Five reasons you should teach abroad

Five reasons you should teach abroad

Teaching abroad can be a life-changing experience; it can maximise your professional career whilst you enjoy living in a new country. You can learn, experience and develop all at the same time. If you’ve thought about teaching internationally but haven’t done it yet, maybe it’s time to sign up for your first adventure!

Here are just five reasons why you should consider teaching abroad.

1. Excitement of travelling

Most people end up waiting for their holidays to get out and explore the world. Teaching abroad is one of the few professions that allows you to do that while maintaining a stable, fulfilling job. A position in another country offers you the opportunity to travel, learn about a new culture and fully explore some wonderful places on the way. Depending on where you decide to teach, you may find yourself in a region whose countries are very close to each other, allowing for frequent and inexpensive holidays.

2. Career opportunities

Teaching abroad is a serious commitment, and it shows your courage and strength. Having some international work experience could be an impressive addition to your resume and make it stand out. It’ll help you become more flexible and versatile in the classroom, and employers are more likely to assume that you can handle any challenge. It’s also likely that when you do return you’ll have some new tricks up your sleeve. Not to mention that an international network of contacts can help our future career prospects. Maybe someday you’ll be looking for a new role, an internship or even helping a friend to move abroad; imagine having people from everywhere to help you on your way.

3. Experience

As a teacher, you’ll be able to meet, work with and live alongside locals for a few months. Although culture shock can be a very real symptom of living in a new place, there’s truly no better way to experience a destination than to become part of its community. Instead of exploring only tourist hot spots and rushing through itineraries, you’ll be able to breathe and take the time to discover the secret places that only the locals know. Some of our most memorable moments and biggest life lessons come from exposure to different ways of living. 

4. Salaries and benefits

Salaries vary depending on school and country, but teaching abroad can offer an excellent opportunity to save money. Most teaching contracts include flights, accommodation, medical coverage, and bonuses. In the middle-east, most salaries are tax free. The vast majority of foreign countries also have a lower cost of living than England, Scotland and Wales. All these factors add up, and even if your yearly salary is slightly higher at home, you’ll be able to save more money and/or have more disposable income to spend on travel, social life and other goods.

5. Self-discovery

There’s one thing that always happens to everyone who lives abroad for a long period of time – they change. Finding yourself in a different culture has a magical way of transforming your opinions, ideas and perceptions. You’ll test yourself, try new things, have challenges, make new accomplishments, but you’ll also have a few failures as well. You’ll make new friends, adopt new ways of doing things, conquer some of your fears and have time to think about your life. You’ll develop new perspectives and find new ways of coping with problems. Whatever happens, you’re surely going to learn something new about yourself. All your experiences while teaching abroad will become a part of who you are and help determine the choices you make in the future. Teaching abroad can help you learn more about yourself than you'd ever imagine.

“Life offers you a thousand chances… all you have to do is take one.” - Frances Mayes