The International School of Trieste was founded in 1964. It is a non-profit day school for students from Pre-Nursery through Grade 10. IST is accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges.

IST has over 300 students that represent 25 nationalities. Many of the students come from the local community, and many of the international students come from families associated with local scientific institutions. Class sizes run from an average of 20 in Early Childhood to 24 in Elementary School to 20 in the Middle School and 10 in the High School.

Mission
The mission of the school is to provide a balanced education and help students develop their potentials and become lifelong learners and responsible citizens.

Facilities
The school has a two-story building that also includes a sports facility. Other facilities include: a library, a science lab, state of the art computer lab, a cafeteria, and a gym, along with outdoors play areas.

Curriculum
The school is organized with four academic sections: Early Childhood, Elementary School, Middle School and High School. IST plans on adding addition high school grades in the near future. All sections with the exception of Early Childhood study Italian as a vital component of the program. The school curriculum has Core Subjects and Additional Subjects, similar to many international schools.

Extra-curricular Activities
IST has a range of extra-curricular activities including sports like tennis and soccer, music, drama, yoga, Italian, and community development. The school has a sports exchange with another international school in Rome.

Technology
IST has computer classes for all age students although the computer is used more as a “problem-solving machine” in the upper grades.

Professional Development
No information is available on the school website.

Employment
The majority of teachers at IST are from North America, and Britain. Seven nationalities are represented on the school teaching staff. The school seeks teachers who are certified, have university degrees, and are experienced. No information is available on salaries, benefits or the process of applying for a position at the school. If you are interested in working here, you might send them an email and ask them to improve their employment page.

About Trieste
Trieste is a beautiful city located in northeastern Italy on the Adriatic Sea. It has a population of just over 200,000 and was once part of Austria. This is one of those cities known as border towns because it sits along the Slovenian border. The mixed population is made up of Italians, Slovenians, Serbs, Croatians, Germans and Hungarians. Trieste is a port city and much of its economy depends on its strategic geographical location. Trieste has a pleasant climate with cold but dry winters, rainy springs and autumns, and hot dry summers.

Some of the highlights of the city are: the Miramare Castle built in the mid ninteenth century, the Castle of San Giusto, the Arch of Riccardo that dates back to the Roman period, the Basilica Forense, the Roman theatre and more. James Joyce did much of his writing here. The city actually has a long list of famous writers who took up residence there while writing.

American International School Lusaka

School Website Review: I like the homepage. They have a cool mosaic. The school offers a lot of information, especially on the school curriculum and extracurricular activities. While the school does have some information on teacher salaries and benefits, I would like to see a little more information about the benefits as well as the salary schedule.

American International School Lusaka is an independent, co-educational day school for students from 2-18 years old. AIS was established in 1986. The school is an IB World School that is authorized to use all three IB programmes. The school year runs from August to June. AIS is accredited by the Council of International Schools and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

Lusaka

AIS has approximately 500 students: 28% of students are American, 24% of students are African, 42% of students are from Europe and the remaining students are from the Middle East and Australasia. Class sizes vary according to grade level but generally average out at a maximum of 19 students per class.

Mission
AISL is working on becoming a leading IB World School and enabling its students to become successful lifelong learners who are appreciative of other cultures and are prepared to continue their education in leading schools.

Facilities
AISL is located close to the main residential area of Lusaka on 40 acres. It has a purpose built facility that includes: 8 classrooms blocks, an Early Learning Center, a library, 3 computer labs, a Performing Arts Center, 2 swimming pools, an outdoor amphitheatre, 3 sports fields, 2 tennis courts, a cafeteria, a multi-purpose covered court for sports and teacher housing.

Curriculum
AISL is an IB World School that is authorized to use all three IB programs. You can find more information about the IB in Chapter 2. The school has their curriculum online. Take a look at it. In addition to the IB Diploma, senior students can get the American High School Diploma. AISL has a Special Needs Department for students with mild learning disabilities.

Extra-curricular Activities
AISL offers a wide range of programs including: sports, horse riding, karate, ballet, drama, computer games, chess, Student Council, the Model United Nations and more.

Technology
AISL has a wired and wireless campus with all students and teachers being able to access the internet and the school network. All classrooms have computers in addition to the 3 computer labs on campus. The school uses iMacs and Mack Books. In addition to technology being integrated throughout the curriculum, students receive skills-based lessons on the use of computer applications.

Professional Development
No information is available on the school website, although considering that this in an IB World School there will definitely be professional development on the IB.

Employment
AISL is looking for teachers who are committed, collaborative, qualified, experienced, flexible, have a sense of humor and are imaginative. The school uses both locally hired teachers and overseas hired teachers. IB experience and international teaching experience is a benefit.

Overseas teachers are offered an initial two-year contract. The school uses a salary schedule based on education and experience. Salaries range from USD 30,000 to USD 50,000. The average salary is about USD 38,0000. Benefits include: housing, annual home leave, housing and utilities, free tuition for up to 2 children, and medical insurance.

Candidates should send a letter of inquiry to the Director with a resume attached. AISL recruits at the Search, ISS and CIS fairs.

About Zambia and Lusaka
Zambia has a population of about 10 million. The country has 73 language groups, but English is the official language. Zambia is land-locked so forget about easy access to beaches. The currency is the Kwacha.

Zambia has three seasons: the cool season between May and August, the hot season between September and November, and the wet season from December through April. Nights can be cool enough to wear a jacket.

Lusaka is the capital of Zambia and has a population of about 2 million. The city is located at 1280 meters above sea level. There are three main residential areas in the city although about 80% of the population lives in shantytowns. The city has a number of internationally-oriented restaurants, and is home to many bars for both locals and expats. The city also has a number of museums such as the Lusaka National Museum, a golf club, the University of Zambia and other attractions.

This  post is another republication from a year ago. With the recruitment fairs still going on, this seems to be the appropriate time to post this again.

Today, I want to discuss the importance of finding the right “fit” with your new school. The person that is interviewing you will be looking to see if you “fit” his/her school, so you should be doing the same thing in your research for a position long before you get to the interview stage. In fact, one of the key reasons to research schools should be to find the ones that fit with you and save yourself a lot of unnecessary interviews.

One of the great things about the internet age is that you can do all your research online. Back when I first started teaching overseas, this wasn’t an option, and I sat through several interviews that showed that there was definitely not a fit for me or for the school. Today you can avoid that if you do your research.

Almost all international schools have websites – some of them are just incredible sources of information, while others are fairly minimal. One of the earliest signs about the school you’re researching is the website – is it updated, is it complete, does it feature student work?

Now that you’ve found the website, look around for information on the location of the school. These are some of the things that you should be asking yourself: Is the school in a city or a rural area? Do you like traffic? Solitude? How hard is it to get in and out of for vacations and leave? What kinds of entertainment or cultural activities are available? What is the culture of the country/city like? What about the climate? Too hot or too cold for you? Does a lot of rain depress you? Do you need to be able to shop a lot?

Here are a few examples of what a fit isn’t. While I was teaching in Pakistan, we had several teachers come to the school who immediately had problems adapting to local cultural customs in terms of dress and behavior and beliefs. They were miserable and they made everyone around them miserable by constantly whining and complaining. One teacher was unhappy enough that she decided after four months that she couldn’t complete the two year contract, and we had to get permission from the Board to let her leave after a year. In this case she wasted her time and money and the school’s time and money. Another example is the teacher who arrived in a remote school on the island of New Guinea. She spent the first few days barricaded in her house because the mining town where the school was located depressed her. The lesson here? Make sure that you are going to be comfortable with the physical and cultural characteristics of the school that you are considering.

OK, now that you know where you might be going, it’s time to take a look at the mission and goals of the school. Can you support them wholeheartedly? If you can’t, you’re better off looking somewhere else. Institutions are slow to change and if your idea is to move to a new school and try to mold it to your idea of what a superior school should be, you may be in for a lot of disappointment and frustration.

Teaching is changing (or should be) as our ideas about what constitutes knowledge and what the nature of the world is changes, i.e., The World if Flat. What’s your take on this? If you’re a teacher who is excited by 21st Century Literacy, Web 2.0, and integrating technology in to your teaching practices and mindset, then you need to make sure that your school is on the same track. Take a look at the IT curriculum and resources. Do they have a strategic plan? What do they say about where the school is or is planning to go?

Here’s another example. I’m reading David Warlick’s 2¢ Worth blog. He’s commenting on a keynote by Stephen Heppell at the Ontario Library Association, and Heppell had asked students what a technology literate teacher should be able to do and they listed these things:

* upload to YouTube

* edit a Wikipedia article

* choose a safe online payments site

* subscribe to a podcast and un subscribe

* turn on and off predictive text

* manage a groups Flickr photos (and spell Flickr!)

* look after a community in Facebook.

 Do I think those abilities are important? Yes, definitely, and I’m excited by all the new directions of teaching and learning that some schools are exploring and implementing like the International School of Bangkok, Shanghai American School, and others.

Out of these seven actions mentioned above, four of them are impossible at our school because of the company’s filters. Being restricted by finances and policies from the direction that I want to move in, I decided to retire a year earlier than I had planned. Is this an example of not having a fit? Yes and no. Yes, because the school has been able to offer limited support for what I need to improve our technology program and meet my personal and professional development goals; so my philosophy and goals are only partially in sync with the schools. No, because when I came here, my goals were less encompassing and the school was going to be able to support them. That is, the school and I were going in the same direction. There was a fit. Five years later, the school is just coming around to where I think it should be, but I made my decision to leave last year when the frustrations were making me miserable which was most likely making my colleagues miserable. This is actually an example of a sign of when it’s time to move on.

So far I haven’t mentioned money or benefits. Are they important? Definitely! But, I’ve seen people take jobs mainly because of money, or stay in jobs longer than they should have because of money, and it’s always been a mistake. That said, one of the great things about international teaching is making some money and being able to save it. Some schools don’t like to put their salary schedule online; I’ve never been able to understand why although at my previous school, it was decided not to list our salaries even though they were quite good, and I felt that they would help recruit people. When I started international teaching I took a job for less money than I was making in the States. I did it because of the experience of living in a jungle. I’ve never regretted it. Check to see what currency you will be receiving your salary in. Being given local currency can significantly reduce your spending power when taking a vacation.

Don’t ignore those benefits and just focus on money. Here are some key benefits: What is the retirement pay like? Do they provide housing? What kind is it? Do you have to share? Is there a relocation allowance? What is the sick leave allowance like? You can cash it in in some schools. What about home leave? Is it at the end of the first or second year? Do you get additional travel money for one of your vacations? What about insurance? I’ve had some bad insurance benefits and some great ones. What about tuition for your children? Most schools provide it free, make sure yours does. What about professional development? Do you control it or does the PD committee? Some schools offer cars for free or low cost. Some offer interest free loans to buy one. Does the school offer leave to attend a recruitment fair?

OK. You’ve gone through all this. Hopefully, you have a fit.  Relax and get ready for the interview.

This is the time for recruitment fairs. It’s a time of tension, stress and anxiety for most of us. Here is a reprint of a blog that I wrote back in September. Good luck to everyone on your interviews.

Interviews. I hate interviews. I’ve sat on both sides of the table, and quite frankly, I didn’t like either side. I happen to be one of those people who get nervous before an interview regardless of whether I’m being interviewed or I’m doing the interviewing, and I really need to psyche myself up before I go.

Your interview will most likely be the most important part of the total process of seeking an international teaching position. Many years ago I suggested to several administrators that it wouldn’t be long until face-to-face interviews were a thing of the past. Most administrators still hold to the necessity of having the face-to-face interview. They believe that it gives them some insight into how a teacher will function in the classroom. I’ve met a number of teachers who were great in interviews and slugs in the classroom and the other way around. That being said, you are going to have to go through the process. Here are some things to think about.

First. Dress for the part. You may be going to a school that allows its teachers to wear shorts and sandals, but it’s always best to have on your finest before arriving for an interview. Short of showing up in an evening gown or a tuxedo, you can’t overdress for an interview.

Second. Be prepared. Like any good scout, you want to be prepared for any eventuality. Study the country and the school before your interview. I know of a teacher who showed up for an interview for a school in Pakistan and during the course of the interview, asked him exactly where Pakistan was located. Needless to say, he didn’t get the job. Know something about the curriculum. If the school is an IB school and you haven’t had IB training, read up on it before the interview and express your enthusiasm and willingness to be trained in the IB approach.

Third. Bring your professional portfolio. If you have examples of student work, bring them with you. Your interviewer may not want to see them during the interview, but he/she will definitely look at them later. The examples that you give will be a preview of what can be expected of you.

Fourth. Know your strengths and highlight them. Are you a team player? Give a few examples of where you’ve pitched in on projects that were above and beyond the call of duty. Do your letters of recommendation mention how well you relate to students? Remind yourself of the reasons for wanting the job and what you said in your letter of application.

Fifth. Be prepared for the tough questions like what you would do with an incredibly obnoxious parent or a student who just will not cooperate. Make sure that you can succinctly explain why you want this particular position. What is your greatest weakness as a teacher? Think of one even if you think that you have none. Take your time with your answers. A well thought out answer is better than a quick response.

Sixth. Professional development is a big thing for administrators. It should be for you as well if you want to have a successful career as an international teacher. Be prepared to discuss any professional development workshops that you’ve led.

Seventh. Smile and try to relax. Interviewers enjoy an interview where there is some give and take. Have your questions ready for your interviewer. Remember that you are interviewing the school as well as being interviewed by the school. You don’t want to take a contract and then arrive and find out that you just hate the place.

Eighth. Be prepared with a response if you are offered a job on the spot. Make sure you know about salaries, benefits, and housing. Check on what happens if the school needs to shut down because of terrorism or a natural disaster. Make sure you read the contract carefully before signing. Sigh, relax once again, and make sure that you really want this job and are not taking it just because it has been offered.

Good luck with your interview and welcome to the world of the international teacher

The American School of Paris was founded in 1946. It is a non-profit, independent co-educational day school that provides educational services for students from Pre-K through Grade 12. ASP is accredited by the Middle Schools Association an the Council of International Schools.

There are more than 800 students at ASP that represent more than 52 nationalities. Americans make up about 46% of the student body.

Mission
The ASP mission is to provide an education that will enable students to become lifelong learners with critical thinking and problem solving skills who will be able to become constructive and productive members of the global community.

Facilities
ASP is located on a 12-acre campus in the suburbs of Paris. It has a state of the art Performing Arts Center, playing fields among its other facilities.

eiffel tower

Curriculum
ASP uses an American style curriculum modified for an international setting. The school recognizes individual learning styles and believes in an integrative approach.

Extra-Curricular Activities
Teachers sponsor after school activities. These activities include: sports, the performing arts, and academics. Some examples are: Model United Nations, the Yearbook, Math Counts, tennis, golf, jazz, basketball, track and field, soccer, and volleyball. Senior students can play competitive sports on traveling teams.

Technology
No information available on the website.

Professional Development
ASP strongly supports professional development both on and off campus. Opportunities include: outside consultants and experts, attendance at conferences and workshops, and university coursework.

Employment
ASP is looking for committed, experienced, qualified teachers who have a passion for teaching a diverse student body and value professional development.

Teaching requirements at ASP are:
•    Two to five years of experience in the specific grade level or subject area
•    Experience working with a US model of education
•    Experience working in a multi-cultural setting
•    Familiarity with best practices as applied to a diverse student body
•    Evidence of recent professional growth activities
•    Experience and commitment to sponsoring extra-curricular activities

ASP does not recruit its own faculty. They do this through professional search companies: Search Associates, International Schools Services, and Carney Sandoe Associates. They will not consider letters sent directly to the school.

Salaries and Benefits
•    Highly competitive salaries
•    Relocation including airfare, visa assistance, hotel and shipping expenses and assistance in finding housing.
•    Ninety percent tuition waver for dependents
•    Disability
•    Sick, personal, maternity, paternity and compassionate leave
•    Sabbatical after seven years of teaching
•    Subsidized lunch vouchers for workdays
•    Retirement in addition to 10% French retirement
•    Stipends for extracurricular activities
•    Stipends for overnight trips
•    Professional development allowance
•    Medical insurance

The Damascus Community School has closed. This is the announcement on the school website.

DCS Parents and Students,

The DCS has been directed by the Syrian Government to close the school effective November 6 and DCS will comply.  School leadership, concerned diplomatic missions, and the DCS community will work constructively with the government of the Syrian Arab Republic to make alternative educational arrangements for our students.

With the early departure of the international teachers, classes have been canceled. Student records may be obtained and business office transactions will be possible through Thursday, November 6. At 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6th, access to the DCS campus will no longer be available. DCS contact information will be provided on this site once the contacts have been established.

The DCS faculty and staff wish to thank the entire DCS community for their overwhelming support and help during the past, very stressful, week.

I’ve been making school websites almost since the WWW first got off the ground. Those early days were really exciting, and, of course, I knew nothing about making a website, but I had a great time doing it and making it as gaudy as absolutely possible. I’m the first to admit that my design sense is generally lacking, although I think that I’ve learned a little over all these years. Since my tentative beginnings, I’ve made personal websites, school websites, and a few websites for businesses. But, the topic today is the school website.

Just about every international school has a website of one sort or another. Some are incredibly flashy and filled with information; others look like they’ve been designed by a Fourth Grader for a computer class project. What is it that makes a school website a plus for the school community What is the function of the school website?

In the process of writing a book on international schools, I’ve reviewed almost 130 school websites. Here are some of my thoughts on the questions that I raised above.

A school website can:

1.  Serve as a PR tool for the School Board, school administration and parents.
2.  Serve as a recruiting tool for prospective parents and students.
3.  Serve as a recruiting tool for prospective teachers.
4.  Serve as an integral component of the school’s resources.
5.  Serve as a learning/teaching tool.
6.  Serve as a venue for student and teacher work.

Let’s look at each of these points.

1. School Boards want their school to have a public presence. In this case, the school website is a PR tool with parents. A website can present information on the curriculum, school activities, test scores, and the teaching staff. This information will keep parents informed about what is going on in the school. Also, for those schools that depend on student tuition as the major part of their budget, a good website can help bring in additional students as well as justify the tuition that the school charges students.

2. Many parents of international school students are on assignment for a company or are serving a diplomatic, military or missionary mission. If they have school age children, one of the major considerations in their taking a job overseas is the type of school that their child will attend. One of the key considerations when looking at a school is how easy their child will fit in academically and socially in the new school, as well as how easily they will be able to fit back in to the school system in their home country once the parents’ job is completed. A good website will answer these questions in a number of ways: a) The school mission and philosophy will be prominently displayed on the website; b) The qualifications and experience of the teaching staff will be readily available; c) The school curriculum will be available in its complete form and in an easily downloadable format such as PDF; d) Statistics on test scores and university placements will available for those parents for whom such indicators of school quality are important; e) Examples of student work will be prominently displayed.

3. The book that I am currently working on is a resource for teachers looking for positions in international schools. In the book, I review school websites and look at several key areas that I consider to be important when I look for an overseas position. These areas are: a) number of students and faculty; b) whether the school is non-profit, or is a business; c) the school mission and/or philosophy; d) the school facilities: number of classrooms, recreational facilities, etc; e) the school curriculum; f) extra-curricular activities; g) technology; h) professional development opportunities; i) employment process, school expectations for teachers; salary and benefits. I’ll deal with this area more in a separate blog.

4. A school website should have the school newsletter updated weekly, homework requirements, class syllabi, curriculum documents; a calendar for the school year; a list of extra-curricular activities; and technology resources for students, teachers and parents. The best school websites serve as portals for the learning experience as well as repositories of important documents.

5. In schools with older students, the website can be a part of the school curriculum; older students can take responsibility for creating the website in entirety, or they can take responsibility for sections of it such as sports, school activities, classroom events, etc. A school website is a form of communication and one of the key things that we want students to be able to do is communicate. Working on the school website gives them real experience.

6. Teachers can have their own class pages where they communicate with parents and students. I worked with a teacher once who believed that parent communication was a key aspect of her job, and she updated her class webpages on a weekly basis. She never had questions about homework assignments, behavioral expectations or the dates for tests and projects because it was all out there for both students and parents to see. Students can put their projects, writing, music, and videos online. This gives them a purpose for what they are doing. The idea of knowing that others will be looking at their work can give them the incentive to push themselves to discover new things and find new ways to communicate their ideas. For many students, the idea of writing a long assignment for one teacher that is then going to be read, evaluated and then filed somewhere, just doesn’t cut it. Students are communicative creatures on their own – they text, email, blog, YouTube, and podcast to a wide community of friends and relatives on a daily basis – why do we want to restrict them to speaking to one person?

Tomorrow, I put up my list of some of the best and the worst of school websites. What do you think about school websites?

Back to some TED videos today.

Photo from Ted website

Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology, is well known for his work in Cognitive Science, Information Science and Educational Technology. This talk is about his work with the Hole-in-the-wall experiment.

The Hole-in-the-wall experiment started in 1999. Mitra and his colleagues traveled around India placing a computer and a touch pad in a hole in a wall. The computer either had high-speed internet access or stacks of CDs that could be inserted into the computer. Mitra left the computer alone and just let things happen.

The areas that picked for the experiment were either remote physically, i.e. rural areas, or remote socially and economically, i.e. slums. One of the things that that the experiment want to discover was the effect that educational technology has on children.

Mitra argues that educational technology has more impact on students that are performing at the bottom of the scale than for students who are at the top of the scale. That is, the top students show only small gains whereas the students at the bottom of the scale show much greater gains. Mitra said he was looking for an idea of what an alternative primary education might look like.

What happened was that children came up to what many of them saw as a television and began to play with it. The kids taught each other how to use the computer and how to surf. As most of the content on the internet is in English, the children began learning English so that they could use the computer. This language learning was a communal activity and extended beyond the immediate venue of the hole-in-the-wall to the use of English in other situations as well.

So what are some implications of the hole-in-the-wall experiment?
•    Education does not have to be a teacher-centered activity.
•    Children can and will teach and learn from each other.
•    If children are allowed  to express their innate curiosity, they can organize themselves into learning groups.

What do you think about the implications of this research?

I read a few months ago about a study that was published in the journal Science. The study showed that girls’ achievements in math were equal to boys in all grade levels from second grade through eleventh grade. This was presented as something astounding and in contradiction to common knowledge.

However, obviously I’m not in touch with common knowledge as Janet Hyde, a researcher from the University of Wisconsin – Madison said that parents and teachers persist in believing that boys are better than girls in math. Here’s an interesting article about the woman who played in The Wonder Years and her book on math for girls.
I have to say, as a teacher who has taught math at the upper elementary and middle school levels for many years, that I’m surprised that there is anyone left who still believes this. My last 8th grade math class just happened to be all girls; their results on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills ranked all of them above the 90th percentile, and two of them in the 96th percentile. This is not unusual; my personal experience with math students has always been that girls are just as capable as boys, and I have never had a girl say that she couldn’t do math because she was a girl. Where do people come up with these stereotypes, and how could teachers buy into them?

The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is pleased to announce the 33rd annual UNI Overseas Recruiting Fair.  The UNI Fair will be held January 30 – February 1, 2009, in Waterloo, Iowa.  The registration DEADLINE is January 9.

More than 120 American international K-12 schools attend the UNI Fair.  All registrants must be certified elementary or secondary educators (or will secure certification prior to fall 2009).  Candidates average 6 interviews each during the event.  Teachers of all disciplines are needed.

All interested educators can obtain a registration packet from the UNI web site.  The registration deadline is January 9, 2009.
Thank you for your consideration.

Tracey Godon, Director
Overseas Placement Service for Educators
University of Northern Iowa Career Services
Cedar Falls, IA  50614-0390
Overseas.placement@uni.edu
www.uni.edu/placement/overseas