Australian teachers spread their wings to Asia and Middle East

Australian teachers are in high demand overseas and many love the global lifestyle.

Manuel, Rachel, Julie and Carlos Moreno have been living and working in Indonesia for eight years.

Teachers Julie and Manuel ­Moreno consider themselves and their children global citizens after spending nearly two decades working in Vietnam, Mexico, ­London and, for the past eight years, Indonesia.

They are among a growing number of Australian teachers and their families reaching for overseas experience at inter­national schools spreading across Southeast Asia to the Middle East.

Julie Moreno is a science teacher at the Australian Inter­national School in Jakarta, and her husband is deputy head of the campus with training in English, history, his father’s native Spanish and the theory of knowledge.

“My passion here is global ­citizenship and learning,” Julie said. “We just came back from the little village behind the school and the kids are working with service learning projects, and we’re partnering up with local community groups.”

The Moreno children, Carlos, 9, and Rachel, 11, have grown up in Indonesia. “They do feel more ­Indonesian, especially my son. He got to take a food to school that means something to his family and he’s taken yellow rice because it’s a celebration dish, and not something Australian,” she says. “Some days he thinks he’s ­Spanish, some days Australian, some days Indonesian.”

Teaching overseas can have many benefits for Australians, ­including good wages, inter­national friendships, learning ­different teaching methods, sub­sidised housing, free or heavily discounted tuition for children and experiencing life in a different culture.

It can also have its drawbacks, including homesickness, bureaucracy, dealing with corruption in some countries, poor medical ­facilities and cultural barriers.

But the Morenos have thrived and could not imagine returning to Australia.

“We’ve got a lot more freedom to teach here and I’m quite innovative and like keeping up with new practices. We have the freedom to try new things,” Julie said.

Bruce Ferres is the convener of the Australian International Schools Association and says the teaching market is “booming” for families wanting to try their luck abroad.

“A lot of this is Asia and it’s pushing ahead because the economies are expanding, Indonesia and China are growing,” Ferres said. “They have large populations and the number of people moving into the middle class and having discretionary expenditure is growing.

“There isn’t a private school system as such in Asia and the international school system is becoming the place for the well-to-do.”

Ferres says wealthier families are sending their children to international schools because the ­curriculum is predominantly in English — a common business language — and they can obtain a recognised education certificate such as the International Baccalaureate.

He says the Australian inter­national schools are growing ­rapidly. The Singapore campus alone has 2500 children. Aust­ralian teachers are in demand, and he credits their reputation for being innovative, flexible and responding to local needs.

Ferres says it can take time for teachers to adapt to different cultures, and many need to ensure their registrations stay current to enable them to work when they return home after stints of up to three years.

Gold Coast-raised Kate Nolan moved to the United Arab Emirates with her two children and spent three years teaching in Sharjah before moving to the Swiss International Scientific School of Dubai.

The school teaches the curriculum in French for a week and in German the following week with English support.

“Honestly I don’t know how I could return to Australia after ­living and working here,” Nolan said. “As a teacher I’m respected more than I was in my other position in Australia, I have an allowance for housing, I’m not paying for healthcare. I’m in a better position.”

Her children, aged six and two, have Emirati friends and have thrived in the desert culture. She says the trap is becoming accustomed to the lifestyle and shopping. Pitfalls include forgoing superannuation.

“The travel is also a bonus. We spent a summer in Greece and ­Europe, my children have seen everything,” she said.

“The last Eid holiday we went to Africa for five days and did a safari. From that point we’re much the richer.”

Simon Carabetta teaches at the Australian International School in Sharjah, while his wife is a childcare worker on maternity leave to look after their five-month-old son. They have two other boys aged five and three.

Carabetta was offered a job after creating a LinkedIn profile, and had a Skype interview before flying to the UAE.

“We have an inquiry-based curriculum here which I hadn’t tried before because it wasn’t encouraged in Australia,” Carabetta said. “It’s really opened my eyes to a new realm to take back to Australia.”

The Carabettas planned to stay for a year but love the life and will stay for at least three.

“Marco, my oldest, he slotted in and made friends easily. He’s learning Arabic and is top in his class, he’s loving the culture,” he said. “They love that they get to walk to school with their daddy because we live in villas across the road, he comes to my office after school.”

Australian International School Hong Kong principal Howard West has spent 19 years at his school, moving to the region when his wife was offered a job in 1997.

While there are cultural differences, he says there is “a frisson, a kind of energy” in the city. His school is the only one in the region teaching an Australian curriculum, and packages are lucrative for couples who do not mind small living spaces and love to travel.

“The standard option is a two-year contract and for our school there’s a gratuity at the end of the contract that is very generous, that encourages them to stay,” West said. “There’s enough salary ­packaging to manage their personal affairs, but you compromise space to enjoy the proximity to the rest of the world.” But he says it can be difficult for single teachers to find a partner, and says the system suits working couples because of the expat lifestyle.