{"id":8451,"date":"2021-08-09T18:54:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T18:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/?p=8451"},"modified":"2021-08-30T15:49:36","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T15:49:36","slug":"chasing-our-dream-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/chasing-our-dream-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Chasing our Dream School!!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As international teachers, we all left our home country for a reason. The motivations to become an international teacher are varied. Some of us wanted the adventure of seeing the world before its gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Others fell in love with a foreigner, started a family, and became an \u201cinternational\u201d teacher in name only. Others had so much personal debt, that if we worked in our home country, we might be debt-free before we retired. Or maybe we just wanted to be respected in our profession, and we wanted to live in a place where it was still safe for our kids to play ball games on the street in front of our houses. The motivations for international teaching are varied, but all of us are in some way or another. We are not just chasing our dream school, we\u2019re searching for our new home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

           We have all sat down with a recruiter or a Head of School, and listened to their sales pitch on why their school is \u201cTHE DREAM SCHOOL\u201d. Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10, it ends up being an illusion. As an international teacher we must endure a lot; we pick up our lives, move two countries over, and settle in for a few years before repeating the cycle. Upon each new recruiting cycle, we hope that we have gained enough experience to finally get into the coveted Tier 1 international school<\/em>, and that will be our \u201cDREAM SCHOOL\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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           But what do we and our families have to endure along the way? Over my last 10 years of international teaching, I experienced a school that hired and fired six principals in six months. Upon landing in that new country, Principal #7 informed us that all our contracts would have to be renegotiated. Our passports were then taken for \u201cprocessing\u201d and escorted to our new school compound and prevented from leaving for 13 weeks\u2026”for our own safety”. The school was subsequently banned from ISS and Search Associates, had a 100% turnover of teachers two years in a row, but still received its full IB certification. After everything we had endured, we were escorted to the airport, given a large bundle of cash, and told to not bother applying for jobs in this country again. We took our bag of silver, shook our heads, and left happily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            International teaching\nis a balance between precarity and privilege. We accept the unknown and\nunstable working environment for the promise of a salary and lifestyle we could\nnever have in our home country. When we are young and single, this is a great\ndeal. But as we grow older, and have families, we start to look for more\nstability. Any international teacher who watched their once happy and thriving\nchild leave a school they love, and then come home crying every day from their\nnew school, understands the guilt and sadness it causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

            Recruiters and Heads of School are playing a finite game. Their focus is on hiring for this<\/em> year and getting the best teacher they can into the classroom for this<\/em> year. Most international teachers only last 2 years in a school anyway, so the \u201cright fit\u201d turns into the \u201cright-now fit\u201d.  As an international teacher, what I have endured is nothing compared to what my family has endured. As I complete another contract and listen to another sales pitch, I am not chasing my DREAM SCHOOL, I\u2019m searching for a home. I\u2019m searching for a school that understands, if you take care of my family, I\u2019ll renew my contract (time and time again). I\u2019m searching for a school that understands, there are no such things as a dream school. We are searching for a school that aligns with our values, prioritizes family, and treats us like a member of the community, and not just a 2-year rental. That is my \u201cDREAM SCHOOL\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was submitted by an ISC member and veteran international school teacher. If you are interested in being a guest author on our blog, please contact us here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As international teachers, we all left our home country for a reason. The motivations to become an international teacher are varied. Some of us wanted the adventure of seeing the world before its gone. Others fell in love with a foreigner, started a family, and became an \u201cinternational\u201d teacher in name only. Others had so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2752],"tags":[905,186,60,489],"class_list":["post-8451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-what-expats-must-endure","tag-dream-school","tag-international-school-teacher","tag-teaching-abroad","tag-teaching-at-international-schools"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/europe-1264062_1920.jpg?fit=1280%2C854&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-2cj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2177,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/how-do-i-get-into-international-education-1-is-it-for-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":8451,"position":0},"title":"How Do I Get into International Education #1: “Is it for me?”","author":"ISCommunity","date":"August 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In the news recently, you may have seen the advertisement for a company looking for four couples to make a one-way trip to Mars. 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It is April, so we are getting closer to the end of the hiring season. 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Pay Off Your Debt. Do What You Love.","author":"ISCommunity","date":"April 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"TED talks are pretty awesome. This one caught our attention because it is reminiscent of the life of an international school teacher. Living in your home country, sometimes you can get caught up in materialism. You want to get your own big house. 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Will the international school you are interviewing with prefer to hire a teaching couple or a single teacher? I guess it could seem like the international school is being a bit discriminatory when they state\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Top 10 Lists"","block_context":{"text":"Top 10 Lists","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/top-10-lists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steinbach-56642_640.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steinbach-56642_640.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steinbach-56642_640.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1322,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/blogs-of-international-school-teachers-art-teach-travel\/","url_meta":{"origin":8451,"position":4},"title":"Blogs of international school teachers: \u201cArt Teach Travel.\u201d","author":"ISCommunity","date":"July 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad? Our 21st blog that we would like to highlight is called\u00a0\u201cArt Teach Travel\u201d\u00a0 Check out the blog entries of this school teacher who has lived and worked in the United States for many years teaching art.\u00a0 She\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs of International Teachers"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs of International Teachers","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/blogs-of-international-teachers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/07\/screen-shot-2012-07-25-at-2-18-28-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4476,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/blogs-of-international-school-teachers-travelling-teacher-at-chatsworth-international-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":8451,"position":5},"title":"Blogs of international school teachers: \u201cTravelling Teacher\u201d (A teacher working at Chatsworth International School)","author":"ISCommunity","date":"May 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad? Our 41st blog that we would like to highlight is called\u00a0\u201cTravelling Teacher: Working in an\u00a0International\u00a0School Overseas\u201d\u00a0 Check out the blog entries of this international school educator who currently works at\u00a0Chatsworth International School\u00a0in Singapore. A few entries that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs of International Teachers"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs of International Teachers","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/blogs-of-international-teachers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screenshot 2015-05-22 16.30.46","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Screenshot-2015-05-22-16.30.46-1024x129.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Screenshot-2015-05-22-16.30.46-1024x129.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Screenshot-2015-05-22-16.30.46-1024x129.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}