Living and working abroad is the dream of many.
With the rise of the Digital Nomad movement, it has become more and more accessible to anyone with a laptop. For some, it isn’t such a new thing.
For many years, teachers from around the globe have had opportunities to teach and share their knowledge abroad.
“Long before the days of sitting on a beach in Bali with a laptop became fashionable, foreign teachers have influenced and changed the lives of children and adults all around the world.”
For my next guest on the exclusive ‘Travel Files’ series, I’m excited to chat with Australian teacher, Mark Ritchie who has taught in Asia for twenty years.
I came across Mark on Twitter (@footlooseteach) and his blog on www.thefootlooseteacher.com. As someone who has aspired to teach abroad at some point, I was privileged and inspired to hear his story.
I’m sure you will too. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Now, read on.
What inspired you to become a teacher and move to Asia?
I’m from a small town on the mid-north coast of NSW, Australia called Taree.
I got into teaching after being bored with studying accounting, I discovered a passion for working with kids when I dropped out of uni and started coaching a soccer team.
I taught Economics and Humanities on the Central Coast, just north of Sydney for six or seven years. I found out about the idea of teaching at international schools while on a trip through Vietnam when I met other teachers who were working in China.
It was on a separate trip to the Philippines when I dropped off my resume at a school there which resulted in my first international school job.
Where have you taught and how have you adapted to the different cultures and languages of the countries you teach in?
I started in the Philippines and have since worked in Singapore (twice), China (Nanjing), Hong Kong (twice) and now Bangkok, Thailand.
The Philippines was a great place for learning patience. We often referred to ‘Philippine time’ when thinking something would take forever. People are very relaxed there, but they also love to socialise so it was easy to make local friends there.
I also learnt a fair bit of the language (Tagalog) which was fun and helped me make friends, but it’s harder to learn when everyone there speaks English.
“Singapore was much more efficient but harder to make local friends. I struggled to settle in at first, it just felt too serious.”
Luckily once I met more people and began to socialise I found the expat community which centres mainly on watching sports and finding the best ‘happy hour’. It was in Singapore where I met my wife before we moved to China with her daughter.
China was all about cultural experiences and overcoming language barriers as virtually nobody spoke English when I was there.
I actually learnt a lot of Mandarin, especially in the market when buying food. Being forced to use Mandarin every single day made learning much easier.
Every day was a challenge but a nice one.
There was a great sense of achievement in accomplishing simple things through a second language. It’s a shame I forgot most of it when I moved to English and Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong is the best of both the worlds of Singapore and China. It has the Chinese culture and traditions, but most people speak English. It has a diversity of geography and weather, great hiking and beaches.”
I consider Hong Kong my home these days. But Covid forced a lot of people to leave. There were also other issues such as the protests against the increasing Chinese control.
Thailand is a step back to learning a new culture and traditions. The Thai New Year (Songkran) has quickly become my favourite cultural tradition.
Overall, expat teachers learn to be more accepting of differences, embrace new cultures and go with the flow. You just can’t ever say or think that the way things are done is wrong. It’s just different.
And that makes things interesting.
What are some of the most rewarding and challenging experiences you have had as a teacher in Asia?
The students I teach are amazing.
They come from such diverse backgrounds. At the moment, I’m teaching lots of Thai students. But international schools sometimes don’t have any students who are from the country that you are working in.
The most rewarding part of this job is just learning about the different backgrounds of the students and the different lives that they are living.
“There are so many rewarding experiences. The top one is probably a personal one as I got to be on stage for both of my daughter’s graduation ceremonies and get to hug them as I handed them their diplomas.”
The most challenging experience as a teacher can sometimes be dealing with parents who have unrealistic expectations for their students.
I hate to stereotype anyone, but many Asian students acknowledge that Asian parents set incredibly high standards in terms of academics.
There is also the interesting dilemma of whether or not to accept often large gifts from parents.
How has teaching in Asia changed your perspective on education and learning?
One thing that has changed is that I recognise that wealthy, privileged expat kids often have incredible challenges that I may not have considered previously.
Not having come from a wealthy background, I often thought that rich kids had it easy – but it’s definitely not the case.
“Another is just the fact that you need to be so open-minded as you don’t know how your own views may differ from those of your students.”
I once taught a girl from North Korea and I was teaching an economics lesson on capitalism. That was interesting.
There are also lots of cultural sensitivities that you have to consider. For example, the issues surrounding China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
What are some of the skills and qualities that a teacher needs to succeed in Asia?
Every school and every curriculum is different.
I would say being flexible is the most important thing. You can ask as many questions as you like in a job interview. But when you arrive at your new school, things can be quite different to what you expect.
I’ve mentioned open-mindedness already and this relates to dealing with students and parents. But it can also relate to working with colleagues from different backgrounds who have differing beliefs.
“There are certainly lots of opportunities to teach in Asia.”
China continues to add many international schools every year, though some are less ‘international’ than others.
There is also still a huge demand for English. I’ve never taught English, but Asian parents really want their kids to be proficient English speakers.
I’d say that since Covid there may be more opportunities in some places. Anyone who wants to start off in China for example will find heaps of opportunities.
Some amazing international schools pay enormous salaries in China.
How do you balance your personal and professional life as an expat teacher?
One of the great things about working overseas is how connected the expat communities are, especially teachers.
You make friends for life. People do leave and you may not see them for years or even decades, but you know a reunion could be just around the corner in any location.
The other great thing is the holidays.
I have many more days off in a year here in Thailand than I’ve ever had before. The summer break in June/July is 6-7 weeks and one-week and two-week holidays throughout the year give plenty of opportunities to travel as everything is so close.
Even a long weekend could be an international trip. I can access Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar by land or air really cheaply.
“Most of my colleagues would take 3 or 4 international holidays a year. And the summer is mostly a chance to travel to several countries in one trip.”
Living in a place rather than holidaying also gives rise to opportunities for attending events or travelling with colleagues for various activities that you might not know about, have enough time for or requires some planning.
In China, I went to the Harbin Ice Festival with my teacher friends. I also went to Beijing with colleagues to run the Great Wall of China half-marathon. Now, that was a highlight.
With regard to homesickness, the first year away was tough. As was my first year in Singapore. I really wanted to get home to Australia to catch up with friends. But eventually, your friends end up being where you are as well as in the many neighbouring countries.
There is always an Aussie pub, a cold beer and sport on the big screen to cure any homesickness these days.
What are some of the best places you have visited or lived in Asia and why?
All of the places that I have lived have been great and these are all great places for people to visit.
“My favourite places that I’ve visited but not lived in are definitely Cambodia and Vietnam. It’s a contest between these two for the friendliest people in the world. Or at least from the places that I’ve travelled to.”
They’re also really cheap, have incredible food and in the case of Vietnam, some great beaches. Laos is also a beautiful place.
What are some common misconceptions or stereotypes people have about teaching or living in Asia?
One stereotype is that we all teach local students how to speak English.
International schools are predominantly expat students so every lesson apart from languages is taught in English. There are also Australian, British and American schools where the curriculum is the same as their home countries.
Some of my students would love me to say that not ‘all’ Asian students are good at mathematics. So that is a bit of a myth.
“There is a perception that Chinese, Hong Kongers and Singaporeans are cold and lacking in personality. Definitely not true.”
There is also the misconception that when you live in Asia you are somehow cut off from what’s happening in the rest of the world and that many things are lacking or inefficient or backward.
Internet and phone service are much more efficient, even in Thailand compared to Australia.
‘The Footloose Teacher’ Blog. How did that come about?
I just decided that I wanted to do something different.
‘The Footloose Teacher‘ blog is an opportunity to learn a new skill, to share some experiences and maybe share the things that I’ve learnt along the way.
It’s just new and still embarrasses me a bit because I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s also part of a promise I made to myself when I turned 50 that I would keep improving and learning new things.
There’s a Japanese word ‘Kaizen’ which I teach to my students and use as a motto in my classroom. It means continuous improvement. I had the characters tattooed on my wrist in Cambodia when I turned 50.
“The first time I shared my blog on Facebook was terrifying as I’d never really written anything for public consumption. I decided to just write stuff and didn’t expect anyone to read it.”
I hope that over time I can learn how to write reasonably well. I’ll put more time into it on my long summer holiday.
One post about reverse culture shock (the challenges of returning home after a long time away) has around 390 views. So that’s pretty cool.
Feedback from teacher friends has been great.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a career as a teacher in Asia or around the world?
This is some of the stuff that I’ve started putting into my blog.
It’s the best decision that I’ve ever made. People will try to talk you out of it. Don’t listen.
And don’t give up in the first year. Pretty soon the phrase ‘going home’ will have a different meaning.
In terms of getting a job. There are a hundred reasons why someone may or may not get offered a particular job that they apply for. Most are out of your control, so just persist and the right opportunity will arise.
“Just getting your foot in any door is better than none at all. But be open-minded, flexible and prepared for some early struggles.”
Most international schools offer 2-year contracts to start with and then maybe yearly after that. It’s great if you stay at least two years as it can be a bit of a red flag for recruiters if you break a contract or move schools too often. But this still means that you can change countries every two years if you wish.
I look at every move as if it’s a promotion – even if it’s for the same job. It’s a new place where you want to live, so that’s a promotion in my eyes.
You will learn so much about yourself, about people and the world by just getting out and experiencing it. It will change your perspective on everything.
As someone who has worked abroad also, I can relate to a lot of the experiences in this article. What an amazing few years Mark and his family have had, really interesting. I am sure his students learnt a lot from his life experiences also.
I enjoyed this article, thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for reading Elizabeth, it was so much fun to put together. He really has an awesome story, glad you liked it!