ADEC vs UK

kman
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:59 am

ADEC vs UK

Post by kman »

Hello fellow ISR members,

I have spent the last few months reading reviews and information on this extremely helpful website regarding overseas teaching, and would like some advice.

I'm a 27-year old Canadian male who is looking to teach overseas for the first time.

Recently, I was offered a teaching position in the UK through Impact Teachers, and also offered a position in Abu Dhabi through ADEC. The ADEC offer includes a 2-year no tax salary and housing, but I'm leaning towards the UK as it's a 1 year contract and will allow me to travel Europe, which I'd love to do since I'm a history buff.

Simply put, if I declined the ADEC offer this year, could I re-apply and still get hired for next year, August 2016? Some people have told me my chances would be much lower after declining this year. Is that true?

Thank-you!
Sherhazade
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:49 pm

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by Sherhazade »

What is the compensation through Impact like? Are you working full time in a school or doing supply work? Do you know which area you will work in and if you will be paid on the qualified or unqualified scales? If your main goal is travel the UK will be closer, but depending on pay scales combined with rent and other living costs you might have more money to travel on by going with ADEC. My first year working the UK my salary was pretty low and housing can eat up a lot of the income.

You can use: http://www.worksmart.org.uk/tools/tax_calc.php to calculate take home pay in the UK. And you can get an idea of rental costs via gumtree or rightmove.
vandsmith
Posts: 348
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:16 am

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by vandsmith »

for what it's worth:

adec is the abu dhabi education council - a sort of regulatory ministry of education that also recruits teachers to teach at public schools. but maybe you already know that.

as a first year teacher (with adec) you will be placed somewhere. they pay pretty well and give you decent housing but the catch is that you'll be teaching, likely, all emiratis/locals. many of my friends have worked at adec schools and more often than not, transition into a private international school after a few years (usually). it's possible to find somewhere that's to your liking and be happy. i just haven't seen it yet. again, the pay is pretty good - starting pay at adec + housing is better than starting pay and housing allowance at other, international schools.

if i was in your shoes, which i was several years ago, i would still take the ME job because then after a while you might be able to head to europe anyways. go to the middle east make some money laugh at the waste and splendor enjoy the lifestyle. but make your money and think about what you want to do after. i agree with another regular poster on here who says "go to the middle east for the money" - unless it's at a really really good school, which will give you both money and great PD.

also, adec is a bunch of idiots in terms of their leadership. you'll have a room full of unruly, mostly disrespectful, and privileged locals - some of whom ignored/denial special needs kids - who will test you to the limit.

i can't speak to the UK thing though, but i would expect it to pay much less and hold much more rain for you.

good luck!

v.
kman
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:59 am

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by kman »

Thank-you for the quick and informative replies!

The compensation with Impact is roughly 110-115 GBP/work-day, and I'll be working full-time in Luton with the intention of living in St. Albans, where the monthly rent for a shared flat will be between 500 - 600 GBP/per person (utilities included).

With the help of the worksmart website for taxes+ NI and above rent deductions and rough estimates for food, I figure my take-home/discretionary income will be 13 - 14k GBP.

I realize the financial savings through ADEC blow the UK out of the water, but what appealed to me was the ability to fly to France, Germany, Poland, etc. within 2 hours and for 100 GBP, visiting world war historical sites, as well as the UK's pub culture.

Additionally, I've read up on the difficult nature of Cycle 3 boys in AD, and figured one year in the UK in a more supportive environment would be good experience before looking to the Middle East.

My logic is that sitting at 27 and single, with few family responsibilities, I could use the one year contract to get used to the challenges of international teaching and easily do my tour of Europe, then look to sign on for 2 years in the ME and save.

Some have said I'm crazy to give up the ME salary, even for one year, while others have sided with my above logic, thus my dilemma!
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by shadowjack »

You also need to realize that living in the UK is BLOODY expensive. Tax rates are higher than in Canada and then there is council tax (when you live in a house, YOU pay the taxes, NOT the owner), road tax, television tax, breathing tax (ok, the last one is a stretch, but if they thought they could get away with it...).

Having worked in a UK school myself, I hope you realize that the reason they are hiring YOU is because they can't find a Brit to go teach at those schools. You won't be going to a top drawer school and behaviour, in comparison to Canada, will be much worse in general until you establish your rep. Expect teachers yelling at students, students who swear at you, take the piss out of you (as they say in the UK) and generally give you grief - until you establish your rep - or leave.

What do I mean by establish your rep? You need to learn the discipline system in and out. You need to be proactive and fast track all detentions you set. You need to be proactive and take on detentions for your students after they haven't shown (usually twice) for you that your department head or line manager would usually do (because he or she might only do department detentions once a week and the students WILL know the system and try to game it). You need to contact each parent for each detention you set so the students realize they can't pull the wool over your eyes, or their parents (99.9% of parents will be sympathetic if you simply present what happened). You then get to fast track the little darlings to the head's detentions (once weekly the head or deputy head will sit detention in the hall for students who have missed all of your and your department head's detentions). In short, your job is to create an oasis of order in your classroom and an area around you wherever you are so that you don't have to deal with students mucking about - they will do it elsewhere to other teachers who don't have these skills. It should take you about two months to accomplish that - if you are dedicated and really work at it. Hint - call parents at tea time - they are almost always home then.

Or you can go to the Emirates for more money, still have discipline problems, but on school holidays and the like you can FLY to the UK fairly cheaply, travel around, pay no tax, live in a nicer climate, pay no tax, but still have some things priced higher.

Oh - the other positive is teaching in the UK will introduce you to the UK curriculum, SOW's, British management structure, GCSE's or A levels or the other tests such as the 11+ that rank students. You will never give percentages - all grades are on a rubric reference and students are assigned a PREDICTED numeric value based on your input and then tests written at the end of each Key Stage. Your job is to provide "value added". This experience will allow you access to both north american and UK curriculum schools overseas.

I am sure I have given you lots to think about - ultimately I enjoyed my time in the UK and still keep in touch with colleagues and former students. Given the opportunity, I would do it again.
Sherhazade
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:49 pm

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by Sherhazade »

Oh my goodness, yes to behaviour issues. I was seriously shocked by how poorly behaved students were, especially for new teachers. I was working with two other new teachers in a suburb of a small city, and we all struggled immensely. Students would act completely crazily for us, and just be normal and reasonable for veteran teachers. You really must establish those routines, check out Tom Bennett's behavior blog on the TES for some ideas. It will really depend on the school as to whether you get much support at all. Some think its completely your issue to deal with, others will have behavior plans in place.

It sounds like you really want to be in England, and it is difficult to pass up an opportunity when you are not always sure it will come up again. (The immigration routes have become very narrow and they weren't letting in anyone who wasn't a Physics or Maths teacher. I know there is some possibilities otherwise, but much more difficult in than in the past.) I would just echo shadowjack's expense concerns. It is very expensive. Using public transport to commute to work each day is another expense to add, or paying your fair share of a carpool. I didn't realize how poor the pay was until after I left, and it was my first job, so I had never experienced a salary to compare it to. In the end, if you are willing to go the ME anyway after your time in England, then perhaps going from living on less, to getting more is the better route than scaling back after having more. And you can perhaps then do better than ADEC and hope for better behavior.

Be careful with planning for the holiday time where pay won't be coming if you are being paid by the day vs a salary. The frequent 1 and 2 week breaks mean a loss of income every two months or so. 'm not sure your take home will be quite that high because of those term and half term breaks. And you may find much cheaper rents by staying nearer Luton, in addition to spending less time and money commuting.

I found UK-Yankee forums to be very helpful. I know you are Canadian, but there are few of those about as well. The threads aren't all that active anymore, but you can get ideas on making the transition. Best of luck in whichever route you decide!
Walter
Posts: 325
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:39 am
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by Walter »

Walter
Posts: 325
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:39 am
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by Walter »

And here's another:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educa ... 50331.html
I did my five years in an inner city comprehensive school. Nothing would persuade me to go back.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

Were not really kidding anyone here are we? Your going to take the UK job.
Both of them are going to be aversive experiences, so the real issue is what your life outside work is going to be like. In the UK you go for the money and thats it. In the UK you have other options and opportunities, such as travel (and your not going to fly to EUR on the weekends in the ME). At least you could get a pint and complain about life with everyone else in the UK, maybe find a cute Irish or French lass to make you forget all your problems.

You can always get a position in the ME, an EUR appointment is much more difficult to come by. The UK position offers the option of mobility you can move up, and to better schools once youve made your bones. In the ME at ADEC all your going to do for yourself is be able to go to another ME school. A reference from ADEC isnt going to impress anyone, a UK reference will.

The UK position grows your resume. You will be building very valuable experience working in a British school and with the national curriculum, thats experience you can market globally to a British school anywhere.

Money or Lifestyle, each ones going to require a sacrifice of your soul, and take its toll in flesh.
kman
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:59 am

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by kman »

Firstly, a big thank-you to everyone who responded! I really appreciate all the above insight, you guys are amazing!

It's refreshing (if not a bit intimidating) to hear the realities I'd be facing in either situation.

Sherhazade wrote:
>
> Be careful with planning for the holiday time where pay won't be coming if
> you are being paid by the day vs a salary. The frequent 1 and 2 week breaks
> mean a loss of income every two months or so. 'm not sure your take home
> will be quite that high because of those term and half term breaks. And you
> may find much cheaper rents by staying nearer Luton, in addition to
> spending less time and money commuting.
>

^ I had no idea that half-term and term breaks were totally unpaid. I (naively) expected there would be some sort of vacation compensation!

I've re-done my numbers and deducted all the breaks as well the month of August 2016 (my contract ends in July) and as you predicted, my take home pay has declined significantly! I also threw in the round-trip flight home during Christmas and and the one-way flight home in July 2016, which caused further havoc.

I realize that behavior issues will come with the territory in either case, and was thinking along the lines of PsyGuy regarding getting a pint after a hard day's work--cute Irish/French lasses notwithstanding! ; )

I did not know the UK experience provided that much more value vs. ADEC experience, and will certainly consider that in making my decision. However, the new balance sheet has certainly made me see how much financially tighter life would be in the UK.
Sherhazade
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:49 pm

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by Sherhazade »

Check with your agency and be sure about the breaks. I'm fairly certain they will mean no income, but they could have some scheme in place to even out those times. If you worked the 190 days at 110 a day you'd have 20900, which was more than my salary my first year, but I lived in a cheaper area. You could probably find shared accommodation for less than 500-600, but you'll have to look carefully and maybe not in St Albans (I know nothing about the cost of living there). You may have to scale back travel plans, but there is really so much to do in and around London, and lots of it free, that you can have a great experience without travelling every single break to the continent. (I only went twice during the first year, one small 4 day trip and a longer 10 day). The pub culture really is great, and if you are at a school with behavior issues you'll likely find lots of staff headed out to show you the best ones. I found that the school with poor behavior meant lots of bonding between staff, while my school with better behavior was very pleasant, but didn't do a lot together outside of school. Your mileage may vary :)

Also see if your agency will put you in touch with other people who are coming to your school or area for when you need someone to commiserate with about whatever thing is bothering you about England. And figure out asap once you get to the school who really knows their stuff and is the best person to ask for help.

There are definitely good career building aspects to UK curriculum you'll open your marketability to British International Schools who continue to use British curriculum. If you do decide on the UK, be sure to study up on the exam board your school will be using for GCSEs and A-Levels before you go, plus check out the TES resources that are available on the site that other teachers have made. See if the school will send you the schemes of work ahead of time so you can plan some units and create power points ahead of time while you aren't in the midst of jet lag and culture shock.
Last edited by Sherhazade on Sat Apr 11, 2015 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

I would check with your agency and your school and ensure the school will be providing you a reference. I would also be very cautious based on the "daily" pay schedule that this isnt going to be recorded or documented somewhere as relief or supply teaching. As long as the school will support the position that you were full time as the teacher of record, it should be fine.

You may be able to find work over those holidays if you really need too, that could increase your earning potential. Look more carefully into housing, you should be able to find cheaper than 500£-600£, you dont need much, a telly, a place to sleep, a toilet and a shower.
vandsmith
Posts: 348
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:16 am

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by vandsmith »

you can certainly come home in abu dhabi and have as many pints as you like!
either you can buy at one of many liquor stores, or you can find tons of bars that you can drink at.
don't think for a minute you can't find an abundance of alcohol in abu dhabi!
the only difference is that getting too sloppy can get you in big trouble. but you can still be sloppy - just not belligerent...well, they're pretty lenient on that too actually.

if it was me, i'd go for the middle east...though with adec - not so sure about that!

v.
Ddd
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 9:25 pm

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by Ddd »

UK definitely, get some experience and then you can land a decent job anywhere in the world. Good luck!
robbyp88
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:42 pm

Re: ADEC vs UK

Post by robbyp88 »

Speaking as a teacher currently working for ADEC, if you are serious about a career in education, DO NOT TAKE THE JOB WITH ADEC! The primary schools, who are integrating the new education system are a little better than the secondary schools in terms of behaviour and integrity. They are not perfect by any means but should get better as time goes on. The secondary schools, especially the ones in the more remote places are just crazy. Truly awful behaviour, corruption, dishonesty etc. If you want to make some money and have a pretty good set up outside of school, then do it for a year or two, but be prepared to sacrifice your integrity and professionalism, however, it will not add any value to your CV and indeed any longer than two years will have a negative effect. In terms of remuneration, ADEC base their salary on confirmed years of experience, so, those who are fairly new teachers will be at the bottom of the scale. I think the basic salary for a 2nd year teacher is around 2700 GBP per month. This is tax free of course and housing is good and also free. However, once you start working with ADEC they do not count the years spent in service there so you will not be able to climb above your starting rate, unless you leave the organisation, do some time somewhere else, then return. So, as prices rise, the job becomes less attractive in terms of salary. Furthermore, someone at ADEC has got the idea that removing teacher's holiday time and replacing it with pointless PD sessions is a good idea. Teachers this year lost three weeks and the PD sessions that we had to endure are not recognised as official, anywhere! Seriously, the number of PD sessions throughout the school year is staggering and after 5 years, I cannot remember a single one of any value. So, in some ways working for ADEC can be financially advantageous, and the lifestyle can be excellent, but only really for those who are either nearing the end of their career in education, or those who have little interest in furthering the career (not a criticism by the way) in a real system. ADEC are going through an embryonic stage in education. The old system is being replaced by a new one, year on year. However it will be another 2 years before it reaches the secondary schools and I suspect even then, it'll take a generation, maybe two, to change the attitude of the administration, the students and the parents. Oh, for your information, having a pint after work in UAE is easy, there are plenty of bars, just not great ones.
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