The International Schools Review Forum

My wife and I are a teaching couple with a two non-school aged children. How likely is it that a school would offer me an initial teaching contract knowing that my wife is a certified teacher, acting as a trailing spouse for a year?

A school? Any school? Good chance.
A good school in a good location with a good package? That will depend on exactly how wonderful you are. Such spots are very competitive, and you'd be coming in as a very expensive package. Large flat needed, four flights needed, four lots of health insurance, etc, and all they get is one teacher. If you're good, you have a chance. Try working the angle that your wife will be coming on board after a year, though for that make sure that you present her credentials as well. They'll want to evaluate whether she would be a good fit too, and what the chances are that she won't extend her time off once your job is in hand.

Try QSI, they are family friendly and I have seen single teachers with a trailing spouse and 3 school aged kids. All kids get free tuition as well and great health insurance. Downside is there is a good chance you'll have to put in, at least your initial period, in the stans.

I think you might find it difficult to find a school that will guarantee your wife a full time job after the first year. They're unlikely to know their openings, although sometimes they may have a sense of what will come open. Would your wife be okay with a year or two of subbing if the school didn't have an opening? How specific is her area? Are we talking elementary school teacher or PE teacher?

Granted, a school will know you're likely to move on after your 2 year contract if your wife wants work and can't find it so if they want to keep you then there is a real incentive for the school to figure something out.

My school has definitely hired trailing spouses who were credentialed teachers for openings. It strikes me as being somewhat preferential, and often times the admin say the people working with kids as substitutes. They were known quantities.

Good luck.

Thank you, this is really helpful!

My wife is an certified K-8 elementary teacher who has taught in a 1st-3rd multi-age Montessori classroom and is now teaching in a 4th/5th multi-age classroom. She plans to get involved in the school even if she stays home with the little ones: subbing, tutoring, PTA, or even as a reading volunteer in the classroom. I'm a certified K-12 PE teacher.

We are excited to go international (we both have studied abroad and my wife was a peace corps volunteer). We thought it might be easier to move into international teaching while our children are younger. How fun would it be to immerse the two kids in another culture and language during the "critical learning period" for language development?

Thank you!

Many international schools offer KG 1 and KG 2, so students come in at age 4.

Some schools offer a daycare/babycare facility for staff.

Why not explore those?

asjwr19 wrote:
> My wife and I are a teaching couple with a two non-school aged children.
> How likely is it that a school would offer me an initial teaching contract
> knowing that my wife is a certified teacher, acting as a trailing spouse
> for a year?

Yes, in my experience.