Interesting. I worked at an American school for the past six years, and there was always at least one person let go for rather innocuous reasons. I do think there is a rather tenuous relationship between the power that comes with leadership and the levels of unjustified intoxication that power can cause. In a state with a good union, it’s hard to let a teacher go. But in a private school overseas? Oh, the power! The POWER!

😂 That’s a whole lotta lousy schools.

SJ and TP have given you really good, solid advice and I'm not going to follow up on that in the least. I will say this: I, too, was an exhausted NYC public school teacher- six years at public middle schools in Brooklyn. I've worked at three international schools over the past decade, and it was like I died and went to heaven. You simply won't have the management issues and stresses that come with working in public schools, much less those in New York. I'm curious, though, why you are limiting your search to Europe. The world is really, really big and almost every country on this planet has an international school that is half-way decent. You are young. You don't have kids. Europe will be there when you are elderly. Taking a bit of more adventurous risk- South America, Asia, Africa- might be something that you would find really rewarding. And in a most cases, you'd be living like a king and banking more money than you can imagine. Trust me- after we left our 450 square foot apartment in Brooklyn and went overseas to our sprawling, marble-floored apartment, had a maid we paid very handsomely, yet was dirt-cheap, and saved enough money in two years to pay off our student loans- there was no turning back.

If you are stuck on Europe, I do think Shadowjack's advice about registering for Search is a good strategy. Who knows, you might land that dream job, but if you don't, come next fall, you'll be primed and ready. The world is your pedagogical oyster at this point. Embrace it.

I agree with many people here: get certified through a state and take two years to teach at a domestic high school. The ONLY reason I say this is because you could, very well, get a job at a Tier 3 or 2 school with your background and no experience at the high school level, and never actually become 'better' at your job. The domestic experience gives you the opportunity to hone your teaching chops, and then when you actually do go overseas you will feel like you have died and gone to pedagogical heaven. And with your background, and two years of domestic experience at a US high school, you'll be pretty darn desirable. Good luck either way!

The thing about NYCTF (which I did) is that you'll get two legit years of teaching experience, in a vastly dynamic school system, with the benefits that come with being a public school teacher in NYC. That being said, if you are at the wrong school (and you probably will be), it can be a physically and emotionally brutal experience. I do think, however, in the end it will make your CV look much more attractive to an entry-level IS than some of the other options, simply because you'll have some real experience under your belt. And you will undoubtably come out a better educator. It is very, very true: if you can work in that kind of environment, you'll go barn-busters in an IS. You'll feel like you've died and gone to heaven, LOL.

I do agree however, that getting into a good school with just an EAL license can be tricky. My wife's Master's is in TESL, and she's had to claw her way into the EAL departments at each of the school's we've worked in. So it might benefit you to get specialized in LS or elementary, get the in that way, and then switch departments once you get to the school you want.

mamava wrote:
> Our very first experience/trip/post out of the US was Tanzania with 3 kids, ages
> 3, 6, and 10. We weren't teachers in our jobs, but our kids went to the international
> school. The thing that saved us was our relationships with people that weren't
> teachers--we had lots of teacher friends (it was small tight community) but it was
> the relationships with people who had lived in TZ long long term that supported
> us. Africa is a beautiful amazing place, but it is also brutal and harsh. There
> were many times I thought about a car accident, an injury....something that would
> become life-threatening just because we didn't have access to top-notch health care.
> Having friendships with people who had raised kids and undergone serious situations
> gave us hope and support.
>
> Our kids roamed wild and free. They played outdoors all day. They interacted with
> multi-generational families at virtually all social events. They learned how to
> weather hurdles with strength and grace. More than any other place we've lived,
> they learned to live cheek to cheek with local cultures, with poverty, and with
> hardship--and learn how to live with joy I would not trade my 3 years with my kids
> there for anything, and it remains the best place of our lives, even with the things
> that happened. We have friends in Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, and South
> Africa who say the very same thing. It's not for everyone for sure, but it's a
> great place with chidlren.

Mamava said it all. Well put.

@ TeacherIan: I certainly get it, and I don't think you should be ashamed of just "settling", and that term takes on new meaning when you get offered a job with three dependents anyway. It's not "settling" if you are putting the needs of your family above all else, and ultimately that's what we do. You'll end up where you are supposed to be, and slowly climb up the ladder, I have no doubt. I think the easy answer is that singles and teaching couples with no kids are always going to get the jobs, but that's just that: the easy answer. My current director has an uncanny ability to hire people who fit within the ethos of the school, and support the community. And most of these people are teaching couples with young children. Why? Because we are more likely to stick around. So there are, in fact, schools that will look at you having a family as an advantage. It means you won't be two-and-out. (And your next school won't be two and out. It sounds like you've served your time, so to speak.) Much, much luck to you and your family. Keep us posted.

$30,000?! When I worked there, me and my wife were paid in BEADS. We were able to save my wife's salary, but then we had to use it all to pay off those pesky child soldiers. Harumph. First world problems, I guess!

No, really, though. Thanks guys for your sage advice. It's good to know there are such well-informed international educators in our global network. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with my therapist. I'm still dealing with the emotional aftershock of my wife's circumcision, and let me tell you, IT AIN'T EASY!

Full disclosure to the OP. Joe is right.

After four years of living in Cameroon, I still feel the phantom pain in my missing limb from that time I stepped on a landmine on the black sand beaches of Limbe, and I carry the scars from the throat-slashing I got walking home from the off-license in Yaounde. Luckily, they only escaped with a couple of dollars. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to pay for the medication I need to counteract the dysentery I got from the drinking water and the HIV I contracted from the most hideously ugly prostitute you will ever see on the planet.

Other than that, its a wicked cool place to work and live!

To follow up Joe's astute observations:

Uh. "High crime rates." Unfortunately this is true. Any country with this much economic disparity (both Cameroon- where I've lived- and Ethiopia, which has a great school, and I've had many colleagues who have worked there) is going to have petty crime out the wazoo. That being said, you just need to be smart. Like don't walk around with a bag at night.

"AK-47s available on every street corner." As much as I looked for one, it didn't matter what corner I was on. They just don't seem to be available. I suggest if you want easy access to guns, get a job in the States.

"Sky high cost of buying western products". Yes. (In the "white man stores".) Beer is cheap. Local food is in abundance and cheap. Vegetables and the best fruit you will ever eat in the world? Cheap.

"Terribly unattractive women." This is INSANE. Ethiopian women are stunning, and Cameroonians are fit as heck.

"High HIV rates". Not anymore. Plus wear a condom, for God's sake, if you need to cross that golden road to acculturation.

"Unexploded landmines." If you are talking about the potential of discovery hidden within the hearts of all of our students, then you are correct.

"Power outages". Yes.

"Unreliable Internet." Yes.

"Unsafe water." Don't drink it.

"The flights to leave the place cost a ton." Definitely in Cameroon. Addis has become a bit of an East African hub, so you can actually get some reasonable flights out of there.

If you have the spirit of adventure, and you want to live in some of the most stunning places on Earth, and teach polite, interesting and funny kids, I say go for it. If you want good Internet, cheap cereal, steady power supplies, and water you can drink straight from the tap, you might want to consider Colorado.

I have a friend who works in Abu Dhabi and she goes kite-surfing almost everyday after school. So there's that, I suppose.

One nice thing about working where you can save money- Asia- versus where you can't- W. Europe- is the fact that you can throat-punch your debt for a couple of years and the next thing you know, you're unshackled from any monthly payments. It is a glorious feeling. My wife and I were completely out of debt early into the third year of our IT experience. When we started in IT, after several years of teaching in public schools in the States, I was living under the assumption that my grave would be sprinkled in the confetti of over-due notices. As it is, we have a new lease on our financial lives.

And Western Europe can wait. If you're in your twenties/thirties and you have a sense of adventure, I think it's better taking the road less paved, if you will. Do India. Do Africa. Do the spots that won't be so forgiving. I can travel in Western Europe when I'm retired, where I can quickly get to a good hospital if I break a hip or need to re-up my nitroglycerine pills. In the meantime, however, I'll take my chances with the invigorating "insanity" of the non-Western world.

As for preps, I had six my first couple of years and it was border-line ridiculous. But it was a small, intimate school and there was the fair assumption on my director's part that we were doing the best we could. It was frustrating pedagogically because there were the inevitable sacrifices in terms of quality of instruction. ("Sorry for the worksheet, Grade 8 social studies, but I was concentrating on the other FIVE CLASSES I WAS PLANNING FOR.") In terms of pressure, though, I think I felt less there than I have at schools where I've only had two preps.

Anyways, good luck on your adventure! Throat punch your debt! Don't give a flying *@$# about IB/AP and so on! And give the kids 100%!

@ PsyGuy. Cape Town and Jo'burg are hardly the barometer by which someone should compare the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, LOL. I stand by my initial response.

It won't hurt. My wife did it and it made no difference. In fact, I think it actually helped!

When one talks of the "cost of living" in Africa, it is all relative. Yes, it's expensive to get Western things, because they are hard to get here. Duh. So a box of cereal will cost more here than Europe. Those blueberries you love so much? Cost prohibitive. So this is what you do: you don't buy that stuff. Fruits and vegetables are available in abundance, and for cheap. If you eat and drink locally- which you will do from time to time- it is cheap. We've been able to save at least one salary at each school we've worked at. Again it is relative. It isn't a consumer society- there are no malls, no gadgets, nothing to really spend your money on. So you won't go shopping, you won't go to the movies, you won't do whatever it is people do in places that have places to spend disposable income on because most Africans don't have disposable income.

Letting the fear of the 'cost of living' in Africa deter you from working in this glorious, fascinating continent would be a shame. You'll never experience anything like it, and yes- you will still save money. So if you have a chance, do it! You won't regret it.