What is it like? What should I know?

Over the past 5 years working in the Gulf has become a popular choice for many expatriate teachers. Dubai has been a buzz word for many people from your basic labourer right up to the place where the rich and famous reside. There has been a huge influx of expat teachers wanting to work in a country that provides a highly quality lifestyle, TAX free salaries, great weather and much more. While this is glamorized even more so with top quality hotels like the 7 Star Hotel, Burj Al Arab, what is it really like for expat teachers, living on a teacher's salary? SeekTeachers™ goes down to check out what expat teachers wanting to work there should know and that include the good, the bad and the ugly.

Education as we all know is essential and a place like Dubai that wants to be second to none, wants to raise the standard of education in the country. With more expatriates moving into the country private business owners have seen this as a cash cow opportunity and profited greatly by setting up private international schools. Even in the neighbouring state of Abu Dhabi the education has begun a huge reform led by the Abu Dhabi Education council (ADEC) to revamp the education sector and raised standard.

With the number of educational institutions going high, demand for the teacher or lecturers for these institutes have increased to a greater extend, opening the doors of job opportunities in the teaching field. Teachers or instructors need up to date with knowledge and experience in their subjects. Also, there is great need for specialized and skilled people in their respective areas of education. The Knowledge Human Development Authority (KHDA) is the organisation which overseas the quality of education being delivered in private and public schools, similar to that of OFSTED in the UK.

Expectations

Firstly teachers moving from western countries, should not go to Dubai thinking that because there is so much money floating around that the schools will be top-notch and fully loaded with the latest technology. This is far from the truth. In most schools there is about 1 or 2 Interactive White Boards, of which these are most commonly placed in the ICT Suites. To begin with the working day can seem quite long and tiring but you will find this is mainly due to the heat. Once you climatise it could be the same as working in your host country, although most employers do expect you to do some extra curricular activities once or twice a week.

Curriculum's

In addition there are schools where they have a curriculum, but don't really follow a curriculum. What we mean by this is that many schools will deploy a Western Curriculum like the National Curriculum of England & Wales but in practice only some elements of the curriculum are delivered causing chaos in standards. Some schools use a fusion of a Western Curriculum adapted with a local curriculum and then other side is using a mixture of Western and International Curriculum's and different levels. These are the curriculum's you should be familiar with when applying for jobs to the Dubai:

The International Baccalaureate (PYP, MYP and DP)
The National Curriculum of England & Wales
The International Primary Curriculum
The American AP Curriculum
The Victorian Curriculum (Australian)
The Cambridge Curriculum (IGCSE, A' Level)
Local Arabic Curriculum

It is highly recommending doing your research on the structure of these curriculum. Even if you have not delivered them before you would be able to get a job if you are prepared to go on further training and learn but have the current subject knowledge to deliver the subject.

Salaries

Salaries vary tremendously in Dubai and this is due to several reasons:

The amount of fee's the school charges for each student
Your level and amount of qualifications
Your experience
The number of students on role
The type of school it is (for Profit or Not for Profit)
Your family status
The amount of additional benefits you get

If a school has a bigger budget, generally it will pay higher but this is not always the case. There are schools which will set a cap on what they would pay irrespective of what the school is making, so finding a school that pays highly can be like finding a needle in a haystack. It does exist but you have to dig deep and most importantly of all be a good negotiator. The best thing of all is that the salary is TAX free and you get an end of year Gratuity (bonus) for each year you complete. With the recent recession having a huge global impact, Dubai has been effected and so you may find that salaries have been capped from increased, however this is slowly beginning to get back on the move again.

You may be asking how far can you salary go and if you are it's a great question to ask! Firstly this is going to depend on how lavishly you want to "live it up". With mobile phones being as expensive as up to $310000 USD, a teachers salary could seem like tuppence in comparison. With the amount of glamour and money flowing around it can be quite easy to get drawn into such a high living lifestyle. If this you, you may find your salary won't be going too far and it probably would be better to avoid working in such an area.

For expatriates working there it can be a great to save or convert your money as western currencies are so weak right now that your Dirham would go further than it did before. Food is quite cheap in Dubai and there are quite a few things to do for entertainment which does not cost the earth like heading out to the desert and water parks like Wild Wadi or Jumeirah Beach.

Subjects

There are many subjects teachers can apply for such as English, Mathematics, Information Technology, medicine, management, communications, banking, economics, sciences, etc. This can apply for teachers of various grades including: nursery, primary, middle and high school teachers, lecturers, readers, professors, Assistant Professors, deans and other faculty for computers, and IT institutes.

Working in Dubai is not for everyone and when we have visited schools, we know of teachers that have been teaching there for many years and have immersed themselves into the lifestyle.

If you are a teacher that has worked in Dubai please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences. We would love to hear from you.

Regards

The SeekTeachers™ Team