Teaching in a local classroom can be a rewarding experience, but it’s nothing like teaching abroad. When you take a position overseas, you get to experience new cultures while you immerse yourself in a foreign country that you might have never afforded to visit otherwise.
Not only do you get to do what you love professionally, you also get to travel the world and make memories many only dreams of. In some countries, you’ll even enjoy complimentary airfare and housing, according to Study Abroad. This is most common in the Middle East and Asia. If you’re considering making the transition from teaching domestically to teaching abroad, here’s what you need to know about demand:
Demand is Different For Different Subjects
You might not be a great candidate for teaching abroad if you don’t have experience in the subject areas that are high in demand. It’s all about what subject you specialize in and the types of training and certification that you’ve obtained. You also have to consider the country that you want to work in as you start to compare the subjects in high demand.
Out of all of the subjects that you can teach, English always remains in high demand in all countries. Since English is the global language, there’s a need for native English speakers and experienced educators to teach children who speak the native tongue how to speak English as a second language at a young age.
Which Countries Have the Highest Demand for American Teachers?
If your specialty is in English, you have an advantage over many of the candidates who haven’t taught English a day in their life. The next step is choosing where you’d like to live and teach. You also need to determine if you want it to be temporary or permanent.
No matter how global the English language is, the demand for native English speakers varies all over the world. Some countries already have a good supply of teachers who can successfully teach the language and others aren’t are competitive or involved in the global economy. According to the International TEFL Academy, Countries where demand is almost always high include:
China
Thailand
Vietnam
South Korea
Japan
Gulf Arab States
How Much Do You Make Working Abroad?
You can earn a decent living going overseas if you’re an experienced ESL teacher. The salary depends on the benefits that you are getting in return for working overseas and also the base salary in the country. In the Middle East, you can earn an average of $4000 USD. Japan offers a whopping $3000 USD monthly salary plus free housing and a flight reimbursement, according to Go Overseas. Consider all of the benefits before just looking at the dollar amount.
Related Resource: 20 Best Online Master’s in Early Childhood Education 2017-2018
The demand in every field changes all of the time. It’s hard to search for a position when the demand dies down. Fortunately, there’s always going to be some sort of demand for teachers if they are willing to teach abroad. Be sure to compare the offerings in each country and then assess the demand for teachers to teach abroad at the place you’d like to go the most.
