the workload was becoming unbearable (sound familiar?). We decided to apply for jobs in the Middle East, go and save enough money for a deposit on a house in the UK and then come back 2 years later- a fool proof plan, or so we thought!
We are now in our third year living and teaching in Thailand!
So how did it all come about and why are we staying internationally?
We initially chucked some CVs about to schools in the Middle East. Unknowingly to us, most international schools complete their recruitment before February Half Term and we had just started looking at the end of February! We had no luck in our applications to the Middle East so we then applied for some jobs further afield, one of these being to Regents International School, which is located in Pattaya in Thailand.
2 days later we had an email from the Deputy Head offering us Skype interviews the next morning. We got up at 5am to get ready for separate interviews on skype and completed these within 30 mins each. Within 24 hours we had accepted an offer and were getting ready to tell our friends and family that we were leaving the country in the following August.
* Be warned our process was so quick due to the lateness in the academic year- when we interview for new staff now we have 3 rounds of interviews with an Assistant Head then Head of Secondary and finally with the Principal.
It was a nerve racking process moving half way across the world to a school we'd only seen through the internet and being greeted by bosses who'd we only met through skype, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made.
The students we teach are the nicest kids you could ever hope to come across. They are polite, driven and ambitious. The school has an annual speaking competition where students compete to give the best Ted Talk style speech. In most schools in the UK these students would have been ridiculed in, but here the winners are treated like rock stars! the students go above and beyond and are hungry to develop themselves. It is not emotionally draining like it was in the UK, you are able to focus your energies on teaching and enjoying your lessons.
The staff are not the washed up, weak teachers that I once thought international teachers were. They are dynamic, adventurous and caring and they all have amazing stories of places they have worked around the world and the experiences that they have had.
The leadership team ensure that staff are accountable, but don't go overboard. The understand that managing the flow of workload is essential to creating an amazing experience for staff and students. An example of this is during our first year I took on a maternity cover position for the Assistant Head of Secondary. There was no money given and no extra time in my timetable so I did my 80% teaching load, Head of Year 10 and Assistant Head for the rest of the academic year and never took work home once.
The facilities are out of this world. I'm a PE teacher and we have a double size sports hall, fitness suite, covered astro turf, 2 large fields, a full 400m polyurethane running track, a 25m swimming pool, a baby swimming pool and 2 dance studios. The students appreciate the facilities and look after them.
Our inspections happen every 2-3 years and we get 10 months notice of the dates. We ensure that everything is done for the benefit of the students and don't spend our time putting together reams of evidence to prove what we are doing as the inspection team comes in and works with us in a totally none threatening manner. It's extremely refreshing!
Every year we get to decide if we'd like to extend our contract for another year. There's no pressure and the Principal supports you regardless of whether your decision is to stay or to leave.
We love teaching internationally and I believe that we found an amazing school to do it in, however there are downsides to the decision; you're a long way from friends and family (although you do build strong relationships with people you work with), it can be hard if something serious happens at home and you are thousands of miles away, you have to complete reams of paperwork once you're living in a foreign country- jobs such as converting a driving licence from UK to Thai turn into a day of paperwork and bureaucracy, but for us the positives far out way the negatives. If you get frustrated by this it will soon fade away when you're laying on your sun lounger by the pool sipping on a cold beer!
I've had a few teachers contact me on Twitter to ask about moving abroad and wanting some tips so here are my key points to make sure you have a positive experience:
1. Pick you country- in South East Asia the students are famous for their good behaviour and incredible manners. This isn't the case in all countries so read reviews first.
2. Research the school- there are some 'interesting' schools out there. Make sure you know what you're getting yourself in to. Try to avoid small 'for profit' schools and target larger companies (we work for Nord Anglia and I can't speak highly enough of them) or 'not for profit' schools. The better ones will make sure you are taken care of from a HR and professional development perspective.
3. Ask the right questions at interview- the skype interview is your chance to find out what it's like living in the country/area you're potentially moving to so have some questions prepared. Pattaya (where we live) is the number one sex tourism spot in the world- without the reassurance and information we received from the senior leaders we interviewed with, we wouldn't have moved here due to it's reputation.
4. Embrace the challenge- it's going to be a tough move. You will get homesick at some point. You will get frustrated that you can't speak the language occasionally. Embrace the wonder of immersing yourself in a different culture and enjoy the challenge.
If you're considering moving abroad to work then good luck and feel free to ask me any questions (@Mikeharrowell). If you're not, then just be safe in the knowledge that there is another option to quitting the profession if it becomes too much for you in the UK. There are a whole world of experiences out there and teaching can be your gateway to these.
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