Job Discussion Forums

[EMH1969]

Hi,

As I mentioned in another post, I received my K-5 teaching credential from the State of California last year. However, instead of going directly into teaching, I decided to take some time off. I realized that to do an adequate job of teaching in an American school, I'd have to work 60-70 hours a week minimum. In addition to the classroom time, I'd need to spend countless hours planning and prepping. Part of that is being a new teacher. But I also met plenty of experienced teachers who put in 60 hour+ work weeks.

I've read a few posts on this site from teachers who are much happier teaching at an international school than they were in their home country (particularly the US). For those of you who are working in international schools, I'd be interested in how your experiences compared to working in your home country, particularly with regard to workload. I don't mind working hard and putting in my time but I don't have the energy to work 60+ hours a week.

Thanks,

Ed

[Chan]

In my opinion (and experience), the workload is not less in an international school. Sometimes, it's actually more when you take into account things like multiple preps, which are very common, and running at least one after school activity, which is almost always mandatory.

[The_Hanged_Man]

It depends.

Both at my old school in Texas and at my international school in Kuwait I knew people who worked 70+ and others who barely worked 40. It all depends on your number of preps, number of students, your administrator, and level of involvement in extra-curricular activities. That said, the 70+ group were generally regarded as dedicated teachers and those that worked around 40 were usually cutting corners and sometimes not particularly effective in both locations.

International schools do tend to have less busy work in terms of meeting state curriculum requirements and preparation for states exams. However, generally the better the school the higher the expectations. The top notch schools definitely make you earn your keep.

Honestly, don't go to an international school in hopes of having an easy workload or a working vacation, as you will probably be disappointed. Compared to working the States international schools provide excellent savings opportunities and benefits, but it can very hard work at times.

[mondrian]

[naturegirl321]

I'm teaching at a secondary (bilingual) school and it's much more work than I've even had to do at langauge schools, unis or kindergartens. I have 6 different classes, annual plans, unit plans, lesson plans and my grade books for each class are about four pages long. The benefits are good, but for me, it take time away from being with my family.

[EMH1969]

Thank you all for the very helpful replies. Not what I wanted to hear, though it is what I expected to hear. I was having a hard time imagining that the workload could somehow be less and you have basically confirmed what I suspected. Good to know. The higher pay relative to cost of living would be nice. But not at the cost of overall quality of live, in my opinion.

[Justin Trullinger]

For quality of life, it always seems like the university jobs win in the end.

Best,
Justin

[EMH1969]

[spiral78]

Yes.

[Justin Trullinger]

MA TESOL or Applied linguistics makes it fairly easy to work in unis in many countries.

Lacking that, with a masters in another field, you might find ESP work in a university setting.

Or, you could just get lucky. I know a guy with a cert and a BA in psychology, nothing more, in a peach of a job in Thailand. He knew a guy...


Best,
Justin

[EMH1969]

[CoolThailand]

International schools in the main pay higher salaries ... they don't do that for nothing. Higher salary = higher workload expectations.