Where to teach abroad?

[Tiredteacherxxx]

Hi all, we are a teaching couple considering a move to teach in an international school. We are totally open to locations and I just wanted to get some views on locations and schools from people who have experience.

We've two children (2 and 5) so family friendly is a must.

We'd like to be able to save while we are there, so places with very high costs of living may not suit.

There are so many international schools and we would like to ensure we are making a move to one that is well run - without any kind of OFSTED/ ISI ratings abroad, how might we go about working out decent schools?

Any advice or thoughts are very welcome - thanks!

My sister's bf teaches in Pattaya (Thailand) and loves it - dodgy reputation for strip clubs etc but easily avoided and the rest of the place is nice, reasonably priced housing etc. It's a few hours south of Bangkok.

Cost wise, I'd avoid HK and Singapore as they are v expensive. Plus HK sucks at the moment

Dubai could be good if you can get a package that includes accommodation, although the schools vary a lot.

Many places in SE Asia are great for children and can be good for saving, too. If you both work and you get a housing allowance, saving should be easy. ME is not what it once was but if you get well-paid posts and don't spend all your spare time brunching etc, you could be ok for saving. There are certainly schools in China that will pay a LOT but I've never fancied it myself.

As a general rule, non-profits are a safer bet than for-profit schools, but there are of course many exceptions. Big 'brand' schools from the UK are hit and miss - careful research required! Some are great and others I wouldn't touch with a bargepole.

It might be worth paying to join ISR (International Schools Review). I think it's about £30 for a year but it is quite extensive, with reviews of schools and leaders all over the world. You do have to take comments with a pinch of salt as obviously many posters have an axe to grind, but if you see a pattern it at least shows you to do more research!

There are also groups on Facebook that might be useful, if you use Facebook. Empowering Expat Teachers is mostly ME-based but you can ask questions about anywhere and people will help you out.

TES online is the best place to search for jobs, in my opinion. Recruitment season is much earlier than in the UK, so if you want to start next year you should have your CVs ready in October for any early roles. Dec-Feb is peak recruitment in many countries. Then the steady flow becomes a trickle around April but it does keep trickling right up to August! Some countries e.g. Spain have a much later recruitment season but the pay is so crap I wouldn't look there at all if you're hoping to save.

Thanks for these comments - really useful!

My BIL and SIL have taught in an international school in the Seville area of southern Spain for the last maybe 4 or 5 years. They are coming back to the UK now, but have absolutely loved it,made loads of friends, great social life, much easier workload compared with schools in England etc.

I did a couple of years in Colombia in the early 00's and loved it. Covid situation is very bad there at the moment, though. I managed to save quite well at the time, but not sure how the Colombian currency is faring at the moment. Great lifestyle, wonderful people, lots of travel opportunities.

It's worth considering the language situation, especially given the ages of your kids. They are at the perfect age for learning a foreign language by the sort of immersion they would get - it's such an opportunity for them. I didn't have DC when I was abroad and would have LOVED to have taken my two to South America for a 2 year teaching stint when they were younger, but sadly DH's job didn't really allow it.

We are on Germany, just outside Frankfurt. It's a lot less stressful and we both just work contracted hours most of the time. Government policies are very family-friendly on the whole (number of child sick days, for example). It's close enough to drive to the UK...in normal times.
DS will go to a bilingual school, which I believe should be the best option for him. He'll learn both languages and isn't just growing up in an expat bubble.
We also earn more than in the UK. My salary as a class teacher here is higher than what I got in the UK on UPS1 with a TLR for being phase leader.

Due to covid, visas are a big issue for Asia at the moment. Whilst China is lucrative, it may not be the best family choice and difficult to get into.
Start researching now as jobs for 2022/2023 will start being posted as early as October.
Staff in most reptuable schools have to give notice by at least December.
Look for British Embassy sponsored not for profit first.
The best schools will be COBIS or CIS certified.

Nord Anglia schools seem to be flourishing but some of the big chain schools/franchises are very business focused and sometimes this is detrimental .
There are some very very murky organisations. ISR and TES will have plenty of reviews of the bad eggs. The better schools have a lot less traffic.
Don't count on professional development to be standard.
If you want a complete change, don't discount moving to American curriculum.The major US embassy sponsored schools pay very well, have alot of opportunities and tend to be very very well resourced.

I've taught in
Latin America 2 places
Africa 3 places
India

It's a great experience.
There are international teachers groups on Facebook which are great for information.

Look at places you want to live in and see what schools are there.

BIL and his wife teach at a school in Shanghai. They seem to have a very nice life (including school places for their children). But a lit is expected of the teachers in terms of results.

Another consideration... they haven't been 'home' to the UK in two years now due to current situation. Their next window for a trip is around the Chinese New Year, so fingers crossed for 2022. Their 3yo has met her grandparents twice in her life, and none of the other extended family. There's a new baby now too.

Dh and I are international teachers (10 years overseas) and have been in Asia for the past 7, Thailand and Vietnam are super family friendly.

We secured our last position through a job fair (Bangkok) and would definitely go to another to find work.

I'm in Dubai, finished my third year now. We don't have young kids but I work with several teachers who do. We offer two free places and an accommodation allowance, so teaching families tend to rent a villa and have a lot of capacity for saving as there's no income tax here, unless they get swept up in the Dubai lifestyle. It is possible to live without extravagance here - petrol v cheap, utilities comparable to the UK, food reasonable if you buy fresh produce and local brands and stay away from Waitrose and M&S, you'd only need one car. My husband is not in education so receives the lion's share of the household income and we are saving a great deal.

I’ve only had one international school job in Colombia but it was unfortunately not a good experience. Read lots of reviews of the school before making a decision.