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Permalink Reply by David Allen on May 19, 2012 at 2:33pm

Hi, Mandy:

For some reason, I could not read or find all of the original posting you put here.  However, I am interested in finding out more about teaching music abroad.  Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

My direct e-mail is allend407@gmail.com

Thank you for your time.

David Allen

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Permalink Reply by Mandy Hollingshead on May 20, 2012 at 12:48pm

Hi David (and others who are interested),

The international teaching circuit is really fun, extremely educational (you never know how narrow minded you are until you teach outside of your culture!) and can be totally unstable. There is no tenure, contracts are a 1-3 year basis, and schools may or may not renew you at the end of that time. Unless a school is horrible, most teachers stay in one place for 3-5 years, and then go on a new adventure. Pay will vary depending on the host country, your experience, and your school.

In the fall, get your CV and portfolio together. Look into countries that you'd want to work in, as well as which recruiters you might want to go with (more on that later).

The recruiting fairs happen between December and February, this is when 90% of the hiring happens. Interviews are generally 45-60 mintues long, and cover everything from your teaching practices to your social life. Although it may seem intrusive, in an International teaching culture, you can be living in the same street as all of your colleagues. This means that you live together, work together and play together. The admin will try to get people who they think will fit in to the culture best as well. Don't be offended if they think you won't fit in. They know the host culture better than you do. For example, the culture I work for is rather racist against certain other cultures. Because of this, our admin will not hire people from that culture, because they won't be able to easily gain the respect of their students. It's like putting the teacher into an almost guarantee fail situation. 

For recruitment fairs, you want to sign up with one or two of the big companies. 

Search Associates is one highly recommended http://www.searchassociates.com/

CIS http://www.cois.org/index.cfm

ISS (International School Services) http://www.iss.edu/

TIE has many postings http://www.tieonline.com/?CFID=226929&CFTOKEN=35502192

TES is mostly UK based, but does have some postings outside the UK http://www.tes.co.uk/

ECIS http://www.ecis.org/

You also want to look at the different curriculums that are out there, and familiarise yourself with them. 

International Baccalaureate Program http://www.ibo.org/

Also various curriculums out of the USA, Canada, UK (GCSE, A levels) and Australia. 

There's tons more that I can tell you, but don't want to overwhelm you (or anyone else) with too much info. Post your questions here, and I'll answer them as best I can!

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Permalink Reply by David Allen on May 20, 2012 at 8:18pm

Is it too late to submit application(s) for international jobs for the coming school year?  

I also looked into the Department of Defense web site and got some information there as well.  I know there are pros and cons to teaching jobs in foreign cultures, but I am up for a challenge and a change.  Are you specifically a music educator abroad??

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