About seven years ago I decided to take the leap, leave my stateside teaching job and get a teaching job overseas. Once I made that decision, though, I found that the process of actually getting from my public school classroom in Georgia to a private international school classroom somewhere in the world was easier said than done.
Unlike in the USA where you fill out an online application, go in for an interview and then start your job in August, getting a job overseas is like, well, it is like a second full-time job. After I successfully completed the process myself, I reflected on it and decided it actually felt a lot like doing a 14 month master’s program. So, I imagined what a program syllabus might look like for the “degree” of “getting an international teaching job” and this is what I came up with.
EDU411 sec.2016
7-9 pm Tues-Fri (14 month class)
Instructor: Shawntel Allen (global gypsy, addicted adventurer, and educational box breaker)
Course Description: A you-can-do-it, no-better-time-than-the-present, what-have-you-got-to-lose, kick-in-the-pants roadmap designed to get you from here to there.
Pre-requisites: Students are encouraged to have completed at least three of the following:
MATH: 072 – Excess Baggage Weight Exchange – Trading in shady ex’s for Xtreme sports gear
EDU: 222 – What Box? – Educational theory minus ethnocentrism
ENG: 369 – Facebooking, Tweeting and Instagraming are the New Scrapbooking – Journaling the journey 140 characters at a time and documenting “out of work activities” in “work appropriate” photo albums
PE: 123 – Skin Thickening – Techniques for deflecting the criticism and judgments of people whose idea of risk-taking is trying a different route on the drive to work…once.
BUS: 421 – Opting Out – Investing in viable alternatives to the “American dream” (AKA-spouse, 2.5 kids, dog, hybrid SUV, SEC season football tickets, and house in the suburbs)
AVI: 747 – Flight Lessons – Giving your chick-a-dees wings
Required reading: Students need to be intimately familiar with various websites including International Schools Community, The Lonely Planet, Yahoo travel, the US State Department, and Duolingo.com language learning site.
Section 1: B-O-R-I-N-G….There must be more to life than THIS?
Lesson 1 (June): MAP READING – realizing that your current job and/or relationships are not taking you where you want to go in life
Lesson 2 (July): DEMOLITION – breaking down walls (people, ideas, financial obligations) that block your view of possibilities that are available to you.
Lesson 3 (August): ORIENTEERING – finding your way in the labyrinth of international teaching opportunities
Lesson 4 (September): FISHING – figuring out what bait to use and where to look for nibbles and bites in the international school job market
Section 2: I AM OUT OF HERE! The world is my playground.
Lesson 5 (October): FIRST AID – recovering from blunders such as mixing up headings on cover letters and incorrectly guessing the gender of a recipient
Lesson 6 (November): TARGET SHOOTING – researching and focusing on schools who are the best fit for you-location, benefits, size, staffing needs
Lesson 7 (December): SCUBA DIVING – taking the plunge-attending recruiting conferences, SKYPE interviewing, signing a contract
Section 3: BUT ISN’T IT DANGEROUS/AREN’T THERE DISEASES/WHAT ABOUT THE POLLUTION THERE? (Also known as the art of eye-rolling at doomsday soothsayers and all-of-a-sudden experts on your new location…and other keys to getting through the toughest months.)
Lesson 8 (January): SPELUNKING – surviving the change from the brightness of a signed contract to the dark tunnels of to-do lists.
Lesson 9 (February): MUSHING – keeping focused on the trail even though the end seems distant-not letting doubt and doubters make you quit.
Lesson 10 (March): ROCK CLIMBING – carefully grasping hold of each new task and piece of information about what to do and how to prepare-relying on the random “beta” and steady belay from those at the top – as the climb to the goal begins through purchasing, packing, and document assembling.
Lesson 11 (April): MOTO-CROSS – holding tight and adjusting speed as needed along the twists and turns of the trail while also remaining strong-willed when faced with extra bumps and roadblocks like booking tickets, storing possessions, severing leases, learning a new language, and arranging banking and other financial obligations.
Section 4: LEAVING THE LAST CHECKPOINT
The end of the “class” and the beginning of the dream!
Lesson 12 (May); SURFING – enjoying the moments of swift forward movement propelled by waves of activity such as securing a departure date, interspersed by both the anticipation of waiting for the next wave and the hard work of paddling out for the next ride like setting up final doctor and dentist visits .
Lesson 13 (June): SNOWBOARDING – letting go and going with the flow as the ride gains momentum through activities such as finishing the school year, moving out, turning off utilities, selling your car, completing continuing education credits for future certification renewal – hoping that all the preparations you did up to this point enable you to weave smoothly through these obstacles
Lesson 14 (July): SKY DIVING – after a cross-country trek of visiting friends and family, this final lesson entails packing the parachute (in 8 or so 50 pound bags), boarding the plane and making the final jump….embracing the adrenaline rush that accompanies the thrill of the free fall into the realm of the unknown and the out-of-your-control.
Attendance: Weekly class times optional and negotiable based on workload/To-Do lists. Mandatory class session-Meet at Departure Airport July 25th at 6 AM and board flight, change from domestic to international flight at first layover (with the help of porters to transfer all of your extra bags), then be on the flight to your final destination for an on time departure.
Grading Scale: Pass/Fail (any failed portion=fail for class)
50% sign contract
50% arrive at final destination
Extra credit for passing any re-certification tests, license renewal classes, or learning a new language before departure.
*Enrollment limited-sign up early.
Shawntel Allen is a career teacher who has taught in Indiana, Georgia, Venezuela and Colombia. She has also lived in France and Benin, West Africa. She loves to cook foods from places she has visited and places she hopes to visit. Her classroom does not have any traditional student desks (only video rockers, bean bags, couches, pillows…) and her goal is for her and her students to be 100% paperless. She is currently teaching in a one-room schoolhouse on the remote island of Afognak in Alaska but is “back in class” looking for a position in an overseas international school for next school year.
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