Monkeys scampering on the school roof, holding art class in Red Square, an unscheduled visit by an elephant, and taking a class into the rainforest. These are just some of the everyday experiences of teachers working in international schools around the world.

European Teaching Jobs

Contrary to popular belief, it is not for young and single teachers only. Rudi Powell from Penarth, South Wales reached retirement before heading off first in Vienna and then in Rotterdam. ”How I wish that I had done the move early in my career. I would certainly do it again,” he says. Married couple Lorna and Kevin Gallagher were also able to enjoy the experience of teaching jobs abroad. They taught in Poland and South Korea. Now they are living in Italy where they work at the International School of Bologna.

Teaching Jobs Overseas

Many teachers take their whole families with them. A Physics teacher from London, Jeff Burt has resided and taught in Turkey, Sri Lanka and the Philippines together with his wife and two daughters. “As a family, we learned to deal with international life. Travelling with our young kids was also very easy. It has turned out to be both a rewarding and positive experience. Both our kids were able to have a very global, compassionate, and mature outlook in life.” Single parents can also attempt to try any teaching jobs abroad. “I knew I was interested in working in an international school. I bided my time for what I thought was the right time for my children,” says Janice Ireland who taught for twelve years in international schools in Cairo, Libya, Kuwait, and The Netherlands. ”During this time, my son was in university. My daughter came with me and did her A-levels in the same school where I worked and absolutely loved it! As a single working mother, I could not even begin to compare the differences to life back home. It has absolutely been a good thing for both me and my family. I highly recommend it.”

Andrew Wigford is another teacher who taught for several years in international schools.

He says, “Having teaching jobs abroad meant I get to work in a number of fantastic schools in Colombia, Austria, and Germany, and even travel to some amazing places.”

“We came to a decision to have a go at teaching overseas for a few years, but loved it so much that we kept working abroad for 16 years!

Our two children were both born during our time abroad and that was no problem at all. The truth is it’s given our whole family a sense of adventure, great confidence in travelling and a bigger perspective of the world.”

Working overseas, Andrew says that the only problem was finding a new job. “Angie and I and many of our work colleagues disliked the cattle-market style of the big recruitment fairs and when looking for a job by ourselves it was difficult to find out which schools were the most reputable and exactly what paperwork was required. What is terrifying is that there have been stories of teachers working abroad that eventually came home because they had been let down by schools that were both unaccredited and undependable. The personal service offered by recruitment consultancies is one reason why we prefer to transact with them.”

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