The International Schools Review Forum

I have your attention now :D

No real question here, just needed to vent/let off steam. I am researching International schools and just feel overwhelmed. I am registered with SEARCH and plan on going to Cambridge in February. I just keep hearing how I am not PYP certified nor experienced, so a lot of schools won't look at me.

What I am is 14 years into the profession, trained extensively in elementary Common Core, have my Masters in Elementary and my National Board Certification in Literacy, and beginning my Masters in Library Science in January. Apparently this isn't good enough (according to my SEARCH Associate). These schools want PYP experience...well how am I supposed to get it if they won't give me a chance to prove I can teach!

I am single, no children, no baggage (other than a mortgage and school loans) and willing to teach about anywhere. I have applied with DoDEA and my application is complete, everything certified, and qualified.

I don't have to leave where I am, but I feel called to share my teaching elsewhere. My current admin is very supportive of my quest, and says she knows she will be replacing me because she feels this will work out for me. I wish i was that confident. I suppose I will just hang in there and see if DoDEA bites and how Cambridge goes. Good luck to all of you searching as well.

P.S. PsyGuy need not comment, I don't buy it...any of it. Thank you anyway.

For what it's worth, my experienced elementary teacher friend went to Cambridge last year, had several interviews, but came away with nothing... only to be contacted two weeks later by one of the people she interviewed with, who offered her an amazing job in Italy.

So... go to Cambridge and make lots of contacts. You might come away with something. You might not. But I think you'll get something, even if it's not at the fair.

Thank you for the encouragement. If I don't get an offer, I can still get in some Boston time :)

I agree. Go to the fair with a good attitude (and absolutely do not apologize for or bring up the lack of PYP experience); don't mention the loans, either. Stay positive. I left Cambridge last year with two offers that I turned down, got very discouraged, but then found a nice job in a lovely country that had been on my radar.

You can at least try to be conversant in PYP language. There are lists of attitudes and learning profiles that you could surely relate to your previous experience. You don't have to know them all; just casually drop a mention of a few while discussing your units/lessons (e.g., PYP is very inquiry-based--how have you promoted that in your classroom?).

Thank you heyteach. I have been reading as much as I can about PYP and there are similarities with Common Core. Won't bring up anything personal unless asked, but if it is that personal, it isn't their business anyway.

There is just a saturated primary market, has been for a long time and will be for the foreseeable future. If you cant offer PYP to a school, and your not familiar with the IGCSE curriculum, that only leaves you with with a handful of American schools and most of them are tier one schools. Many schools like to save primary positions for teaching couples where the front candidate is in a high needs/demand field.
All that being said you have to keep trying, very seldom are people successful after giving up.

In my 16th year of int'l teaching and four top schools under my belt. I've not had PYP experience or training and have never felt that it impeded my job hunt or signing with a great school. Now that I'd like to break into Europe, the game changes a bit but there is always the possibility that if you can speak to inquiry based learning and integrated units, they will consider you. Your other credentials look great and as long as your confidential recommendations support you, you'll come away with something. Just a tip about the Common Core - I'm not sure how widely it is being adopted in the int'l schools. The VERY U.S. schools are looking that way but not those with a real mix of teachers, students and administrators. I believe the IGSCE is only at British curriculum schools and that wouldn't be a good fit anyway.

@overseasvet2

So you really can't say then how much more successful you may have been if you had PYP/IB experience?

I am very happy with my experiences ergo I consider myself successful. The allure of PYP is waning as I have more and more exposure to the nearly cult culture. Rigid paperwork and rules don't really mesh with my personality - I know there have been many iterations of PYP and MYP that bear no resemblance to its original intent. Hence the new Common Ground Curriculum. Time will tell how many schools will pick it up. I will post a link to an article about it and then let's turn this thread back over to educ8nc to get counsel about moving overseas.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ex ... round.html

I am a teacher with same background as you - with the added "strikes" of 3 children and a non-teaching spouse - and I went to a fair early this year with the same worries and was offered positions. They were great positions with tier 1 international schools. I had zero years of international teaching experience.

I'm currently working at a great international school and there are many teachers at our school (an IB school) without PYP/MYP background - just strong teaching records/experiences and an open, flexible attitude. We are all getting the necessary training.

It is VERY possible to get into the international teaching circuit if you are an experienced teacher who has familiarized herself with the process, the schools she is interested in and cultivated the positive, can-do attitude that invites the job offers.

You can do it!

I went to a job fair 2 years ago with qualifications like yours (masters, nbct...) and I have a dependent. I had 3 job offers with tier 1 schools and I had NO pyp training. Don't let it discourage you - go for it!

Wow, thank you for the responses and encouragement.

If given offers, how long do I have to accept?

You usually have 24 hours...some will extend, others will give you less time (ie you must decide now).

The rule is supposed to be 24 hours, but many school can't really wait that long. The fair is short, and if they make you an offer and have to wait, they can and have to continue interviewing, but can't make an offer to someone else. Really 24 hours at a fair is a long time. Many recruiters have pressure to close the vacancy as soon as possible.
Some will give you an extension of time, but you need to understand that depending how long you ask for, they may say something like "they have some other candidates they need to talk" and what they are saying is that they may need to extend an offer to someone else while your deciding.

It's really in your best interests to decide as soon as possible, and go into an interview prepared to negotiate the contract and know what your target and impass points, as well as any deal breakers (such as insurance needs, etc).

It seems to me that you are marketable. When I started on my international job search, I had 7 years full-time experience in elementary and a master's degree. I took part in Skype interviews with eight schools and ended up with four offers. It is definitely doable. Good luck!