Why do you want to teach overseas?

'Tis the season to start looking...........

The northern hemisphere school year is well and truly on its way and international school administrators are already thinking of next year. The southern ones are too as their school year is ending. They are always thinking way ahead, asking half way through the school year if you are going to renew your contract and finding out how many they will need to find at the job fairs in January. If you are thinking about teaching overseas or even moving schools for next year, start your search now.

So why do you want to teach overseas?

In my experience I have found that there are many reasons why people want to uproot their lives and take off to a far away land. Single, with partners, with children, there is no recipe to those who wish to do it.

So why do it? Aren't we all happy with our lot? You know most are but there's something stirring in us that wants adventure and something new. All this wrapped up with a teaching degree that allows us to do all of this and be able to sustain it with a career.

Teaching overseas brings with it so many highs and I will look at those in future blogs, one I want to talk about right now is the reason why you want to.

It's a big hairy ride that we embark on and it's not all fun. I can remember one of my stints living and teaching OS……….after 6 weeks I sat down in a puddle of tears and realised that I didn't really want to be there. I thought I did but as hindsight is a beautiful thing, it dawned on me that I was running away from a life I didn't like at home. With me was a very good person who listened and just said that I should finish the school year and go home. I did just that and had a great time over the next 10 months, both at work and in my private life. I've never regretted going, I went home and worked on improving my life yet never lost the need to go teaching OS again. When I did set off for the third time, it was planned, it was an adventure and I danced onto the plane. Lesson learnt: You can be just as miserable in another country as what you are at home, it wont fix things, it just puts them off for a while. (And no it wasn't a Eat, Pray, Love thing.....)

Ask yourself why you want to do it. If the answer is positive then move forward. If the answer isn't a clear 'yes', then maybe you need some more time to think about it.

I love seeing new teachers coming into the school with their enthusiasm and great spirit, I recommend it to everyone. Just be mindful of why you are doing it because it's a long way from home if you change your mind (not to mention an expensive way to learn the hard way).

Cheers,

HB