Exactly, World Traveler! I learned to ignore Psychoguy years ago. He's dangerous for this forum because about half the "advice" he gives is accurate, the other half complete nonsense. He must be a lonely dude with a lot of time to spare.

My sincere congratulations! What an inspiring story for many here who have dependents. I loved how you took a chance and beat the odds. Well done!

Hi Bananas,

This is the chronology of my "hiring history", from working around the globe at five international schools:

1st international position: Hired in May of the previous school year (via TieOnline, phone interviews)

2nd international position: Hired in November of the previous school year (via direct correspondence with school, phone interviews)

3rd international position: Hired in February of previous year (ISS Boston fair)

4th international position: Hired in January of previous year (via TieOnline, Skype interviews)

5th international position: Hired in December of previous yeat (via direct correspondence with school, phone interviews)

I've heard really good things about Wendy McArthur, she's the Director there; that she's approachable, fair, and isn't a top-down leader. She was in Belgrade years ago. Knightsbridge Panama is located on the grounds of the old US Howard Airforce Base, now called Panama Pacifico. This is outside Panama City so you'll have a bit of a commute if you want to live in the city where everything is happening. Knightsbridge is a chain school with locations I think in England, Colombia, and somewhere else I can't recall- Overall, seems like a decent place to work- I'd be curious about salary, benefits, and housing.

Take a look at the CEESA schools: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_an ... ssociation

For the top schools in this conference, the competition is fierce to land a job and teachers tend to stick around because the pay and benefits are good, cost of living lower than Western Europe, and the quality of life is fantastic. Arguably, these top schools are: International School of Prague, Anglo-American School of Moscow, American International School of Budapest, American International School of Vienna, and the American School of Warsaw.

Slightly below these schools, but still solid choices- American International School of Bucharest, The Anglo-American School of Sofia, and International School of Belgrade.

Then, the rest of the schools.

I would personally stay away from QSI schools, unless you are religious and/or perhaps are just trying to break into the international scene.

Agree with the other posters. JIS has been one of the best internationals schools in the world, bar none, for many years. From everything I've read, the allegations against the teachers are probably false, brought about by a combination of opportunist parents (who are suing the school) and some xenophobia in the community. With your young kids, you will be hard pressed to find a better education for them internationally; however, with 3 dependents, it won't be easy for you.

Why would WASC revoke the accreditation of JIS?? That would make no sense. JIS is standing by its' teachers and aggressively defending them because it's a quality school that believes in their teacher's innocence. Way to bring your pathological campaign against WASC into a thread that has NOTHING to do with WASC, Gladly!

This is absolutely normal for the vast majority of international schools. Most teachers have to give notice whether they are returning anywhere from October to January, depending on the school. Most of the job fairs are in February so most people are in the same boat as you. You always take that chance when moving international schools and you need to have confidence and faith you will land an adequate job.

Getting worse for JIS. Another police report filed and the police ask for a delay in the deportations of 2 of the teachers so that they can be questioned.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014 ... abuse.html

gibwise wrote:
> You will probably find the schools that you want to work at will require
> a teaching qualification. (the big ones because they can afford to demand it, the
> small ones because they will want the flexibility to ask you to teach a class if
> needed).

Again, this is nonsense. I know from personal experience that the vast majority quality international schools do not require teaching certification or require Counselors to "teach a class" beyond non-graded, social-emotional type topics (think character education, advisory, bullying-prevention, etc). Of course, there are exceptions, but these are usually schools you would best avoid anyway. The big schools that can, as you claim, "afford to demand" it simply want the best Counselor they can find and are actually LESS likely to require a Counselor to "teach a class" because they can afford to hire a certified teacher to "teach the class". Moreover, any school that requires Counselors to teach a graded class while providing social-emotional counseling is creating what is called a "dual relationship" between students and Counselor. It's usually the poorly-staffed, smaller, for-profit schools who look to combine Counselor and teaching positions. It's not what's best for kids but instead, an effort to save a buck. Like I said before, it certainly doesn't hurt to have teacher certification and/or experience, since it can help you empathize with teachers more and perhaps give you more confidence teaching those social-emotional topics in classrooms; however, it is hardly required.

Getting back to your original question- you don't seem to be interested in becoming a teacher and unless you don't mind taking an extra year or two becoming a certified teacher, I wouldn't bother seeking it. Just get into a Master's of School Counseling program, then earn your state certification as a School Counselor, seek out your first School Counselor position, do a good job there, and then you'll be set to go.

Saudi Aramco Schools. If your single, it could be a boring post but you'll save a lot of cash.

I don't fully agree with Shadowjack on this one. You do not need a teaching certificate to be an international school counselor/ college counselor / or even a school psychologist and the vast majority with whom I have worked don't have a teaching certificate. And I don't believe it even makes you more competitive in terms of getting a job. Those counselors/psychologists that do have teaching certificates, usually started out as a teacher and then went back to school later (although some states now require counselors to get a teaching certificate). Although it would probably help to have a teaching certificate and experience just from the standpoint of empathizing more with teachers in the classroom, it is not necessary.

Basically, there are three routes you could pursue:

A. School counselor at the ES, MS or HS level -this is mostly social-emotional counseling, individual and group, teaching a few classes based on social-emotional topics (could be more or less depending on the school), collaboration with teachers and Admin, parent workshops, transition programs for new and leaving students, families, etc.

Here are the standards for international school counseling programs (although most schools fall far below these standards from my experience): http://www.aassa.com/uploaded/Education ... ndbook.pdf

B. College counselor- pretty self-explanatory

C. School psychologist- Psychological assessment and the generation of interventions to help students with learning issues in the classroom

In terms of numbers of positions world wide, school counselors are the most numerous, followed by college counselors and a distant 3rd would be school psychologist positions (usually only at the large international schools).I know a few school psychologists who actually work in the role of school counselors since many schools appreciate the breadth of training School Psychologists receive (assessment, educational psychology, special needs, and general counseling).

If you already have a degree in Sociology, you are in good position to apply and be accepted into a Masters in School Counseling or Masters/Specialist Degree in School Psychology program. Please note that you will probably have to do 2 full years of course study plus an internship, which could be up to a year long. Some programs require a thesis. After you complete the program, internship and exam, you should be eligible for a state certificate in school counseling or school psychology. And then it would be a good idea to get at least 2 years experience in your home country to be attractive at a decent school. You could go abroad immediately but chances are you'll end up at a starter school (low pay, benefits, possibly undesirable location, etc.). Good luck!

AIS Budapest, Warsaw and Moscow are not "tier 2 schools" and are more consistent with AIS Prague. The others you could make the case for Tier 2 and even Tier 3 in terms of pay and professional atmosphere (particularly the one in Kiev).

Show some self-discipline and you'll be fine.

Dash- This is actually a decent starter school to begin your career. Definitely tier 3, but could be a solid place to start your career, learn your craft, and have a great social life as a single guy. I know numerous teachers who started off at Sampedrana, did a good job (expectations aren't the highest) and then used the school as a springboard to better opportunities. There are certain schools around the world where a lot of international educators seem to begin at (at least whom I have met or run into)- Sampedrana is one in the Central American region. Another one in Asia is Ruamrudee.