I'm American and got hired at a British school this fall. Granted, the school was in a pinch and needed someone fast so it was a me or no one situation. So far so good. There are a handful of Americans here though the staff is overwhelmingly British. I think the more significant concern is shifting from an American curriculum to a Key Stage/IGCSE curriculum as the differences can be significant depending on what you teach.

Would be interested in reading your blogs but nothing comes up under "Beemarcus."

The packages are indeed insane.

Yes, we are seeing bases close in various of "theatres of operation" but, remember, this is multipolar world that is getting more so. Even with the Pentagon slashing its budget, I think new bases/schools will continue to expand in some regions and open up in others.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/world ... es.html?hp

I'm not here to support psyguy necessarily--his grammar is often appalling--but I'm not sure we have a breach of confidentiality here. Teaching is not governed by the same codes as, say, psychotherapy, in which a patient can expect complete trust and non-disclosure to protect what they say to a therapist as long as their statements do not imply legal breaches. Psyguy has anonymously explained a situation involving his expulsion of a student. He does not mention who, when, where, and very little of the how and why. We have no way of proving the veracity of his account. It could just as easily be fiction as a scenario that really happened, and, in light of the more overt disclosures of confidential material in ISR's fora and blog threads, this doesn't strike me as so egregious.

I'd be curious to read where various licensing boards would come down on this scenario.

Are we serious?

Is the sky blue?

Is the pope Catholic?

Of course there is an old boy network in international schools. Any institution, or group of institutions, that caters to an international elite and whose implicit, or often explicit, mandate is to assist them in getting the educational credentials that will help them succeed in holding their iron grip on power and money definitely has a very strong referral network in place to make sure the right teachers are getting the right jobs. This is simply how the world works in 2011.

It's no conspiracy either--and if we take the time, Psyguy, to read each other's posts closely, it would be clear that the OP is in no way alluding to (or alleviating to) a conspiracy.

As with most schools, it's your years of experience that will qualify you for a position, not your certification or endorsement alone.

Foreign languages can be tricky in that the first-tier is's--which is to say the ones you would be qualified for by your years of experience, and depending on the region, the only ones you should bother with--often insist on hiring native speakers. This is especially true in Europe and la francophonie. However, since you are looking as a couple, a school could also hire your husband and then work to accommodate you in your subject area(s). Best of luck!

You should weigh the school reviews here the same way you would weigh a review of anything. Approach them with a critical lens and do as much independent homework as possible to establish a broader perspective. That said, few people will go the lengths that they do on this site to expose what they see as the truth about a school unless they really mean it.

Thanks all for the info.

Teach Away, like a shocking number of recruiting agencies for international teaching positions--anyone heard of Ameson?--sounds like it's little more than a scam. At best, an exercise in extremely false advertising.

Why is it that in any other field these kinds of operations would be shut down by some kind of governmental oversight but in education it's still the Wild West?

They are offering up to 6000 USD/month to instruct Grade 12 English (not ESL) in the UAE. I've heard mixed things about UAE placements outside of a few good int schools. Anyone familiar with these guys?

Thanks, psyguy, yeah I discovered most of this during four years living in Spain when I was teaching ESL. But ESL is just not my gig now that I have my Master's in English Ed. And yes, I'm doubly disadvantaged as an American w/o a Schengen visa or means to one. I speak Spanish and my Catalan and Swedish aren't bad. I mentioned Germany just because I know salaries would be better there...

For those of us who failed to secure a position with an international school this year, I was wondering about the feasibility of finding employment directly with public system schools. Does Germany, for example, have any listings for secondary English teachers? Are these jobs usually snapped up by English-fluent locals? Is there any entry point for experienced and certified American teachers in English (NOT ESL) that is not through the fairs, etc?

I have tried Eures but it is very un-user friendly...

Thanks!