Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad?
Our 17th blog that we would like to highlight is called “Teach. Travel. Taste.” Check out the blog entries of these international school teachers who work at Qatar Academy.
A few entries that we would like to highlight:
“How it happened: Not long ago, we attended the Search Associates International Teaching Fair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We holed ourselves up in our hotel for four days to avoid the snow and ice storm headed for Boston, met dozens of directors and recruiters from international schools around the world, made great friends with other teachers (some who are in a nearby city in PR!), had multiple interviews with dream schools, and landed an incredible offer with Qatar Academy in Doha, Qatar!
Life really does surprise you: I’m not going to lie, when we first started our job search last fall, Qatar was not even on our radar. We barely knew anything about it! I admit I was also a little nervous about accepting an offer in a country I knew next to nothing about (Joey was sold when he heard they would supplement a leased car – a nice one). But remember how life plops opportunities into our laps? This is what happened here. The director happened to be a University of Minnesota alum (like Joey), they hit it off the night before recruitment started, we scored an interview, clicked with the director and principals, and voila!”
It has typically happened to all veteran international school teachers. There are definitely places that we tell ourselves which are definitely not places in which we will live. But low and behold, we find ourselves living in those places and having a great time. It just goes to show that you really don’t know about places you don’t know about. Well maybe you have even visited these places, but you truly don’t know what it would be like to actually live there. Also, there are many other factors to consider than just living in the city. If your job is very fulfilling or your work colleagues are very welcoming and friendly, you could most likely have a great time living anywhere in the world. There is so much to learn and appreciate about a people and their culture. Many people don’t know very much at all about China and their culture, but I am most appreciative of my time living there…and I never thought I would ever go to actually live there.
This is where we live: CBS Feature on Qatar
“Typical questions we hear when we tell others we live in Qatar:
• “Oh cool! So… where is that again?” (Code for: I have never even heard of that country.)
• “That’s in Dubai, right?”
• “Aren’t you scared???”
Just because we’re nice (not to mention teachers), we’ll give you the answers:
• Qatar is the tiny peninsula bordering Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Joey and I like to call it the “thumbs up.”
• No. Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates. Qatar is not.
• Qatar is one of the safest places to live in the world. (Separate post on that coming later…)
Oh, and if you’re still wondering how to pronounce “Qatar,” guess what… So are we! Everyone here says it differently. I personally enjoy the British version the best. Sounds like “cat-ar.” (But you have to say it with a charming British accent, of course!) Check out this 60 Minutes Overtime called “Qatar? Easy for you to say…”
I always say that the majority of the world doesn’t live like international school teachers. Most of my family either live in the same city that they were born in or in the city right next to that city. A high percentage of the world basically live where they grew up. I think that is a fact. Because of that fact, and because most people don’t travel very much (e.g. my own family), people tend to have a lot of questions and misconceptions about life abroad. Actually, many times my family and friends from home don’t have many questions about the expat life for some reason. However, when they do, it is definitely similar to the ones that the teachers at Teach. Travel. Taste get. Usually there is at least one question about “Safety.” The next one is definitely related to where is that place in the world. The last one can be any number of other questions related to some possible misinformation (or limited information) that person has learned. Hopefully, those friends and family will take a risk and buy a ticket to visit their expat family member and check out the city and country for themselves for a firsthand learning experience.
Why We Can’t Seem to Write Blog Posts Anymore…
We officially moved to Doha, Qatar on Aug. 19. It is now Nov. 24 (Happy Thanksgiving!)
“In that amount of time Joey and I have published a grand total of SIX blog posts. For those of you that read our blog last year, you might remember how we were writing blog posts on nearly a DAILY basis! Wow, how times have changed.
While we know we need to write more, the reasons we’ve been too busy to blog can also be described as our token “What I am Thankful for” Thanksgiving list. They are one and the same. Here goes:
• Our job is rigorous, exhilarating, exhausting, time consuming, demanding, and ridiculously rewarding. Our school does a fantastic job of ensuring our students are getting an excellent education and we are the facilitators in their learning experience. There is also tons of Professional Development available for teachers. So much that (dare I say it) we are almost PD’d out!
• Our friends here in Doha.It’s hard to believe we just met these people a few months ago. Expat communities are known for being open and inviting because when you think about it, we are each other’s family for now. No matter how close you remain to your parents or siblings back home, at the end of the day, it’s your neighbor or colleague who will be there to help you out when the transition is tough.
• Too many activities! Last week I supervised the Press Team at our International THIMUN Conference. On Sunday I went to yoga while Joey went to soccer (oops, I mean football!). Yesterday I went to yoga, then immediately on to Zumba. My arabic class recently ended, and I’ve already had to turn down the opportunity to join the local wind band because I simply don’t have the time. Last week I saw a sign for Italian language lessons and had to give in to my voice of reason that I will have to wait until next term. The opportunities to get involved are everywhere!
• Travel dreams come true here. A couple weeks ago we traveled to Sri Lanka to hang out with elephants, climb a sacred mountain, and relax on the beach. For Christmas we are going to Thailand. February and April travel plans are in the making. What more could a couple of travel addicts want??
• Skype, Facebook, and Gmail.If I have a free hour at night and I have to choose between writing a blog post or chatting with my BFF’s or family, you bet I’m going to ditch the blog post. Joey is even better at skyping his fam than me. It’s fairly normal for me to hear him shouting, “YOU’RE a monkey!” at the computer, then hear the adorable reply screech of our niece, “No, YOU’RE a monkey!” (Monkey = term of endearment in the Kaufhold house.)”
I love the one about having your “travel dreams come true.” Coming from the heart of an international school teacher. Traveling to me is a dream as well. Luckily, the lifestyle of an international educator affords us the opportunity to make this dream become a reality. Where are you traveling to this year??!
Check out the Qatar Academy profile page on International School Community. Currently, there are 20 international schools listed in Doha area on our website, with 11 of them being schools that have had information and comments submitted on them. Check out the submitted comments about this schools here.
If you are an international school teacher and would like your blog highlighted on International School Community contact us here.
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The Wonderful World of International School Hiring Fairs: Lesson #7 (Part 2) – “Benefits, preps, class sizes, and student mix.”
“Nine Lessons Learned” taken from The Wonderful World of International School Hiring Fairs article by Clay Burell’s blog Beyond School.
7. “Benefits, preps, class sizes, and student mix.” (Part 2)
“When it came down to thinking I’d be choosing between two very attractive schools, I told one of them how I hoped that saying ‘no’ this time, if the decision went that way, wouldn’t close the door to a ‘yes’ next time in years to come. The gentlemanly answer of the man I said this to was so winsome, I don’t know what to say, other than that it made me want to work in this man’s school even more. The answer was no less impressive for its simplicity, which was, simply, ‘Your saying no to us will offend us no more than we’d want to offend you if we said no to you. It’s the nature of the beast, and we understand that, so no doors will close at all.’”
It is all about luck and timing.
When luck and timing are both in alignment, then the offers start coming in for you. However, those offers are still ones that you need to sit back and closely look at before saying ‘yes’ to an administrator at an international school recruitment fair. The immediate and complete understanding is difficult with regards to these important considerations: benefits, prep times, class sizes, and the student mix. You might not entirely understand the ramifications of these factors until you actually get there. This dilemma is one that makes going to these recruitment fairs a bit stressful at times.
Benefits
There are too many to list really. Just to name a few: housing and housing allowance, average monthly salary after taxes, flight allowance, moving allowance, settling-in allowance, free local language classes, gratuities and bonuses, transportation, saving potential, etc. If you ask any international school teacher, the one that they list as the most important will most likely always be different. They all are important to an international school teacher working in a foreign country. Which benefits though are you willing to be flexible on, that is the question. You need to know that ahead of time if you plan on making your decision to sign a contract within 24 hours of receiving an offer.
Prep time
It is hard to know what that would be like at an international school that you haven’t worked at yet. It would be great to be able to contact a teacher that either works there now or has worked there in the past (you can easily do just that on International School Community) to know exactly what the prep times are and whether they are enough or not enough. Surely having sufficient prep time is important. Make sure to ask about it and make sure that the school gives you an honest response. I know one friend that works at an international school where there is very limited prep time which results in this person having to work a total of 70 hours a week!
Class sizes
Having 20 students on your own isn’t that bad. Having 20 students in your class with a full time teaching assistant is even better. Having 14 students or less in your class might be too small actually. However, having 30+ students in your class on your own or even with a teaching assistant might prove to be a deal breaker when it comes to working at international schools. I actually haven’t known this to be the case in the international schools I know about, but it probably does exist in some schools. Make sure to get a clear idea about class sizes during your interview, and how they may or may not change in the near future for many international schools are either expanding or losing students these days; most schools seems to be in flux all the time.
Student mix
It is important for some international school teachers, for some it is not so important. Is an international school really an international school when over 80% of the student population is from the host country? The answer to that question might be found here. Either way, it is up to your preference. Working with a student population as diverse as Vienna International School (12 Comments submitted on this school on our website) that has a student population that represents over 100 different nationalities could be very rewarding and inspiring in which to work. Working at Ibn Khuldoon National School (12 comments submitted on this school on our website) which has a student population of mostly local host country students might also be very rewarding and inspiring to work at. Each school can have its own pros and cons about their student populations. Sometimes it depends on the ethos of the school; how the students think and behave and interact with the teachers, the other students, their parents, and the community.
Potentially burning bridges and closing doors
If all these benefits and other factors don’t seem to match up for you at this point in your international school career, then the answer you will most likely give to the international school administrator is ‘no.’ The reason that it should be ‘no’ is because all indicators then are pointing to an international school that is not the best fit for you at this time in your life. Hopefully, like Burell explains, this ‘no’ answer won’t be burning any bridges for a potential good/better fit in the future. I would imagine that most international schools would respond in the same way as the one he interviewed with at the recruitment fair. For it is true to say that international schools are looking for candidates that are the best fit for them and ‘their situation’ too.
There are over 4200 submitted information and comments about over 1175 international schools around the world on International School Community. Each international school has its own profile page, and on each school profile page there are four sections: School, Benefits, City and Travel. Members of internationalschoolcommunity.com are able to read about and submit their own comments and information in those four sections, all in a very easy to read and organized manner. It is a great way to get a better glimpse into what could be your future life as you venture out into the world to work at your next international school! It is also a great resource at your disposal as you interview with different international schools when job hunting.