Everyone has an opinion on those teachers who pack up and head abroad to work, and many British teachers don’t realise the educational opportunities that are available to them around the world.
Here are the stories of three teachers who can speak from experience about why they took the decision to leave to work abroad and what was involved.
Mary Van Der Heijden - from shy nursery teacher to educational consultant.
“I’d always wanted to work overseas. This was back in the late ‘70s when there was no internet or much advertising of international jobs. I wanted to travel and I wanted to teach and at that point I thought it was either/or. With two years of teaching experience in the East End of London, I took a late ‘gap year’ and did some travelling and at that point realised the teaching opportunities available to me. I went to work at the British School of Amsterdam, setting up a new nursery unit. It began with four children but grew rapidly and we had enough for two classes by the time I left. I was doing everything from resourcing to dealing with new parents as well as teaching and it was a great experience.
It was while I was there meeting teachers from different parts of the world that I began to realise all the international teaching opportunities available to me. It’s not about teaching English as a foreign language; it’s about taking your teaching skills and using them in English-speaking schools including British schools overseas and international schools.