SinaloaPaisa wrote:
> Any cheap online MA Ed. Leadership programs?

Well, I have found this one from the University of Portsmouth, which is the cheapest I could find in the UK: http://www.port.ac.uk/courses/education ... anagement/

2100 pounds/year (2 year course) 100% distance. I have applied for the Sep 2017 entrance... not sure I will definitely accept, but I am leaning towards yes.

I agree with Psyguy on this one.

The extra work is online and likely to be conducted in the privacy of the teachers own accommodation, so there is no way the school or host nation will ever know unless you open your mouth about it. Unlike tutoring locally, there is no chance of a conflict of interest or being 'caught in the act'.

Basically, you need to fully commit to leaving or staying when new contract time comes around, or ideally even before. For most of us there is little chance of having something lined up before leaving. There was only one time I had a head who let me extend the timeline for my contract decision until I had a new position confirmed. He really only allowed that because I was sealing the deal with my next school by late January - he wouldn't have waited much longer than that.

Once you have committed to leaving you just need to apply for new positions like there is no tomorrow and have a plan A, B and C. Plan C probably being to return home (or somewhere else you are confident of finding work) in case you really cant find anything at all.

Yes, it is different to how we would do it in our home countries. Back home I also wouldn't leave a job till I had a new one in the bag. This is the reality of international education though. I like to think that if you are good enough and not narrowing your search too much, that there is something out there for everyone.

Chiang Mai is the perfect place to break into international teaching. The wages up there are low, so you end up with newbies or pre-retirees. You don't see mid career international educators, as they can get much better money elsewhere.

I actually got my first job in Chiang Mai post qualification. I had 0 experience and was 23 years old.

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What are your teaching areas? I know of some positions coming vacant at one of the above schools (my old school).

My last contract was in Thailand. Baht 90k is pretty mediocre for Bangkok, but as PsyGuy suggests it is livable.

Where I disagree with him is about renting through an agent. Unless you get desperate and can't find anything suitable, the best method for Thailand is simply identifying the building you want to live in and then dropping in and asking if they have units available. If they do, you can often inspect on the spot. Within a day you can see 4-5 apartments and sign on the dotted line for the one you prefer. This approach cuts out the middle man, saving you some $$$. The only time I went with an agent was when looking for a standalone house.

If it is your first international contract you could do worse. Don't expect to save much, just do it for the experience and trade up to something better in a few years.

In my (limited) experience, it can be perfectly fine working for a 'for profit' school.

As long as they leave me alone to do my teaching and I get access to the resources I request, then I could care less about the ownership/governance of the school. The only problem is that it is hard to gauge this kind of thing before you arrive - you always get promised the earth during recruitment.

For example, at one school I was told I would be able to order a significant amount of new resources to help start a new program. When push came to shove though, this request was put on the back burner due to money/business constraints. It took a bit of a fight and half a year of running on empty (resources wise) before I could start getting what I needed to get the job done right.

In short, if you find the right fit school that lets you teach the way you want, it doesn't matter what tier it is, or if it is for profit.

steve416 wrote:
> My experience has been rates locked monthly or simply matched on the day of
> pay. The day of pay is in my opinion clearly better. If the rouble goes
> bottom up after your rates have been locked you could lose significantly.

I agree that day of pay would be better, but it is what it is. I either accepted the policy or didn't get the job. While there is definitely risk there is the chance of benefiting too.

My last rate fix was at 74RUB and it is now down to 71, and it has gone as low as 69 in the last few weeks. So I have been getting an extra 3-5RUB per Euro than the official rate. Hopefully I continue to get lucky, or at least lucky for long enough that it makes up for when it doesn't go my way ;)

Hi there shebestova, I accepted a position in Moscow last hiring season. Despite some people finding Eastern Europe as difficult as Western Europe, 2 out of the 5 interviews I had (from 70 applications) were from schools in EE (Kiev and Moscow). It is possible that I had an advantage though, as my wife is a native Russian speaker. Having a Russian speaker on the team also helps me to live more local and save some big $$$.

Russia is surprisingly a good place for kids. Russians really do love children and there are so many playgrounds and activities around geared for kids. I guess the biggest challenge is winter, as it gets bitterly cold (it is snowing here today as I type).

The currency situation actually works to the advantage of anyone paid in Euros or USD. It is Russian law (or so I am told) that salaries are paid in rouble, even though my yearly rate is quoted in Euros. In practice at my school, that means that exchange rates are locked in for three months at a time. Since the currency collapsed, a Euro is worth nearly twice as many rouble as before. The prices have certainly increased, but not by double, so the purchasing power of my salary is far greater than it would have been just a year or two ago. I came from Thailand before this job which is considered very cheap and food from the supermarket here in Russia is not actually much more expensive than Thailand at the new exchange rate.

You do need to be aware that Moscow is almost exclusively apartment living. Only multi millionaires bother with standalone houses anywhere within the two ring roads. Small apartments are affordable, but a family size apartment in a desirable location will be your single biggest expense.

Another example of cost of living improvements can be seen with apartment prices. Basically, the prices are the same in roubles as they were before the crisis, even though a Euro buys almost twice as many. My apartment costs 45000RUB = 625EUR. Before the crisis it was the same in rouble, but back them 45000RUB = approx. 1000EUR. Also, some Western companies have pulled their expats out, meaning that nice European style apartments in the centre that were pitched at the expat market have a low occupancy rate and their prices are depressed as a result.

As far as Anglo-American and hiring, I did go to their presentation at the Bangkok fair and they were very open about only hiring from a narrow range of nationalities. I know for sure Irish, Australian, NZ'ers and South Africans were not being considered, I honestly can't remember if they also included Canadians.

Anyway, I feel like I have just dumped a whole lot of information in a jumbled mess. I hope you find it useful. If you have any more questions feel free to post them here or message me.

I agree with sitka, focus on the teaching areas you enjoy most. While being employable needs to be a consideration, trying to chase the perfect combination sounds like a recipe for failure to me.

If the horror stories about employability for teachers within Australia are influencing you, just be aware that finding an international post is not as difficult. That may shock some people on here who doom and gloom about int. teaching prospects, but the fact is there is a glut of graduates in Australia right now and very few positions are available in the state system (who are far and away the largest employer). In fact, I think the most difficult part of your plan will be getting two solid years of experience in Australia! Since leaving Australia I worked first in SE Asia and am now in Eastern Europe as a Business/History teacher. I had to work a little harder during hiring season, but there are more than enough jobs to go around.

Short version: don't stress.