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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, as a longtime international teacher, I urge you to go to International Schools Review and get a subscription.  There are a LOT of bad international schools out there, and this site has detailed anonymous reviews by teachers.  ISR is kind of a thing that everyone on the international school circuit knows about.

Here's the deal: the "golden era" of international teaching, when you could make serious money and save a lot, is largely over.  Packages in most countries have stagnated as cost of living has risen over the last decade (especially true in Dubai).  In addition, over the past decade or so, a lot of "chain" international schools, run for profit like businesses (think similar conditions to charter schools in US, but run top-down by CEO bros) and have the lowest possible package/health care package possible and terrible work conditions, and a growing trend in which established international schools are being bought up by private equity groups/businesses and run brutally for profit in a way that means lots of shortcuts and choices that work against quality education standards and what is best for kids/teachers.

It is hard to get into a "tier one" not for profit school.  But this is what you need to aim for.

China: lots of existing tier 2-3 and lower schools that are OK but in places you might not love, and lots of bilingual schools for national students that vary in quality/work conditions.  Do your homework.  Many of the better international schools in China have been struggling due to plummeting birth rates and a government that, more and more, is prioritizing Chinese education for Chinese kids and de-emphasizing the headlong embracement of all things Western that we saw in decades past.  China used to be an easy place to get a high paying teaching job, but that is changing.

Dubai: all but four of the many, many international schools here are for-profit.  As noted, packages have stagnated as cost of living skyrocketed.  Work conditions in those chain schools (like GEMS, etc) are brutal and unpleasant, and you will not save as in years past.  OK for singles who just want the "Dubai experience" for a few years, or if you can get into one of the four not for profit schools (very hard if your husband has no IB experience, or in the case of a few of them, British curriculum experience, and no international school experience).

Spain: no international school there will offer you the chance to save.  Cost of living is super high.  We call international school jobs in Spain "lifestyle posts", where teachers near the end of their career who have saved a lot will go there with savings and willingness to "pay to live there" to enjoy the lifestyle, or newbies at the start of their career who don't care about savings.  Same for Italy, unfortunately.

Ireland: your husband will not get a teaching job there.  I am 100% sure of this.  It is competitive and difficult for actual Irish teachers to get jobs there, which is why so many young Irish teachers are working in international schools in other countries.

England: I worked in an international school there for a few years.  Very expensive, very poor savings, and only one international school in London pays reasonably well to justify moving/living there, and possibly the one in Aberdeen.  There are multiple other for-profit international schools where you will save almost nothing and work conditions are poor.

So, my advice is: do your homework and try to get in a tier 2-3 China school to get IB experience and international years on the CV, then use it to move up to a better post.  Or, consider a "hardship post" in a less desirable location, where you can still find schools that pay decently.  Or, choose a country with good work conditions, worker protection/strong union, and compromise on saving and quality of life in a place where you might put down roots and actually qualify for permanent residency eventually: Germany is this, but taxes are so high you won't save much.

Again, the international school world has changed drastically and for the worst over the last decade, and you really, really need to do your homework.  The gold standard for recruiting is Search Associates, which represents some of the best international schools that only use Search (but also lots of bad schools).

So, yeah, you do sound a little "crazy" now, or at least poorly informed.  But lots of international teachers start out that way.  The only thing is, most do this as young singles, and their mistakes aren't going to affect a family in the way that your husband's choice can do now.  Please, please do your homework.[/quote]

+1,0000

It was very kind of you to take the time to share these detailed insights![/quote]

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