No question, it's more expensive to hire a teacher with a trailing spouse and two dependents than a single teacher. No question, the elite schools won't USUALLY consider you, since they have so many options to choose from for the same position.

HOWEVER, your dependents do give you one bonus that hasn't been mentioned here: more stability.

Of course there are exceptions, but with kids in tow, you're less likely to pull a runner since it disrupts their school year, too. You also have a bigger chance of putting down roots and staying longer. Most families I know do 4 and 5 year stretches at each school rather than just 2 year stints (or even one year averages, if you're like one vocal (single) person on this site!). Now of course I'm just talking averages; might not apply to every situation, but I've used this in interviews to my advantage.

I was hired with a trailing spouse and two kids. Three kids--that's going to be a harder sell, I'm guessing. The school has to pay for 5 plane tickets, insurance, tuition, etc, and they only fill one position. It might be possible, but it's unlikely. You'll have better luck at the job fairs once you're both certified.

The program that I linked to is the same one that Shadowjack mentioned. It was a high quality program; my husband learned a lot. It's fun to work together--have lunches together, be in the same staff meetings, only need one vehicle, etc.

Hi!

You should totally go for it if teaching/living overseas is your dream. And yes, I second shadowjack that HS Math is the most in-demand subject area.

My husband started as a trailing spouse and completed this program: http://offsitegrad.pages.tcnj.edu/ It's not online, but it can be completed in summers, so you wouldn't have to move your family to accommodate it. Expensive, but it was worth it to us.

He got hired the as soon as he finished and is enjoying teaching so much!

Hi, just wanted to add my experience to all this doom and gloom!

I went to my first ISS fair when I had three years experience teaching high school English, including 2 IB years' experience (and I grew up overseas). I got 8 interviews and 2 offers, despite having a non-teaching husband and two kids.

Yes, I also did get a lot of "you have too many dependents for us to consider," but I wasn't picky where I went, and we ended up at a very nice tier 2 school in Asia where the cost of living is low enough for us to live on one salary. We've really enjoyed it here. Now my husband has gotten his teaching credential while we lived here and taught for a couple of years, so I'm looking forward to what the job market will be like when we try again as a teaching couple.

My advice to jboah is to teach for one more year to get that "two years' experience" on your resume, and then try for the job fair after that. If you're open to less well-known schools and locations, then you do have a chance. No-one will be banging down your door to hire you, but if you can sell yourself, you definitely have a chance. Also, consider having your wife get credentialed to teach art...then voila, you're a teaching couple. If overseas teaching is your dream, then by all means pursue it. It might take a couple of years, but I think it's totally worth it!

Hi Rumor5182,

If this is your first year abroad, then give it some more time. Assuming you just got to your post last summer, then you might still be in the famed "dip" of culture shock. It gets better.

I'm a lifer, and I have young kids. We've been at our current post for 4 years, and if we move again we'll be looking for another long stint....so we're not in that group that moves on so often.

I love the expat family life. Plus suburban America bores me to tears!

This will vary A LOT by country and between schools within a country. I second Sid--write to a current teacher at your new school.

Also, note that some schools have much better libraries and teaching materials than others. I was shocked at how small our school library is. Lucky for me, I am used to finding teaching materials on the internet.

I've heard on this forum that Search has a database of information about each member school--their salary schedule, teacher to student ratio, and mix of nationalities within the classroom. Sounds really useful in narrowing down which jobs to apply to.

Does ISS do something similar, or do you have to write each individual school to get that information?

Thanks! It's been a couple of years since I've been recruiting, but I'm already getting excited.

Going recruiting next year, but trying to do my homework early.

Looking for a school with a mix of nationalities in the student body so that my kids aren't outsiders in their classes. Looking for great administration, and enough salary to live on (teaching couple, 2 kids). Doesn't have to be a huge school or huge salary, though I wouldn't say no!

Also doesn't have to be Tokyo, though we did love that city when we visited.

Any recommendations?

The topic of "Top 10" schools in various regions has been hashed out on this site many times. We all keep seeing the same names crop up as the really well-respected schools. However, almost all of those names are really large schools.

I'd love to hear: what are some GREAT smaller schools? Schools with excellent administration, a good package, and some diversity in the student body. Any region is fine, though I'll be mostly looking in Asia and the Mid East next year. Smaller towns are fine, too.

Any experiences anyone can share?

Thanks, MySharona! Much easier to read than all the tables and things on the world health org site.

I attended school at Anglican International School, Jerusalem, and had a great time there--really excellent education, particularly for such a small school. However, I've heard that the benefits package is not really great considering the high cost of living.

I've also had friends who really loved Amman Community School--I've only heard good things about it. I had a wonderful time when I lived in Amman for a few years, though I wasn't teaching then. Wonderful climate, friendly people, lots of interesting historical sites. I almost fell off more than one Crusader castle or Roman ruin wall when I was having too much fun exploring them.

Could someone chime in on best schools in Egypt?

Thank you, Sid! Totally what I was thinking, too.

I've never worked there, but I did meet some wonderful teachers from there, and not "in your face" at all.

Also, I just was on their campus for EARCOS last month--it is gorgeous--really state of the art. I was drooling over their library.

As far as clues to their religiosity, there _were_ Bible verses posted on the walls of many of the classrooms. But there were also posters advertising speakers, and one was on Evolution and Faith (didn't seem anti-Evolution at all), so that was a good sign to me of the climate at the school not being too dogmatic.

I want to know what to watch out for. What are your worst experiences with administrators, colleagues, international schools in general?

Share!

I'm not a math teacher, but you who are should check out

http://www.wolframalpha.com/ ....gives answers to all sorts of computations.

Good to know about it, since your students probably will.