• American International School Dhaka

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    Bangladesh is one of those countries that I had a chance to visit some years ago, but missed out on because of circumstances. With my love of Indian and Pakistani cultures, Bangladesh seems like a perfect place for me to teach. The school is mid-sized which allows for some variation in terms of interaction with students and teachers, while being small enough to get to know just about everybody. The salaries are well within the range offered in the region and are more than enough to live comfortably and save money as well. The salaries in Lahore during my years there were just about the same, and I was able to save over 40% of my salary and still support my family back in Bali.

    800px-Dhaka_(62)The American International School Dhaka was founded in 1972 and is located in a suburb of Dhaka. AISD is an independent, co-educational day school providing educational services for students from Pre-K through Grade 12. AIS/D is accredited by CIS and NEASC. The school is authorized to offer the IB PYP and IB Diploma programs. AISD has approximately 750 students from over 40 nationalities at AIS/D. Americans and Indians are the two largest nationalities represented.

    Mission
    AISD provides a school environment that encourages students to reach their potentials and become life-long learners and responsible global citizens. The school is based on American educational principles.

    Facilities
    AISD has a 4.5-acre campus with 60 modern, air-conditioned classrooms. Among the facilities are: 2 libraries, 6 science labs, 2 gyms, 4 computer labs, art and music rooms, a cafeteria, athletic fields, a heated pool, 2 playgrounds, a student center and a clinic.

    Curriculum
    AISD offers students a college preparatory curriculum. It is an IB World School with authorization to offer the IB Diploma and PYP. The Middle School curriculum is inquiry-based. AISD has the traditional American structure with Elementary, Middle and High School divisions. The teaching philosophy and materials are similar to those found in excellent schools in the United States.

    Extracurricular Activities
    AISD offers a full after school activities program. Students are allowed to participate in up to four activities per week. Activities include drama, sports, computers, clubs, cooking and international trips for students in Grade 6 through 12.

    Technology
    The school has a strong technology program. Computer classes are taught from elementary through high school. AISD has 4 computer labs.

    Professional Development
    Teachers at AISD are expected to take part in professional development activities. Each teacher is allotted $1,200 per year which they may use for professional conferences, university course work, distance learning course work, and summer workshops. Additionally each division in the school has a PD budget which they can use for staff development activities.

    Employment
    The AISD website has a great teacher recruitment section with just about everything that a prospective teacher would want to know. AISD wants thoughtful and dynamic teachers who are willing to sponsor after school activities, value professional development and collaborate well with colleagues. Requirements include a Bachelor’s degree and certification. Initial contracts are for two years with yearly renewals based on performance. Teachers are expected to serve on at least one school committee and to sponsor an after school activity. Stipends are given for after school activities. Job openings are listed online.

    AISD uses international job fairs as its primary means of teacher recruitment. They attend Search, ISS and Iowa job fairs. Personal interviews are required for employment so candidates are urged to attend one of the job fairs. Occasionally interviews can be arranged outside of the fairs. If you are interested in working at AISD, you should send an email to the school with the following: a cover letter; a list of references; and a resume. Send these to this address.

    Salaries at AISD are in line with most mid-size schools in South and Southeast Asia. AISD uses a salary schedule which can be found online. Starting salary for teachers with 2 years experience is

    $43,821 and the maximum starting salary is $62,974 for a teacher with 13 years experience and an MA +30. The school administration decides where a teacher starts on the salary schedule based on their previous experience.

    AISD offers excellent benefits. These include: 10% of base salary relocation benefit, 10% of base salary pension benefit, medical insurance, disability insurance (school pays 75%, employee pays 25%), shipping at beginning and end of employment, travel at beginning and end of contract, R & R after first year round trip airfare to Bangkok, longevity bonus – $3,000 for extending first contract for additional two years; $1,000 for extension of one year after initial contract; one additional two year extension after first two year extension, annual home leave – after first two year contract, transportation in Dhaka, housing along with major appliances, furnishing allowance – $300, utilities – up to $3,500 per year for gas, water, and electricity, fee waivers for children of teachers, medical examination, immunizations, emergency evacuation, holiday leave for regular school holidays, sick leave – 15 days per year, personal leave – 2 days per year with pay, recruitment leave – 3 days with pay when leaving AISD, severance – reimbursement of 60 days accumulated sick leave not used at $25 per day, maternity leave – 60 days, paternity leave – 8 days, sabbatical leave – after six years, one year at half pay, but must return for two more years, bereavement – 10 working days for serious illness of family member and taxes – teachers are exempt from Bangladeshi income taxes.

    About Dhaka
    Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh, the country formed from what was previously called East Pakistan and before that was in the Bengal part of British India. It has a population of around 11,000,000 including the metropolitan area. Dhaka has all the problems that go along with being the 11th most populous metropolitan area of the world, but it does attract a fair amount of foreign investment and is the center of education in Bangladesh. Bengali is the national language and most residents of Dhaka speak Bengali or one of its dialects. English is also spoken by many residents especially in business establishments. The majority of Dhaka’s residents are Muslims although there are Hindu, Buddhist and Christian communities as well. While there are many traditional markets left in Dhaka, the rising middle and upper classes usually shop at the new malls being built around the metropolitan area. Dhaka has an active cultural scene, and if you’ve been to Pakistan or India, you’ll recognize many of the foods, dances and music.

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  • Teaching in an International School

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    Finding a position in an international school is generally more difficult than getting a job teaching English. The overseas teaching field is highly competitive. Most schools attend one of the main hiring fairs which are held several times a year. You can expect to need to have at least two years of experience and a current teaching credential. Many schools have IB programs and want IB experience. Some schools only hire Americans, others only British or Australian, but generally you will find a mix of nationalities in international schools especially in the large ones like  Singapore American School, or the International School of Bangkok.

    The main teaching fairs are run by International Schools Services, Search Associates, the European Council of International Schools, and Northern Iowa. I only have experience with ISS and at that I only attended one fair in 1989. Fairs are usually quite crowded; teaching couples have an edge generally on single teachers as they can split up and cover twice the ground. Single parents are at an extreme disadvantage when looking for jobs overseas. Even singles without children are not hired by some schools. A lot of this has to do with housing considerations. You can find specific information on each of the organizations mentioned above on their web sites along with online forms that you can fill out or download. One other site that you may want to consult in your search for teaching positions is TIE – The International Educator. TIE publishes a newspaper that has job listings as well as articles about teaching overseas. You can also use their online services.

    Once you have some experience teaching in an international school, you enter into a rather small world and you have a good chance (if you’re good at your job and have had good experiences with your principal and/or superintendent/director) of getting a job without attending a fair. I’ve obtained my last two positions this way: once by having a former principal hire me directly, and the second time by having him recommend me for another job. This saves you the considerable expense of attending a fair, not to mention the hassle and stress that goes along with these cattle markets.

    How much do overseas’ jobs pay?

    Salaries vary widely in overseas’ schools. Generally teaching English pays considerably less than working in an international school. English positions in Bangkok run from around 20,000 baht per month to 50,000. At the current exchange rate of about 40 baht per U.S. dollar, that means you would be making from between $500 to $1250 per month. Not a whole lot of money. As I mentioned before, jobs in Taiwan, Korea and Japan pay more.International school positions pay more, but there is a wide range in salaries depending on experience and location. Generally the more favorable the location, the lower the salary. Schools in South America and Africa usually don’t pay as well as schools in the Middle East. The small ISS or company schools in remote locations usually pay quite well and have some nice travel benefits. School ads in the ISS and TIE newspapers often have salary ranges listed. In some countries you have to pay local taxes on your salary; this is often picked up by the school, but occasionally it isn’t. Americans teaching overseas don’t have to pay taxes on the salary that they earn outside of the country. A nice overseas salary would be something in the mid 40s range, tax-free of course.

    Housing and other Perks

    Housing is a big issue for overseas’ teaching. Housing is usually provided or at least compensated for. I have lived in small bachelor type apartments, ranch style type houses that you would find in a US suburb, a really dingy flat in Pakistan and then in a much nicer three bedroom one while working at the same school. One of the most common complaints from teachers is about their housing. Some schools offer free cars, some will provide interest free loans if you want to purchase a car, while others have no transportation allowance included. At LAS, we were provided a car for $50 a month which went for service, insurance and fuel costs. Health insurance is usually provided for, and some schools offer retirement benefits while many don’t.

    Are there positions in developed countries or only in remote or “dangerous” locations?

    There are international schools just about everywhere in the world. All of the major capitals of the world have international schools and most of them are quite large. Jakarta International School, for instance, has several thousand students and hundreds of teachers. My current school has 53 students and eight teachers. As I mentioned above, some of the remote schools pay quite well in order to attract teachers. Schools in Pakistan pay well because of the problems of attracting teachers to a country that is considered by many to be dangerous, although this is far from true.

    What is it like teaching overseas?

    That varies from place to place. Big high-powered schools in major capitals with a student body whose parents include CEO’s and diplomats tends to be fairly stressful from what I have heard, but working in small schools can be just as stressful because of close parent contact and high expectations and demands. I’ve worked in a middle-sized school and three small schools, and I’ve enjoyed both experiences. My own preferences led me not to want to work in the larger schools, but I know teachers who have spent decades working in large schools and love it. There are certainly many more opportunities for entertainment, night life and shopping when you live in a large city.Generally you can expect to have many of the same problems that you would have in a school in the States with homework, parents and administrators. You can also expect not to have to worry about gang violence, crazed people coming in off the street to shoot up the school, and all the other traumas of urban existence in the U.S. Some schools will have a large population of non-English speaking students. Drug problems may exist in larger schools, but are generally absent in the smaller schools. Some schools follow a U.S. curriculum, others have an international one, and still others have a mix. Lahore American School followed a U.S. curriculum even though by the time that I left the school our student population was almost entirely made up of wealthy Pakistani students.Teaching overseas offers a lot of opportunities for travel. For example, while I was teaching in Lahore, I would go back and forth to Bali on vacation and usually transited in Bangkok which I really enjoyed. Many of the teachers there explored the incredible Pakistan countryside and also vacationed in places like Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam which were all quite accessible from Lahore except during the war in Afghanistan.Of course, there are risks to living overseas. Tomorrow I’ll discuss living overseas.

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