Australian and New Zealand Teachers - International Jobs

Where can I teach? What curricula do schools use? How much can I earn? What are the requirements? How do I start?

Antipodean teachers have lots of reasons for teaching internationally. They save more money than at home thanks to comprehensive employment packages that include housing, higher take home pay and lower cost of living. They get to see more of the world and experience new cultures, broadening themselves personally. They work alongside teachers from all over the world and learn new teaching skills and new curricula. There are more reasons than we can count.

WHERE CAN I TEACH?

There are currently over 12,000 international schools around the world, however most Australian and New Zealand Primary and Secondary teachers start their international teaching careers in either the Middle East, Southeast Asia or the Far East. Why? Because these regions have the largest concentration of international schools, they pay the highest salaries and are the most flexible with teachers who don’t yet have experience in one of the main international school curricula- the UK, US or International Baccalaureate. Most Australian and New Zealand teachers teach for 2-3 years in these regions to get the critical experience and professional development they need, getting their foot on the first rung of the International School ladder. Then the sky is the limit.

Note that some countries require a minimum number of years of experience to get a visa, and some have a maximum or minimum age. Some schools require that you have experience teaching their curricula and some are more flexible. Finally, an increasing number of countries have requirements in terms of the education and teacher training you must have. The Edvectus team keeps up to date on all of these changing goalposts and is here to help guide you towards the right countries and schools that can and will hire you.

WHAT KIND OF CURRICULA DO THE SCHOOLS USE?

Over half of international schools use the national curriculum of England and Wales. About a quarter use the International Baccalaureate, and about twenty percent use the US curriculum. There are a few Australian, Canadian and New Zealand curriculum schools as well, but they are quite rare. Regardless of the curriculum used, a growing percentage of international schools are also bilingual, combining the host country language and parts of their curricula too. There is a huge spectrum of combinations, which is what we think makes it so unique and exciting. We find Australian and New Zealand teachers are particularly suited to international schools that value strong subject knowledge, bilingualism and cultural sensitivity.

HOW MUCH CAN I EARN BY TEACHING ABROAD?

The three things any international teacher will need to consider are:

What is the after-tax salary I will earn?
What benefits are included in the package, and what will I need to pay for out of my salary?
What is the cost of living?

At home you are used to getting a salary and you know what the taxes will be. You know the cost of your housing, food, internet, utilities and more. When you go abroad, you need to redo those calculations because everything changes.

Every school has a different salary scale and benefits – some of which can make a huge difference- and every country and city has a different cost of living. A country with a lower cost of living means each dollar you earn buys more, so you save more. Let’s take some typical examples from schools that will hire Australian and New Zealand teachers with 2-3 years of experience. We’ll use NZ teachers as an example:

In New Zealand

Annual Salary $66,000
After tax Salary $52,000
Rent: $500 per month
Money left for food, utilities, savings, per month: $3833

In the UAE

Annual Salary (no tax): 144,000 AED ($65,000)
Rent: 0 (apartment provided by school)
Money left for food, utilities, savings per month: $5416
Adjusted for cost of living (8.5% lower in the UAE) it will feel like: $5876

In China

Annual Salary: 360,000 CNY ($83,000)
After tax salary (Beijing): 272, 000 CNY ($63,000)
Rent: 0 (covered by housing allowance provided by school)
Money left over for food, utilities, savings per month: $5250
Adjusted for the cost of living (43% lower in China) it will feel like: $7507

In Thailand

Annual Salary: 1,008,000 ThB ($46,000)
After tax salary (Bangkok): 912,000 ThB ($42,000)
Rent: 0 (covered by housing allowance)
Money left over for food, utilities, savings per month: $3500
Adjusted for the cost of living (37% lower in Bangkok) it will feel like: $4795

You can see how tax rates, employment packages and the cost of living variation affects your take home pay and standard of living. In all cases you should be able to save more by working internationally. And remember our examples don’t include benefits like bonuses which are common in international school packages so you might do even better!

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO TEACH IN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS?

Every country has different requirement and every school has different preferences (which is why we are here to help!), but some basic requirements for international schools are:

Bachelor’s degree in your teaching subject
Teacher training such as a PGCE or Bachelor of Teaching or Masters of Teaching
Teacher registration
Teaching references and Safeguarding checks cleared
A clear criminal record check is required in many countries

There are also some restrictions on age in several countries making it harder for those over 55. We don’t recommend you try to bring a pet abroad (more here ), and those with a partner and/or dependent children should read about some of the challenges here.

HOW DO I GET STARTED OR FIND OUT MORE?

Registering with Edvectus is free, and all you need is a CV so we can see your education and experience. Don’t worry about having the perfect CV at this stage- we can help guide you along the way with tips and advice. Simply register and our consultants (who are internationally experienced ex-teachers themselves) will contact you to find out more about you and explain what kinds of opportunities we have. Most of our jobs are online here but we can help point you to the best jobs for your experience, educational background, personal situation and goals. Matching teachers to job is what we do.

Australian Teachers and New Zealand Teachers – register with a click on the link below.

Your international career awaits.

5 minute Registration form: https://www.edvectus.com/CandidatePortalRegistration/Page1