It all completely depends on the type of principle / headteacher there. Some old-fashioned types may like it but it's more likely that it will just be filed by the receptionist in the same box as the other emailed ones (The head may not even know that hand-delivered it.) Plus, in some schools coming in unannounced and wanting to hand a CV in may actually inconvenience someone. You're unlikely to be let past the main gate (if there is one) and so may have to be buzzed through after the receptionist has been called etc etc. I wouldn't bother.

In a UK state school you would have to do a PGCE yes. In fact even in private schools I can't imagine they would take unqualified teachers.

It's not going to replace face to face classroom teaching any time soon. Firstly all of your lessons would have to be pretty much lecture based as any physical demonstrations which involved moving around the classroom / allowing students to touch something / use specialist equipment would be out of the window. The lessons would only really cater for a specific learning style.

More importantly though is engagement. Students who didn't want to work (which are in huge numbers in some countries such as the UK) just wouldn't, and there would be little motivation for them to change their attitude as there is a massive detachment between teacher and student. How exactly would you implement classroom management?

Yelp is a good resource for reviews, but we certainly wouldn't award a hotel 5* status based on its Yelp reviews in the same way as a bunch of people saying a school is good doesn't give it a tier 1 status.

The reason these tier statuses should be taken with a pinch of salt is they are given by people who have haven't been in all schools and judged all schools carefully against a set list of quantifiable criteria. It's the equivalent of me saying a Toyota is a tier 2 car despite only ever having driven 4 brands of car. It's all relative and not even nearly scientific enough to be a good indicator of school quality.

"Tiers certainly exist....they aren't official"

Seems like a bit of a contradiction. I'd only agree that tiers genuinely existed if they were decided by an officially agreed body against a set of criteria and examined by this body regularly.

As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing as a tier 1, tier 2 or tier 3 school. These are just generic terms used by people to give some form of quantifiable classification to a school. You could be in a school that you think is a tier 1 school and someone else could see it as a tier 2 school.

You are much better off finding schools you are interested in/are advertising and asking around as well as looking at the package.

I work in a 'for-profit' school at the moment. I have no problems with it. If I need something, it's purchased and it's the polar opposite of a 'business environment'.

Even if they did all know of each other from teaching conferences it's unlikely that they contact each other every day to discuss the Maths teacher that reneged on their contract last week.

Independent schools might let you Skype, I can't imagine a situation where a state school would.

The world of international teaching isn't that small. You have to remember that 99% of people on here seem to be working in 1% of the world. People seem to think that the world is made up of the Middle East and a bit of the Far East. If you came from space and took your geographical knowledge from international teaching forums you would probably assume that Doha was some sort of global epicenter with a population of 3 billion.

Sure, international teachers talk on some scale, and if you're looking at moving to a neighboring country or a huge school in a major one then there's a chance the heads might know each-other and discuss you. However, in the real world it's unlikely that the head of the British International School of Lima has nightly Skype conversations with the Cambridge International School of Bratislava.

That said, the decent thing to do is honor the contract you signed.

Well I suppose it depends on where you are. If you're lucky enough to get a leafy suburb then that's fine but teach in one of the many 'disadvantaged areas' of the UK and it's a different story.

But, even if you do get one of the leafy suburbs, most of your time is still going to be spent making charts and graphs for SLT and filling in countless forms and reports. There's a reason over a quarter of new UK teachers leave after the first year. It's a soul crushing and poorly remunerated job.

State or private? State, awful! Kids who want nothing to do with education, heads who just about figure or league tables and constant paperwork just in case Ofsted visits. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Private, no idea.

As for living in the UK, the weather is terminally awful but it has all the benefits on a first world country.

Apologies if my post sounded harsh - obviously if you can't live on the lower salary then you have no choice. But missing out on the early stages of your child's life is a huge thing. I know someone who is in that situation at the moment, relying on Skype most of the time and it's truly miserable. You won't ever get this time back.

I don't understand the people who train hard to join a notoriously poorly paid profession and then go seeking money.

Obviously life-style, but if you're even asking whether you should miss out on your baby's growth for a couple of thousand dollars then maybe you're not that easily swayed.

Basically this thread amounts to "I haven't applied for any jobs, why aren't I getting any?"

It's strange that you're not being contacted at all so I would definitely check the resume/references. However, as already mentioned, many schools will not chase candidates. They will just put an add up and allow people to reply. It's a lot less effort and that way you know they at least want the job. If you genuinely want a job you need to start contacting schools/applying for advertised posts, not waiting for schools to 'headhunt' you.