British Teachers are Escaping to Work Abroad

Increasing numbers of British teachers are finding that they cannot find jobs in the UK and that there are better opportunities abroad

74,000 teachers from the UK are now teaching abroad and many more are heading that way thanks to the significant growth in international schools.

In the last year alone, over 500 new English-speaking international schools were opened across the globe, with most development happening in the likes of Dubai and elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates, in Qatar, Spain and in China, employing a total of 192,000 teachers.

And even with the present worldwide economic decline, the 2009-2010 recruitment wave is already proving to be the largest demand on the British teaching market ever.  If you’re a teacher based in the UK and you’re fed up with short-term contracts, job dissatisfaction or you just want to explore new horizons, have you ever thought about teaching abroad?

“Recruiters from most of the 5,000 international schools around the globe are looking for British teachers, as well as teachers from Australia and Canada,” says Andrew Wigford, director of international teacher recruitment specialists Teachers International Consultancy.  The reason why?  “Not only is English the language of choice for international schools wherever they may be in the world, but the skills of British teachers are particularly highly prized throughout the international school system.  Once you’ve taught for a few years in the UK, you can literally work anywhere in the world,” says Andrew.

Teaching Jobs in China

London teacher, Hannah Brunton is one example of a British teacher who has upped sticks and relocated her life and her skills overseas.  Having taught at Barrow Hill Junior School in London for three years, Hannah started teaching at the Harrow Primary School in Beijing last September and it was a move that she found surprisingly easy: “I first became interested in teaching in an international school in the November before I moved out to China,” she explains.  “I attended a seminar by Teachers International Consultancy to find out exactly what the possibilities were, never thinking that within a year I’d be facing such a thrilling change in my life.  I had no clue of the huge number of quality teaching opportunities available to me, all allowing me the chance to develop my skills as a teacher and to experience a different culture.  I decided I wanted to teach in a country beyond Europe and subsequently heard from TIC about the job in Beijing.  The chance to be teaching at a school with such an established reputation in education was far too good an opportunity for me to pass up.”

Teaching Jobs in Europe

For other teachers it is the solution to a shrinking jobs market in Britain.  Patricia Reynolds is a Scottish NQT currently teaching primary to 5, 6 and 7 year olds at Letterland International Primary School in Almere, just outside Amsterdam.  She started teaching there last October: “I did my training at St Martin’s College in Carlisle and I was quite naïve.  I thought I’d be able to work on the supply list in Scotland as an NQT but my name has been on three council lists since August and I haven’t had a single call.  It seems like there are no teaching jobs in Scotland at all.  I have three qualified Scottish teacher friends with full probation who are all working at Tesco because they can’t get jobs in education.

“Before I’d done my training I had taught English in Korea and so knew of the opportunities for teaching overseas.  So I thought that was a better option for me than to work outside education.  I searched on the internet and happened to come across the TIC (Teachers International Consultancy) website and filled in all my details.  It was very easy.  A few days later Andrew Wigford called me.  I told him I didn’t want a long term contract; I wanted a short term contract, somewhere close, in Europe so that if options opened up at home I could take them.  I didn’t think there was much chance of finding anything at all.  Within a week of talking with Andrew I was out in Holland!  It was a short term contract and perfect for what I wanted.  And it was close to home as well.  It’s far better than I expected.  There’s a good supportive team of teachers and, as I’m an NQT they are giving me the support I need as an NQT.  I’m being observed which is what I needed and in addition I’m picking up lots of new knowledge.  Working here is also very good for developing my international mindedness which I think will be very good on my CV.  I’m teaching children from several different countries and beginning to understand the different problems that these children face, especially those that have to keep moving around because of parents’ work.  It’s very good for building more of an understanding of children from all over the world and the issues that immigrant children face in school.  Absolutely no doubt that this will enhance my CV.

“I don’t think there will be jobs in Glasgow when this job ends so I expect to find something else in Holland which is fine.  I’m enjoying my work and my social life is good too.  It wasn’t hard, even when I first moved here, the other teachers really helped.  They’ve looked after me; it’s not been that difficult.”

An International Employment Opportunity of a Lifetime

A fixed term contract in an international school varies from one to three years.  British teachers in the international school system typically take two to six years out of the British system to work overseas, but for some it’s an opportunity which completely changes their life.  Physics teacher Jeff Burt, for example, left Sedgehill Secondary School in Catford 14 years ago along with his family to go and teach in Brent International School in Manila, the Philippines, intending to return to Britain after three years.  But they never looked back and Jeff has since taught in the British International School in Istanbul, Turkey and is now in Sri Lanka at the Overseas School of Colombo.  “We’ve had such memorable experiences in every place that I’ve worked and I have taught some fantastic students,” says Jeff.  “The whole international teaching experience has been amazing.  I’ve taught Australian and American style curriculum, IGCSE (International GSCE) and International Baccalaureate (IB); it’s incredibly good for your professional development.  As a family we’ve grown up with international life; it’s a very positive and rewarding experience.  It’s given our children a far more mature and compassionate outlook.”

For more information about teaching opportunities in international schools try the Teachers International Consultancy’s website.