Is teacher stress as bad overseas as it is in the UK?

Published on 26th March, 2015 by Andrew Wigford. Published in For Candidates / TIC News

Andrew Wigford compares teaching abroad to the UK...

The recent survey into teacher stress by Britain’s NASUWT has prompted lots of teachers to ask the question: ‘Is teacher stress just as bad if you teach internationally?’

National versus independent?

The reason why national education systems can be stressful is that they are controlled by government policy which sets standards, requirements and budgets. When a country-wide policy is put in place, the needs of individual schools can be lost in the process of finding a solution that works for all schools. What might work for one school, doesn’t always work for another. Many teachers and leaders say this results in too much bureaucracy, too little time for planning during work hours, class numbers that are too big, insufficient staff support, overwork and excessive stress.

Schools that are run independently - including international schools - face different challenges to national schools. They have to maintain high standards to remain competitive and they have to be profitable to be successful. However, they can establish processes and set teacher responsibilities that suit the specific needs of the school.  As a result, teacher demands are more likely to be focused on delivering good learning rather than on bureaucratic paperwork, classroom management, or preparing for high pressure inspections.

Teachers talk stress

Many teachers at international schools say they work long hours but that they don’t face the stresses of extensive lesson planning or bureaucracy that they faced working within a national system. Many international schools have very high performing students and as a result demand a lot from their teachers, but most international school teachers say that more of their time during the weekends and holidays is their own.

Here are just some of the comments that teachers working in international schools have said recently:

“This school differs from my school in England in that it’s not obsessed with number-crunching and data input abut student progress – so different from schools in the UK!” says Claire Woodhouse,  a teacher from Buckinghamshire who is now teaching at ACS International School in Doha in the Middle East. “Curiously, I’ve noticed that when you remove the constant need for reporting and testing, the students seem to achieve more, and learn profoundly more,” she adds. “This is very rewarding as a teacher.”

Sarah Brown is a secondary maths teacher from the UK who has since taught in Qatar and now Dubai.  “Before teaching internationally I was working in a school in Nottingham and was burning myself out; working from half six in the morning and not finishing until ten at night, and I spent most of my time trying to manage students’ behaviour,” says Sarah. “In Qatar and Dubai the majority of my time is focused on teaching.  The students are motivated to learn, they want to work hard. I have the freedom to be inventive,” she says.
Carey Kalym was a primary teacher from Coventry, England who is now also teaching in Qatar. “The school here is a lot more relaxed than the UK,” says Carey. “The standards of teaching are just as high, but the atmosphere, attitude and enthusiasm of all the staff and children is infectious. It makes you happy to come to school every day, knowing that the children want to learn.”

And in Egypt, at El Gouna International School, former UK teacher Jenny Cleaver says “It’s a lot more relaxed  here. The classes are smaller, the children better behaved and there is less pressure from senior management. Teaching a smaller class with less stress reminds you why you got into teaching in the first place; it allows you to focus on the teaching, without so much behavioural management and paperwork.”

The benefits of international teaching

Teachers choose to move overseas for many reasons and stress is often mentioned. Don’t think you’ll get away from all stress; demands on teachers can be high in international schools. However, many teachers say that they gain professionally in the process too. “Teaching internationally has been a great step in my career development,” says Ian Robertson, a teacher from Glasgow who is currently working at an international school in Beijing. “Here I'm surrounded by talented colleagues and I'm learning so much about my profession including new and interesting ways to teach Maths,” he says. “I've learnt how students can work more independently. I've also learnt about Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). There are so many ICT facilities at the school which can enhance teaching. Here you have the opportunity to be creative in your teaching. There’s a great community spirit and I feel supported by my colleagues. It’s re-awoken my passion for teaching!”

If you would like to know more about teaching in an international school, you can read our Teacher Interviews and Blogs. Or, why not .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to find out about what opportunities there are for you to teach in an international school.

Don’t forget you can still download our brand new TIC App, available now for iPhone and Android!

You may also be interested in these informative blogs:
How to pick a good teacher recruitment company
Ten interesting facts about international schools...that you might not know
Five things to consider before moving overseas

Like this post? Share it!

Andrew Wigford

Andrew is Managing Director of TIC. He has been involved in international education both as a teacher and Headteacher for over 25 years and has worked in Germany, Colombia and Austria. He set up TIC recruitment in 2005 to help teachers find great jobs in great international schools.