Teaching Abroad: The Commitment issue!

Notes from the General Manager, by Diane Jacoutot

 A 56 year old unemployed Austrian man sawed off his left leg just above the ankle this week in order to avoid looking for a job.  Just hours before a meeting to determine if he was fit to look for work, the man decided to take matters into his own.. um... hands and used a power saw to put the matter to rest more permanently.

Most people enjoy going to work, though it’s fair to say that every one of us has days they would rather experience, say , as a Hollywood style video montage rather than in real life.  And one of the things that puts people off teaching abroad is that nagging little devil whispering in your ear “What if you don’t like it? What will you do then, eh?”

Teachanywhere are always warning people about that devil of doubt that almost always appears before any big decision – whether it’s going to University, buying a house, getting married, booking an expensive holiday, starting a new job or indeed, moving to another country.  The fact is almost all the time you do enjoy it especially when you find a job that is well matched to your skills and experience and you have an open mind. Otherwise why would ever growing numbers of teachers  happily do it year after year?

Teaching abroad does require a commitment, and often this commitment is 2 years. Some people find this slightly scary – two years seems a long time. But from a school’s perspective they are investing lots of money and effort in bringing you halfway around the world. They take time away from school to interview you, answer all of your questions, give you an orientation, find you housing, support you while you settle on top of the considerable time and money to get you a work/residency visa (which can often be upwards of £2000 in some parts of the world).  On top of this, because much of the first year is spent really settling into your new school, curriculum and country, you often don’t hit your stride until the second year when it all comes together beautifully like.... well.... a Hollywood video montage.  So 2 years to a school doesn’t seem like a long time at all.

There are a few exceptions to the 2 year rule. These are schools that either are not allowed by law to require 2 year contracts such as some countries in western Europe, or they are in more offbeat locations and so use the lure of the 1 year contract to entice teachers to consider a place they otherwise might overlook. Kuwait and Kazakhstan are two examples of countries that frequently offer 1 year options.

For most teachers this is the ‘fact of life’ of international teaching. It’s reasonable from a school’s perspective to expect a teacher to commit to two years after they have committed a large amount of time and money getting you there. And I do understand that teachers might feel somewhat uncertain about committing 2 years to the great unknown which is gives the less known regions that offer 1 year contracts a leg up.

And to put the little devil of uncertainty on your shoulder to rest, if you really do not enjoy teaching abroad, most schools have a clause in the contract that outlines what happens if you break it. In most cases you don’t get end of contract bonus payments (which I find reasonable because you did not make it to the end of the contract period) and in some cases schools will not pay for your return flight home. In some countries such as the UAE and Qatar you will face a work ban, meaning you cannot work for another school for a certain period of time to prevent job hopping. But in no case will you be held against your will in a job you don’t like. 

So there’s no need to pull out the power saw.

Disappointment and Teachanywhere

Notes From the General Manager, By Diane Jacoutot

Yesterday was a traumatic day for me because I had a haircut.

Yes I know what you are thinking – what’s the big deal? The thing is, I have had essentially the same haircut for 5 years. Yup, I am one of those people.  In my defence, however, I would like to point out that my sister in law has had the same haircut for more than 25 years, so it could be worse.

 And yesterday was the day I was going to change it. I had hemmed and hawed and worked up to this for about 6 months and had printed out photos of what I wanted, as well as what I didn’t want. I was armed and ready for H-Day.

But when I got to the shop, I found out to my horror that I had been booked in with the wrong hairdresser. Not my tried, true and trusted hair stylist of many years. No, due to a computer error I got someone completely unknown. And worse, this someone had asymmetrical pink hair, so this was someone whose idea of what looked good was several light years away from mine. What to do?

I stood there uncomprehendingly for a moment, first confused, then angry. It wasn’t my fault – I had made the appointment 9 weeks ago.  What to do? Wait another 4 weeks for a suitable appointment when I already looked like Cousin It from the Adam’s Family? Give up my dream and go for a the same 5 year old cut, or take a huge risk and see if she could do it. It was a hugely disappointing decision to have to make.

Disappointment is a fact of life. We are disappointed every day but it is how we deal with it that makes the difference.  And let me tell you, teachers who go abroad have got to have top notch coping mechanisms because with so many unknowns you are bound to be disappointed at least once.

I find that people react to disappointments in one of three ways.  Not that people don’t go through a range of emotions when dealing with disappointment – but it is where you stick that is the most telling.

1.       Anger.  (or Kill The Messenger) Every consultant at Teachanywhere has dealt with a candidate who doesn’t like what we can offer them, or they don’t like the fact that the international world is the way it is, and they lash out at us. We can’t help it if many countries have formal or informal age restrictions, or that many schools are not family friendly or that stiff competition in some popular locations mean that some teachers don’t get a peek at a good school in the land of their dreams.   Teachers who stick at the Angry Stage are really not cut out for international teaching, I believe, because they will be angry all or most of the time because things will not be done the way you are used to or think is right.

2.       Despair.  (or I Give Up) Some people throw up their hands and land in a sea of self pity from which it is hard to escape.  It’s an emotional purgatory.   Teachers who stick at this stage just tend to fade away, never have achieved their goals which I find quite sad, really. And sometimes they try to drag you with them.

3.       Acceptance and Positive Action. (or What Positive Thing Can I Do?) This of course is my favourite one, and is the sign of a resilient personality. I’m not saying it’s easy to move beyond anger and despair and try to address a situation in a positive way through your own action, but if you are the kind of person who usually lands here then teaching abroad will probably suit you.  I have a hundred stories of this.  A newly qualified Teacher calls up wanting a job in a top school in a popular location, and when we tell them they need 2-3 years of solid experience before they will be considered, and they actually listen and go get the experience (either at home or through a job in a less popular location) ... and then once done, call us back.   This week a very experienced teacher who had been unfairly harassed by his Head Teacher in a posh UK school was told he could spend a year and many thousands of pounds taking his school to court and might possibly win... or he could sign a lucrative compromise agreement with a gag clause and walk away to a great school in Europe that we lined up for him.  Tough choice ... justice or self preservation... but when we talked about weighing up what ‘good’ could come of each, his decision was made and I believe in the long run it is the right one.

Overseas teachers must also realise the limitations of positive action. You are not going to, nor should you be able to, change the culture of your host country to suit your sensibilities nor will you be able to change your school leader’s style and personality. You have to know when something is out of your control.  But you can control your actions, weigh up the long term and short term options, and make an intelligent choice about your own actions that benefit you in the long run and result in something good.  Realistic optimism will get you a long way, internationally, with a healthy dose of patience, acceptance and adaptability.

When you go abroad you will undoubtedly see all three types of people. But I encourage you to seek out the latter type, because it’s no accident that they always seem to land on their feet.

Why do Teachers want to Teach Abroad?

Notes from the General Manager, by Diane Jacoutot

The bus crash in Switzerland has affected us all this week with 22 children dead.  It’s so heart wrenching, and something that probably hits teachers and parents particularly hard. Why? Because we deal with children every day and so get to see what makes a child special – their optimism, their imagination, their infuriating stubbornness, their rebellion and their unique combination of predictability and unpredictability which can result in something  more awesome than a monkey in a bacon suit  (to make you smile).

Joseph and Green’s 1986 study of teachers explored the 8 basic reasons people get into teaching. A love of working with children was of course up at the top. But also high was a need for stimulation – for creativity and for an absorbing career.

Unfortunately, I have never been able to find any literature about why teachers are motivated to go abroad (Hmmm. I smell a dissertation here somewhere) and the literature about why people in general work abroad doesn’t seem to fit what I’m seeing, because it focuses on money and material benefit. And let’s face it – if you were motivated solely by money you would not have become a teacher. 

My unscientific belief is that teachers go abroad for the same reasons they go into teaching in the first place – a desire to help others, a desire to stretch themselves professionally and personally, a love of children of any nationality combined with a need for some stability (they call this “ the mattress factor “ – teachers also go into teaching because it’s viewed as a safe and comfortable career though I realise now with widespread public sector cuts across the world this may have been an belief that was unfounded).  But how better to test yourself and your pedagogical prowess than to transport yourself over to China or Kuwait to an established and credible school, and give it a go? 

This is why I love what I do at Teachanywhere and am so passionate about it. 

Sadly, I cannot do anything for the Belgian and Dutch children, their teachers and their families, but I can do something for children worldwide and teachers everywhere.  When you teach abroad you not only change yourself but the world around you in subtle but distinct ways.   In Kazakhstan, for instance, western teachers this year produced the school’s very first school play (A Christmas Carol delivered in two languages – English and Russian) and whilst it was incredibly difficult to pull off because those who had never seen or heard of a school play, i.e. everyone who was not a western teacher including parents, children, administrators and others, found the concept incomprehensible. But they went along with it, and it was so successful that the next play will be Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, now delivered in THREE languages - English, Russian and Kazakh and will be performed in the state theatre for all to enjoy.  It’s the talk of the town.

Every time you go abroad, by the very act of surmounting the challenges you face, you change something – yourself, your colleagues and your students- usually for the better.  There are dangers around every bend in the road, whether you stay home or go abroad. But letting that stop you from opening the windows whilst you are driving to feel the wind on your face would be a tragedy indeed.

Teaching Overseas - The Gender Question

Notes from the General Manager, By Diane Jacoutot

I was having a videoconference with the Deputy Director of THIS project yesterday and he explained that everyone was off work because it was International Women’s Day.  In Kazakhstan, International Women’s Day, he said, is bigger than Mother’s Day in his home country of Ireland, which is big indeed.  At NIS headquarters they celebrated a day early by having all the men pitch in money and they bought and presented to each women at Nazarbayev’s head office a dozen red roses and a Kazakh vase. Then they had a big banquet for everyone and they all went home early. And they had the next day off because International Women’s Day is a public holiday in Kazakhstan!  He said walking around Astana that evening at dinner time, you could see women and girls everywhere carrying flowers, and being treated specially.

Of course many of the Teachanywhere team, men and women alike though especially women, became instantly enamoured of the idea.  Mother’s day is often celebrated in our cultures but what if you are not a mother? Then it started the debate, “Is it right that women are celebrated? What about men? “ , to which Charlotte piped in, “But every other day is Men’s Day!”

Which is not technically true in the international school sector.

One of the many interesting aspects of international life is that you must conform to the local laws and cultures of the country in which you are working, even if you don’t necessarily agree with them. Just like the Masai Warriors who came to run the London Marathon didn’t agree that they should not be allowed to kill and eat any livestock they happened across during their training, when you enter into someone else’s country you play by their rules....so they didn’t, much to the relief of local farmers. Therefore, I need to point out that in many countries around the world, the gender of some jobs are regulated by law.  One person’s discrimination is another person’s legislation.

In many countries of the Middle East for example, men are not legally allowed to teach young children, which is why you see some of our adverts say Female Early Years teacher and some schools are entirely girls schools into which men are not allowed.  Even the maintenance workers are female.  But the opposite is not always true – women are often allowed into boys schools.  This has strong cultural roots in Middle East ways of life. At many weddings, for example, men and women do not attend the same reception – they are segregated by gender so there is a women’s reception and a men’s reception. Gender segregation is tightly woven into the fabric of their lives and it’s reflected in educational practices.

Because of this we find ourselves in awkward discussions with perfectly qualified male teachers saying, “Look I know this is discrimination in your country to tell you I won’t put you forward for this job, but  if I placed you in this job, you could get deported.”  And on the flip side, I can’t tell you the number of times schools have come to me saying “we really want a man for this job”, and often it’s a Principal role in a developing country. To which I reply, “Look I hear what you are saying about the qualities you want, but if I find a really good woman for this I will also put them forward and explain why”  And sometimes it has worked.  Why did I push the limits in the second case but not the first? Because I was not breaking any laws, just stereotypes.

Meet The Teachanywhere Team: Helping you teach overseas!

Introducing Alice Collins!  Alice represents Teachanywhere in Australia - helping teachers in Australia and across Asia find their dream teaching jobs across the world......

What made you want to work as an International Recruitment Consultant?

Prior to joining Teachanywhere I worked as a Maths Teacher in the UK.  I relocated half way around the world to Sydney and decided it was also time for a career change. I still wanted to remain involved with education, and as I also love to travel I thought it was a great idea to combine the two and become an International Recruitment Consultant.

Have you ever taught or lived overseas?

I have never taught internationally myself but I am aware of the challenges and rewards that come with living and working overseas. I have lived and worked in Canada, Italy and now Sydney. I have also travelled extensively and love to experience new countries and their cultures.

What do you love most about your job?I love hearing from my teachers who are scattered all over the globe. It's so interesting to hear first-hand what it's really like to live and work in some of our more unusual locations. Our teachers get up to allsorts and have such fantastic experiences.  I have had e-mails from teachers off to the Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi, off snorkelling for the weekend in Langkawi, living the life of luxury on friend's boats in Dubai and brave teachers helping to reshape and rebuild Libya. I also get excellent travel advice such as how many layers to wear to keep warm during Winter in Northern China, the best hair and nail salons in Kuwait, how to find a good tailor in Bangkok and how best to haggle in Indonesia!

In your experience, what are the attributes which best befit the most successful international teacher?

You definitely need to be flexible and open-minded. Living overseas can be very frustrating. I find this myself when I'm longing for an English country pub with a log fire, or a proper "British curry". Rather than try to recreate what you're used to back home, you need to be able to adapt and change your routines. The only way that you will truly experience living and working in a different country is to fully embrace the culture and way of life, surely that's what you're there for after all?

What are some of the repeat difficulties you come across when recruiting teachers for International schools?

The International School year runs from August which does not align with the Australian school year. If you are an Australian teacher, serious about going overseas then you will need to be flexible enough to consider an August start date. We do get vacancies for January but you won't get such a large selection of schools or locations to choose from.

Also, Australian Teachers are often put off by what they perceive as a low salary but they forget two important things;

1) Your salary is often tax free and accommodation, flights and other allowances are also provided. 

2) The cost of living in Australia is one of the highest in the world. Your local salary will give you a far greater spending power. This is a great website to compare cost of living of two cities .

What 3 top tips would you give to teachers seeking international teaching roles?

1)      Be organised. Make sure I always have an up to date CV, your earliest available start date and all other required documents on file. Always check the weekly job mailer or our website for new jobs in case I have overlooked anything.

2)      Be open-minded about location.

3)      Ask us as many questions as you like, we are here to advise and help with your decision to move overseas, but please make sure you do your own research.

What location that might not spring to mind for teachers would you recommend and why?

People are often cautious about China and I have come to the conclusion that it is because it is such a vast and varying country and people just aren't unaware of what it has to offer. I have to admit, I didn't know an awful lot about China myself before I started this job and I even had to print myself a map and mark on the major cities and locations of our schools. Once I had done my own research (!), I realised that it had such a lot to offer from skiing in the North to surfing in the tropical climate of the South. I now have around 10 teachers in China and they all love it.

We already have a lot of schools in China but as it's going through such a rapid period of growth new schools are opening all the time and are using Teachanywhere to help recruit. Ask your consultant for our in depth China guides, they are a fascinating read and a real eye-opener.

Why sign up with Teachanywhere?

We are a truly dedicated team, globally dispersed with placement offices right in the heart of our main regions. They visit our schools on a regular basis, and provide us with up to date and detailed school and location reports. As consultants, this allows us to provide accurate information and sound advice to our teachers.

Thanks Alice!  If you wish to know more about Teachanywhere - check out our website where we currently have a large number of teaching posts across the continents.