The majority of the around 200 individuals responding to Expatica’s survey for teachers were women (63%), on their first expatriation (43%) and teaching in the English language (68%).
Half of the teachers were teaching in the Netherlands, followed by Belgium (17%), France (12%), Germany (6%) and Spain (3%). Other countries where respondents were currently teaching were Italy Sweden, Greenland, Czech Republic and Poland.
Twenty-nine percent came from the UK, 20 percent from American, 6.6 percent from Canada, 5.5 percent from the Netherlands, followed by a diversity of nationalities.
Thirty percent had been working for over six years in their country of residence, with the next majority - 21 percent - having worked for less than six months. Most teachers (31%) were teaching at International school at primary or secondary level (28%) or at universities (19%).
Sixty-two percent of respondents had a BSc or BA and 64 percent held a teachers’ qualification issued by, or on behalf of, the authorities of their original country.
Low pay
A common gripe for all teachers was low pay – 40 percent were not happy with their current salary, especially in the Netherlands and Germany and, despite receiving wages ‘lower than country nationals”, 63 percent were not eligible for fringe benefits and 75 percent said they didn’t get any tax advantages.
For instance, a Nigerian teaching in the Netherlands comments that the greatest challenges for her are “having to work grossly underpaid and getting accredited by the Dutch Government.”
Evaluation of credentials
The evaluation of foreign teaching credentials, especially for those from outside the EU was another issue. One American who would like to teach in Europe remarks:
“My retirement and savings would be very quickly depleted if I moved to Europe, and began a university course to become certified to teach there. I am looking for some kind of programme where after a few university courses and recognition of my degree and teaching credentials I could cut through the red tape like butter.”
One American (mother-tongue English, fluent German speaker), living in the US, has been trying to clinch a teaching job in Europe but finds it incredibly difficult:
“I served in the U.S. Air Force in Germany for about five years, came back to the U.S. for my university education, although I really wanted to attend university in Europe. I’m having a terrible time actually landing a job in the Netherlands or a German-speaking country because of my US citizenship and red tape."
Language issues
Language was seen an issue for teachers who taught in their native tongue and who hadn’t yet got to grips with the local language.
According to a French teacher in the Netherlands (French mother tongue, fluent in English, instructs in Dutch):
“As a language teacher I have to convince the school direction and colleagues that it is of a paramount importance to get native qualified language teachers in the classrooms. Otherwise we end up with Dutch teachers who utter only one or two words of broken French for the whole teaching period. As a professional, I find it also difficult to integrate and progress within the Dutch system. To put it simply I find it extremely frustrating not to be taken seriously just because my Dutch is not fluent enough.”
A British teacher in the Netherlands remarks: “Teaching opportunities are limited to teaching in English - primarily only in international and bilingual schools.”
A Romanian teacher in the Netherlands: “The difficulty is finding a teaching job since a native speaker is always an employer’s first option.”
A Russian teacher comments on an interview she had for a job in a language school in Nevers, France:
“The person in charge didn’t believe me when I told her that in Russia and Germany I used only English at my lessons. Her reaction was: ‘We cannot give this job to you because our students wouldn’t be able to change to your way of teaching, it will confuse them. And after you another teacher would come with their methods of teaching and it would be more confusing.’ I left immediately, because a school that doesn’t want to be innovative and open to new ideas is a ‘dead’ school. Unfortunately, there are plenty of school like this in our region.”
National schools
When comparing the national education system to that of home countries, of the around 20 percent of respondents teaching at national schools, 12 percent thought the education system was better, 13 percent equal, and 14 percent worse.
Both the following comments are from American teachers working in national schools in the Netherlands:
“No challenges as a foreigner but plenty as a teacher! My greatest challenge is working with the children of illiterate parents such as communication, helping with homework.”
“I taught public high school last year. The kids were animals compared to what I experienced in the early 80’s in Texas, but the quality they were striving for here was much better. There are less ‘fluff’ classes, much more academic stuff.”
Finding a job, information around teaching
Half the teachers found it easy to find information about work possibilities in their chosen country of residence, 31 percent rated this as average and the rest said ‘No’.
Expat teachers, especially those in Belgium and the Netherlands, said that they would like to see more information online which was specifically geared to teachers working in Europe or other countries.
Comments from teachers in Belgium:
A British teacher would like to see “A job fair here to allow teachers access to jobs in their vicinity.”
Another Brit finds information hard to access: “I would have loved a full comprehensive booklet on all the English speaking schools in Belgium. I found the newcomer magazine very incomplete.”
A teacher from Zimbabwe in Belgium sees a gap for an online forum to “advertise Belgian teaching posts, give information about the country’s education system, network with other expatriate teachers.
A Canadian teacher in Belgium would like to see “links to international organisations such as the IBO or similar.”
Comments from teachers in the Netherlands:
Polish: “There should be more websites in English.”
An American teacher believes there is a need for “more organisation for finding native-speaker positions where Dutch is not necessary. Better understanding of foreign credentials (the Dutch credentials are far inferior and yet get more prestige here)”
American: There are key words that you wouldn’t expect when doing a Google search. There are also a lot more companies providing language instruction than I found in my own research. I finally found my current job through social contacts.”
An American in the US looking to move to Europe: “I have been looking for some kind of induction programme for me to improve my Dutch enough to feel confident about stepping into a classroom and giving instruction in Dutch in order to teach English or German without any success.”
Future training
Responding to the question of what kind of education would interest them in the future, the majority of teachers said they would be interested in taking third level degrees/ courses via distance education and or third level degrees / courses on-campus (local institutions).
We leave you with some general comments from ‘foreign’ teachers teaching in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, France and the United Kingdom:
Teaching in the Netherlands
German: “Teaching Dutch children is very difficult. I reached a point where I either quit or will move on to another country or profession."
British: “If I compare with UK .as that is my home base, the Dutch system labels pupils at 11 years, after the Cito. I don’t think this is good!”
American: “Student and parent attitudes prevent innovation and discourage individual growth".
American: “Lack of ambition and professionalism form students, parents, staff and administration - I blame the polder model.”
American: “Children here receive instruction in foreign languages (English) from the age of ten; the level of required maths is higher; lastly children are encouraged to develop an opinion and are instructed how to formulate it clearly.”
Romanian: The challenge is “convincing my students to study hard enough.”
Canadian: "Change Dutch Labour Laws to allow native English-speaking educators from America, Canada, Australia, South Africa etc. to facilitate international education."
American: “Children receive instruction in foreign languages (English) from the age of ten; the level of required math is higher; lastly children are encouraged to develop an opinion and are instructed how to formulate it clearly.”
Teachers in Belgium
British: a challenge is “staying current with national curriculum.”
British: “I feel the quality of the curriculum and values we encourage in our school are way ahead of the national average in Belgium which makes it very hard to exchange experiences with local teachers on level ground.”
British: "What I like best about teaching in an international school is that parents are much more involved in their child’s education and I love inviting them into class to share some of their own knowledge and skills."
British: "We do an awful lot of work, especially with the Pre-Primary ages and we don’t get the recognition we deserve from our colleagues as well as outsiders."
British: “No challenges for being a teacher in Belgium, but for my school one major difficulty is having families with little or no English/French, the two languages I speak, therefore communication is not always as free-flowing as I would like it to be.”
French: "Teaching children from 70 different countries and not always having the exact language to communicate!”
Irish: “Challenges? I don’t have any!”
South African: “The main challenge is keeping hyperactive students engaged. Students are too interested in technological gadgets and too easily distracted.
Zimbabwe: “Adapting to the new education system-curriculum, teaching methods, local languages (French/Dutch).”
Teachers in Germany
American: The curriculum is new. The downside to teaching in English all day is to not have as much a chance to be immersed in the language of my country of residence.
British teacher complains of “being paid less than nationally qualified teachers.”
Teachers in Spain
Nepalese: “It’s a challenge to teach English in English in Spain."
American: “I simply can’t get hired in the EU.”
Teachers in France
American: “Trying to get students to realise that it’s not enough to teach them, they must take some responsibility for learning, is the biggest challenge.”
Teacher from Trinidad and Tobago: “I would like to see more reviews from teachers themselves about local training and working conditions.”
Russian in France: “They have no idea how to teach foreign languages, or are simply too lazy to do it properly.”
Teachers in the United Kingdom
Pakistani: “Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual teachers as role models.”
American: “Horrific local schools plagued by violence and a ‘poverty of ambition’."
Not such a dark picture
Despite the plethora of negative comments, from which both the parents, teachers and schools themselves can learn from, the majority of teachers –79 percent – when asked if there was room for improvement said ‘no’.
We’d like to thank all of you who took part in this poll, with special thanks to Willemijn van Oppen of Dutch helpdesk for international education Educaide, for help and advice in drawing up the questions.
[Copyright Expatica 2008]
