Preparing for Teaching Jobs Abroad

Gaining knowledge is the first step to wisdom. Sharing it is the first step to humanity. Unknown

The above quote really underscores the truly noble task that teachers perform every day. Further, it puts into context just how rewarding the teaching vocation can be. Sadly, fewer and fewer young people actually see teaching as a career option, considering the great challenges that teachers face in South African schools.

More and more teachers are enquiring about how to get a teaching job overseas.

Which countries are seeking teachers? What kind of teachers are needed? Who do you consult about moving overseas?

This article attempts to provide you with sufficient answers to the above questions. If you’re at a crossroads in your career, teaching abroad may turn out to be very rewarding.

However, before you make that move to Cambodia, South Korea, Vietnam or Spain, you should consider various teaching vacancies abroad and what steps you will have to take to get there.

Moving Overseas: A Great Option for Educators

While many teachers have had their interest aroused by international teaching jobs, leaving familiar surroundings, friends and family behind is not easy.

So, exactly how do you go about it?

South African teachers teaching abroad must realise that conditions of service and benefits will not necessarily be the same as what they previously enjoyed. In the East, you may receive free accommodation or a housing allowance and, possibly, free medical aid. This will not apply in a Western country, where these costs may be higher and you would have to sacrifice a significant portion of your salary for accommodation and medical insurance.

As a SA teacher abroad, you might not have all the benefits you enjoy back home. However, in certain instances, your benefits may even exceed your expectations.

Your benefits would also be dependent on the kind of institution you enter. You may find employment at:

• A language school
• A state school
• A British or American school

Also, your stay can be:

• Long-term; or
• Short-term.

Your teaching qualification can really be your passport to seeing the world. Nothing stops you from flying back home, after a year or two, and then returning to the same foreign land or seeking your fortune in another.

On the other hand, this may work against you if you appear to be hopping between countries too frequently. This will make it more difficult for you to achieve residency status and enjoy the benefits that go along with that status. Agencies for teaching abroad would also be hesitant to hire you, if they see you constantly flitting abroad, home and then on to a different location.

However, if you are certified as an ESL teacher (either with a TEFL or CELTA qualification) with tons of experience, a potential employer would have a hard task dismissing your application.

You also have to bear in mind that there are many steps to take, in order to enjoy that kind of status and the different benefits that go along with it. In truth, teaching overseas can sometimes be a compromise between losing the benefits that go along with being a part of the SA education system and escaping it.

When you apply for international teaching jobs, the application process may differ totally from what you’re used to in SA.

For instance, in some school systems, you apply to a central or regional authority, which then places teachers at schools where they may be needed.

For the adventurous types, this might be interesting or exciting. However, if you have your heart set on teaching in a particular school or place, you won’t relish this kind of situation. In cases such as these, some teachers really have no say in where they are placed.

Step 1: Create an Application for a Specific Position

The two main ways to go about this are to:

• Apply in response to specific job offers; or
• Apply directly to institutions you would like to work for.

In either case, you will be expected to provide proof of your qualifications and experience, by way of references from current and previous employers and of copies of the stated qualifications. If you start applying for teaching vacancies abroad, it would be very beneficial if you are already a teacher. Having teaching and language qualifications can put your application at the top of the pile!

How do you get a teaching job overseas?

Make sure that you apply in good time. Do not procrastinate. That way, you will not be rushed at the end and stand a chance of forgetting to include some important documents or information.

You will have to. follow a standard application procedure which may be different for every post that you apply for. Applying to public schools, in some countries, has a rigorous application procedure which may involve almost two years of tests and training. Further, you will still need proof of your qualifications and experience

Usually, posts will be advertised before Northern Hemisphere’s summer holidays, which are, generally, around June and July. New teachers will take up their posts in late July or early August. There may also be posts advertised at short notice when a teacher goes on maternity leave or falls ill.

Your application should include:

• A letter of application
• Your CV
• Several documents, such as copies of your teaching qualifications or degree/s, any language qualifications and your ID or passport.

While some institutions will accept digital copies, many still insist that hard copies accompany your application.

The subject many South Africans choose to teach is English. That is so because you can teach English without a post-graduate qualification certificate in education (PGCE). Agencies for teaching abroad will tell you that, in certain instances, if you wish to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL) overseas, the only qualification you may require is being an English speaker.

An establishment with such low requirements may not be very good. A good school would require you to be qualified teacher in SA or, at the very least, that you hold a TEFL certification.

Where overseas institutions, be they in Asia, the Americas or Europe, place strict requirements on prospective teachers, the better the teacher environment there tends to be.

Okay, so you’ve decided where to go and sent off your application. What is next?

Step Two: Accepting a Post Outside of SA

Generally, you well be notified whether or not your application has met with success, way in advance of your commencement date. The possible outcomes are:

• Your application is rejected; or
• You will be invited to interview for the job or offered the post.

During your application, your level of English proficiency may be tested. Generally, this is not common practice if you plan to teach English as a foreign language, because the expectation is that you will always teach in English. However, it is regularly part of the recruitment process in countries and regions where English is not commonly spoken.

After the interviewing process, institutions select several candidates. If a process of short-listing follows, the selection process will take up an additional amount of time. Unsuccessful candidates may then be informed of the outcome; in many cases, only successful candidates receive word back from recruiters or employers.

As stated earlier, educators are normally appointed before the new school year commences. Candidates who live overseas are normally given timeous notice so that they can finalise all arrangements to travel to their new place of work and ‘home’.

If you’re one of the lucky ones, it will then be time to take the third step, administration.

Step Three: Administration

The administrative side of getting that overseas post involves you having to provide a whole lot of documents and may entail having some documents translated. Then, you have several practicalities to sort out, like applying for a visa and arranging accommodation.

Teaching English in a foreign school is, admittedly, the most common path pursued by most teachers. However, you could also teach other subjects, if you take up a post at an international school. As with most things, there will, of course, be paperwork!

If you haven’t managed to procure a job, but are travelling during a gap year, for example, you could tutor students privately, while you learn the culture and how things work in the country of your choosing. This way, you may place yourself in a position to land that all-important interview and, possibly, a post teaching English.

Working for yourself, like anything, has a down-side. You will not have an employer who can sponsor a work visa for you, if that is needed. If you work as a language assistant or do an internship, in a foreign classroom, you will often be provided with a visa and assisted with the paperwork necessary to legally enter the country.

Very often, universities recruit native speakers of English to work as language assistants. The paperwork for this is much easier, since these programmes are aimed at foreign students. The programmes only last for a year at a time and you will have to find another post once the academic year has ended.

If you contemplate teaching abroad, you will be spoilt for choice, whether you’re considering a state school, a private school, a religious school or an independent academy. You can explore an entirely different education system, while you learn about a new language and culture.

If being in the classroom in good old SA is getting to you, teaching overseas may be just what you need to try!