Educators Going Global

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If you spoke to 20 international educators and asked them what factors led them to taking the initial leap into international education, you would likely get 20 very different answers! And if you interviewed as many as 94, well, you can imagine the stories you would hear. Such is the task that Dr. Ettie Zilber set herself.

Ettie joined Audey for this episode and shared the eight categories of catalysts, as she has dubbed them, that emerged from her doctoral research on this topic. She also shared many of the stories that her interviewees told her. We know you will connect with the 8 categories of Catalysts as well as with some of the stories.

Before retiring from paid employment, Ettie enjoyed a long career in international schools in Israel, Singapore, Spain, Guatemala, China and the USA, serving first as an educator and then as a school Director.
She served on the Boards of several Regional Associations and taught graduate courses for four universities which catered to international school educators. 
After doctoral research on Third Culture Kids, she published the book Third Culture Kids: Children of International School Educators. Other publications relevant to international schools include “Catalysts for a Career in International Schools,” “A Primer for Administrators applying to Proprietary Schools,” and many more, available on www.ettiezilber.com
She continues to conduct workshops on Cross Cultural Understanding at schools and other multi-national organizations.
She lives in Arizona with her husband of 52 years,  and enjoys visits with her children and grandchildren (one of whom is also a TCK/CCK). 
Guiding Question:
“What are some factors that prompt teachers to leave their home countries and seek employment in international schools overseas?”
 Topics Addressed Included:
Definition of terms (TCK, TCA, ACCK, CCA, multiracial/cultural children, Children of immigrants, Children of refugees, Children of minorities, International adoptees, Domestic TCKs, Educational CCKs, Self-initiated and Assigned Expatriates, push-pull factors of migration)

THE BIG 8 - Eight factors that prompt people to decide to teach internationallyChildhood as a CCK (Cross-Cultural Kid)
Grew up listening to family stories/seeing artefacts/had family history overseas
Influenced by teachers/colleagues or friends’ stories/artefacts
Reading/literature, TV about overseas Or desire to learn English
Grew up in multicultural environment (school, community)
Early international travel experiences (independent of family)
Intimate relationship/loved one
Life/labour/career status dissatisfaction 

How hiring schools can seek to leverage these factors in order to grow W4 Wanderlust in general and thus expand their candidate pools

Contact Ettie:
LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned:
Ettie’s Consulting Website www.ettiezilber.com
Ettie’s ECIS article on her research 0 ecis+INFOCUS_Ettie_Zilber(1).pdf

Recorded on July 17, 2026
#transitions | #internationaleducation | goingglobal

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Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

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What are international schools like? One way to find out is to compare them with schools in your home country. 
Since David and I both hail from North America, we thought it would be interesting to ask someone who has been a head of school in multiple oversea countries and in the U.S. to help us draw some of these comparisons. So we turned to Lee Fertig, who was a director in Brazil, Spain, and Belgium and is now the head of an independent school in California. Veteran International Educators, it will be fun for you to consider how closely Lee’s observations match yours; aspiring International Educators, I’m sure this look at the insider view will be enlightening for you.
Lee talked about some of the similarities and differences he has observed among overseas and U.S. schools. While avoiding sweeping generalisations, he was able to give us a taste of some of the characteristics that can be found in either type of school, while also giving us a sense of what his current school, the Nueva School in San Francisco, is like. Lee is someone I would love to work with again – and after hearing this conversation, I’m betting you will want to work with him, too!
Lee is currently the Head of the Nueva School in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has 40 years of leadership and teaching experience in a wide variety of educational settings including five international schools (in Ethiopia, Brazil, Spain, and Belgium), a leading independent school in New York City, and a voluntary integration public magnet school in Minneapolis. Lee has been training for the Principals’ Training Center (PTC) for many years, has taught in the College of Education at the University of Minnesota, and is a guest speaker on contemporary educational issues at a wide variety of community events. He provides consulting services for schools and educational organizations around the world in the areas of governance, development and fundraising, learning innovation, student support systems, and school-based continuous improvement.
Our guiding question was: “What was your experience going from being a head of various schools overseas to becoming a head of an independent school in the United States with international aspects?”
Here are the topics covered in this episode:
Moving from leading international schools to leading an independent school in the U.S.
Comparing the mission and identity of international schools with those in the U.S.
Similarities and differences in school culture or community life between international schools and Lee’s current U.S. school
Balancing local and global culture in international schools
Parent expectations 
Governance and leadership expectations
Teacher recruitment
What the best international schools have in common
Resources shared in this episode: 
Connect with Lee on LinkedIn
Nueva School

Show recorded on June 12, 2026.
Categories: School Life | Recruitment | Transitions

Support the show

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.

Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

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How would you respond to this statement: “Everyone can benefit from having a life coach”? It’s hard to argue with the idea that having a supportive, non-judgemental listener to share our journey with can be super helpful. 
This episode continues our series that centers on Transitions Coaching for International Educators. We have selected some realistic transition difficulties that could be – and have been – experienced by educators in the international school space. We want to emphasize that these are unscripted sessions where David is doing his best to represent real educators experiencing realistic situations related to transitions and Audrey is delivering the in-the-moment life coaching that could help to address the issues involved. Please be gentle with us as we seek to demonstrate the power of life coaching for those faced with a transition from a comfortable, known school-city-country-culture to a new and unfamiliar one. Whether you are currently experiencing your first transition or your umpteenth, we hope these episodes will be helpful – and that they may even prompt you to seek transitions coaching for yourself!
Scenario 2: The “Why isn't this move easier after so many moves?” Moment.

Support the show

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.

Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

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What would it be like for American educators to relocate to China for a few years? And in what ways would doing so in the early 2000s have increased the level of challenge?
With 1.5 billion citizens at the turn of the millennium, China represented a fifth of the globe’s  population. It also brought with it suspicion as a human-rights depriving, communist country,  and curiosity, with its rich cultural history that dated back thousands of years. There are historic landmarks such as The Great Wall, Peking Man, and the Forbidden City.  
Janet Flaugher and her husband accepted the opportunity to live in Beijing for three years when  she accepted a position in 2002 as the superintendent of a prestigious international school. 
What resulted from her experience two decades later is a multi-award-winning book, Two  Bottles of Water. It is an engaging and zany exposé about what life in China is really like for a  couple of immigrant newbies. It’s always something, from kitchens that smell of sewer gas, to  surviving mystery meat stew, to underappreciated efforts at communication in Chinese. The  book follows the misadventures of a pair of Americans plunked down in an alien environment  they struggle to comprehend. Her stand-alone essays collectively tell the story of an impactful  adventure. 
“It was a difficult, confusing, sometimes unfriendly, place for any westerner, and especially for  one plunked down in a totally unfamiliar setting, unable to communicate, with a minimal support  system,” writes Flaugher in her book. “In spite of all the difficulties we encountered in our stay, I'm glad we did it. It was the experience of a lifetime to be an immigrant and learn firsthand what  it was like to be a stranger in a strange land. It also provided great insight into culture shock,  unconscious bias (mine), and racism (theirs).” 
Our guiding question for this show was, “What lessons did you learn during your 1 ½ year relocation to a school/city/country that was completely unfamiliar to you?”
Some of the topics covered include:
Acknowledging unconscious bias
Navigating culture shock
Coping with isolation and the daily challenges of living as immigrants in a country where nothing was familiar
The realities of learning a difficult language in real time
How the Chinese view outsiders – and what Americans can learn from them. 
Lessons learned from leading a school in another country
Lessons learned from taking all over the world 
Broadened perspectives on immigration, identity, and belonging.

Resources Mentioned in the Episode: 
Janet's website: www.jtalespinner.com  
Two Bottles of Water on Bookshop.org

This episode was recorded on May 19, 2026.
Categories: Transitions | Culture Shock | Travel | Language Learning

Support the show

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.

Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

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How cool would it be to be able to hop around the world doing stints as a sub? To get a taste of a school/city/country without the longer-term commitment? To travel light and scratch that itch for adventure? These are some of the aspects of international substitute teaching that have long appealed to me. However, we’ve learned through interviewing Nadine Tyro of the True Teaching Flying Squad that the process is not as straightforward as I may once have thought.
True Teaching was born from Nadine’s lifetime (40+ years) of international education experience, gained while living and working across the Pacific, Asia, Middle East, and Europe. This venture allows her to stay connected with the international school sector and use her deep knowledge to help new educators navigate the complex smorgasbord of global education offerings.
As a New Zealander, Nadine began her journey teaching K-6 students at Kerevat International School in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s. Her international career then took her to Jakarta Intercultural School in Indonesia and Vienna International School in Austria.
A major highlight was serving as the Founding Director of Concordia International School in Bangkok, Thailand, at the turn of the century. This demanding role established a bespoke learning environment that delivered the IB frameworks in English, Mandarin, and Thai.
Nadine then moved to the UAE, where she headed a school in Sharjah and later spearheaded a high school educator upskilling project with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC). After a stint in business development for a London-based recruitment agency, she founded her own agency, True Teaching, in 2013.
The True Teaching Flying Squad database connects experienced educators with long-term and short-term placements. The agency invoices schools upon a successful match, ensuring educators are never charged for registration or services. Nadine believes her extensive career provides the critical level of 'handholding' and reality needed for teachers considering their first move overseas. She has been blessed with the life she has led and now it’s time to give back.
Our guiding question for this show was: “How does one go about getting a long term subbing gig at an international school?”
Some of the topics covered include:
How much interest there is in international long term subbing
What the most common needs are that drive the demand for long-term substitutes in international schools
Key professional and personal characteristics that make a teacher an ideal candidate for a long-term international subbing role
The contractual "nuts and bolts" (visas, housing, flight reimbursement, salary, health insurance) for a long-term substitute positions
Some of the positives and negatives that candidates need to be aware of in subbing internationally
What long term subbing offers international educators pivoting from full-time teaching
Nadine’s advice to an internationally experienced teacher or administrator considering their first long-term substitute position
Resources Mentioned in the Episode: 
True Teaching: register for recruiting services or for long-term subbing with the Flying Squad database
Connect with Nadine on LinkedIn
This episode was recorded on October 30, 2025.
Categories: Long Term Subbing | Recruiting | School Life | Travel | Finances 
Support the show

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.

Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.