Teaching and Employment

Your Teaching Contract Hasn't Been Renewed?

You thought that you were doing a good job. Your students seemed to like you. You interacted well with parents. However, everything changed when you received that dreaded letter stating that the school would not be renewing your contract for the coming academic year. Unfortunately, since private school teachers are not unionized, you have no recourse. Obviously, you need to make sure that you leave with good references if at all possible. It will do you no good to leave with negative references.

Most teachers like to teach. But many teachers don't like to market themselves. Unfortunately, that is what private school teachers have to do these days. Nobody else is going to market them. Most teachers don't belong to an agency that exposes them to schools looking to fill a vacancy. Because the job market is so very competitive, teachers have to sell themselves or risk losing out to a more competitive candidate. Here are five things which you can do to prevent that non-renewal letter from arriving in the first place.

1. Show that you love teaching young people.

I mention this in the first slot because this is why the school probably hired you in the first place. Occasionally a school will hire a displaced college professor. Why does that matter? Academia has been shedding jobs for many years as colleges realign their programs to changing market conditions. As a result, hundreds of very well-degreed graduate students are

Let's think about the employment process from the employer's point of view. The person who will interview you has a list of reasons why she might want to hire you. Your task is to convince her that she can safely check all the boxes and report to her superior that you are ideal for the opening. To make that happen, here are some points to ponder.

The premise

First of all, assume that I am the head of school at a private school in the suburbs of a major American city. Our school serves students in grades Prekindergarten through Post Graduate year. There are essentially three schools within our community: a lower, a middle and an upper school. We offer a fairly traditional college preparatory program in our high school. We currently have 16 Advanced Placement courses. While the academic programs have their own distinctive components, we share facilities and staff across the curriculum as needed. We offer an extensive range of clubs and extracurricular activities which are guided by our faculty. Our sports program is professionally directed; however, we expect our faculty to assist with sports which they have played or to coach a team where we do not have a professional coach.

Note: You should be able to discover all of this information from the school's website. It is relatively easy to discern the main features of the various programs at that source. Do this as part of your preparation for the interview. You will

"Honey! They want me to run the Berlin office. It's a great promotion. They want us there in two months." After congratulating your wife on her thrilling new assignment, reality sets in as you wonder what you will do about your children's education. Will they be able to attend a school with classes taught in English? Will the curriculum follow American standards or foreign ones?

Relax. Your wife's overseas assignment has many perks, one of which is that her employer will pay for your children's educational expenses at a private school while you are abroad. Your children will be taught in English to international standards. Of course, if you prefer to have them attend schools where they will be taught in a foreign language, that will be an option. Most expats keep things simple and have their children attend international schools with classes mostly in English. Let's explore what's involved in educating your children overseas.

International Schools

You can find international schools in almost every major city outside the United States. International schools offer instruction in English and the usual kind of college preparatory curriculum you would expect to find in an American high school, public or private. International schools offer Advanced Placement courses and International Baccalaureate programs.

This video offers us a glimpse of what the Berlin Brandenburg International School offers.

You will find so-called American schools in many major cities with many Americans. These schools will make your children feel like they have never

Perhaps you are thinking about teaching in a private school in the future or maybe you just started teaching in a private school during the current academic year. This article is written with you in mind. If you are coming from a public school, you will find several differences between teaching in public school and teaching in a private school. The differences are even more pronounced if you take a teaching position in a boarding school. If you have never taught at all, then the following article wil raise points and issues for you to consider.

Students who want to be there

Teachers want to teach. We love our subject. We want to share it with our students. Unfortunately it can be difficult to teach when you are more concerned about maintaining order in your classroom than you are with actually teaching. When you have a large class of, say, 30 or 40 students, maintaining order is an ever-present issue. On the other hand teaching a small class of, say 12-15 students, allows you to engage your students more or less constantly. It is very difficult for students not to be engaged when the size of the class is small.

This video illustrates teaching using Harkness tables.

Students attend private school because their parents want them to get a first rate education. The admissions process can be quite rigorous involving as it does testing and

Conducting a job search for a private school position via the Web is efficient and practical compared to the way we used to have to do it years ago. These days you can find job listings on the Web, gather information, apply for jobs, and even interview. Let's explore these options in more detail.

Find Job Listings

Without a doubt, the advantage which job seekers in the 21st century have over previous generations is being able to do it online. The Internet allows you to learn about any job opening the minute it is posted online. The same applies to niche employment such as teaching and administrative positions in private schools. At the very least, most schools will have an employment link on their sites. There may not be many listings depending on the time of the year. However, bookmark the employment links for schools in which you have an interest. Job boards and agencies provide online listings as well. Bear in mind that there are peak times in the private school job search process. Typically, November through February is the time when your colleagues are out in force there looking for jobs as well. Most private schools like to have contracts for the next academic year signed and sealed by the beginning of March. As a result, you will probably find the highest number of online listings beginning in the fall.

This video discusses finding a teaching job. While it is aimed at public school teachers, the