Good schools should have decent health insurance. When we were in Beijing, BJU was a fantastic hospital...my husband was diagnosed with cancer and received most of his surgery and chemo in Beijing, then transferred to finish chemo and have a stem cell transplant in the US (as we were switching schools and moving). Cost to us out of pocket for surgeries, pet scans, hospitalizations, chemo, and transplant? Less than $300USD. We would not have survived without the insurance from our China school and our new school.

My husband is history/social studies and I'm learning support--not a hot ticket combination. When he returned to the classroom after 15 years in admin, we received 3 offers at a job fair and are now moving on after 2 years in the classroom. Humanities, etc. is often seen as harder to get jobs in, but honestly, school have to hire a certain number of humanities teachers, just as they have to hire a certain number of math and science teachers. Be positive!

I currently work in Saudi, although not Jeddah. We had been NGO workers in Africa (basically on our own) and then at a Tier 1 school in Beijing. We ended up in Saudi so my husband could transition back to teaching from 15+ years in admin. We knew Saudi would be difficult, but for us, it was much harder than we had thought. We make fantastic money, but things are expensive. The prayer times cut into everything, so it can be hard to get things done. On Fridays, basically nothing it open until after 4 (and then there are 2 prayer times that cut into the evening). Saturdays are better, but things close from 11 through 4. With no night life, no movies, and so much down time on the weekends, it can be a big adjustment to doing very little (and when the weather gets really hot, it's hard to do things in the middle of the day). Jeddah does have beaches--and private ones where you can be more relaxed and uncovered, so that's a plus.

The tension here among expats is elevated, esp. since there have been specific calls against international school teachers and the three big areas where we're concentrated (Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dhahran) have been named. I did not feel that last year, but I definitely do this year, which did contribute to the decision to look for work elsewhere. If you have an opportunity to interview, it would be helpful to speak to some teachers in your particular situation and get their take on things. Some people love it for the money and put up with the lifestyle, others don't. Where I'm at, if you have small children, it's a pretty sweet place. For us with teens, it's been more difficult.

If you liked the school you're currently at and the only reason you moved on was that particular position, why not stay another year and go into next year's hiring season prepared? There are always jobs that keep coming up all spring, but so many of the good schools try to have their hiring done by the first week in February that you may have more choices if you wait. If your school is willing to take you back for another year, that would seem to mean no hard feelings about your current situation. Lesson learned about your current experience and move on next year well-prepared.

When we went to Melbourne/Bangkok in 2012 we had contacted a number of schools that did not reply to us before the fair, but then were more than willing to interview us (one school had put a note in our files when we had arrived) and we had very positive experiences (and came away with jobs). Who knows why they don't contact you before-hand. Job searches can make you crazy and second-guess yourself. If you've contacted those schools and told them you'll be there, make sure you arrive early on registration day and put your CV, etc., in their boxes right away. That gives them one more chance to remember you before you hit the tables.

BTW, I am in Saudi (our second year and we're leaving). The money is good, but make sure you are really willing to live in Saudi. We were prepared but it was more challenging than even we had expected.

International Schools Group (ISG) has schools in Jubail, Dammam, and Dhahran. They have a number of single men and women working there.

You may have already had "the chance." If the school has read your paperwork and seen you aren't yet certified, and then called a reference, that may be as far as it goes. There are a lot of applicants for each position--if you're competing with certified teachers, that will often carry more weight. All of us, no matter how certified or experienced, have had an application for a position that we knew we could do well stall out. Don't ever sell yourself short--always emphasize what you can do and have done--but be prepared that being uncertified will count against you in a number of schools. Good luck!

It does cost the schools quite a bit. We have 3 kids and the tuition bill for them at our former school was almost $100,000 per year. Multiply that by 15-20 teachers' kids and it's a sizable dent in a school that gets all its funding from tuition payments. Then add in all the other bennies...families are great hires, but if you can choose to limit your hiring to 1 child per teacher (2 children max) the school gets whatever stability benefits and saves $$.

International School Beijing will take teachers with 3 kids. One of our friends moved from there to HKIS and they have 3 kids as well.

My husband did this last year. He was a dean of students, then an assistant MS principal in the States, then took 3 years off to build a school in Tanzania, then did 5 years as communications director for a big Asian school. He's now back teaching. We had a couple schools say they were concerned about his time away in that he may not have been up-to-date with technology, etc. (which was a bigger concern than his lack of MYP or IB experience, really) and, although we were at one of the elite schools in Asia, it was pretty clear that we weren't going to slide into a similar school straightaway. We were really open to getting that experience and are now in the ME for a few years before moving up again. We had several offers on the table, so I think it's possible. You have to have a good reason for the transition, and hopefully have stayed up-to-date on curriculum, pedagogy, technology, etc. so you can talk about things that you may not have been actively using while in admin.

As a learning support teacher overseas, I would proceed with caution and very very good due diligence. Even the very best overseas teachers I've worked with often have very little experience with a range of disabilities because they don't see them that often and don't have a lot of strategies to deal with them. Big elite schools will have more resources on paper, but they are very rigorous from the early ages and may not allow curricular modifications. Many won't allow and don't provide aides specifically to work with a student. The overall pace of an international school classroom can be much quicker than in the States. Even in large cities, there may not be services (counseling, OT, PT, speech, etc.) that families relied on at home and those services are not provided by schools. Smaller schools may not have the same levels of staffing on paper, but they may have less rigorous programs, or different structures that allow a student will more needs to be successful--a traditional American curriculum vs. a British vs. PYP may also make a difference.

From experience, the biggest headaches and frustrations and pain are caused by parents who didn't fully disclose just what their child needed because they were worried their child would not be accepted. They were right, their child probably wouldn't have been, and once the child was in the school and really really struggling, it was so hard on everyone--parents, teachers, and child. Then they were often frustrated that the school did not provide the extra services that were mandated in the States. As the parent of a student with mild LD who struggles in school, we left an elite Tier 1 school with a big LS staff because in secondary the pressure and strain of keeping up were just too much. His ability to fit in and be successful were one of our top considerations in our job search, which is why we're now in the Middle East--which would not have been our list if we didn't have his needs to account for. We interviewed but would not sign until they reviewed all of our records and assured us that we could be satisfied at this new school.

Be very upfront and honest about your child's needs. If you end up somewhere that is not a good fit, it can be a nightmare.

The International School of Brussels (or Belgium) has a school-within-a-school program for students with disabilities. There is also a school under the umbrella of the Qatar Foundation that is a "special ed" school. I interviewed with them and was very interested because part of the work entailed going out to local schools and providing teacher training. In Beijing there are 2-3 programs that are not school-affiliated (i.e. private) that provide education and services for students with disabilities.

For the standard international schools, "learning support" denotes students with very mild issues and can encompass students who are behind for English-language issues, gaps due to moving a lot, or other issues that would not typically be addressed through special education back in the States. In general, I've found that very little curricular modification is given, and virtually none at the secondary level, meaning that students really do need to be able to meet the expectations of college-prep,rigorous schools with not a lot of support. I just left one of the elite tier 1 schools in Asia, and we had 10 learning support teachers, 9 counselors, a school psychologist, a speech pathologist, PLUS 7 ESOL teachers (from preK-grade 12) and we were pushing ourselves to widen the parameters for what we can do to help students succeed. I'm now at a definitely tier 2 school with a much smaller staff and student population, but the same issues abound with being able to identify and provide services appropriately within a pretty tight structure of expectations.

There are lots of jobs for special ed/learning support...I worked at an elite school in Beijing and we had a school psych, a speech clinician and 10 teachers for learning support (not including the ESOL teachers). I'm currently in Saudi at a school that says it doesn't cater to learning needs, but there are several us of here as well. It's not special ed. as in the States. IS schools just don't have the manpower to devote to high-needs students. A lot of the students I work with are behind because of moving, managing English and other languages, the curriculum is very rigorous, and very real learning disabilities. There are quite a few jobs out there, I certainly had no problems in applying for a number of great opportunities at good schools.

I am currently in Saudi working at an international school. There is a big switchover happening right now with "local hires" meaning people who were living here and then got jobs--it applies to both licensed teachers and support staff. I'm new this fall so I don't fully understand all the ramifications, but it has to with schools having to sponsor the employee, where before a person could be sponsored by their spouse's company. There has been a big verification process, some staff have switched their sponsorships, and some can't switch due to their spouse's company requirements and/or benefits. It's complicated, but that may be why a larger number of positions might show up in KSA.

At my former school, teachers have already been asked to file as definitely staying, definitely leaving, or tentative. If you list yourself as definitely leaving or tentative, the school posts your job...even the tentative ones, which may very well end up staying. They want to jump early and get as many jobs as they can filled before the fairs.

At my former school, teachers have already been asked to file as definitely staying, definitely leaving, or tentative. If you list yourself as definitely leaving or tentative, the school posts your job...even the tentative ones, which may very well end up staying. They want to jump early and get as many jobs as they can filled before the fairs.