The International Schools Review Forum

Hi all,
This year my husband and I have decided it's time to aggressively pursue our dream to go abroad. We are both teachers, though the plan would be for only one of us (probably me) to teach for at least the first year (though probably more like the first two) as we are having a baby in January. So, one teacher, a trailing spouse who is certified and experienced but would prefer to stay home, and two kids (one will be almost four next September, the other an infant). I've heard a lot of people say that having dependents and a trailing spouse *really* limits your options. We don't mind having a couple of tight years financially (this would be nothing new, actually), but will schools even consider us?

I'm certified in English, Drama, US and World History, Government, Psychology, Economics, Geography, and French. I have 9 years experience in and out of school teaching Drama, 3 years of teaching English, 3 of teaching US history, 2 of teaching World History and Gov. I have little real experience teaching Psych (though I did attend an AP training) and have done some special classes at my current school, and very little teaching Econ, Geog, or French.

I have a masters in American History. I am bilingual in French and English. Both of us have a little Spanish, as well.

My husband has seven years experience teaching history (mainly US) and five teaching PE, though he doesn't want to teach PE again because of an injury, so you should probably discount that.

All of our teaching experience has been at public schools in California.

So...
Are we even going to be considered?
Are there areas of the world that are "less desirable" which might give us a better chance of getting our foot in the door?
Should we wait another three years for our second son to be preschool age so my husband can apply at the same time as me? (We really don't want to wait, but I need the truth.)
Any advice for us?

How about looking at Tier 2 schools in Korea, Japan, China or tier 1 schools in Vietnam? Email the schools directly.
You can find a few here: http://www.internations.org/seoul-expat ... -schools-2

fine dude wrote:
> How about looking at Tier 2 schools in Korea, Japan, China or tier 1
> schools in Vietnam? Email the schools directly.
> You can find a few here:
> http://www.internations.org/seoul-expat ... -schools-2

Thanks for the pointer! Do these countries qualify as being in a less competitive location? I thought Japan especially was highly sought after.

What about South America? Is it too competitive there for us to have a chance?

There will be schools that will consider you, but some that will immediately rule you out as costing too much. As you may be aware, you'd have a much easier time getting hired if both you and your husband were looking for jobs. Even when both of you are looking you probably will start with lower tier schools since you don't have IB experience and your experience teaching are not in high need fields. To find a position you will probably won't be able to be too picky at first. Your search for a job may not succeed even if you're open to lots of different places. I'd suggest trying to find somewhere that you (and later your husband) can get IB experience, which will make you more competitive in the future.

eion_padraig wrote:
> There will be schools that will consider you, but some that will
> immediately rule you out as costing too much. As you may be aware, you'd
> have a much easier time getting hired if both you and your husband were
> looking for jobs. Even when both of you are looking you probably will start
> with lower tier schools since you don't have IB experience and your
> experience teaching are not in high need fields. To find a position you
> will probably won't be able to be too picky at first. Your search for a job
> may not succeed even if you're open to lots of different places. I'd
> suggest trying to find somewhere that you (and later your husband) can get
> IB experience, which will make you more competitive in the future.

Thanks for the advice! Is there a good way to go about finding a list of schools that are "second tier"?
Is there a way to find a list of schools that will train people who need it for IB?

Why are we more expensive? Because of the airfare? Or do they generally allot some sort of support to families with dependents?

My only experience is with jobs in America. They pay you what they pay you regardless of whether you're single or married with children.

Is it possible to negotiate with schools to make ourselves less expensive in some way?

Earlier this spring there was a similar thread about teaching abroad with dependents, see http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... ied#p30189.

And also this thread had some great advice for us from Fine Dude and Trojan about how to improve my chances when applying. Along with other good info! http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... ogy#p30832

Hi there. Schools cover airfare and insurance for dependents. Often, housing benefits are also increased. Often, shipping or settling-in benefits are increased. Most schools offer free tuition for children. This is a huge cost factor.

I don't think I've ever met someone with a trailing spouse and 2+ children working in an international school, unless they had the children while overseas...or were admin.

When there are dozens or hundreds of applications for each job posted at many schools, it's hard to see the advantage for a school to hire someone with 3 dependents. I don't think many will be swayed with the idea that in 2 years, the other of you will also be able to teach. They can hire a couple NOW that can both teach.

That doesn't mean you can't get a job, just that you're not as attractive of a candidate as others, perhaps.

I don't think you or schools should consider bargaining or bartering for lower benefits or salary for having 3 dependents. Really, that's a slippery road to head down.

Thank you both for your replies!
ETA: Thank you, cjrv12, for the links. I've just read those threads and it's given me a lot to think about!

To add to this, I teach a very good school in SEAsia and there are at least two teachers on staff with 3-4 dependents. Not the norm, but it does happen.