Tricks for Enhancing Your Competitiveness 打破外教职业发展天花板，他们有何高招？

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On 25 May, TopSchools hosted a foreign teachers forum at Shanghai United International School, Qingpu Campus (SUIS Qingpu). Six distinguished guests were invited to speak on themes related to empowering foreign teachers in our current educational landscape. Teachers from across China journeyed to Shanghai and SUIS Qingpu to enjoy the event and came away having gained much from the experience. At this grand event, topics focused on the current needs of foreign teachers, offering plenty of resources and opportunities for enthusiastic interaction. As the forum ended with many teachers yearning for more such opportunities, we are already looking forward to establishing similar events in the near future!

The foreign teacher talent market is currently undergoing a new round of turbulence. We all know that in our recent past the global pandemic acted as somewhat of a ‘litmus test’, revealing various challenges faced by the foreign teacher community in responding to sudden crises and adapting to educational changes. Those challenges also highlighted opportunities for transformational opportunities. At this critical juncture, it is particularly urgent and necessary to have a deep understanding of the talent market and plan your own professional development.

Dr. Adam Neufield, a Co-Principal at SUIS Qingpu, started the event by welcoming attendees to the campus and thanking them for their commitment to lifelong learning. He shared a general overview of the current situation for expatriate teachers in China, reminding us that most teachers desire stability and long-term development, particularly after experiencing the impact of the pandemic on lives of students, families, teachers as well as school operations. What we might expect in the near future is not only prosperous growth with respect to expatriate teachers' career development but also a welcome increase in the talent market.

Keynote speeches

James Morris, Superintendent of ISA Wuhan, provided insights and coping strategies for foreign teachers in the post-pandemic. He also shared on the scope of the Chinese employment market from the perspectives of population, birth rate, the current situation for international schools in China.

Despite the recent headwinds, expatriate teachers (ETs) are still highly regarded in China where education is greatly respected. ETs with experience in China will be highly sought after.

He strongly suggested that positive collaboration and successful integration with Chinese-influenced schools is a must. On the other hand, remuneration, which placed Chinese schools at the top in the world, needed to match with a teacher’s background as it has peaked, so newly-hired ETs might not experience same packages as current colleagues. We should bear this in mind as payment for the same job at the same school may not be the same five years in the future! He recommended that we should always identify and garner support from effective and supportive referees throughout your career.

Jiri ‘George’ Kaspar, Senior School Co-curricular Coordinator at Dipont Hangzhou gave ETs suggestions regarding qualifications, professional development, career planning and the market about how to plan your career and personal development. Required qualifications differ based on the tier of a school. To have access to the top tier, for example, one can maximize their qualifications by earning a QTS (a British teaching certification) - there are four pathways to getting it. Additionally, specialize in being able to do things other people don't do or don't like. Use GTT or ‘teaching walk throughs’ to improve your general pedagogy and get subject-specific training and certificates in your field through private organizations such as the IBO or CAIE; working towards obtaining a Masters degree from a top-ranked university should also be considered. When looking for a new position, consider results and achievements over brands, as brands are becoming less and less transferable.

Dr. Ronnvey Price, from the Summer Academy Camp with ISS, provided a talk on the successful path to career development.

He highlighted common career pitfalls to avoid, such as having a lack of goals or a poor work-life balance. Along with the pitfalls, he suggested strategies for adapting to make yourself positively-oriented in an unpredictable future. Dr. Price also emphasized the importance of setting clear career goals and also introduced the ‘SMART’ method for goal setting i.e., using Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals for attaining specific objectives.

Maria Anikina, Head of Design Technology at the Wellington and Huili Schools, talked about innovative teaching strategies and inspiring home-school communication.

Ms. Anikina articulated a variety of classroom challenges, and suggested that we should attempt to understand our students' learning styles, interests, and abilities – this will help teachers tailor their lessons to the students’ needs and keep them engaged. Teachers can now use innovative teaching methods such as gamification, project-based learning, and technology-enhanced instruction to make their lessons more interactive and enjoyable. Meanwhile, teachers should establish open and clear communication with parents and guardians to ensure that they are aware of what their children are learning and how they can support their education at home. Teachers should also take time to reflect on their teaching practices and seek feedback from students, colleagues, and supervisors, using this feedback to improve their teaching and enhance student learning.

The event finished with a roundtable discussion. Five highly experienced panelists, Shanker Dutt Bhatt, Dr. Adam Neufield, James Morris, Jiri ‘George’ Kaspar, Dr. Ronnvey Price were invited to discuss the integration of expatriate teachers in schools and intercultural communication.

There is no question that foreign teachers in the international education landscape play an indispensable part in the promotion of the development of international education, and the demand for qualified and well-suited foreign teachers has been increasing dramatically in recent years. Yet, the barriers for effective cross-cultural communication and team integration have greatly affected the foreign teacher's ability to play their role.

There appeared to be a consensus that the understanding and appreciation of cultural factors that impinge upon the management of foreign teachers, and a deeper understanding of shared values and our philosophies of education, will improve cross-cultural communication and consequently enhance team integration.

On one hand, the demand for qualified expatriate teachers remains strong, and expatriate teachers currently appear to be more concerned about stable career development and reasonable remuneration when looking for new job opportunities. On the other hand, it has been strongly suggested that expatriate teachers set up career development goals and find the ways to realize career development, meanwhile paying attention to the dynamics of the talent market.

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5月24-26日，在由顶思主办、上海青浦协和双语学校承办的TIDE2024第六届卓越教师发展大会在上海圆满收官。此次大会于5月25日13:00-17:30首办“外教论坛”，邀请了六位业内资深管理人员、一线教师作为演讲嘉宾做了精彩演讲。本次活动，话题主要集中在外教怎样更好的赋能外教发展，现场嘉宾为参会者提供了大量的资源和互动。当论坛结束时，参会教师意犹未尽，期待着在不久的将来举办类似的活动。

众所周知，外教人才市场正在历经新一轮的洗牌。特别是近年来席卷全球的疫情犹如一块试金石，既揭示了外籍教师群体在应对突发危机、适应教育变革过程中的种种挑战，也凸显了蕴含其中的转型机遇。在此关键时刻，深度了解人才市场、规划自己的专业发展尤为迫切且必要。

本次大会承办方、上海青浦区协和双语学校外方校长Dr. Adam Neufield,发表开幕致词并做了精彩演讲。Adam欢迎与会者来到校园，并感谢他们对终身学习的承诺。他分享了中国外籍教师的现状，提醒我们大多数教师希望稳定和长期发展，特别是在经历了全球疫情对学生、家庭、教师生活以及学校运作的影响之后。在不久的将来，我们所期待的不仅是外籍教师职业发展的繁荣增长，而且是人才市场的可喜增长。

主题演讲

武汉爱莎学校负责人James Morris深入探讨了外籍教师在后疫情时期就业情况并提供了应对策略。他从人口、出生率、中国国际学校的现状等方面分享了中国人才就业市场的情况。

尽管最近存在各种不确定因素，但外籍教师在教育受到高度重视的中国仍然受到追捧，尤其是有资质、且在中国有丰富教学经验的外籍教师。

从就业角度来看，他强烈建议，首选，外籍教师在工作中跟学校积极配合、融合以促进相互了解、共同发展。另一方面，在中国的外籍教师薪资已经在高位水平，外籍教师的薪资也在根据教师的背景做相应调整，薪资水平更趋于合理化；因此新聘用的外籍教师的薪资说破可能不会与现任同事相同，甚至会有降薪现象。James建议在个人的职业生涯中我们应该始终要积极的去找到支持，以更好的实现个人职业发展。

杭州狄邦的高中课外协调员Jiri ‘George’Kaspar，就如何做好职业规划和实现个人发展从教师资格、专业发展、职业规划和市场等方面给参会者做了介绍。每所学校根据学校的特点和定位不同，对外教的要求也不尽不同。例如，要想头部学校，你可以通过获得QTS（一种英国教学认证）来提升自身的竞争力。此外，他建议专注于做专业的、能发挥自己才能的事情，以提升自己的优势。他建议使用GTT或“教学演练”来提高教学方法，并通过IBO或CAIE等官方组织获得特定学科的培训和证书；另外，在职提升个人背景，比如读一所顶级大学的硕士、博士课程也是一个不错的选择。最后，他建议在寻找一个新工作机会时，更应关注学校的办学质量和成果，而不是只考虑学校的品牌。

Dr. Ronnvey Price就外教如何成功实现职业发展做了精彩演讲。

他强调了如何避免常见的求职陷阱，比如所获得新工作机会缺乏目标或工作与生活的平衡。针对于常见的求职陷阱，他提出了一些适应策略，让自己在不可预测的未来中以积极为导向。他还强调了充分认识自己、设定清晰的职业目标的重要性，并详细介绍了“SMART”目标设定方法，暨使用具体的、可衡量的、可实现的、相关的和阶段性的目标来使目标可见化。

惠灵顿和杭州惠立的设计技术负责人Maria Anikina谈到了创新的教学策略和有效的家校沟通管理。

Maria阐述了外教面临的课堂挑战，并建议外教应该更多的去了解学生的学习风格、兴趣和能力，这将帮助教师根据学生的特点和需求来调整他们的教学方法、教学内容，并提高学生的学习动力。Maria建议创新的教学方法，如游戏化、基于项目的学习等借助于现代的教育技术，使他们的课程更具互动性和吸引性。同时，教师应与家长/监护人建立开放和实时的沟通，以确保他们了解他们的孩子正在学习什么，以及家长如何能够通过家庭教育来促进学习。教师还应该花时间来反思他们的教学实践，并从学生、同事和主管那里寻求反馈，利用这些反馈来改善他们的教学效果并提高学生的全面发展。

这次活动以圆桌会议结束，我们邀请了行业资深外籍管理人员、一线外教教师Shanker Dutt Bhatt, Dr. Adam Neufield, James Morris, Jiri ‘George’ Kaspar, Dr. Ronnvey Price来共同讨论学校外籍教师的融入性和跨文化交流的问题。

毫无疑问，外籍教师在促进中国的国际教育发展中发挥着不可或缺的作用。随着国际教育的进一步深化，学校对有资质的高质量外国教师的需求急剧增加。然而，有效的跨文化沟通和团队融合的矛盾，在一定程度上影响了外籍教师发挥其作用的能力。

五位嘉宾几乎一致认为，通过充分认识、理解外籍教师文化差异，以及对外籍教师价值观和教育理念的认同，将会很好的改善跨文化沟通，进而加强中外教团队融合。

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