I'm an international teacher - AMA

[InternationalTeacher]

NC just in case, but I'm an occasional poster / long time lurker.

I know I'm not the only one, but thought this might help other (desperate) teachers in the UK who want to get out of the system next school year.

So, any questions about teaching abroad? Ask away...

Do you work in a for profit school? (The ‘British’ school my DC went to overseas was taken over by Nord Anglia and pretty much ruined. Half the staff have left this summer.)

what country are you based in ?
was your job the reason you moved over there or another reason ?
how does schooling differ compared to UK ?

Have you become part of the community in the country you live in or do you live in a community of ex pats? Is it difficult to feel a part of the local culture?

I'm an ex international teacher too and would highly recommend it so long as you check the school out carefully. Some are amazing and some are real nightmares to work at.

Good idea op - if I was a class teacher in the UK I'd be looking for alternatives too!

Do you work in a for profit school?
Yes, I do. And yes, it is a British School taken over by Nord Anglia. and yes, a lot of staff have left or planning to leave and it has gone downhill. It might actually be the one your DCs have been to.

(Now I'm glad I've changed names as it can be very revealing)

Profit schools aren't necessarily bad, the package is great and you have the option of moving on to any of the sister schools around the world after. Nord Anglia has something like 40+ schools, I'd get a guaranteed interview if I wanted to move on to any of the others. However, it is very much marketing based and in my opinion the money goes into the wrong places rather than directly back into the education. Teachers are kegs in a machine, it's always about looking good to the outside world and getting more students on roll, whereas in reality I need to beg for textbooks to teach which is more important than fancy banners that advertise the school.

what country are you based in ?
China

was your job the reason you moved over there or another reason ?
It was my job in the UK, otherwise life wasn't too bad. I was Head of Department and there came a point, where I was working 6am to 10pm, I cried every day and I just couldn't deal with the system anymore. I was blamed for results of students that I didn't even teach and who didn't want to learn despite me trying everything to motivate them (calls home, rewards, Saturday catch up classes...) One day in December I had a breakdown and I asked my DH if I could look at schools abroad. We looked into it, I started applying in January, by March I had three job offers, accepted the one with the money (profit school, as I mentioned before they have a good package) and we moved in August.

how does schooling differ compared to UK ?
We follow the British system, so Primary just like the UK, then we have International GCSE which is similar to UK one and the IB, which is an international version of A levels, but much more challenging. I like it, as students need to choose 1 of 6 subject areas, i.e. they must have Maths, they must have a native and a foreign language, they must
have a humanity, arts etc... I think it keeps them well rounded.

The class sizes are totally different! My largest class is 12 students! Compare that to 32 in the UK. The maximum a teacher has for the core subjects would be 22. My DS's primary class will have 14 next year. By the way, DS gets a free child place, which is always a good bonus on international teaching. I don't have to pay for his quality education.

Behaviour is excellent! Gosh, I love the kids, they really want to learn and I had only one case of swearing / bullying in two years. In the UK that would have been a daily occurrence. It's not everywhere the same, I've heard horror stories of Middle Eastern international schools where spoiled, rich children are sent to international schools to please sheikh daddy, but here in Asia the children are a pleasure.

I don't take any work home anymore at all. I manage to finish everything in school hours and my afternoons and weekends are free. I have my work-life balance back and see my family, again something that is a distant dream for many teachers in the UK.

Have you become part of the community in the country you live in or do you live in a community of ex pats? Is it difficult to feel a part of the local culture?
Not really, we are an expat teacher community. We are on the outskirts of a huge city and we tend to stick together and do everything together. We also all live near to each other and near school.
China is difficult to become part of, the language barrier is immense. Many people in China don't speak a word English and Mandarin is hard to grasp, so it's nearly impossible.

12stars That's something I totally agree with. You need to check out the school. I took this job as it had the best package, but I've learned that money isn't everything and I'm happy to scale back for a little more autonomy in the classroom in a non-profit school.

Interesting, I am in China and my children have been at international schools for over 10 years. Agree with the comments about behaviour. nord Anglia has a very powerful marketing machine, IMO, emphasising the opportunities for children to go to Tanzania, Juilliard thing, MIT etc, but this all has to be paid for on top of fees.
As a parent I am interested in the quality of teaching and that the basics are in place, but a lot of schools push the glitz and the latest whizz bang technology. As someone who went to school back in the 1980s i don't care if you have an interactive whiteboard or a chalk board - what I want are teachers who inspire kids, who are passionate about their subject and encourage learning. Over the last 10 years I have seen a few like this, but some who were absolutely appalling, despite the school telling me the marketing machine telling me the teachers are 'world class'.

My dd's former school is a recent nord Anglia acquisition so will be interesting to watch what happens.

My question - how do you manage the different expectations of Chinese parents and those from Europe/us/Australia?

ShanghaiDiva, yes the marketing machine is my bugbear of the profit school. It looks amazing on paper, but at the end of the day, only a few go to Tanzania, participate in MIT trips etc.. We have days where it's incorporated into the curriculum, such as STEAM day, but otherwise it's just something to market with for more profit.

Hand on heart, I think my colleagues are amazing. Yes, there might be the very few who are not 100% up to scratch and you will have come across more in 10 years than me, but the vast majority is there for the love of teaching and for educating children in the best way possible. Everyone's reasons are similar - most of us wanted to teach again and went abroad for that reason and not to be an OFSTED puppet in the UK.
I think from my previous post it transpires that I absolutely adore the children and teaching them every day, it is just the marketing machine that is letting the job down. Many of us stay as long as possible for the kids, i.e. I had the option of leaving this year, but didn't want to let my IGCSE and IB students down and decided to stay one more to help them through their exams. The vast majority really cares, and we really want your children to do well. In return we get the reward of students who want to do well and respect us as teachers and our classrooms. And it's not all fancy whiteboards all the time, on the contrary. Textbook lessons are just as valued and especially with the calibre of students they are happy to just work out some exercises from a book, whereas in the UK riot would break lose if you asked them to read something for themselves for 15 minutes and answer a few questions.

how do you manage the different expectations of Chinese parents and those from Europe/us/Australia?
I struggle answering this as it doesn't affect me much, not at all really. I'm in Secondary and we are very international, my classes are filled with European / American / Australian... so I don't have the problem of this, but the Primary is getting more and more Chinese children on roll. I think the biggest discrepancy is homework. Chinese parents expect it everyday, whereas we follow the Western system of once a week in Primary and a homework timetable in Secondary. All I can assume is that Chinese parents are aware of our system and they accept it, but I really can't say for sure. Sorry. I know though that the native Mandarin classes have to set homework after each lesson as the Chinese parents would otherwise complain, so in that subject they comply with the local expectations.
Generally though, ALL parents want their child to do the best to their potential and are very supportive. Everyone has high expectations and we teachers do our best to get each student to where they need to be and where they can be.

You sound like a very dedicated teacher.
ime - some teachers come to China and are really there for the travel opportunities and leave after two (sometimes one) year. Not a problem in primary, but not great for secondary. Some are sub-standard ( don't see this so much now) eg syllabus change to igcse not picked up until the kids came out of the exam - and generally looking for an easy life. Others are excellent and my children have been fortunate to have plenty of this type.
It also depends on the school - I don't think the school is always honest regarding the opportunities and working environment in China and this can lead to a poor fit between teacher and school.

May I ask what package you are on / we’re on when you first moved away? Salary and anything else included?

I agree, ShanghaiDiva. The problem is, many see China as an easy base and many not high calibre schools have cropped up in recent years taking on people without degrees, as long as they are native speakers they are hired. And that's a real shame... I suppose that's a good thing about working for a profit school. We need to have a certain amount of years experience in the UK and it's the same story in all other big schools in the country.

May I ask what package you are on / we’re on when you first moved away? Salary and anything else included?

Sure! That's why I started it, in case someone is considering moving abroad.

I'm not going to give full numbers though as some of it depends on teaching experience and obviously where you are.

Salary is good. This depends on your years of experience and most schools will have a sliding scale which you move up the longer you are there. Without talking numbers - I can support a family of three on one wage and we still save and travel plentiful.
However, each school and each country is different. You can usually expect to get paid well, but on paper it can be lower than the UK. I'm thinking places like Myanmar or Vietnam for example where cost of living is a fraction of the Western world and not much is needed. In other places, like Singapore, the salary is much higher to reflect the high cost of living. Well, a good school would pay a high salary. So, salary can vary greatly from country to country but usually reflects where you are and gives you a good standard of living.

Other things that are included, but again depending on the school / country:

Housing - rent free provided by school (and lovely accommodation I must say!). If teachers prefer to move to another area they get a housing allowance which is enough to get a nice place. Housing comes as standard with good schools in Asia and most in Eastern Europe. Anywhere else, you are own your own, for example Spain, Germany, France, USA you'd get nothing towards housing and need to find something yourself. Basically, you are 'reimbursed' for going further afield and risking more per se with housing.

Utilities are also paid for by school up to a certain amount, which covers most of it minus the cold winter months when electricity and gas sky rockets for heating.

Then we get private medical for the whole family which includes worldwide travel. And I hope I will never need it, but in case one of us dies while here any costs to take the body back would be covered. I know, grim thought, but you never know.

You also get an annual flight allowance. You can use the flights to go back home or travel anywhere else. I choose the latter ;) It's enough to cover flights to the UK or several little ones here in the area.

Visa is fully paid for by schools and they help you sort it all and renew it annually.

Also, when I started, I got a relocation allowance which was enough to bring our most valuable possessions over.

Overall, the package is great. Due to not paying rent and barely utilities, my wages are mine to spend / save / use for travel. However, bear in mind that's for Asia. As I said, if you stay in Western Europe / USA / Australia for example you have the 'home comforts' but don't get many of these extras. So sometimes, the adventurous are rewarded with the extras.

Do you plan to stay in China long term? If you come back to the UK what will you do? Would you ever teach in a school here again?

Sorry a few questions there. I'm a secondary school teacher so it's interesting to hear your experience.

Do you plan to stay in China long term?
No, definitely not. China, after the initial honeymoon phase and everything is amazing, can get very tiresome. There are just so many things I can't get to grips with and it's not a country I see myself for much longer. I'm in awe of people who stay here long term, some embrace it all, but I just can't hack it here. Internet restrictions, language barrier, customs, pollution, crowds... it's just not for me. A few years living in our expat bubble is fine, but not much longer.
We have already decided that this year is our last and started looking for August 2019 schools. We want to stay in Asia though and have traveled to various places to check them out and have our top 3 countries to move to next where we think life will be easier, such as locals speak English, blending in better (it is very frustrating when you can't even go to the supermarket without your picture being taken or being stared at....) better weather etc..

If you come back to the UK what will you do? Would you ever teach in a school here again?
These go hand in hand. I don't plan on coming back ever. I can't see myself going back to 30 plus students, behaviour problems in the classroom and the messed up educational system. I saw it deteriorate in my 14 years in the UK. I could come back if I really had to, I still have a house which is rented out, but unless all hell breaks lose I'll keep teaching at schools abroad until it's time to retire which will be well before I'm 68. I'm aiming for 55 latest and it's do-able with the salary and savings.