Teaching at a Private International School By Ray Sparks

If you enjoy traveling, meeting people and have wondered what it would be like to live in another culture, then an international private school may be of interest to you. The desire for such an experience led my wife and I to pursue the cause and to see what opportunities were "out there." During this process we discovered the world of the international school which resulted in our teaching for three years in Kobe, Japan.

International schools are found in all parts of the world, but are based on either North American or British curriculum. These schools are truly international with students of dozens of different nationalities. The students are children of families living in foreign countries and working either for embassies or for multinational companies. A number of "host" country students also attend the schools. What all these students have in common is they are motivated to do well, have respect for teachers, have a positive attitude and are from families who are well educated and value education.
International schools are run privately and high tuition is paid to attend. Expectations are high of the students and the teachers but working with students who are keen to do well makes for a high level of job satisfaction.

In our quest to find an overseas teaching job we chose to attend an international job fair-- in our case in Boston with an organization next column >>>

ARTA © 2005

 

 

called SEARCH Associates. If you are interested in knowing more about teaching overseas, look up the SEARCH web-site at:

www.search-associates.com or contact me at raysparks@eastlink.ca

Sorry about this one!!...

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.
After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, "I'm so sorry, your duck has passed away."
The distressed owner wailed, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure," replied the vet.
"How can you be so sure," she protested. "I mean, you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma."
The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room, and returned a few moments later with a black Labrador. As the owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table, and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.
The vet patted the dog and took it out and returned a few moments later with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also sniffed. delicately at the bird from head to feet. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly, and strolled out of the room.
The vet looked at the woman and said "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100 percent certifiably, a dead duck." Then the vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill. The woman looked at the bill in shock. "$150!," she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!!"
The vet shrugged. "I'm sorry. If you'd taken my word for it the bill would have been $20, but with the lab report and the cat scan, it's now $150."