Transitions

This morning I woke up early because I was excited. This is the week I'm moving to India to take up my position at my amazing new school. I'm traveling to London the day after tomorrow, then to Holland and then flying to Mumbai. By the end of the week I'll officially have started at ASB and will be involved in the orientation into my new school and new life. And yet it feels like I've already started. The day after I finished my old job, my new school flew me out to the ISTE conference where I met and worked with some of my new colleagues. It's the best start to a new school I've ever experienced in my 24 years of international education. When I went on to make a presentation at the TeachMeet at Cambridge University last weekend I did so proudly representing my new school, not my old one. I've avoided the limbo of being between jobs because I've immediately been able to distance myself from some of the negative experiences of the past few years as I've been fired up by the energy that comes from working in a leading international school again. I love the fact that I'll probably be working harder than I ever have before, that I'll be learning more too, that I'll be able to fully develop myself and share my experiences with a vibrant learning community. I love the fact that my new school is committed to research and development and that it has now launched an Interenational Research Colaborative partnership with other leading international schools to evaluate educational practices and beliefs about teaching and learning.

 A few days after the TeachMeet in Cambridge, I met up again with one of the organizers who is interested in becoming an international teacher himself. We spent several hours talking about recruitment and the best ways for candidates to really discover what schools are like before they start there. Although I haven't used a recruitment firm for many years, I do believe that they are useful ways into employment in international schools, especially for those seeking their first or second overeseas posts. For myself however, the experiment of "reverse recruiting" using social media was second to none. When I tell people that my first contact with my new school was via Twitter I can see eyebrows shooting up. However the truth is that I used Twitter and Gmail and Skype and I also made an online CV using Blogger. For 21st century educators who are well established with good international reputations I can't imagine a better way to obtain the job of your dreams.

Photo Credit:  Jump in Motion by Jolantis, 2006