Thank you for your replies, the information has been very helpful. At this point there are no concrete plans, however I find it necessary to be prepared and that's why I decided to look for some background information regarding the issue.

I have talked to a few international teachers and an interesting pattern has emerged. It seems that lower tier international schools are more rigid about hiring a native speaker to pander to the parents' prejudices. Top schools, it seems, are more focused on finding true talents in their field and thus have more broad and international panel of teachers and administrators. I don't know if this is actually true, but it is certainly the impression I have been left with.

Thank you for your reply, this is very interesting. Do you mind giving some background as to what is your position or field of expertise? I completely understand if you do not wish to give any additional details.

Would articles that are written and published in English in relation to the postgraduate degree count as "proof" of language proficiency in your case?

Hello,

This is a question for everyone who is a non-native speaker of English or has relevant knowledge about hiring non-native speakers to teacher and management positions.

Is there a certain point in your career that an English certificate such as TOEFL, IELTS or CAE/CPE is simply not necessary anymore, owing to a postgraduate degree and/or impressive work experience in your field? A few scenarios:

- master's degree with relevant teaching experience in international schools;
- master's degree with extensive teaching and management experience in the applicant's own school system, but not in international schools;
- same two scenarios for someone with a PhD.

Are there any differences for teachers and managers, or does the teacher's specialty play a role? I would personally expect teachers of language and literature to have more strict requirements in this regard than some others, for example music or physical education.

Thank you in advance.

curiousme wrote:
> Possibly more opportunities in Middle East for Eastern Europeans but will
> definitely need to up her language skills, if indeed this is the path she
> wishes to take. Doesn't sound too convincing - more like your dreams for
> her than her own...

You're correct. She is pretty busy with work and studies, so she doesn't really have time to think about it. So that's why I'm doing the thinking for now. :)

Hello all,

This will be a long post, for which I will apologize in advance. I have discussed the same questions with another person who has a lot of experience with international schools. I would not be surprised if he is a member on this forum as well. If that is the case, I would like to greet him: "hello and long time no see".

I'm not a teacher myself, I'm writing on behalf of my better half, with whom I have been together for 12 years. We have a teenage daughter (I'm the stepdad, to be precise). We live in a country in Eastern Europe, which is a member of the European Union. For the past few years I've been increasingly concerned that my girlfriend should seek new challenges, considering her education, skill set and experience. She is modest and self-critical, and perhaps lacking in confidence, but without much reason. She has a master's degree in music and she is currently writing her doctorate thesis in education sciences. Despite her age - she is in her mid-30s - she has been working as a head teacher in a music school that is part of a larger educational organization (consisting of a kindergarten, primary and secondary education schools, art schools etc.). That means she has about 6-7 years of experience in a managerial position. On top of that she is experienced as a teacher as well, having given lessons for the entire duration of her professional career, to students from pre-school to high-school.

Her specialty is music and she is very, very good at it. She is regularly giving lessons to very talented students in high school, many of whom are entering the local music university after graduating. She has extensive knowledge of music theory, solfeggio, harmony and music history. In fact, she could write her own text-book on teaching music in primary and secondary schools. Her main instrument is the piano, which she has studied for years, and she can play additional instruments at an amateur level. She has experience conducting choirs and experience in working with children with disabilities.

Her language skills are a bit tricky to describe. She has not taken the TOEFL exam, and while she is very critical of her English skills, I know she is used to consume media in English without any problems. In addition, in her doctorate studies she has to use sources in English frequently. If I had to take a wild stab in the dark, I would say she is at B2/C1 level right now. Her second main foreign language is German, which admittedly is quite rusty due to lack of practice. Finnish is understood well and spoken adequately, plus she has a basic understanding of Russian and French. I know the lack of total proficiency in English is a problem, but fortunately she is not planning to apply for an international job right away, so we have time to study and practice and take all the necessary exams. She wants to finish her thesis and possibly wait for our daughter to finish high school first.

Here we get to the part where I need the help of this little community at ISR. I have several questions and I would appreciate all relevant comments and information that you could give me, even if it is in the form of conjecture.

Question about the two layers of discrimination. From what I've heard, there is a very strong preference given to native speakers of English, sometimes without regard to their actual mastery of the subject or other aspects, such as previous work experience. The second layer being heavy bias against people from Eastern Europe. How serious a hindrance could her status as a non-native speaker from Eastern Europe be when taking into account her education and experience?

Should she aim for a position at an international school or perhaps a music school instead? Are there any international schools that specialize in music or have very strong liberal arts curriculums? As you can see, my lack of clear perspective in this matter is rather alarming. Not only that, I suspect she is rather torn between what she would like to do, ideally. She loves teaching and working with children, but at the same time an ideal position would be an administrative one, perhaps running a department for example.

Is there a specific region of the world where someone like her might be more sought after? Are there any countries where a person with her specific attributes might not even dream of a job?

I welcome all your comments, additional questions, tips and recommendations that you might have. I apologize again for the length of the post and thank you if you decided to read through it.