Saturday Update and end of week Rant

1. I feel lots better something to do with the 9 mile walk I had today getting sunburned in the process. Sitting having a coffee in the Palatino shopping centre later in the afternoon looking into a shop selling fur lined hooded Parka's while my head throbbed from the sun is a very strange experience.

2. Over the last few weeks I have been contemplating my future well the school in Jordan that took up references kind of brought that home to me, as well as the one in Dubai I would like to work at but who haven't approached me since I sent in my Application.

The question is and always has been IF there is no work locally in Teaching what should I do?

Because I do enjoy teaching, I believe I was born to teach (Not to mention the 4 years to get the degree and the 2 years of night classes before that) and that its a gift that should be used not ignored. The fact that my father, mother aunt and uncle were all teachers has nothing to do with it. well ok maybe a wee bit. It's in my blood. Of course in an ideal world all the schools in Scotland within 15 miles of where I live should be fighting each other to get my skills into their school, in reality the chance of getting a job locally is probably so low that even though I have had a vasectomy many years ago I could probably be a father before I could be a teacher in the West coast of Scotland.

So that brings me back to where can I teach and International makes the most sense. Most posts include a housing allowance or accomodation, something I would have to pay in UK if teaching further away from home than travelling distance. Most posts provide a salary comparable to UK so without council tax I am immediately better off financially. usually tax abroad is less (If at all in some countries), usually cost of living is less so your money goes further. AND usually (well depending on where you are in the world) The bloody weather is better.

I could of course give up all the benefits of teaching (Holidays, regular salary, job satisfaction) and go back to what I did before part time work repairing computers, or teaching part time courses for under £10 an hour with no guarantee of work after each course finishes. But somehow I just dont think that would be wise. It took me 30 years and 3 careers to find out that I am a teacher, I sure as hell want to enjoy it now I have found it.

Teaching abroad is hard it takes you out of your comfort zone and I will be honest this year has opened my eyes to how difficult it is to live and work somewhere where being away from family friends and the home comforts that years of living have acrued, as well as the issue of, if you don't speak the language and you dont understand the basics of what is being said to you, you will find it hard to pregress. I used that as an example of a way of trying to understand disaffected pupils - if I can make learning fun and enjoyable then even the most disruptive pupil might actually realize there is more out there than just being a pain. Perhaps I should look at retraining for S.E.N it might be another idea, though perhaps some of the kids would prefer me to take anger management classes first. I should stress I am not in general an angry person, far from it but I do have a short fuse when I feel I am being disrespected and to be honest that fuse has shortened as I have got older.

So what does the future hold... if I could walk into a job locally it would be the perfect choice sadly its also a pipe dream so I think I will do what I need to do to make money to pay the bills, create a satisfactory future, and most importantly get job satisfaction doing something I am good at. Or of course I could win the lottery and build my own school.(Now why didn't I think of that before)

Saturday Night Rant over with.
More updates tomorrow