Kelly Blackwell provides useful tips on getting the best contract for teaching abroad.
There are as many contract conditions as there are international schools, almost.
International schools are sometimes caught in a difficult situation. They need to comply with the regulations of the country in which they are operating, ensure their conditions and salaries are competitive with other international schools and balance this with the fact that they have to work within a salary budget.
Here are some items to consider when you are thinking about contract conditions for you and your family.
* tuition fee for dependent children
* housing allowance
* medical coverage
* pension contributions
* end-of-contract bonus
* annual flights home
* sick pay
* maternity leave
* spouse visa
* professional development
* extra-curricular activities
* overnight trips
When you are making the decision to work overseas, set some criteria for what contract conditions you are willing to accept.
If you have three or more children, you’ll be looking for a contract where the tuition fee for all of your children is waived. Otherwise, you may end up spending a considerable amount of your take-home pay on tuition fees for your third child. The fees for international schools are high, frequently beyond what a teacher can afford to pay, even on the good salaries that are available for teachers at international schools. This makes sense when you think about it – it’s those salaries that pay overseas teachers so lucratively.
When you choose to move to a location far away from your family, you won’t want to spend the money you’ve saved to fly your whole family home each year for a visit. This is where annual flights home are a must for me, when I am deciding what conditions I will accept.
Consider the period of time you are willing to commit to your new school. There is a trend towards offering starting contracts of two years. My advice is to sign a contract for two years, initially, as it may take you a year or more to settle into the community. Then you can ask to sign contract renewals annually.
If I had signed a one-year contract for my current school, I wouldn’t be here now, nor would I have just re-signed for an additional 12 months. It took me a year to get settled, find new hobbies and places to do my old hobbies.
Have a clear idea of what you want before you enter into an interview. Compare the contract conditions offered by different schools. You may not get what you're looking for, but you can make better informed decisions based on what’s being offered. Be flexible, there is considerable diversity in contract conditions offered across the world.
The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School has several chapters dedicated to getting you into a situation where you will receive many teaching contract offers from international schools, and then assisting you in making the right choice for you.