Hi everyone,
I'm an American teacher. Is it even worth applying to teach at British schools?
Thanks!
Americans at British Schools?
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natalielenina
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2011 10:07 am
- Location: US
Until somebody with real experience offers some advice, all I can suggest is the following:
Go to the websites of any British schools you might be interested in and see if they have staff profiles online. If you notice there are Americans in the mix, then you have a chance at being considered. (I have done this to evaluate my chances of being hired as a newbie to international teaching and just to get a feel for the type of teacher they have on staff, i.e. how many years experience; advanced degrees; age etc.) Unfortunately, not very many schools will post staff profiles on their web page.
Another place to get some answers is the TES forum/ overseas teaching website. Many of the educators that frequent that forum appear to be British, so they might be able to give you some feedback.
Here's the link (hopefully it will work):
http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/64.aspx[/url]
Go to the websites of any British schools you might be interested in and see if they have staff profiles online. If you notice there are Americans in the mix, then you have a chance at being considered. (I have done this to evaluate my chances of being hired as a newbie to international teaching and just to get a feel for the type of teacher they have on staff, i.e. how many years experience; advanced degrees; age etc.) Unfortunately, not very many schools will post staff profiles on their web page.
Another place to get some answers is the TES forum/ overseas teaching website. Many of the educators that frequent that forum appear to be British, so they might be able to give you some feedback.
Here's the link (hopefully it will work):
http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/64.aspx[/url]
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lightstays
- Posts: 116
- Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:07 am
- Location: Americas
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.
Not really
Well depends on the school and the location. It happens on occasion but unless you have key stage or GCSE/IGCSE experience I doubt youd be taken seriously. Its kind of like not having IB experience, except their arent a lot of tier 2 British schools that will train someone. Again though the cost of applying (emailing a resume, etc) is really zero, just dont get frustrated if nothing happens. British teachers that would like to teach in an "American" school have the same issue.
Your best chance is to find a British school that offers IB as well (and hope they are desperate, because the UK has a lot of unemployed teachers as well), and after a couple years there pick up enough experience, you could leverage that at a full British school.
I like the idea of looking at the staff profile pages as well, sadly most schools dont put up much even if they do have teacher profiles. Usually you get a photo, name, and what subject grade they teach, and brits look a lot like americans (or I just cant tell the difference).
Your best chance is to find a British school that offers IB as well (and hope they are desperate, because the UK has a lot of unemployed teachers as well), and after a couple years there pick up enough experience, you could leverage that at a full British school.
I like the idea of looking at the staff profile pages as well, sadly most schools dont put up much even if they do have teacher profiles. Usually you get a photo, name, and what subject grade they teach, and brits look a lot like americans (or I just cant tell the difference).