Survey results are in – What’s the top reason for why you want to teach at international schools?

The survey results are in, and it seems as if travel and location are the main reasons why us teachers want to work at internationals schools.

Contrary to what you might say in an interview setting, most people are focusing on getting jobs in desirable locations. Obviously, those locations might be different for different people…thank goodness! It is not just teachers that are interested in location, it is the administrators as well.

I went to a recruiting fair once and went to about 4-6 school information sessions. The vast majority of their presentations had to do with the location that the school was in. Now of course, prospective teachers need to know about where they might be moving to, but to have the majority of their presentation be about location and the places you can travel to from there? It is pretty obvious what is motivating people.

One area that I think is very important, now knowing how important travel and location is, is to know more about the airport in the city that you choose to live in. Is it a good hub? How much to round trip tickets cost to locations with the country and outside of the country, and more importantly to your home country? Which places are cheaper to go to? Answers to these important questions on our minds, can be found on the school profiles page here on International School Community. Of the 4 sections, travel is one of them. Here are the 4 questions that you will find there and can leave your comments on:

New survey: Which area of the world would you prefer to work in?

Survey number 2 has arrived! Topic: Which area of the world would you prefer to work in?

I know I have my favorites. I know you have your favorites. Are some areas more popular than others? We all just might just be surprised to see the results after a few weeks of voting!

So go to the homepage of International School Community and submit your vote today!

Member spotlight #3: Clare Rothwell

Each month International School Community will highlight one of our members. This month we interviewed Clare Rothwell:

Tell us about your background. Where are you from?
I am from South Africa. I started my teaching career in Taiwan as a way to pay off my student loan.

How did you get started in the international teaching community?
I applied for work in Germany, but I wasn’t offered any jobs there. My mom was working in Moscow, so I decided to try there instead. I was offered a job at the British International School, Moscow.

Which international schools have you worked at? Please share some aspects of the schools that made them unique and fun places in which to work.
I worked BIS, Moscow for 3.5 years. I guess my students made BIS fun. They were very nice kids. I had a lot of lovely Hungarian students! One them, Gërgö, started at the school when he was 15. In spite of not being able to say a full sentence in English, he smiled all the time.

Now at I work at Shanghai Rego International School. At Rego, I teach in the primary school. I enjoy the way students of different cultural backgrounds play together and include each other in games in spite of communication challenges.
I also enjoy the fun things that we do here to make learning more interesting for children. For example, whole year levels dress-up and do other activities related to different topics throughout the year.

Describe your latest cultural encounter in your current placement, one that put a smile on your face.
Traveling with colleagues in Sichuan, we met up with a local student who offered to be our tour guide. When the locals realised that they had a way to find out about us, they peppered him with questions about us everywhere we went. At one point, a small crowd gathered around him as he related how he’d met us and where we were all from.

What are some important things that you look for when you are searching for a new position at an international school?
I look for an interesting location and a job where I can learn new skills.

In exactly 5 words, how would you describe the international school teaching experience?
Full of variety, rewarding, challenging.

Traveling Around: Sichuan, China

Can you relate?

Choosing your dinner by looking at what other people are eating and asking them for their recommendations.
Sitting in a lounge area of a nearly empty hostel, getting in touch with your colleagues.
Finding signs in Chinglish and also finding time to disobey them. “No striding” (found in a monastery) “No sitting or leaning or leaping” (in the inside of a pagoda)
Getting sick and not being able to enjoy a beautiful city and its surroundings.
Being stampeded and overrun by flag-toting, red-hatted Chinese tour groups. Also, having to endure the noise pollution of a megaphone-holding tour guide.
Taking 1376 pictures of pandas (or fill in the blank) in the same pose.
Trying to not to talk about school-related topics on a long bus ride.
Being in awe of the time management skills of bus passengers at a toilet break: Less than 5 minutes, off and on with military precision.
Being able to watch the latest “straight to the bus screen” movie release of the Hong Kong film industry on a long-distance bus.
Being serenaded by a saxophonist, seemingly the only one in a town of 200, 000 people.
Traveling with one person who likes to plan ahead and the other person who flies by the seat of their pants.
Hostel or hotel, are we adults yet?
Being away from your computer, off-line as it were. Though actually bringing your laptop and not being able to access the wireless internet.
Being out of the concrete jungle, enjoying perfect weather and the sound of birds chirping.

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Categories

Survey results are in – What’s the top reason for why you want to teach at international schools?

New survey: Which area of the world would you prefer to work in?

Member spotlight #3: Clare Rothwell

Traveling Around: Sichuan, China

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