My resolve is so fickle. I am so bored here, and so desperate to get away, yet when it comes to the thought of actually getting on a plane to land myself in some godforsaken part of the earth, I still tremble and quake.
Putting that aside, I must fill in some of the gaps in what I have already done in researching the great OE.
Having already taught in the UK in the past I am familiar with the myriad of teaching agencies available to 'regular' teachers (ie: primary/secondary, Bachelor of Ed trained). In the past I've dealt with Timeplan, Smart Teachers, Bluewave, ITN, TeachLondon, Protocol, AStar, Hays...the only ones I ever worked for were Protocol teachers, during my 'London sojourn'.
This time round I do not have the desire to get a job with my BEd in an international or IB school. Firstly, I feel that they will sniff at my erratic teaching experience and secondly, many of them require a minimum of 2 years commitment. The plan this time is to find ESL work, which may pay less and be a little less secure, but allows me to take a more relaxed approach - more freedom to travel and to leave after 6 months if that is where the wind is taking us.
Still, the thought of being paid squidzillions and having free accommodation and being able to teach History was quite alluring, so I re-registered with with Select Education http://www.teachanywhere.com/ who place teachers all over the world. They keep sending me their job mailers, which has an effect on me that is not unlike turning up at my Mum's when she has a roast in the oven...
Teaching English in Bratslavia, anyone? History in Holland? Nursery assistant in Korea or Nigeria?
Of course, many of the European jobs are off limits because I am cursed not to have anything EU about me, but I will rant properly about that at a later date. I also think that eventually the option of working for an International School would be a good one as it may help me to gain teaching work in Scotland. Although working as a Tesol teacher for the next year or so may actually hinder me from getting Int school jobs...frown, frown. I will just have to face that when we get there.
The good thing about the mailers is that whenever my resolve to escape falters a little, the enticing aroma of all these jobs in such delicious locations is enough to get my mojo back.
Still waiting for my course books to arrive...waiting...waiting...
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2 comments:
Why only Protocol while you were in London out of interest.
Mostly due to chance. I had sent away for the info pack from Timeplan before leaving Australia (because they were (and still are) the only teaching agency operating in Scotland). I visited their Glasgow office but never worked with them as they didn't have a lot of jobs in Scotland.
I caught the bus down to London to meet up with a friend from uni who was stopping in London for 3 months on a RTW trip. She had signed up with Protocol in Oz and they had met her at the airport in London (they don't do that anymore). I tagged along when she went to sign on in London and ended up signing up too. Worked supply for a couple of months in primary schools (not all bad - my mate had some horrid experiences in Secondary) and received two job offers in that time, but went back to Scotland.
Positives:
- their offices were directly opposite our flat in Croydon!
- Free internet and teaching resources.
- Friendly/helpful staff (my mobile was stolen on the tube and Protocol secretary rang the thieves and abused them for me. Didn't get the phone back though :(
- Job offers really quickly.
- Flexible - allowed me to teach primary although I'm secondary trained.
Downsides:
- no info provided on QTS, and as I was so briefly in the English school system, I didn't hear about it until it was too late (ie: the 4 years were up).
- I applied for a recruitment position with them once and didn't get it, so boo hoo, lol! (that could also be a plus - not all teacher recruitment agencies aim to recruit real teachers)
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