Selecting an international school: Tip #7 – Does the school feature a curriculum that is consistent with your future plans?

What reasons do parents think about when selecting a school for their children when they move abroad? Are there similar reasons why teachers choose to work at a school abroad as well?  There are many different kinds of international schools and they are all in different situations.  How important is finding out about how well the school is linked to other international schools?  It could be beneficial to ask these types of questions at your interview before you make any big decisions to move or choose a school to work at.  So, how do you choose the right international school for your children to attend or for you to work at?  This blog series will discuss the Tips for Selecting an International School.

Tip #7 – Does the school feature a curriculum that is consistent with your future plans?

Image by David from Pixabay

International schools teach in many different curricula.  Some of the most common are the UK, USA, Canada, IPC, PYP, MYP, and IB curricula. Which curriculum is one that is consistent with your future plans?  Are you comfortable just continuing teaching in the same curriculum that you have been teaching in your whole teaching career or do you have aspirations to teach and to gain experience in a different curriculum?

Most of us international school teachers start in a school that teaches in the same curriculum as your home country.  After all, your home country’s curriculum is what you have the most experience teaching, and it is also probably the one in which you are the most comfortable.  Also, if you work at a school that teaches your home country’s curriculum, then you will most likely be teaching alongside others who are just like you (which could make you feel “more at home” while living abroad).

There are international school teachers out there who seek out new experiences though and would be risk takers and seek out to try and work at an international school that teaches in a curriculum of which they are not familiar.  It broadens your skills in teaching once you start having experiences teaching in different curricula.  You may find that your personal teaching philosophy also starts to get modified or solidified even more.  You have more “tools” in your teaching “toolbox.” Not only does teaching in the new curriculum change you, but it is the people that you interact with at that new school (who might be from a different country and teaching background than you) that influence how you teach your lessons as well.

Image by Shafin Al Asad Protic from Pixabay

It is nice to have a couple of different experiences noted on your CV that refer to the different curricula in which you have taught.  It is not only good for you so that you grow professionally, but it is also potentially good when job hunting.  Only a few cities in the world have more than 20 international schools in them (Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, etc…) and can offer many different kinds of curricula.

Most cities though only have a handful of international schools (Paris, Chang Mai, Buenos Aires, etc…), meaning limited choices for different curricula.  If you are interested in working in a specific city in the world and there are only three international schools in that city, then you can for sure “better your chances” of getting a job there if you have previous experience teaching the curriculum at two or all three of those schools.  It is not a given though that you will automatically get an interview/the job there of course (if you have experience in that curriculum), but it most definitely might put you on their radar.

With the international schools that teach the IB curriculum, some people say that it is getting increasingly difficult to get a job at these schools if you don’t have previous IB experience.  You might have PYP, MYP, and IB as part of your plans for your future teaching career, but many schools are not even considering candidates without previous experience.  There have been candidates though who “got their break” and landed a job at an IB school without previous experience in the curriculum.  Those candidates say that some directors tell them that if they are good teachers, then it does not matter one bit if they don’t have previous IB experience.  If you are a good teacher in one curriculum, then typically that would mean you are a good teacher in another one (with proper training and PD of course to help you along the way). So, if you are trying to secure a job at an international school that teaches a curriculum that you have no experience in, don’t just give up and not send them your cover letter and CV.  You never know truly who they are specifically looking for and of course, they aren’t just considering candidates that have previous experience in the curriculum.  It might just be that they are not getting enough “ideal” candidates and are already considering candidates without previous curriculum experience.

On our website, we have a School Profile Search feature that allows you to search for the schools that teach the curriculum that you are looking for in your next job.  You can search by choosing the following curricula: UK, USA, Canada, IPC, PYP, MYP, and IB.  We also have an “other” option to search schools that teach a curriculum that is not one of those eight choices.  When searching our 2307 international schools (updates on 13 November 2023), we have found the following results regarding curricula:

  • There are 899 international schools that teach the USA curriculum.
  • There are 740 international schools that teach the UK curriculum.
  • There are 158 international schools that teach the IPC curriculum.
  • There are 462 international schools that teach the PYP curriculum.
  • There are 355 international schools that teach the MYP curriculum
  • There are 655 international schools that teach the IBDP curriculum
  • There are 54 international schools that teach the Canadian curriculum
  • There are 900 international schools that teach the “Host Country” curriculum

If you are an International School Community member, log on today and submit your own search for the curriculum that is consistent with your future plans!

If you are not a member yet, make sure to join www.internationalschoolcommunity.com and become a part of our over 27600 members.  Many of our current members have listed that they work at over 1200 international schools around the world. Feel free to send these members a message with your questions about an international school’s accreditation status and get firsthand information about how the accreditation process is going for them.

Nurturing Leaders: The Heart of Pastoral Care in International Schools

The significance of pastoral care in international schools cannot be overstated. A pastoral leader acts as a steward of students’ emotional well-being, a cultivator of school ethos, and an advocate for a supportive educational environment. As schools globally recognize the importance of holistic education, the role of pastoral leaders becomes all the more critical. But what exactly should schools be looking for in a pastoral leader, and how can teachers with a heart for student well-being step into these roles?

Image by 14995841 from Pixabay

Qualities of Effective Pastoral Leaders

When scouting for potential pastoral leaders, international schools should prioritize certain intrinsic qualities and competencies:

  1. Empathy and Sensitivity: The capacity to understand and share the feelings of others is the cornerstone of effective pastoral care. Leaders must be attuned to the diverse emotional needs of students from various cultural backgrounds.
  2. Strong Ethical Compass: Pastoral leaders must embody the school’s values and serve as moral compasses for the student body, guiding them not just academically but also in their personal development.
  3. Communication Skills: They must be adept communicators, capable of engaging with students, parents, and staff in a manner that is both accessible and reassuring.
  4. Problem-Solving Abilities: Being a pastoral leader often involves navigating complex and sensitive issues. Schools should look for individuals who can think critically and offer creative solutions to the challenges students face.
  5. Advocacy: Pastoral leaders must be vocal advocates for students’ needs, ensuring that every child has access to the support and resources they need to succeed.
Image by Aditio Tantra Danang Wisnu Wardhana from Pixabay

Transitioning from Teaching to Pastoral Leadership

Teachers with a passion for student welfare are naturally poised to step into pastoral leadership roles. Here’s how they can make the transition:

  1. Build on Your Experience: Leverage the insights gained from classroom teaching. Understanding the pressures and challenges students face is vital in providing effective pastoral care.
  2. Professional Development: Seek out specific training in areas such as counseling, child psychology, and safeguarding. This specialized knowledge will underpin your ability to support students.
  3. Show Initiative: Get involved in extracurricular activities and school initiatives that allow you to work closely with students outside the classroom setting, building rapport and trust.
  4. Pursue Further Education: Consider a Master’s program focused on Educational Leadership, like the one I am enrolled in at Keele University. It will equip you with the necessary skills and theoretical knowledge to be an effective pastoral leader.
  5. Networking: Connect with current pastoral leaders to gain insights into best practices and the realities of the role.
Image by Moondance from Pixabay

A Personal Invitation

With seven enriching years behind me as an international school teacher, I am now looking to extend my role beyond the confines of the classroom. I aim to foster a nurturing environment where every student is seen, heard, and supported.

Pursuing this goal, I am currently deepening my understanding of educational leadership through a master’s program at Keele University. While I have not yet held a formal leadership position, my experiences have provided me with a profound understanding of the pastoral needs of students in diverse educational settings.

I am eager to find a school that is willing to invest in someone who has a proven track record of caring for and supporting students. This person is ready to channel their passion for student welfare into a pastoral leadership role.

For schools seeking a pastoral leader who brings both dedication and a fresh perspective, I offer my hands, heart, and commitment to the well-being of our students.

Ready to embrace pastoral leadership with a vision?

Contact me, and let’s explore how we can work together to make the school experience supportive, enriching, and transformative for every student.

Email: Ayoub.chaouch@live.com

My name is Ayoub and as an impassioned Secondary Education Humanities teacher, my career since 2017 has been dedicated to enriching students’ lives through dynamic teaching in Geography, History, English, and Language Arts. My role at an international school in China has not only honed my instructional strategies but has also amplified my commitment to fostering academic excellence and cultural sensitivity among a diverse student body. Concurrently, I am advancing my leadership capabilities through a Master’s in Educational Leadership and Management at Keele University, aspiring to meld my classroom insights with strategic educational management.

Ten Commandments of Relocating Overseas #8: In all things be flexible

In all things be flexible

When relocating to a new place there are so many things to consider, so many new impressions, so much to take in, and oh so many things to learn. Even though we’re constantly told that today we are living in a globalized world and that the distances between us may seem wide, and reality, new technology has brought us closer somehow. But all considered, and perhaps despite the ever-evolving, ever-growing technology, there’s still a difference.

Novelist Herman Hesse said: “Every age, every culture, every custom and tradition has its own character, its own weakness and its own strength, its beauties and cruelties.” Through centuries we’ve grown accustomed to certain kinds of conventions, some passed on by older generations as a kind of “we’ve always done it this way” and some just grow out of nothing until they become significant.

Can you learn culture? Probably! But it does take a while, and it demands a lot of patience, and the risk of embarrassing yourself and others, when cultures clash, and our differences become obvious. It’s in these kinds of situations you might need to be flexible, and open to new experiences.  Even as simple as buying some bread at the local bakery.  Not knowing how to buy the bread there can be a tiny bit stressful (i.e. not knowing how the queue system works, not knowing how to ask a question in the host country’s language, not knowing how to respond to the person behind you in line who starts talking to you in the host country language, etc.).

Waaaaaaay back when we were taught that to survive we somehow had to adapt. We were never the ones to lay down the rules, there was always something stronger than us. Since then we have desperately tried to prove that we are greater than we think, but we’re still bound to be flexible. We still have to compromise every now and then. When you have just arrived at your latest international school posting, there is much you will have to compromise!  Luckily, there are the teachers who started at that school the year before) who are able to help you along your way trying to be flexible in every situation.

When you are new in some strange city that seems like anything you’ve ever seen, you have to have an open mind, maybe re-evaluate a little, and take things as they come. The easiest thing to do is just deeming everybody wrong, and yourself the master of right, but it really won’t get you far. In many international school locations, you might be living in a new apartment that might not live up to the standards you are used to, but still, you have a roof over your head, and a bed to sleep in, and we all need to start somewhere. And then the grocery store, they don’t sell the same items you’re used to, so you have to be inventive and creative. Everybody speaks a different language, the cars drive on the wrong side of the road, there’s no Starbucks, and the cinema’s more expensive, and so on and so on. A lot of things can be wrong or bad if you don’t learn to compromise and learn to be flexible. You might enjoy the little peculiarities, it might even broaden your view, and you gain more than you, at first, might thought, you’d lose.

I’ll leave you with some wise words from author Ayn Rand: “Man’s unique reward, however, is that while animals survive by adjusting themselves to their background, man survives by adjusting his background to himself.”

Take care, you…

This article was submitted anonymously by an ISC member. Check out the rest of the 10 Commandments of Relocated Overseas here.

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