You’re just finishing college with a teacher’s certificate, you don’t have binding ties to England, the US, or Canada, and you are up to an adventure. Or you’ve been teaching unmotivated American students for X years and you’re bored, frustrated, and ready for a challenging change. If this is you, perhaps a stint or a career in international teaching is just what you have been looking for.
Kelly Blackwell is a teacher with a winsome challenge to consider international teaching. In an audio blurb on her website, she shares three advantages to teaching at an international school. First, motivated students who make her teaching experience fun and rewarding. Second, longer holidays. She teaches just 180 or so days a year, giving her time to take in the local exotic culture firsthand. Third, lack of pressure. Schools give time to prepare and often the classrooms are not as crowded as some in the west. The salaries are adequate to provide a good living, giving her finances to travel as well. Kelly also offers a step-by-step guide to acquiring an international teaching job, along with pitfalls to avoid. It might be worth investigating.
Are you interested in learning how to get your resume considered in an international school? The experience of one couple in obtaining an international teaching position in Tanzania. On one website, he suggests the best place to learn about some of the over 4000 international schools is by going to a college’s recruitment fair. The experience he describes sounds something like an auction where prospective teachers have minutes to make their presentation, slightly longer to interview, with the expectation to make a decision before the two days are over. Those seeking employment abroad should attend something like this with personal goals and interests already in mind.
What kinds of jobs are available? Bottom rung teaching jobs, according to some, are those teaching English in ESL schools (English as a second language). But it could be a foot in the door. Some companies hire Americans who know English well to teach employees, especially those working with western clients. Increasingly, short term opportunities arise teaching English for a summer month in schools that are sending their graduates to western universities for post graduate work. Of course, other jobs are available besides teaching English. Some can practically choose their own country. If so, be sure to consider the cost of living when determining if a salary offer for teaching is adequate. The same salary in Japan might be bare subsistence, while in Thailand it would be lucrative.
Reading about other countries and cultures is theory; being there allows one to experience it firsthand. Through an international teaching experience, a teacher can be paid to do what he or she loves and as a bonus, see the world as well.