I haven't experienced exactly what you describe, but the closest has been interviews where the questions asked quickly revealed a mismatch between my teaching philosophy and the vision the interviewer had for their school. In particular, there was an overly mechanistic view to assessment and learning that in my view interpreted formative processes in behavioristic ways.

Even though I knew this school wouldn't be my top choice, I tried to use it as an opportunity to learn more about their perspective and their school. Throughout my time overseas I have noticed that all of the international educators (teachers and admin) who I truly admire maintain the utmost integrity and treat others with respect, even at times when it maybe isn't deserved. While there are loads of international schools out there, there are only a small handful of ones that I want to work for. Each time I apply for new posting it amazes me how interconnected these schools are with informal networks.

No, you're not asking too much.

Your post reminded me of the first time I went overseas to teach. It was also a situation where I had to figure out everything on my own and I arrived with only a duffle bag of clothes and no plans or ideas for how I would get set up. I quickly reached panic mode and felt entirely overwhelmed by the new setting and culture and the feeling of isolation from my support networks back home. What's strange is that I now look back fondly on those first few weeks where everything was a new experience.

I second the previous advice on limiting booze intake and trying to get some exercise to clear your mind. Both things have always been helpful for me when getting started at a new post.
Another thought would be to ask your contact point at the school to put you in touch with other expat teachers there who might be able to offer suggestions of how they went about finding housing.

Good luck!

Pretty much agree with everything @walter mentioned. A couple of the most extraordinary and exciting moments I can remember have been walking into a fair and knowing that I could be going almost anywhere in the world in the next few days time.

I'm sure there are admin out there that see the fairs purely as a boondoggle and are the sinister beings psyguy describes. But in top tier schools, that hasn't been my experience. The admin I've worked for have had the utmost levels of integrity. Even if I didn't agree with their decisions, or even aspects of their vision at times, they were in education for the right reasons and there was a mutual respect that framed our relationship. I've met admin during interviews that don't match that description, and those are schools I've chosen not to work for.

Not something you asked about, but something I'd strongly suggest is attending the Cambridge fair rather than SF.

By the time the west coast fairs role around, usually a substantial majority of the desirable jobs are gone. Bumping up to the Cambridge fair can help a lot with that.

Good luck!

A simple equal comparison is to look at the Bangkok fairs for both agencies. Over the last couple of years, there has been no contest - Search has a greater number of top tier schools attending. That's all I really care about. The fair that has a greater number of schools I would want a job at is the fair that I am going to attend. Now, if you're at a different point in your career and you just want an overseas job and need a foot in the door, maybe ISS has pluses. I haven't bothered to count the total number of schools attending each fair.

Finally, this "boutique" nonsense is hilarious. From the Oxford dictionary:
boutique
NOUN
1.A small shop selling fashionable clothes or accessories.
Example sentencesSynonyms
2.often as modifier A business or establishment that is small and sophisticated or fashionable.
‘California's boutique wineries’

Ummmmm, I've attended 4 ISS fairs over my career. I've always gotten a job and been happy with the experience. But was it a "boutique" experience in any way? Nope. I would think that a boutique experience would be one where the agency and a representative in charge of my case who took even a minimal amount of time to offer suggestions and speak on my behalf. I never got that at ISS, but I know that's at least part of what Search tries to do. Never attended a Search fair, so I can't say how successfully they execute the concept.

Of course, you can twist the meaning of boutique to mean many things. Perhaps you mean a fair where there aren't as many schools so the teachers attending the fair get more attention? Again, this wasn't my experience at past ISS fairs, but perhaps this has changed as more and more of the best schools choose to only attend the Search fairs. I'm saying that last point based off of the Bangkok fair, I'm not sure if this trend holds true for fairs in other locations.

People who don't work to advance and develop as professionals. As such, they grow stale, entitled, and generally grumpy during extended/permanent stays at one school location. Due to longevity, they often are making the most money of teachers at the school, yet they also manage to complain the most, and sometimes don't even seem to really enjoy working with kids anymore. They've stopped reflecting and critically examining their own practices to look for ways to improve.

I've been overseas for over a decade now, and I've been fortunate enough to work at some great schools. In my dealings with quality directors and principals, there is one single trait that counts more than any other in international education: integrity.

You might save what, a couple (few?) hundred bucks by trying to find some workaround to not enrol your partner in SA? But at the end of the day, you're not being 100% honest through the process. I'm not passing judgement, I've certainly cut corners at times in my life. My experience with quality administrators at top tier schools has been that those sorts of behaviors are blaring red flags. In international education where we aren't all from the same town where we know each other's families, personal integrity takes on a heightened importance.

Of course, you can justify the workaround with the fact that Search Assoc. are jerks, or that they charge too much, or that many admin lack integrity themselves, and all of that. Whatever. Put yourself in the shoes of the type of admin that you want to work for at the type of school that you've set as an end goal. Would you want to hire someone who hasn't even been honest with the simple Search sign-up process?

Fine Dude, thanks for sharing that info. To your points about schools having a better mix of local students, I wonder if somewhere like TAS that has a high population of local students will in fact be in a better place moving into economic downturns, and for that matter, if they've been insulated from past downturns.

Not sure on Brexit, but it seems that a lot will depend on the negotiations that take place over the next two years between the UK and the EU.

On a related note to the two previous ideas, I've asked a number of friends at top tier schools in Western Europe how the 2008 downturn affected their schools. For the most part, enrolment at these schools went up and waiting lists grew as corporations withdrew employees from overseas hubs to bring them back to main hubs/home bases in W.E.

fine dude wrote:
> Well, the waves are being felt at the top school in Bangkok suburbs and
> even teachers were let go. Same with some big schools in China.
> International schools in any major export-oriented country with a large
> expat student population often feel the pinch during a severe downturn. May
> be schools should have a better mix of local students to offset these
> shocks. Would be interesting to see how fast Singapore recovers.
>
> I also wonder how Brexit will impact international schools in Europe. Some
> in Paris and Amsterdam might even benefit overall.

Interesting post. I wonder to what degree enrolment at international schools serves as a proxy indicator for global economies.
I'd heard that Dubai's economy has had troubling signs of stalling, but this is the first from Singapore. I hesitate to read too much into one lower tier school letting go of teachers, given that school's somewhat dubious history. Then again, maybe that school's enrolment serves as a canary in the coal mine of sorts.

On the hybrid side, check out Bath and Durham in the UK. Both rank high on the UK tables, and they offer intensive summer programs with course work then completed remotely over the school year.

University of Minnesota also has a similar program, I believe.

Not a ton of advice for you, but check the ECIS website. I know that they have a distance teaching credential program that they (co?)sponsor. Good luck!

If it's a well known Tier 1 school the LOI is binding. I've had two well known schools I worked at where the actual contract didn't come until a significant amount of time after the LOI.

As I've mentioned before, I've been an ISS lifer. But when looking at the BKK fairs of the last two years, ISS is clearly the inferior fair if you are looking to move to a top tier school in Asia. It's not even close. And am I crazy, or did ISS drop their east coast fair and now Search Cambridge is the only show in town?

In terms of what these agencies offer, I would advocate for keeping a realistic view. They offer you the venue where you might get your foot in the door with a future employer. That's no small thing, especially if you are just getting into overseas teaching and don't have any sort of network within the international schools community. That opportunity is what you make of it.

I've always been a bigger fan of Puxi. In Pudong I could never get over the huge, impersonal city blocks. It also felt sterile, probably because of the newness of it all. I've you're a person who likes exploring cities by wandering the streets and seeing where it takes you, Puxi is amazing.

A few thoughts:

-Aside from the obvious raise in salary which will recoup the tuition costs fairly quickly (if you keep costs reasonable), I've found one of the biggest benefits to be the doors that having postgraduate degrees opens up. Teachers who are themselves lifelong learners tend to be good teachers, and I have found in job searches that this is something that quality heads of school consider.

-There are a good number of universities in the UK and US that offer postgraduate degrees through intensive summer sessions. It's worth researching into these, as this allows you to continue working full time while also avoiding the online degree. If you actually want to get something out of your program, as opposed to just getting it over with and having the degree, this is worth considering. In the postgrad programs I have done, I've found having an in-person cohort invaluable in developing my own understandings. There might be online programs that manage to replicate this, but that hasn't been my experience from the couple of courses that I've taken online.

-I get the idea of choosing a degree that is going to open another professional route (ie: Ed. Leadership to get an admin credential). There is something to be said about being practical. But similar to my initial point, I think there is also something to be said for following your passions. What are you interested in? What aspects of education are exciting to you? These are the strands you should be following as you look to higher education. Some of the best advice I ever received from a professor was, "Don't get good at doing something that you don't love." I'm a big believer that if you follow your passions with dedication and professionalism then the money side of things will usually work out alright. Again, the best heads of schools/principals I have worked for had a knack for identifying and selecting those that loved what they were doing with a genuine passion.