Teaching abroad - worth it or not?

[RedRum27]

I sometimes see threads on here, rarely anything negative so wondering what other people’s experience of it have been? My partner and I (both teachers in middle leadership positions) are looking to move abroad to teach. Pretty flexible on where we go but wondering what the process is like getting jobs as a couple rather than individually.

So to any international teachers, it’d be nice to hear your tips or advice :-)

International couples tend to be considered a bonus as the housing is a bit cheaper.

We live in the Middle East and have done for seven years. We have a lovely lifestyle here. We teach children in British schools, with small classes and a lighter timetable than the UK; at home we can afford our wonderful nanny who has been invaluable during Covid uncertainty and who takes fantastic care of our son (who was born here). We live in a nice villa with access to a pool and it’s generally just a very pleasant, organised, clean place to live. Crime rates are low and Covid has been well managed. The expat community makes it feel like you’re living in a small town as opposed to a big city.

There are challenges as there are everywhere - the bureaucracy of visas etc. can be labyrinthine, HR doesn’t function as it does back home and our schools are very much businesses, summer is long and we haven’t been home for years due to Covid. However, we’re not going anywhere as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for us.

Take the time to do lots of research though, as schools and the packages they offer can be extremely variable.

My husband and I both teach overseas and recommend doing it for a couple of years for sure- we have been in Asia for ten years now and love it, despite Covid and not being able to see family for a while. We went through a recruitment fair in London in 2010 - I am not sure if they do them now, but there are a few teacher search sites you can register your CV with - Teach Away and Search Associates are good ones I know friends have used with success in the past. We drew up a list of places we wanted to go and did some research on the schools there. TES jobs is also a good site I think lots of international schools use that too.

As a teaching couple you will be very appealing for most schools as it's only one set of accommodation allowances, plus there isn't any worry over a trailing spouse being unable to find work and being unhappy and wanting to leave (which sadly happens a lot, especially in places where work visas are really hard to come by). Your appeal goes up even more if you are a science or maths teacher.

I would sign up to the search sites. I think some charge a small fee but it's worth it to get access to all the information and data on school benefits etc. Most schools recruitment begins in December and runs till April, so that would be a good time to look.

Best of luck with everything :-)

Thanks so much @FartnissEverbeans @Sommercester it definitely sounds like a worthwhile experience. I'll have a look at those recruitment sites. We have alerts set on TES now so we can see what's coming out.

Can I ask you about the likelihood of us both getting a job, as in, do you mention it when applying/at interview that there's two of you or do you just apply for jobs if two come up? I'm just thinking about if we get jobs in different schools how the accommodation might work?

No problem at all @RedRum27 - glad to help. I think there is usually a box on the application form where you can tick to say you are applying as a couple and state your partners name, but if not, I recommend slipping it into your cover note.

I would recommend working at the same school simply because it makes things easier in terms of calendar and where to live etc but I do have friends who work in different schools and they actually enjoy the separation from each others work. Another thing a few colleagues have done is one of them has got the job and their partner has come out as a dependent, then they have got a job down the line so don't be put off if only one of you gets interview/offer - there will still be opportunities for the other to work once you get to your new school. That does depend on the school and country though and whether you feel you could live on one salary for a while.

Again, best advice is to research where you want to go and the type of school you want to work at. Ask about the package and consider it carefully by looking at that countries cost of living. We had friends that went to the Middle East on what looked like a great deal, but then accommodation cost a lot more than they were expecting so they were not able to save much at all. A good package will cover more than 70-80% of accommodation costs, plus medical insurance, as well as return flights to home country every two years, plus tuition discount/coverage for up to two children.

@RedRum27 Can I just ask - what subjects do you teach and what countries are you considering?

@Sommercester above is absolutely right about the package. Unfortunately, where I am now, the benefits have been reduced substantially since I arrived. However, as my husband and I work in different schools, we rely on his benefits (in some countries it’s illegal to pick up benefits for both husband and wife, even if you have different employers - medical insurance/flights aside). It works well for us and we save up pretty effectively.

Be really thorough as some schools might not be quite honest about what they offer - they won’t lie, but they could omit key details that might sway your decision. They know once you’re in the country that you’ll probably end up staying for at least a year!

@Sommercester We currently work together now so no problems with being in the same school or different as we don’t see each much as work so the separation would be ok. Ok that sounds more reassuring if one of us gets a job we’ll look into that. I think we’re open to anywhere but drawn more to Asia and the Middle East. Perhaps from what we know so far (we have friends who are current in Asia and UAE but also a sibling taught abroad for 2 years), we'd like to work in a British International School as opposed to a local government/state school but we’ll research this properly. Thanks for the info on the packages, we’ll keep those figures in mind thank you so much :-)

@FartnissEverbeans Social sciences (sociology/psychology) and humanities (history/politics). We’re open to anywhere really but drawn more to Asia (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia etc) and UAE. Thanks for the tips we’ll definitely keep our eyes open on the finer details etc. We signed up to the websites recommended above and will just focus our efforts over the recruitment season. We are excited at the prospect so fingers crossed :-)

We both have middle leadership experience as we are both currently in academic and pastoral leadership roles, both have MAs in Education and have done qualifications like the NPQML so we are hoping this helps our application.

@RedRum27 If you’d like any advice on the UAE please feel free to DM me. If I were applying for a job in the UAE I’d go through TES.

Hi op. I'm recently back from several years teaching abroad and covid aside, I would thoroughly recommend it. As a teaching couple you'll be an attractive prospect and you sound well qualified. If it's the ME you're targeting I'm sure you'd get jobs easily enough but do look carefully at the schools - there are some great ones but also some very very bad ones.
I've always got my jobs on TES I've never done a recruitment fair.