The Challenge of Exiting International Teaching
In 2008, my wife and I were ready for a new experience. We had been living in a vibrant neighborhood in Chicago, and while we weren’t rolling in dough, we both were making enough to enjoy our child-free twenties. However, we also both felt a bit stuck.
I’d been doing channel marketing for a music technology manufacturer and was really enjoying the work. However, I felt I had hit a ceiling with the company. I hadn’t finished college, and I had climbed as far as I could without the degree. More than that, as exciting as it was to work in that industry, I was interested in following a more noble pursuit. I wanted to feel I had a positive impact on the lives of others. I also watched my wife complete her degree in Education and begin teaching at Chicago Public Schools. That combined with a number of experiences I had teaching in some capacity, had me thinking about a new career.
Perhaps not always fairly, Chicago Public Schools get a bum rap. The school where my wife taught her first years as a teacher was one of the better ones. Yet, they still suffered from typical public school challenges like large numbers of ELL learners. My wife’s ELL endorsement meant her class quickly reached 30+ students. It was this and her professional curiosity about the PYP and inquiry based learning that had her looking outward.
Which brings us to January of 2008. She set herself up with a recruitment service, and, at a job fair in Cambridge we met the recruiter from an American international school in Mexico City. My wife and I were less interested in Mexico at the time, as I am of Mexican descent, and from a proudly Mexican-American family. We thought we wanted a more drastic change. Still the recruiter pursued Ginia, my wife, and eventually, as the offer came, it seemed like the best choice for our situation.
And so began our first hop on the Crazy Carousel. Stepping on the carousel is easy. You can explore it risk free. We went to the fair with nothing to lose. If my wife hadn’t received any offers, it wouldn’t have mattered. We wouldn’t have had to quit our jobs. As it was, my wife did get an offer, and we took it. Telling my family, who a generation before had worked so hard to migrate for better opportunities in the US, that we were moving to Mexico was emotional, but everyone supported our decision, and we were off.
While in Mexico, I finished both my B.F.A. in Design and an M.Ed. in Ed Tech. Again, we found ourselves in Cambridge in January, this time speaking with the recruiter from a school in Stuttgart, Germany about a job for me as Technology Coach and Design Teacher. A few years later, in January, this time in London, I received an offer as Director of Technology in Quito, Ecuador
Once you’re on the Carousel, it can be scary to hop from one horse to the next, but you generally find your footing. Finding that next international teaching job is stressful, yet we’ve been lucky enough to always land just the right fit for our specific personal and professional needs by January before the new school year. Once that job is secured, you can mostly relax. The move is stressful, the shipping, the visas, etc, but you’re supported by the next school, and know you’ll have a home when you land. So generally speaking, it’s a low stress proposition. The Carousel spins, and you enjoy the ride.
However, getting off the Carousel can be a bit more challenging. We’ve decided to raise our 6-year old son near our family. We want him to feel connected to that family, to give him a sense of home, and place. Now it gets tricky. Now we have to take a leap of faith off the Carousel.
The main reason is because the American and international recruitment seasons are out of phase with each other. International school hiring season is, roughly, between November and January. It can certainly happen before November and after January, but the general consensus is the better schools pick up the better candidates by then. US schools tend to hire closer to the start of the school year, with early schools getting started in April. Again, there are offers being made outside of that season, and I’m actively pursuing a few exciting opportunities right now, but the volume goes up around then.
Because of the early hiring season for international schools, a declaration of intent must be made before hiring season even begins in the US. I have to resign my position before I know if I have another so that the school has adequate time to hire my replacement. Now, I have everything to lose. I don’t have a school supporting my move back to Chicago, and I don’t know if I’ll have a home. On top of that, I don’t know if my son will be in a good school. Will he get chosen in the placement lottery for the public Montessori we want? Can we afford a private Montessori, an environment I’ve seen him thrive in at our current school? I just can’t answer these questions yet.
So, we’re getting off the carousel, knowingly going into the unknown, because we think it’s that important to our son. And because we have confidence in ourselves that we’ll not only land on our feet, but we’ll find interesting, engaging work that will make an impact on the lives of young learners.
For those of you considering hopping on the Carousel, please do! This isn’t meant to be a warning or suggestion to not get on. This is just one family’s experience that maybe you can learn from.
Keep your fingers crossed for me. And if you know of any Ed Leadership roles at exciting, progressively minded schools, ideally in Chicago, I’d love to hear about them!
So how about it, international educators? What was it like for you to return to the States after teaching abroad?
