Don't bother to pray, just be vigilant and observe what is sucking the blood out of your arms and legs.

Dengue carrying mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) like urbanisation. It is therefore really important you don't have fresh flowers in water inside you home or pot plants sitting around in little saucers (and probably no accident why many people in developing countries prefer plastic flowers). These mosquitoes will take advantage of this water to breed very quickly. It some countries in SE Asia you can buy powders to put in the loo if you go away for a few days ... this is some sort of nasty poison that stops them breeding. The mosquitoes seem to be smart enough to work out how to crawl or fly under a toilet lid in order to lay eggs in the water.

Aedes aegypti have distinctive stripy legs, so if you see stripy mosquitoes biting you, you are at risk! I noticed some of these biting me on the arm at home while working in my last OS job (and my school already had a few students who had caught it from mosquitoes that had been breeding in a water feature; in fact we were given a government poster to put up which is how I became aware of their appearance.) I quickly took action, closing windows and spraying the house, and was lucky, too as I never became ill. Dengue can be a very painful experience and can be dangerous affecting your blood clotting ability (particularly if you become infected with a different strain on another occasion). In some countries it is a reportable disease.

Anopheles mosquitoes, which can carry the parasite that causes malaria, are greyish in colour and typically 'stand on their heads' while they are biting. These species are widely distributed (including in the UK, for example), but typically not in urban areas so much. ... so teachers in big cities are less likely to be at risk.

The other 'learning' I had from my close encounter with Aedes aegypti is that the locals knew all the signs to look out for - so have a conversation with the colleagues you trust, for your conditions.

In my system, becoming a leader is on merit, and this is contested openly. I applied to become a faculty leader after about 12 years in the classroom, and because the reality was that at the time, I had been transferred to a teaching position which was in a location remote from my home, and was sick of the driving. (Yep, the reason was that simple: I had no control over which school I could teach in, but could seek a promotion in a school closer to home.) It is unheard of to win such promotions without relevant experience. Ditto for any promotion, up to principal and beyond. Any large system operating many schools should provide a similar route for its staff.

This is very different from my experiences in some privately owned international schools, where roles appeared often to be allocated without consultation (even with the teacher awarded the role) and also changed, apparently at the whim of the owners. I have found that extensive leadership experience in these organisations seems to have disadvantaged me on return to my home country. Be circumspect about taking on leadership experiences in such places, even if the school appears to be a high quality one, because the reputation of the other schools could well devalue your experience.

I believe our career goals shift constantly as a result of unforeseen events and experiences. I was extremely happy as a classroom teacher, enjoyed my classes and opportunities to mentor pre-service teachers and take lead type roles in events around my school. In retrospect every one of these experiences was fundamental to becoming an effective, empathetic educational leader later. The time I was a classroom teacher was concurrent with a period of my life when I was extremely busy domestically with very young children at the same time as helping sick, aging parents, who eventually, inevitably died. No one can 'plan' for how busy these stages of life can be.

Initially I was also very happy as a faculty head and coordinator, but again after more than 10 years in the job, I looked forward to broadening my horizons, and have been fortunate to have had these opportunities.

I suspect only very insecure people plan their life goals and then stick single-mindedly with their ambition. But I also believe there is learning in every experience, at every level. By all means, aim to become an administrator. But meanwhile, live fully and seize the opportunity to try out new projects, because every joy, drama, crises and success prepares you for the next stage of your career, whatever it will be.

Melbourne University
http://education.unimelb.edu.au/study_w ... calaureate

Are you aware there is a whole blog on this theme, a week or so ago? https://internationalschoolsreviewdiscu ... d-support/
Although a recent poster on this blog complains that many of the entries entries were out of date, sadly the tone and experiences many people shared have matched my own experiences these past three years. As a result, I will no longer be wasting my time applying for schools in some of the countries the blog mentions, including Thailand. We all have our reasons; mine is that I am no longer interested in lowering my personal standards of what it means to educate. Now that I am maturing nicely, I only want to be where I can make a serious contribution, and this could as soon be a disadvantaged school in my own country as one overseas.
Therefore, I recommend the blog. Best wishes if a school recognises what you have to offer, but don't go begging, I suggest you are worth more than that.

Currently advertising 30+ vacancies through recruitment@nes-hk.com, a different agency from that used in 2014.

For income tax purposes there are two types of residence status, ‘resident’ or ‘non-resident’. If a person is a resident, any income received in or remitted to Malaysia is taxable at scale rates, whereas a non-resident is liable to Malaysian income tax only on income received from a Malaysia source at a flat rate of 26% (effective year of assessment 2010). The taxable year is the calender year.
Further information can be found on Inland Revenue Board Malaysia Public Ruling No. 6/2011.

It could be something completely beyond the control of the school. In some countries, international 'workers' do not have to pay tax for the first two years of residence.
Provided there are still enough local staff to hold the institutional corporate history, it could well be an excellent school.

Yes, you are absolutely right.

Good luck with your decision.

Personally, I would hesitate to work in a family proprietory business again, but I am a teacher / manager with decades of experience in good schools, and will only seek places where the changes I make are sustainable, to a large extent. For me, nothing is more depressing that to go the extra mile, month after month, only to learn your work was thrown in the hopper after you left, or the specialist classroom you'd developed slowly with staff is overnight converted to storage, or that all the teachers and colleagues you'd trained over the previous two years leaked away from the organisation during the 18 months following your departure. That's hopeless. Experiences like this simply don't happen in developed countries where change is governed by systems considering how to implement improvements based on educational research, and do so slowly and carefully. Experiences like this don't happen much when teachers are unionised professionals, empowered to reflect together and have a stake in building the best possible environment for student learning.

But that's my personality, based on my personal history and background.

If you are working to travel, or to experience Malaysia, or are new to international teaching, your experience will be completely different. I've been there too, and I never wanted to experience any country simply as a tourist again.

There are definitely more physical hours in international teaching, because you have to clock in and out at some schools.

In my government school in my home country I often put in whole weeks of my vacations sorting chem store rooms, mowing the agricultural plot (etc) but I did this because I wanted too, I wanted a good work environment (efficient, safe, pleasant, organised) for my team, and I decided when to do it.

In my recent IS experiences, I was often expected to hang around until a certain time. You had to be present, at the price of having pay docked. Sitting at a tidy desk was considered 'work'. Many admin staff spent time surfing social media etc. There was also an emphasis on 'pretty work', i.e., 'decorating classrooms' that I didn't value because, unless aimed at celebrating the work of students, this has little to do with education and learning.

Perhaps on balance, the workload is similar, but as a person who equates work with productivity, I would say my experiences in my home country had better outcomes.

I haven't worked there, I have met teachers who have.

It is a typical family proprietary school, like so many in Kuala Lumpur.

The STC Consortium finds teachers for Fairview International School. There are several posts about this on the forum... and on the paid site ....read on.

Personally, I would suggest it is not good value, although Malaysia offers little aside from shopping & eating, so raking up a bit of study could be worthwhile.

The teacher accommodation is better than PsyGuy suggests, but yes there is a curfew (10 pm weeknights), and there will be a problem if you want an overnight guest, even a parent.

Good list, psyguy!

Other frequent questions I have experienced are along the lines of

-Describe how you managed a major change in your school / how would you do things differently

-Describe a project you managed (budget / timeline / outcome)

-Scenario style questions around case studies (SEN students / assessment disagreements / managing a staff problem)

You will be the expert in the context!

Consider the effect of the environment on your child. These years are irreplaceable, health is everyone's most important asset.

In the same postilion, I would definitely choose the second ... 2 years, a time in which your husband may usefully find other, alternative work, or spend quality time as the house parent, or engage in some part time study. Money isn't everything, and all these activities are useful because they make your family more diverse. Working for the same employer could be a risk if things don't work out.

Would colleagues who are working in Japan take some time to share their experiences, please? To me it seems such an exotic, interesting location.

For example,

- How easy is it to develop real friendships and communication with your neighbours and colleagues?

- Many schools reviewed seem to require teachers to find their own accommodation, and sometimes even pay their airfares etc. If this happened to you, how reasonable is this in relation to the salary you are paid?

- How easy is it to live in a major city, like Tokyo? How much of your day is spent commuting?

Thanks!