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 if the international school’s teachers are fully qualified or not?  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 at which to work.  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 #8 – Are the teachers fully qualified?

This is not typically a concern with mainstream international schools, but it can be a concern with some newer schools and in certain regions of the world.

Some might say having qualified teachers from early years to secondary school is essential for an international school to thrive.  Why then do some international schools hire non-certified teachers?  Of course, there are many reasons why schools make such choices for their staff.

One reason is that qualified teachers are sometimes hard to come by in some (if not all) countries. Additionally, the more experienced teachers may not be considering positions at less established international schools.  In some parts of the world, the pay is low.  Being that certified teachers seek out positions that value their teaching degrees (that they have worked hard for), they might not even consider working at some schools where the pay and benefits are less than desirable.

Another factor that comes into play is timing.  Some international schools get into “binds” every once in a while, and sometimes the best choice is to hire a less qualified (or not qualified) teacher to fill the position. That non-qualified teacher is just waiting for the right moment, when the stars align for them, to finally get that job at the nearby international school versus staying at the “language” school down the road.  Also, when international schools are trying to fill vacancies for the coming school year during not ideal times of the year (e.g. the summer months or even May), they might not have the same pick of qualified teachers as they would have had back in January and February.

Even another reason that international schools hire non-qualified teachers could be related to money.  International schools (especially for-profit ones) are always on the lookout for how to save money. Hiring non-qualified teachers can potentially save the school money as they can sometimes pay them less.  If there is a pay scale at the school, they would most likely be at the bottom of it.

Do teacher certificates actually matter?

Many educators without university teaching certificates are the ones who are already living abroad.  They may have moved abroad when they got a job at an English-language school or had an interest in “teaching English” in a foreign country.  We are sure that there are some great English-language schools around the world, but most of the teachers at those schools would prefer to work at an international school; mainly because of the better pay and benefits.  More established international schools though won’t consider them because they might not have the exact teaching qualifications that they require. The less established international schools might consider these less-qualified teachers though, especially if they are scrounging to find quality candidates to fill their positions.

You can indeed be a good teacher, even an excellent one, without a teaching certificate from a university. Experience in the field can equal quality teaching, and parents and other qualified teachers shouldn’t be so turned off by working with them.  If you agree with that statement, maybe we shouldn’t be so caught up in whether an international school has an all-qualified staff.  We all work hard to do the same job, it isn’t as if qualified teachers would work any harder at the school.  On the other hand, it is important to honor the time spent when teachers do go and get diplomas in education.  Many people with university teaching certificates have worked very hard to make teaching their career choice and not just a “job”.  It can be a bit of an “unfortunate circumstance” and a downer when a qualified teacher shows up at their new international school to find out that their colleagues are all “English teachers”!

On our website, we have a specific topic in the School Information section of each school profile page that discusses the issue of which international schools have qualified teachers or not.  It is called “Describe what kinds of teachers work here (local vs. expat, nationality, qualifications [or lack thereof], etc.) and staff turnover rate.”  Our members have submitted 1600+ of comments and information on this topic on several different international schools listed on our website.  Here are just a few of the comments and information submitted on this topic:

“About 65% North American, 20% European, and 15% local and other. All teachers are certified and have at least 4 years’ experience…”
– MEF International School Istanbul (180 total comments)

“The school has both Colombian and expat teachers. All of the expat teachers are North American and all are qualified teachers. The Colombian teachers are also well-certified. There is not a high turnover rate at the school. Many expat teachers, though young, stay three or four years and some have been at the school much longer…”
– Colegio Granadino Manizales (68 total comments)

“High Staff turnover. Probably 1/3 local hires vs. expats. The qualifications can be low. Many first-year teachers with no teaching degree. Most expats are Americans and Canadians. People do not stay here because the taxes are high, the frustration level with the administration is high, and the level of academic rigor is low…”
– American School Foundation of Mexico City (72 total comments)

“Mostly expat teachers, some qualified, some not necessarily. Last year we had around 15 teachers leaving out of around 70+. Nice place to work but they can struggle with staff retention. LGBT friendly…”
– St Georges School Madrid (20 total comments)

“Turnover rate last year was very low. This year is different with several teachers in the Secondary school being pushed out. The school pays on time and there are good benefits. Many teachers in the Secondary school do not have formal teaching qualifications but they have good subject knowledge…”
– Western International School of Shanghai (566 total comments)

If you are an International School Community member with premium access, log on today and submit your comments about the international schools you know about!

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 qualified or not-qualified teachers and get firsthand information about how the accreditation process is going for them.