My career as a teacher began in a rather unorthodox way. I hated school. I couldn’t wait to get out, work, earn money, and enjoy the freedom away from the restraints of the classrooms of the late ’90s.

So it probably follows that my journey through education would take a similarly unconventional path.

I graduated with my Education degree, specialising in Early Childhood, put a pin in the map of England and found myself with a suitcase in a hostel in Bristol.

I enrolled with a teaching agency and found work quickly, particularly in the more challenging areas where they struggled to find supply teachers. I loved it. Grade 6 one day, Grade 3 for six months, Grade 2 for a few weeks. Different schools, different ages, and different challenges made every day interesting.

Why did I leave a conventional teaching career to become an international teacher?

My visa was expiring and, back then, no school would sponsor me. (Oh, how times have changed!) So I scrolled through job postings on TES, interviewed for a school in Dubai, and found myself leaving England with three weeks’ notice.

I had no idea what to expect, had never been to Dubai, and I didn’t know anyone who had been before, but I remember thinking, This is going to be a great story to tell in years to come.

I hit the ground running. It was chaotic, it was hot, everything was new, and I loved it. It felt like work during the week, but at the weekends, it was almost like being on holiday.

I was lucky to have such a supportive colleague who taught the other class in my grade level. She helped me navigate the Emirati culture, the school expectations, and, quite frankly, everything else that was new and unfamiliar.

When the school moved to the PYP, I loved it even more. I really got into curriculum development, building it from scratch and working the curriculum around the children rather than trying to make the children fit the curriculum.

That was the beginning of something that would become a major part of my career.

Russia — when curriculum leadership became serious

In 2016, I decided I wanted more, so I accepted a position in Moscow, Russia. Again, I remember thinking, This is going to be a wild story to tell when I’m older.

I knew the school was having its first-ever BSO inspection early in the year, but Dubai had trained me for this. I thrived on inspections: showcasing the learning, watching children confidently share their learning, and seeing all the pieces come together in a beautiful symphony.

The entire school was awarded “Outstanding in all areas”, which was an experience that really shaped my work in curriculum development and how I viewed learning in our youngest learners.

My time at this school taught me so much about living and working in a country where English wasn’t the dominant language outside the classroom. But more than that, the teaching cohort I started with made this experience such a meaningful time in my life.

It was also where I began to understand that curriculum leadership wasn’t simply about writing documents. It was about creating a shared understanding of what learning should look and feel like, and making sure that understanding actually reached the classroom.

Then someone gave me the keys to a school

I wanted more.

I thought the natural next step was headship, so I dived into my next challenge: Head of School in Tokyo, Japan.

Whilst the school wasn’t exactly what was sold to me in the interview, it taught me a great deal.

I explored recruitment, HR, teacher development, managing adults, parent relationships, school culture, difficult conversations, safeguarding, budgeting, strategic planning, and supporting teachers while also holding them accountable.

I was also the bus nanny, the cleaner, and anything else that needed doing, because I thought that if I expected my team to do the work, I should be willing to do it too.

What a learning curve that was.

You can be very good at teaching children and still have a lot to learn about leading adults.

That experience taught me that leadership isn’t simply about having the answers. Sometimes it is about asking the right questions, making difficult decisions and, occasionally, admitting that you got something wrong.

Vietnam — becoming a teacher again

Then COVID hit.

It was at this point that I realised the many different hats I was wearing were making the role unsustainable. My best friend was relocating to Vietnam, and I couldn’t get back into Australia at that time because of the quarantine booking system, so I decided to go back into the classroom.

And I missed it.

I missed having my own class. I missed the random inquiries, the milestones, the conversations, the small moments that only happen when you spend every day with a group of children.

I missed all of it.

When I was interviewing for the position I have now, I remember the principal saying to me, “But will you be okay stepping down?”

I didn’t miss a beat.

“Being in the classroom is the pulse of the school. I don’t see it as stepping down; it’s being on the front line.”

And I’ve now been in this role for five and a half years.

Why would someone who had already become a principal choose to go back into the classroom?

Leadership isn’t necessarily the ultimate career goal for everyone.

Being responsible for an entire school is very different from being responsible for a class. Sometimes you miss the actual teaching. Sometimes life circumstances change. Sometimes the role isn’t the right fit.

Sometimes stepping sideways is actually moving forward.

Your identity doesn’t have to be tied to your job title.

As I sit here typing out these thoughts for you, dear reader, I will tell you that I am again looking for something new.

I’m not bored, but I am bored.

And perhaps that contradiction says something about a career in international education.

I still love teaching. I still love Early Years. I still love working with children and watching them make connections, ask questions, and become increasingly confident in their own abilities.

But after more than 15 years, five countries and a career that has taken me from the classroom to leadership and back again, I know that staying in the same place simply because it feels safe isn’t necessarily the right choice either.

“Moving up” isn’t necessarily the next step for you.

Sometimes you need to change it up: a new country, a new school, a new role.
Sometimes it means going back to retrain in a completely new field of interest.
Sometimes it means stepping away from leadership and returning to the classroom.
And sometimes the next step isn’t up at all. It’s sideways.

Being a principal made me a better teacher.
Being a teacher made me a better principal.

And neither role is necessarily “higher” than the other.

This article was submitted by ISC member and guest author Anita Sutton, who currently lives in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and works at the European International School.