Thank you everyone, this has been really helpful

I'm happy enough at my current job, given that no place is perfect. The salary is top tier, however the benefits are not. There is a school in my city that is at the absolute top internationally, that I feel I am qualified to be seriously considered for. My contract at my current school is up in June.

What's everyone's best advice on how to navigate this in the most professional way possible? My SA account is already reactivated so they know that I'm looking, although they believe it is overseas.

What about this idea for this year:

classroom teaching of some kind, however he can swing it + MA provisional credential + an IB training course? And obviously constantly trying to level up from there. The good thing about BKK is there are so many IB schools here.

Thanks for weighing in, SJ. Absolutely, the plan would be to market ourselves as a teaching couple. My profile is strong, even though my field is pretty saturated, and I generated a lot of interest last search, even though my search was quite small and I had two dependents. So we'll see. We're just cognizant that aiming in the near future for top tier as a couple might not be possible, and it might be better to have me continue at upper schools and him and a lower, rather than both of us settle for lower, if that makes sense.

Right, so he's been considering this for a few years, and is currently doing observations in several schools. I'm trying to play the role of almost discouraging him, basically making sure he knows that it will be hard for many years, he'll need to network and make his career happen on his own, he may be working in bottom of the barrel schools, and he will need to have a driving force that makes it worth it for him in the bad days/months/years.

In terms of getting the more technical academic English he needs, I'm not sure if there is a way for him to do this outside of just experiencing it for himself in his first school. But it is true that at the moment, French seems like the more viable option.

Psy, thanks for adding your detailed and considered opinion. It confirms a lot of things I've been feeling in my gut. There really are not a lot of good options at this point, and teaching is only a survivable profession if there is a solid passion and devotion there. We've all found ourselves in schools/years where we would have given up if not for this driving force.

The decision is completely his to make. I will continue to reinforce that if this does work, he will need to spend a lot of time, maybe all his time, in language schools or very low tier ISs, and all the day to day misery that this can entail. Observing at my school paints a very different picture indeed of what it can be like and again, I'm here after 15 solid years.

Would welcome any other opinions.

Thank you, Psy.

My whole career has been in international elementary, so my knowledge of upper level credentialing is really limited. My understanding (possibly wrong) is that it's possible to get credentialed in different areas at the upper level by taking multiple Praxis tests. Of course no amount of credentialing equals any amount of experience, which is why we getting his foot on that initial rung and into the classroom will be important. I'll look into getting him in at my school, but not sure it's possible given reasons I'd rather not get into. Failing this, at least Teach Now gives him the mentorship, in addition to the pedagogy and educational theory that he will need. As much as we'd love to save 6k, we don't know if it's the right choice with his profile. That said, will definitely look into the MA credential and mock recruiting as a short term option.

In terms of what he would like to do, he feels the most confident pursuing teaching French, but doesn't want to limit himself or his marketability. Economics and history is a stretch, but with his background, perhaps lower level math and media studies? We figured that more certs would make him more marketable, but are willing to be corrected on this.

We figure we'd also face a possibility of eventually being hired in the same city, different schools, either due to lack of available jobs or our differences in profile/experience. Thinking of ultimately looking to francophone countries (Belgium in particular) that has a great school I could aim for, and some lesser ones for him, as well as backup for me. This would be in a few years after he gets more experience here in BKK.

What else should we be keeping in mind?

Anyone familiar with my posts on this forum will have seen that this past year we have been looking at all the possibilities for our future as a family. Here's the current thinking and rundown:

I am a Pre-K-5 classroom teacher with 15 years of experience in international schools. Currently teaching at a Tier 1/2 in Bangkok.

Husband is seriously thinking of switching careers to teaching, upper grades, and doing the Teach Now certification. Right now we are doing research and he is observing in classrooms.

Husband is a French citizen, functionally fluent in English but not at the academic level, which might prove problematic for editing/correcting papers in English, etc.

He has two masters, one in Journalism and an MBA. Are we too optimistic in thinking he has broad potential content areas given his background? We are cognizant of the fact that he would be handicapped by not being a native speaker. He also knows that French would be a clear path that would make sense, so we'd be interested in suggestions for how to increase his qualifications in this content area beyond just being a native speaker.

Obviously, content area knowledge is an important start, but far from everything. Our plan, if he gets certified, is to stay in Asia for a few more years so he can get experience, ideally in IB, and then aim for a mid to top tier school in Europe. Obviously the safer financial choice is staying in Asia longer than this, but we would like to be closer to family and live an overall European lifestyle, if possible. We have two young children.

We would love to hear any advice on what we should be taking into consideration at this point, given our situation, be it additional qualifications or experiences my husband should look in to, and how marketable we might be when we eventually get him past NQT status. Journalism is proving an impossible field, so we're hoping that all possible futures are at least sunnier than what we are looking at now.

TIA

Thailand - no

It's not consistent in Canada, it seems

https://educ.queensu.ca/PME

Thank you, everyone. Friend is actually Canadian and it's offered in Canada, if that changes anything.

Asking for a friend - is this considered an actual Masters like an M.Ed? Do schools generally accept it on par with the traditional one? She asked me this question and I had no idea, since I'd never heard of it.

Too true, unfortunately. You'll find a recent thread on Paris on the paid side of this site.

So my current principal, who is new to the school and new to the role, is filling out a Search reference for me and asked for my input on the "area to improve" section. Would be interested to hear what you have all put for another or would put for yourself on this? I'm thinking the safest bet would be to pick a PD area that I haven't covered yet, since it doesn't make it as personal. Interested to hear thoughts.

@sid

Yes, this.