Japan will be a Hot Spot for English teachers

Japan will soon be making it compulsory for students at primary school to learn English.  The movement comes in an attempt to improve the country’s language skills and its ability to compete with surrounding Asian countries as well as overseas.

The new curriculum should begin in April aimed primarly at 5th and 6th grade students across all of Japan’s public primary schools.  Lessons will be held 35 times a year which is about once a week, lasting about 45 minutes to an hour.

Although the MoE is reluctant to set out clear targets, the aim is that children show know about 285 English words.  The thinking being that it should make it a smoother transition from primary to junior and then secondary school.

This movement aims to improve’s Japan’s English proficiency even though students study English for 6 years starting at the age of 12.  Compared to their counter parts, Japanese students have the lowest scores in Asia in the international ToEFL.  The issue also stands that the majority of Japan’s primary school teachers admit to not being well-equipped to deliver as language instructors, which does not give them the confidence to raise achievement as per the requirement from the MoE.  Additional training and support is likle to be needed in order for the MoE to meet its objectives in order for it to compete internationally.  Team teaching by bringing in English experts from abroad is likely to take place.

Since 2002, primary school children have been given occasional foreign-language teachings, but South Korea made English compulsory at that level in 1997, and China in 2005. Japanese sixth-graders have previously received far fewer hours of English instruction until now.  They were getting 13.5 hours English tuition a year which is far less then is surround counterparts

Although keen to implement and get going Japan’s teacher’s are aware there is a mountain to climb and much change to take place until standards of English are raised in the country.  The discussion for this change is long over due, so watch this space English teachers, as their should be more English teaching jobs coming your way!

Teaching in Doha

Teaching in Doha – What is it like? What should I be aware of?

The SeekTeachers™ team continue their quest to give you the “real deal” insight into the working life in various areas.  This time round we got the “low down” from a very experienced senior teacher in Qatar, Doha.  There are definitely some golden nuggets to take away from this blog!  Here is what he has to say..

Patience and tolerance are probably the most important qualities you will need both at school and away from work.  Patience with both your school administration and life in Doha itself.  You can expect your school, like so many others, to be run by a Director of Schools, yes there will be a Principal, but he/she will not have the autonomy that you would expect in Western schools.  The Principal is there to carry out directions and instructions from the Director, who invariably is not Western and has very little educational management background.  There will also be the Qatari owner, who will have his say in how things should happen.

Remember, Qatar is now officially the richest country in the world (based on income per capita) and is set to become even richer.  Qataris are smart businessmen, look at how they bought Harrods, most of London’s city centre property and whole addresses, how they bank rolled Barclays Bank during the recent crisis, they have massive shares in UK businesses eg Sainsburys is over 1/4 Qatari owned.  Anyway, your Principal will have to get along with the Director and owner in order to survive (there have been instances when Principals have argued or said “No” to either or both and they have then found themselves on the next plane home!) This can make many Principals very nervous and stressed individuals and can make them appear to be on the side of the BIG Boss/es.  Try to understand the position they are in before you start venting your frustration at them.

Yes, you will go through an awful lot of frustration.  The list is long – frustration with obtaining necessary paperwork from the school, frustration with maintenance at your accommodation (the usual line from workmen is they will come “after 4.30”, but they fail to be exact or even say which day), frustration at language barriers, frustration at children in your lessons who do not really want to be at school and who get no support from home so your efforts seem wasted, frustration with their parents who will expect to see you 5 minutes before you are due to leave school and will want to spend an hour telling you that their child should have scored 98% in a recent test not 96% that you gave him.

So tolerance becomes crucial.  Remember, you are in the country as a visitor.  You are providing a service but you are being paid for that service and you are being provided with many “perks” with that job, so you are expected to “sing for your supper” an awful lot.  When you feel your blood beginning to get warm (which has nothing to do with the temperature being 40 degrees plus), take a step back, breathe slowly and remember that in the bigger picture of life what you might be expected to do or have to do is not that difficult really.

But there are many, many positives to working in Doha.  Not just no income tax, but when you sit down and work out what you would be paying/have deducted from salary back home – National insurance contributions, VAT, rent/mortgage, Council tax, very high utility bills, petrol costs etc. etc.  You can have the “Prada/Armani/Gucci” lifestyle if you want but you will pay for it.  Alternatively, you can choose material and have clothes made very cheaply and made very well.  If you want brand name food items you will pay for them but different food stuffs and different meals are much more affordable.  Why go to the international hotels and spend a small fortune on an even smaller platter of international cuisine when you can explore small, “backstreet” Thai, Sri Lankan, Indian, Turkish, Lebanese, Moroccan eating places?  Take that tolerant attitude you are developing when you stand outside one of these places thinking about going in, strike up a conversation with the waiter or manager, he will be very genuinely interested in you and if show an interest in him you may get treated that little bit better than others.

You can save money, you can transfer money very easily; you may wish to consider sending savings to an offshore tax-free account.  If you decide to stay for a length of time you can get loans for car purchases.  Remember cars are cheaper than in the west and generally bigger with more extras being included as standard.  Repayments are very reasonable as in theory there is no such thing as interest in Muslim law (although this is often disguised as administration charges).  You will also get a decent price when you want to sell and in some cases car dealers will guarantee to buy back.

Explore other countries – flights to and from neighbouring countries in the Middle East are generally affordable, so look to visit places you wouldn’t normally go to in your holidays.

Make your provided accommodation your home.  Get yourself to the Souks and buy some rugs (not necessarily silk but good strong wool); have a bed (and other furniture) made and delivered; look for wall hangings; use different materials for throws and covers; check that you can decorate the walls and get one of the maintenance guys from school to come and do it for a very cheap price; ask the cleaners at school if they would be interested in cleaning your place once a week and doing the ironing.

In short, you will get out of your Middle East experience what you put into it.

The Interview Stage

Your interview may be very short, don’t be put off if it is so.  Directors/Principals are incredibly busy and will have decided if they want you by discussing your CV before hand.  Make sure your CV is professional and clear, with a photograph (not a social snapshot).

Do your homework on the school and lifestyle in Middle East.  You can guarantee one question will be “Why do you want to work here?”

Be clear in your answers, you may be dealing with someone whose English is a second language.

Be polite no matter how your spoken to and treated, by this I do not man be a yes man/woman but don’t vent out like you would back home, it won’t get your very far here.

Have questions you want answering but avoid asking about salary.  This will be brought up by the school.  Don’t be afraid to negotiate but remember you don’t want to be greedy and your salary will be tax-free, rent free and your flights will be paid for.

Finish by asking the interviewer what will be the next step/stage be – will you receive a contract through email, when will you get your flight ticket and itinerary, where will you be teaching in the school (ie age groups, subject etc.).  This shows your keen and eager to the employer and increases your chances of being made an offer.

from a senior teachers in Doha, Qatar.

As with any country, there are pro’s and con’s.  This blog highlights exactly this but you should do your homework before you tread in to the unknown

If you like would to discuss something specific why not drop us a comment and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks

Regards

The SeekTeachers™ Team

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Finding the Right International Teaching Job for You

How do I Find the Right Job for Me?

For those of you just starting out or considering teaching internationally, you maybe feeling like confused.com with all the options but at the same time the uncertainties of going into a foreign territory.

Schools often spend a long time finding the “best fit” for their school especially with the high turnaround that schools may have.  The high turnaround should not always be seen as a negative point.  While in some cases there may well be issues in a school, let’s be honest you make a decision to teach overseas but one day your going to get bored; one day you might want to explore another country or even miss being back home.  Whatever the reason the turn over exists.

The person interviewing you will review through the interview process if you are the “best fit” for his/her school. Therefore it is fundamental that you as the job seeker do you homework not just on the school but the country, location, culture, possibly even religion (depending on your belief and faith).  This would save you a huge amount of time before  you even go to the interview and will also show you have come well prepared.

There are simply no excuses for not being able to do the research, whether your using offline resources like libraries or books to being online where pretty much all the information you need will be online; so important rule – Do your research.

With an increasing number of international schools growing and developing all over the world most have websites, showing you images, types of curriculum, resources and much more.  ALways check to see if the website is up to date and whether it looks like someone has taken the time to do it or a mish-mash job just to promote the school.  Once you do find the school you should consider asking yourself some important questions:

• Where is the school located? – is it in a rural or city location
• How difficult is it to get in and out of the country during holidays? – some countries don’t give multi-entry visas
• What is there to do to socialise, explore and entertain yourself?
• Will the weather be too hot or cold for you during peak times
• How much money could you save or have as spending money once you are paid
• Will the religious belief’s of the country go against your own?

For example, with the recent influx of western teacher swarming to the middle east for Tax Free salaries and high quality lifestyle, many perceive it to be this glorious place to work but soon had difficulties adapting to the environment.  Couples should not hold hands in public, not being able to drink alcohol publicly, having documents attested, not being paid for sick days off etc.  The labour laws also prevent teachers just moving school to school and could face a 6 month ban, something which teacher found out only after they had begun working.  Rather than have a perceived idea and seeing the job as a long holiday pit-stop while you teach ensure the homework is done by you to save you heartache, money, time and effort.

Teachers who often don’t to the homework and get stung when they get stuck in to their jobs, have known to become quite depressed of the job not being all that it was meant to be and demand or request to breach contract.  Find out your implications of breaching the contract before signing on the dotted line!

On a positive note, if you have done your homework and have made up your mind on where you would like to be and teach think carefully about where you have been trained, how you have been trained and take a moment to think about what you will be offering or bring to the school.  Remember this is a marrying process so it while the school maybe able to offer you a great salary ensure you are confident you can give back in as well, as it is also common for teachers to be sacked if they don’t deliver.

We all know the education system is slow to adapt and change and while the western world has stronger models of practise take a moment to think that where you might be going your ideas, belief’s and teaching methods may simply be too advanced.  The best would be to go with an open mind. If your fixed that this is how things should be, tread carefully as you could be in for a lot of disappointment and frustration.

When it comes to technology most international schools are behind on this.  With 5000 international schools and growing, approximately 10% would be well facilitated.  What you will find from this is that those are the schools that generally also pay well.  Schools are slowly beginning to join the online community and networks so it might be worth checking websites or information like:

• Facebook
• Youtube (if they have any videos)
• Twitter
• Podcasts sites
• Wikipedia articles

Some simple questions to ask/to do before you begin your journey of teaching internationally:

• Make a list of your goals and targets
• Make a list of pro’s and con’s for each region you chose
• What is your reason for going?
• What can you offer to the school?
• What homework/research have you done?
• How much money will you save over the contract period? Is the Salary Tax free?
• What other benefits do I get? (accommodation, medical, visa, return flights)
• How long are the holidays?
• What support is there at the school?
• What IT Facilities do they have?
• What is the teacher to student ratio per classroom?
• What is the expatriate breakdown of students?
• What is the expatriate breakdown of teachers?
• Would you have enhanced your own career development by attending this particular school

From the more experienced teachers we would love to hear from you on further advice you can give teachers looking to work internationally or if your a international school what advice would can you give for teachers coming into your region/school?

Preparing for in interview will be discussed in another blog to come.  Take your time to digest the information and begin planning your journey abroad.

Regards

The SeekTeachers™ Team
Regards

The SeekTeachs&trade Team
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More Teachers Leaving the UK to Teach Abroad!

More teachers leave the UK to teach abroad after from budget fears and continuous Government interference

With increasing interference from the Government in classrooms there is an increasing number of in the number of British trained teachers seeking international jobs in schools, colleges and universities.

The bitter cold times during winter and the prospect of funding cuts after the election is giving teachers a greater reason to leave the UK to work in schools abroad

Recent figures have shown that approximately 70,000 British primary and secondary teachers are now working in international schools.  This is a huge increase compared to 41,000 in 2005.

There is  much greater increase in the number of international schools.  According to ISC Research the number of English-medium international schools has leapt from 1,700 to 5,400 in the past decade and anticipated at rising to 8000 in the next 5 years.

There is a huge boom of jobs in Asia and the Middle East. Top international schools and global educations chains like GEMs and Raffles are now focusing on getting students from increasingly wealthy families both locally and the expatriate base.

This opens questions to the Government to rethink its decision about reduce the number of hired trainee teachers for secondary teacher training. If changes are not made in due course, UK schools could be left no other option but to looking at bringing in overseas teachers from South Africa and Canada, which could have a huge impact in the way children in the UK are taught.

While there is huge appeal in teaching internationally there are some pitfalls that all educationalist should be aware of rather than get drawn in by good salaries and great weather.  Regulations in international schools is not as stringent as they are in the UK which could lead to teachers and leaders finding themselves in awkward situations, especially if they have disagreements or are not aware of the labour regulations in the country.  It is advised that teachers and leaders get as much information as possible from reliable sources before committing themselves into a role.

If done successfully there have been many cases where teachers have left and have not returned having found that “ideal” teaching job, not from a just because of higher TAX FREE salaries but also by not having the worry of OFTSED creeping up to come in and carry out a frightening inspection.  In addition it can generally be stated that children are far better behaved and there is a greater emphasis on learning and becoming the best that they can be.

• What side of the fence do you sit on?
• Are you already a teacher who has made that application to work abroad?
• If so we would love to hear of your experience(s) be they good or bad and shed some light on new teachers coming on to the international teaching circuit!

Regards

The SeekTeachers™ Team
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Welcome to SeekTeachers™ Blog!

Welcome..Benvenuto..Välkommen..Aloha!

to the SeekTeachers™ Blog!

This blog is dedicated to discussing all topics great and small about teaching overseas. Whether its your first time, or you’re an experienced international educator we want to hear from you.

Teaching alone is a challenging career enough! Think back to when you first started teaching – your own class, your own form, planning, marking, constantly thriving to come up with better ideas, planning trips, socialising with staff members,your own responsibilities all that and of course the wonderful holidays.

As the world evolves, and the need for education rises there is a growing number of international schools around the world. According to ISC Research the number of English-medium international schools has leapt from 1,700 to 5,400 in the past decade and anticipated at rising to 8000 in the next 5 years. Recent figures show that around 70,000 British primary and secondary teachers are now working in international schools, compared to only 41,500 in 2005.

SeekTeachers™ aims to help educators around the world but sharing, discussing and collaborating ideas for newbie teachers who want their first first job abroad or even experience educators who are moving to work in an unknown destination and want some simple help, support guidance.

If your an international nursery, school, college or university join our blog to provide hints and tips to educators coming into the country for the first time about the do’s and don’ts so they can be better prepared for you.

Subscribe to our blog, to follow latest reports and information and feel free to share your comments as well

Regards

The SeekTeachers™ Team
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The SeekTeachs&trade Team
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