Best place to teach abroad?

[Comps83]

DH was teaching abroad when we met, he moved home to be with me but has always hankered to go abroad again
I’m starting to come round to the idea . Looking at giving it a few more years yet though.
Anyone taught abroad and can recommend an area? Will have a family by then , looking for somewhere reasonably safe. But interested in any experiences, good or bad.

With a family; South East Asia. Great for the whole family.
Without a family the world is your oyster but salaries are low in Spain, and the Middle East is not for everyone ...

He was working in Malaysia last time and think he’d prob go back there but would consider other options too

South East Asia (Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong living in New Territories) or France (Provence, Alpes Maritimes, Alps)

Most people seem to enjoy teaching in Hong Kong, although I'm not sure you'd be comfortable in a "one salary" scenario. You can legally work in HK on a dependents visa and childcare is cheap but just depends on your line of work and if you want to.

Assuming he'd teach in an international school, benefits are

• much lighter workload - my sister teaches primary and gets all her work done between 7:30 and 4:30. No holiday work.
• long holidays
• smaller class sizes
• well behaved kids (in the main) and engaged parents (in the main).
• a culture of achievement - it's not social death to do well at school.
• substantial discounts or free places for own children- however, if school is selective they'd need to meet the criteria.

I taught 2 years in Colombia at bilingual school (all sciences/maths/history were taught in English, other subjects in Spanish). I loved it. Didn't speak any Spanish beforehand, but school provided lessons and I was quite proficient after 2 years. If you have young children, I would count it as a huge advantage for them to have a chance to gain a second language so early on.

Salary provided very good standard of living, although whether you have a chance to save an amount that would be useful in UK afterwards would depend on exchange rates. Mine started out as comparable to UK salary, but then the peso was devalued!

Personally, I never found safety to be an issue, but if you were a bit nervous about Colombia, then Chile or Argentina might be worth considering. I'd love to go back to Latin America, but haven't managed to convince DH yet.

Singapore, Bangkok or KL would be my top three!

If you want safe and not too far from “home” look at Luxembourg. There is a huge European School (for those who work for the commission) and a number of International Schools large and medium with some even run by the state.

China, for best salary, or Singapore/Thailand/Malaysia etc. Middle East salaries are not what they were, unless he has teaches a subject that is particularly in demand. Check out tes.com community - teaching overseas forum and also for job ads, and International Schools Review and International Schools Community for reviews of schools. Search Associates agency have a very painful sign up process but a proven track record in placing teachers in schools.

Most packages include one return flight annually, health insurance and free/discounted school places, plus either accommodation or an allowance. Might also include visa costs for dependents, health insurance for dependents (should do, really, but packages vary).

My friend teaches in Bahrain, but he's male and "not into relationships" with either sex so their strict laws don't worry him. Friends taught in China, pollution made them come home as it aggravated asthma.

Placemarking.

Geneva. Lots of choice, well paid and you can ski every weekend.

Avoid France unless it is a proper International school. Bilingual schools pay very poorly.

I've been teaching overseas for 7 years. Getting into number 8 now. Feel free to message me if you want more info etc. Some of what has been said is true and some is partially so. For example, I taught in a fantastic school in the UK and then moved overseas to a fantastic school where I worked harder than I've ever worked in my life. It does depend on what type of school you end up in, how much responsibility you take on and which part of the world you are in.

PBobs
Which country was the school where you worked harder than ever in your life?

Houseworkavoider
The Philippines. Amazing school in a large part due to the fact that 90% of us worked like mad. At times I was doing 7 day weeks (7.00am to 6.00pm) for 6-8 week stretches without a day off. And I am a very organised and efficient teacher/worker so it wasn't faffing or procrastinating. It was, in part due to my middle management role and the courses I taught though.

A relative of a friend went to teach in Luxembourg a few years ago and the starting salary was 80,000€, but have no idea of the cost of living.

Thailand , Malaysia and Singapore are all great places for families.

Thanks PBobs.

The work life balance in some of HK's schools is not good, from what I hear.

I'd start by looking at schools with a great reputation - wherever they are in the world. It is the school where most of a teacher's time (and social life) can be spent so that is vital to get right.

Then exclude parts of the world where you don't think you'd enjoy the lifestyle/weather/culture etc...

then cross fingers something comes up in the TES - now is a very good time to look for August 2020!

I'm in the Middle East, in Cairo, & love it here.

Great package, fantastic work life balance, lots of fantastic places to explore.

Having said that, not all 'international' schools really are - it can be tricky for older dc to fit in to a different culture, mostly full of kids who've known each other since nursery.

But a fantastic experience.

Luxembourg are opening state run English language secondary and primary schools. Keen to recruit British teachers.

Great place to bring up kids and once you live there for 5 years you could apply for the nationality and obtain EU passports.

DH and I teach secondary in (north) China and our nearly 7 and 9 year olds go to the school. We're in our second year here and we like it a lot.
Pros: Smaller class sizes, pleasant teaching loads (2-3 marking/planning periods a day) means that I only work 2-4 hours in the weekend, not 10+ We are saving money (about a grand UK each a month) and we have a nice flat and a cleaner, so our leisure time is actually relaxing and not either marking or chores. The chinese are very nice and we feel incredibly safe here. We let our kids walk down the street (not crossing roads) to buy pop together without going with them, for example.

Cons: Far from family. Quite boring living here. Miserable cold winters with horrible pollution mean you spend Nov-March inside (weekends spent going bowling, swimming, to a trampoline place.. but all inside).
Slow internet connections compared to home and sometimes some websites are totally blocked.

We're doing it so we can save some money and eventually have the deposit for a house, but the work/life balance benefits are incredible. I'm a much less snappy Mum when I'm not desperately trying to work and letting the kids watch endless telly. I feel like I've got off the work-work-work treadmill, and it's great.

I have been teaching overseas for nearly 20 years now, and have taught in various countries in SE Asia, Asia, ME and Europe. It is fantastic, and very rewarding. I would encourage you to think beyond the typical HK, Singapore, Malaysia if you want a bit of adventure. If not, those are great options too. China is the real teacher's market, there are thousands of opportunities, but it isn't for everyone. Watch out for some schools though, there are some really clangers out there. ISR can offer some advice, but better to ask around on one of the many international teachers Facebook groups. We always get our jobs through Schrole, Search or CIS, TES international is good too. It is bloody hard work sometimes, but in the right school, so worth it. Good luck OP!