As teachers, it is such a treat for us to reconnect with a former student and to discover where their life has led them. In this episode, David and Audrey reconnected with Claire Gaul, a student from our Saudi days. Claire and her husband, Jamel, teach at an international school in China. The interview covered all five main categories on our information hub. Jamel and Claire shared so many great insights that you might have to listen to the episode twice to take them all in!
Claire and Jamel currently serve at their third international teaching post in China. Claire is originally from California, and Jamel was raised in Alsace in a Tunisian/Algerian family. They enjoy traveling, grilling, and being outdoors. They have 9-year-old twins (Luke and Leia) who are in 4th grade. Claire teaches Individuals and Societies and English Language Acquisition. Jamel teaches MYP/DP Design. Luke loves animals, tinkering with electronics, making mixed tapes, and researching how to be prepared for worst-case scenarios. Leia loves reading, cats, eating macaroons, and drawing comics.
The guiding question for this episode was, “What are some common experiences for international teaching families?”
Jamel and Claire covered so many topics, including:
We learned about some of the big decisions involved when including children as part of the dynamic in teaching and living overseas, including healthcare and how well the school can support your children, especially if there are special needs in terms of curriculum.
Another important factor to consider was the location’s infrastructure. This includes transportation, government services, and ease of travel, among other topics.
There is a real opportunity for our children to grow their social awareness and, in time, geopolitical learning, especially seeing issues from different perspectives.
Benefits for kids also include smaller classes, the potential for more individualized support, co-curricular programming for enrichment, diversity of friends from different countries, and exposure to new languages.
Working in international schools also benefits parents, including working with fellow teachers from other cultures and connecting with others in the expatriate community, many of whom are also parents.
Struggles can come from language barriers and differences in cultural understanding. Feelings of loss due to change between the home country or the previous post.
A big part of what makes the school and new community work comes from parental attitude and commitment to engaging and being open to personal growth. This modeling is important for our children.
Claire and Jamel described recruiting as a couple with children and offered real-world recruiting strategies related to doing deep research on the community nature of schools.
One recommendation is to balance career opportunities with schools that meet your children’s needs while keeping your options open with a broad perspective.
They urged teachers to be ready for their preconceptions and generalizations regarding host countries to be tossed out the window.
Be prepared for some of the schools on your wish list not to be the best fit for your family, especially as you start your overseas career.
This episode was recorded on December 9, 2023.
Contact Information: Claire on LinkedIn and Jamel on LinkedIn (or link-edin)
Resources Mentioned in the Episode: IB Diploma Programme Design Technology Teachers Facebook Group
Categories: School Life | Recruiting | Transitions | Finances | Travel | Family
