Expert: Debba Robinson - 5/6/2008

Question
Debba,
I am a third year bilingual pre-kindergarten teacher in Texas. I am half-way through my M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, and when I finish in a year I hope to teach abroad at an international school.  I attended international school myself and I am pretty open about location, at least for this first assignment.  Do you have advice for beginning to look for openings?  Do you recommend the recruitment firms and fairs?

Answer
Dear Tracy,

CONGRATULATIONS!  How exciting!  I'm going to begin by strongly encouraging you to become certified in a broader range.  It generally requires taking one or two more classes or doing some more student teaching.  But, I worry that if you are pre-school only that you will not be as successful in your overseas job search.  Having a Pre-K through grade 3 would be adequate.  Having an elementary certificate (K-8 or similar) would be best.

Next, I encourage you to contact any variety of the hiring organizations:  Search Associates, International Schools Services, University of Northern Iowa, Carney & Sandoe ... follow their directives and you will be well on your way to working internationally.  Because you already have lived overseas, you will actually be someone who will stand out, even if you have no experience teaching.  I strongly urge these organizations for people who want broad exposure.

Many schools require 2 years of experience, although I have seen that trend change a bit in recent years because of the shortage of teachers.  Having your M.Ed will be a plus.

Have you thought of doing your student teaching internationally?  Many universities will help you arrange it - if you have a preference of country, now would be a good time to begin setting something like that up.

I encourage you to subscribe to The International Educator (TIE) ... newspaper.  There are lists of openings in schools around the world.  You can write to schools directly and actually be considered for a position without going through a job fair.

Good luck!

Debba

I hope this helps.