Finding a Teaching Job Abroad Using the Internet as an Information Medium
The internet has one purpose, to share information with people, and it’s a very powerful tool. I’m going to focus on how you can use the information that is available on the internet to secure a teaching position abroad.
Searching for Vacancies
Firstly you need to identify where you would like to work, and the kind of school in which you want to work. For example, I teach economics and would like to teach in Europe.
Once you’ve thought about the geographical area in which you want to work and have made a decision about that, you’ll need to go to a search engine and conduct a search. You are going to be looking for schools with relevant vacancies. Personally I find Google returns the most relevant search results.
In order to teach in Europe I’m probably going to have to teach in an international school, so one search term I might use is “international school Europe”. The reason I wouldn’t try the search term “economic teacher vacancy international school Europe” is that while it might be a more specific search term, in using it I am assuming that the schools’ webmaster has optimized the page for that search term.
For example, when I used the first search term “international school Europe” the first page of results has only two schools listed whose sites I can then visit and look for relevant vacancies. But the other results were directories of international schools in Europe which I could use to jump into my research with around 15 schools listed per directory.
When I use the second search term “economic teacher vacancy international school Europe” the first page of results has no relevant web sites listed. The sites were either economics news stories or job placement services recruiting teachers for schools in the United Kingdom.
Finding Information about the School
Once you’ve found a likely looking vacancy that you think you’d like to apply for, you can use the internet to gather more information about the school. This is an essential process, and should be carried out before you submit your application. As all teachers know, there are schools in which you want to work and then there are schools in which you wouldn’t work even if you were desperate for a job, so it’s important to do your research.
You will need to set out some criteria against which you can assess the school. If you are looking to teach in an international school, then there are industry specific criteria you should be looking at, and I’ve included them in a chapter in my book The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School.
You can find information about schools in many places. You could search the schools’ website for information. Look at:
* pictures they have on the site. I was keen on getting a job at one of the schools in the Bahamas when I saw that all the staff were all wearing shorts in the staff photo on the website!
* students’ work published on the website. One of my colleagues is currently looking for a new job teaching Information Technology at an international school and one of her strategies is to check out what students are doing at the school.
* whether the school has included information about living in the local area, either for parents or for teachers.
You could find out whether there is there a national (or international) education quality assurance organization, such as Ofsted in the UK, ERO in NZ, or ECIS for international schools, and see whether there are any reports available in the public domain about the school that interests you.
You could find and join a forum and ask the members for information about the school. For example the Times Education Supplement (TES) website has several teachers’ forums. You can find the forum concerned with teaching overseas here:
TES Teaching Overseas Forum
Submit Your Application via Email
When you’ve established that the school is one in which you’d like to work, you can use email to submit your application pack, find a web hosting service and have elements of your application pack available online for the recruiter to visit and, you can send the recruiter to the website of your current school if there is material displayed there for which you can take some credit.
Resource
Kelly’s international teaching career spans nearly a decade and began before the internet became the information super-highway it is today. She’s adapted her job-hunting techniques to take advantage of the power of the internet. Visit her site if you’d like more information on landing a desirable international teaching contract.
Online Education is at Your Fingertips
Have you thought about going to school, or returning to school? Have you wondered whether you should go to a regular "sweatshirt" school? If you haven't been to one recently, let me paint you a picture.
What you usually have is acres and acres of buildings, parking lots and students. You might have to commute for miles in awful traffic, and then find it impossible to get a decent parking place close to your classes. And then you may spend hours tramping back and forth across campus in rain and mud and snow or heat, lugging 50 pounds of books on your back. You stand in line to get your classes and then they are not available. Or if a class is available, it’s at 6:00 a.m. or 10 p.m., never convenient. If the kids get sick you get to miss classes. And most of the students seem to resemble your youngest child, making you feel like a dinosaur.
Does the above scenario strike fear into your heart? Could it be the reason you haven’t pursued further educational goals? What would you think if I told you that you could achieve your educational goals without leaving the comfort of your own home, and possibly even do it cheaper?
If this sounds good to you, you should consider getting an online education. All you need is a computer connected to the internet and a desire to learn. No traffic nightmares, no weather worries. No scheduling hassles or babysitter costs, and you can even go to school in your jammies and robe. Wow! My idea of school. Comfort and convenience. Half the struggles of going to a brick and mortar school can be alleviated simply by enrolling in a distance education program. You take the classes you need at the times you want, at your own speed, and still achieve your chosen degree.
Online education does not mean that the classes are easier, it just means that they are easier to take. You will still have to study, do homework, write papers, take midterms and final exams. Yes, you must earn your degree! But the good news is, you can do it in the comfort and convenience of your own home.
The advantages of getting an online education are virtually endless. No commute. No parking hassles. No childcare issues or expenses. No need to schedule your life around someone else's calendar. The only thing you have to do get your work done.
For many people this is all the motivation they need to get going. However it is important that you know your limitations. If it is impossible for you to have several hours per day of quiet time, if you find it difficult to focus with all the insanity going on around you, or if you just can’t discipline yourself to do the job, then distance education might not be for you. However, if you're good at managing the ins and outs of your home life, you should be able to juggle the extra balls that a distance learning program tosses at you.
During the past 10 years, online education has finally come into its own, and now many programs are even eligible for federal financial aid such as grants and loans. So it's entirely possible for you to attend school without breaking the bank.You can find classes and distance learning programs in a huge variety of topics, starting with a GED and going all the way up to Doctoral degrees.
Some online schools have brick and mortar campuses and some not. Some require occasional meetings with students and teachers, also called “limited residence requirements”. Many have no such requirements, meaning your education is simply based upon the classes you take and, of course, pass. Some schools have you attend online live or prerecorded lectures or interactive classes, while others simply give you the class materials online and let you take exams when you are ready.
It is important that you research your options thoroughly and carefully. Whether you are planning to take business classes, certification courses or any type of higher education, make sure the
online education program you chooseis accredited by the appropriate agency in your state. There's nothing worse than wasting money and time to get an education that you won't get credit for, unless of course you are doing it just for fun.
Once you decide you're ready to do it, you need to choose what subject you want to study or what career you want to pursue, then look for the distance learning program best suited to all of your needs. Whether you want to learn computer repair, culinary arts, engineering, business management or something else, you will be able to locate a online degree program that will fill the bill.
So there you have it. An online education is literally at your fingertips, just get out there and grab it.
Creating the Counsellor Mindset: Part Three
Stage Three: Dealing with Challenging Situations
One of the foremost challenges facing counselling professionals is to understand the complex role that diversity plays in their work. In counselling, each client’s needs and objectives should be considered and used to guide the counselling process. These needs vary for each individual according to factors such as personality, culture, gender and age.
Counselling with Difference
It is vital that counsellors working with issues of difference recognise the unique needs of their client and plan intervention accordingly. The counsellor must decide on the approach that will provide better responsiveness from the client, and therefore lead to a constructive outcome.
Clients affected by systems of inequity in our culture are frequently subjected to acts of discrimination and prejudice. Counsellors need to understand the impact of such in order to analyse the depth to which a client may be culturally traumatised. Prejudice impacts on self-esteem and may evoke imbalances in a client’s wellbeing. They may experience feelings of being left out of the larger group, feelings of powerlessness, loneliness and hopelessness.
Working with Groups
Group counselling is a challenging and dynamic form of counselling that requires all-round professional skills from counsellors. It implies that any challenges a counsellor may find in helping an individual can potentially duplicate, triplicate, or vastly multiply – however, the more intricate the challenge is, the higher the rewards.
Similar to mathematics theory, the dynamic interactions which occur within a group, along with the external influencing factors upon that group, pose challenges to controlling and interpreting group outcomes. When dealing with groups, the primary objective (whether a group is formed to develop a project or a group united by the need to tackle an analogous problem) is to ensure that the group is healthy and productive. As such, core communication skills which are based on interpersonal communication theory are applicable for groups – promoting good communication between group individuals creates a safe and productive environment for the group to work.
When dealing with groups, there are several major issues that should be noted by professional counsellors, such as:
1. Understanding power relationships – in other words – how the interaction between counsellor and the group’s individuals impact interpersonal relationships;
2. Consciously avoiding generalisations and stereotypes;
3. Accepting that all people are multi-dimensional;
4. Making judgements exclusively on situationally relevant criteria;
5. Adopting communication patterns which minimise stereotyping and increase dignity and respect to induce more appropriate decisions (based on information relevant to the particular context) and;
6. Consciously controlling group communication which is likely to aggravate negative perceptions by others.
The Unfaithful Mind
Counsellors are also faced with situations in which their own personal perspective creates a challenge in their relationships with clients. A client’s personality, behaviour or opinion may diverge from the counsellor in such a radical way that it becomes a motive for dislike or disassociation. It is a complex situation which requires the counsellor to reflect on their own capabilities of dealing with such situation.
The risk of developing hatred against ‘opposing’ groups of society can perpetuate negative behaviour – a kind of traumatic response to what has been perceived as a threat. Recognising value in the individual is part of the process of developing the client’s self-confidence through providing a supportive environment during counselling sessions.
What is the solution? Primarily, the counsellor will need to reflect on whether he/she is able to restrain his/her own negative feelings towards the client and work together in a productive manner. If he/she decides that it is feasible, strategies need to be devised in order to avoid conflict and lack of alignment in the relationship goals. If the counsellor believes that it is not appropriate to deal with the client due to personal motives, there should be a contingency plan to refer that client to appropriate support and ensure that this process is done efficiently – without incurring in any psychological harm to the client.
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