“Taking a year on” is what principal Nichole Schmidt called the time away from her international school position in the article “Taking a Year.” Schmidt, with her husband and sons, packed up to travel around parts of Africa for a ten-month adventure. Isn’t it more inspiring “to take a year on” than needing to take a year off?
What about retirement? In “The Power of Time Off,” Stefan Sagmeister shares his scheduled year off every seven years to work on projects he is unable to pursue during his regular year. Sagmeister breaks down a worker’s lifetime into nearly 25 years of learning, 40 years of working, and for those lucky enough to live to the age of 65, 15 years of retirement. Why wait for retirement?
What follows are a few opportunities available to U.S. citizens to take a year on while staying abroad.
Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching: U.S. American primary and secondary teachers interested in making a move to overseas schools, but not ready to commit to an initial 2-year contract can apply for short term (2-6 weeks) or semester-length programs (3-6 months). As part of the program, teachers can pursue individual projects, conduct research, take courses for professional development and actively share their experiences with local teachers in schools, teacher training colleges, government ministries, and educational NGOs. To review eligibility criteria: https://exchanges.state.gov/us/program/fulbright-distinguished-awards-teaching-us-teachers.
Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program is a year-long professional development opportunity open to primary and secondary school teachers interested in developing skills to prepare students for a competitive global economy.
For those trained to teach English language learners, the U.S. Department of State sponsors the English Language Fellowship and Specialist Programs. This role advertises a new challenge or a life-changing career move for TESOL trained teachers to teach in new contexts and gain unique international experience. https://elprograms.org
Peace Corps Response positions are open to U.S. Citizens with significant professional experience, not just former Peace Corp Volunteers. Positions vary from 6 to12 months, may have a language requirement, and include position titles such as educational specialists, special education advisors, deaf education specialists, environmental education teacher trainer, health facilitator, literacy coordinator, e-learning specialist, math education or science instructor, primary education curriculum and design specialist, and more. Visit for more information: https://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/response-openingshttps://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/response-openings/.
I took a “year on “working as a TEFL Teacher with Fulbright Taiwan. To learn about this opportunity, visit here.
A few months into my year on, I have to say I do miss some things: the academic calendar, full salary, and benefits, connecting with fellow international educators, and the bonds that come from working with students in the classroom.
What I am gaining this year is an opportunity to provide teacher training to local teachers and frequent travel opportunities as I give workshops at various schools in Taiwan. While not working, I have had the chance to pursue other interests, such as writing more as I spend less time grading.
While the opportunities shared may be limited to U.S. Citizens, what opportunities are out there to other nationalities?
This article was submitted by ISC member Ellen Johnston. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact here her. Check our her other submitted article on the ISC blog here – The Journey to School: Tarsus American College (Turkey),
It was a privilege
to speak at the Council of International Schools Conference in Melbourne recently.
The educators committed to educating for global citizenship and an ethical world,
were inspiring.
Didactic teaching,
while worthy, will have many students repeating the dictums that they have been
taught, without understanding, empathy and/or application. When the students work
out their ‘truths’ and how they interpret them, then it becomes lasting. By
inviting young people to become fellow travellers in story, it enables them to
empathise, explore, identify, question and understand, situations outside their
experience. They become emotionally involved, recognising their own value while
challenging prejudice, racism and intolerance.
Increasingly children’s and young
adult literature is tackling issues of social justice in areas as diverse as
emotional disorders, family relationships, autism, epilepsy, anorexia, learning
difficulties, cancer, war, racism, the plight of refugees, environment, world
issues. There are powerful children’s
books that have opened dialogue for social justice from The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon with its sensitive exploration of Asperger’s syndrome and acceptance
of difference to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamasby John Boyne
exposing racism, the outcome of a world without moral responsibility and the
redemptive power of friendship.
Young people read differently to adults,
where if story touches to them, they will read and re-read that book, testing
it against their developing value system. Fiction that addresses ethical issues
such as bullying, inclusion, disability, racism,
multi- culturalism, gender identity, feminism, peace, sustainability, diversity,
through relatable story is a powerful way to create empathy and action for positive
change.
Ethical
issues are deeply personal for me. My parents were refugees who went though
war, communism, the ultimate in power abuse. They were targets, bullied and
vilified, not registering as human. We know about the Cambodian Killing Fields,
Armenian genocide, the Anfal genocide of the Kurds, Rwandan genocide, the
Holocaust. But we cannot fully comprehend those huge atrocities. We see, are
horrified, but they often are outside our experience, of interest, but what can
we do about it? People feel powerless, shocked, close their eyes, maybe donate
some money, send some clothes. These stories of victimisation are too big, too
foreign, make us turn away, as we go about our lives.
But
there’s a way to relate, to engage, to get under the skin of everyone. It’s
through the small stories of ordinary lives. My son Jack, is one of those small
stories. ‘I Am Jack’ is his fictionalized story, when he faced school bullying.
Jack’s
a great kid, funny, inventive, smart, a deep thinker, a good but annoying
brother. He has great mates, supports his grandmother, wants to be like his
Grandad, helps his mother. JACK is your son or daughter. He’s you or your mate
or the neighbour or a kid in your school or someone you know. His family is
yours, mine, ours. A mix master family with its quirkiness like all our
families, in our mix-master communities with all the permutations of what makes
up family today.
Jack
didn’t understand how he ended up targeted, isolated, bullied, until it wasn’t
funny anymore. He was afraid, powerless, victimised. It was a hard journey to win against
bullying, but he did with the support of family, school, community.
JACK invites you into a real home, family, community, life. Narrative truth can be powerful story and everyone loves JACK – our everyman – who takes bullying into your heart and makes you shout ‘no’. When Jack and his Vietnamese mate stand up together and lead the school, teachers, parents, kids, neighbours, everyone to stand up.
How
do I make JACK’s world yours? I’m a tricky writer. I draw unsuspecting readers
into the familiar, the safe, with humour and narrative, until they’re captured
emotionally, crying, laughing, angry, heroic, until JACK’s story is theirs.
The four ‘I Am Jack books’ invite critical thinking about bullying, blended families, aging grandparents,
bush fires, multi-culturalism, community,
terrorism, social responsibility within the safe and familiar context of
family and community.
There are outstanding middle grade authors, whose books take readers
into these areas. Authors include the classics such as the Narnia books by C.S.
Lewis to books by Jackie French, David Almond, Jacqueline Wilson, Kate Di
Camillo, Lois Lowry, Philip Pullman, Michael Rosen, Michael Morpurgo.
Young adult novels are edgier than middle grade, reflecting that
perilous journey between childhood and adulthood. They are a time when identity is fragile, communication high-risk. It is a
time of spiritual, sexual, emotional searching, friendship, peer group power, leadership, gender, dependence-independence
in that journey for identity. There
is a wealth of extraordinary authors who take young adults on this journey from
the classic ‘Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger to the verse novels of Ellen
Hopkins, the teen novels of Cath Cowley,
Meg McKinley, A.J.Betts, Neil Gaiman, Laurie Halse Anderson, Markus Zusak, ‘The
Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins.
In my YA novels I
tackle the tough issues of search for identity, driven by extraordinary
characters like JACK, who are ordinary too, like us. Despite the tough
challenges, my books always offer hope. I have issues where YA books offer
despair as the outcome. Adolescents are smart and filled with ideas, but have
little experience of dealing with life. Story can take them into the darkest
places. However there must be pathways out, so they can embrace their talents
and address their world and the global world. The line I wrote in my YA novel ‘The
Cave’, still moves me deeply:- ‘war
is not brave, but men can be brave in war and in life.’ (The Cave, Chapter 13,
page 141, HarperCollins)
Finally, what is the role of picture books in working towards global citizenship? The multi award winning picture book author/illustrator Mo Willems writes:
‘We create our work
for children not because they’re cute,
but because they’re human beings, deserving of respect.’
― Mo Willems
There are so many picture books that provide a quick rhyme, a rollicking jaunt, cliched themes with predictable outcomes. They are fine, but when you find the gems, they will enrich those very young readers to create a world that is filled with possibilities, ideas, exploration. Who can bypass ‘The Giving Tree’ by Shel Silverstein with its ethical question of what is unconditional love or unconditional selfishness? Or the books of Oliver Jeffers, David Wiesner, Munro Leaf, Julia Donalson and Axel Scheffler, Maurice Sendak. In my picture books I am driven by my commitment to partnering children as they face the world in those early years of development. ‘Ships in the Field’ is autobiographical as my family found home and hope in a new country, while ‘Gracie and Josh’ is about the bond of siblings despite the challenges of illness. ‘Elephants Have Wings’ embraces mindfulness and pathways to peace. I have had enormous pleasure from the endorsement of Good Vision for Life and Vision Australia, for ‘The Boy in the Big Blue Glasses’ which within the ambit of pirates, play, friendships, raises the issue of sight impairment and self and group acceptance of difference.
International Schools are at the forefront of creating global citizens and
leaders of the future, as we seek to create an ethical world.
I will end with an endorsement I received for my YA novel, ‘Butterflies’
which still makes me emotional. I spent two years researching and writing ‘Butterflies’.
Speaking at the World Burn Congress about the power of ‘Butterflies’ to provide
succor and hope to burn survivors, families and community, was one of the great
moments of my life. ‘Butterflies’ was written for all those who face the
challenge of teenage years and coming out as warriors for an ethical world.
Dr Hugh Martin OAM
President of the Australian and New
Zealand Burn Association and
Head of the Burn Unit, The Children’s
Hospital Westmead, Sydney.
Every survivor has a story. Often the story is of interest, and even
more often instructive. “Butterflies” is the story of a burn survivor, and is
both interesting and instructive. It explores the complex areas of the
emotional impact of a burn on the individual and family while giving insight
into the world of hospitals, patients and doctors. It traces the development of
the personality from insecurity and relative isolation to a healthier level of
self esteem that enables the individual to form balanced relationships with
family and friends. It shows how the inner person can triumph over a
preoccupation with surface scars and know that basic values of commitment,
caring and trust are more important than the texture of the skin.
‘Butterflies’ has relevance outside the narrow circle of burn survivors
and their families. It shows the ebb and flow of emotions that affect us all,
particularly in the transition between childhood and adulthood, and how
parenting and family life make these bearable.
Those of us who are involved in the world of burns know how
survivors need help from time to time, but slowly develop a depth of character
and an inner strength which is rarely seen in others. Like tempering steel, the
process of passing through the fire helps make a person of exceptional quality.
“Butterflies” captures these subtleties for the reader, and gives a stunning
insight into a difficult topic.
In 2015, I was deeply honoured to be
awarded a Lifetime award for Social Justice through my body of works for young
people, by the International Literacy Association.
———–
This article was submit by guest author, Susanne Gervay OAM.
As a new cohort of graduating teachers look forward to their first role as newly qualified teachers, I reflected on how mine was coming to an end and contemplated on advice I would have given myself at the beginning of mine and how I might have done things differently.
My A-level chemistry teacher on my first day of A-levels taught me and my peers a very valuable lesson and outlook, and one I still use today. “Close your eyes and imagine it is results day and you receive your brown envelope with your results in it. You’ve applied to the university you want, and they have given you a conditional offer, all you need are the grades. You’re so nervous and all your friends also have theirs and are opening their envelopes one by one. As they do, a wave of euphoria and excitement hits them as each is successful, but now it’s your turn. You open your envelope. As your eyes glance along the bold letters, instead of the same ecstatic emotions, you feel distraught because you, out of all your friends, are the only one who missed, and what makes it worse, by one grade. The realisation sets in that you are not likely to get in to your first choice, maybe not even second, or worse still, not at all. The summer of relaxation before heading off to university vanished by the thought of frantic phone calls hoping and praying that clearing will allow you in, but it is still no guarantee. You think to yourself, if only I had a time machine I would go back and tell myself to work harder instead of going out every Tuesday because its student night or play that extra hour every night of COD and instead study.
Now, open your eyes. You found the time machine and you’re here, back at the start where you can put those things right. I exaggerate for effect of course but the premise is the same. There are a few things, had I known, I would have done differently, or paid more attention to, which would have made my NQT year a little easier, not least for starting and maintaining good habits. So as we dive in, do not take these as things you must do or “another one of those teachers who thinks they know everything” but someone offering some gentle thinking points about what might make your NQT year, and beyond, a little less stressful.
1. Get to know the resource material
Most schools offer at least a 1-day induction. Some more and some offer PGCE students an early start at the school in June upon completion of the course. DO IT! I was unfortunate not to do this due to personal reasons (I got married instead) and had I known this I would have altered my wedding dates to allow me to attend the induction period at the very least. As a result, I started the academic year behind and it took me at least 7 weeks to get up to speed with the material, the schemes of work on top of other equally important bureaucracy areas such as behaviour policies, school policies etc. Our main job as teachers is to teach and if you are not comfortable with what you are teaching, everything else becomes much more difficult to understand and implement.
2. Get to know AND understand school policies
Aside from teaching you are expected to enforce and follow school policies ranging from behaviour management to meetings and duties. Naturally it will take some time to fully understand and feel comfortable and confident in following said policies as it is often much easier to understand once you see it in action. Try your best to think of every scenario and how you would deal with it. As you will likely be new in your school, the students will try you catch you out and push the boundaries. This is when they will find you if you know the policies or not and can set the tone for the rest of the year or longer. Read, read and read again and run through some scenarios in your head with how you would react and how you would deal with it.
3. Marking – there is no escape
There have been some improvements in recent years in terms of workload for teachers and one thing that has improved significantly is the quantity of marking. Though marking is immensely important, or I should say feedback, for student improvement, it can take up most of your time outside of the classroom leaving less time for planning and preparation. Each school will have their own marking policy and it is essential that you understand how the marking works and how often it needs to be completed. On top of this, it is important to understand HOW the marking is to be done and what notations should be used for the marking. I recommend making a timetable for yourself of which classes you will mark on which days and stick to it. A little marking everyday is much easier than no marking and having to do it all in one afternoon/evening. Your marking will also be more beneficial to the students as the marking time will be less each day so feedback will be more constructive than a standard comment.
4. Track and get to know your students
During my PGCE one of the tasks we were asked to do was to track three students. By this they asked us to find information on them (SEN, PP etc) and then keep a record of how they were doing whether that be BfL, scores, homework or just a few notes about students that stood out, both strong and weak. Though the actual task was monotonous and tedious, I realised in my NQT year just how useful it is to do this. Each school has their own set of students with their own personalities. It really helps to get to know your students, what makes them tick and what makes them bored. Additionally, track students who have a record of being stronger and weaker and try to support them as much as you can. Every student needs to make progress so ensure you use techniques (extensions, scaffolding, keywords etc) to allow ALL students to progress.
5. Get to know your school’s focus for the term and year
There are a plethora of areas that schools can focus on and each school is different. Some schools focus on classroom environment and management, some on teaching and learning and others on the tasks surrounding it. All schools will have some form of CPD and twilight session to address all of these, but most will identify their weakest and try to improve them. Knowing what areas are being targeted helps you to understand the current ethos of the school and drive with all colleagues in the same direction. It also helps you when completing your official observations as it shows your observer you are paying attention to what management are wanting to focus on and that you are taking the CPD sessions seriously.
6. Don’t get lost – finds your rooms
This isn’t a make or break but can lead to unnecessary stress at the start of term. In all schools I’ve been to, students like to think they are on control without being in control. They like to know that there is always someone else they can ask if they don’t know something. If you are asking students how to get to rooms, some students can get a bit confused and it may even harm your respect, particularly with the older students. It’s not the end of the world, but if you are constantly asking students, then it can have an impact. Get to know your rooms, how to get there from your previous room and what the layout is. This will help with room transitions so your start of lesson is as punctual as possible to cut down on classroom disruption as possible and knowing the layouts will help you organise your seating plan as early as possible to avoid classroom disruption.
7. Who are the specialists?
All teachers will have some expertise in one area of teaching or more. Find out who these people are and what their specialism is. As an NQT you are expected to find more answers on your own so seeking out those who are more experienced could not be more important at this stage. If you are struggling with classroom management, as many teachers do, find out who is the expert. Ask them to sit in your lesson and to find out what you could improve. If you are struggling of thinking how to teacher a certain topic, find out the subject specialist and quiz them, or better still, observe their lessons to see how they engage their students. Questioning is a major focus currently. Seek out someone who is great at questioning students and having discussions.
8. Get to know your colleagues
In my first school I didn’t see my colleagues outside of school save for a wedding. I regret this looking back because I would have enjoyed my time a lot more had I made the effort to get more comfortable with my colleagues. I may have asked more questions and progressed more so as a teacher. There were some great teachers in the department so use them, both for professional advice and social relaxation. The usual Friday drinks at “the library” are there for a reason so go, enjoy yourself and moan to your hearts content so the people at home don’t have to listen.
9. Reflect, reflect, reflect
The PGCE does a great job of getting teachers to become reflective. This becomes especially important as you enter your NQT year and beyond as there isn’t someone who is observing you most lessons and telling you where you need to improve. It is important than from the outset you assess yourself and think about common weaknesses over a series of lessons. One suggestion could be to keep a diary and write a few notes after each lesson/day about things that what went and things that didn’t. This will help you really understand areas of strength and weakness. Once your NQT year is complete, you will have yearly appraisals where you set your own targets and to meet them you need evidence. This relies on you knowing what our weaknesses are and how to overcome them which requires you to know yourself as a teacher.
10. And finally, enjoy it!
Your NQT year is very important because it helps you to
understand yourself and how to become an independent teacher. The career you
have chosen is a very rewarding, challenging and exciting career. One with many
prospects and benefits, both personally and professionally. This is your
springboard for a (hopefully) long, happy and successful working life. Enjoy
it, set out with the mindset you wish to continue with and try, though it may
seem difficult at times, to relax, destress and remember why you got into
teaching.
I hope these 10 suggestions help you enjoy a more productive
and less stressful year. In my experience, my PGCE year was more stressful
though not all teachers have the same opinion. Just remember, you’ve done it
before, you can do it again.
This article was submitted by International School Community member, Steven Simnett.
