Teaching Abroad Direct
Whether you've made the decision to leave the UK and become an international teacher in a modern and bustling city like Doha, Dubai, or Bangkok, or you're looking for a slower pace of life with a teaching job in countries like Spain, Vietnam or Malaysia, you might now have considered the extra responsibilities you'll have to take on that no-one really cares to mention.
Many international teachers picture the dream: inspiring young minds, immersing themselves in a new country and culture and advancing their careers in world-class schools. However, once settled into a new classroom thousands of miles from home, reality can start to sink in. Teaching children and young people is only really half the job. Behind every engaging hour spent at the front of a classroom sits a lot invisible work that doesn't really get a shout out. This ranges from meticulous curriculum and lesson design to navigating cultural nuances, handling well-being care and managing parents' expectations. For international teachers who are working within the conditions of high-performing student communities, demanding parents and target-driven school governance, these additional responsibilities carry unique challenges and rewards.
In this blog, we take a realistic look at the true roles and responsibilities of a teacher that no-one talks about.
Teaching makes up less than half of a teacher's working week, and international teachers need to dedicate significant time to adapting UK and US curriculums for for multilingual learners.
Establishing a productive classroom overseas depends on cultural intelligence to respect different cultural norms around authority, communication and preserving student dignity.
Continuous assessment provides immediate feedback, allowing teachers to address learning gaps in the moment rather than waiting for end-of-term examinations.
Moving to an international school often means that marking work includes more generalised feedback.
Interacting with expat families who are paying high fees involves clear communication, boundaries and team work with parents who have high expectations.
Leading international schools expect teachers to take personal initiative in their growth with self-obtained certifications.
Supporting students through international relocations makes mentorship and checking in on well-being an essential part of the job.
Managing records and administrative reporting such as pupil attendance and incident noting is another responsibility that takes up teaching time.
A brilliant lesson looks effortless, but the truth is that a lot of work and preparation goes into it. In an international school setting, lesson planning isn’t just about mapping out a textbook chapter.
When teachers plan lessons, they rarely start with the daily activity itself. Instead, they work backwards by identifying the specific learning objective, i.e. what students should know or be able to do by the end of the class. They then determine how that understanding will be measured. From there, they structure the lesson into a warm-up to see students' prior knowledge, a brief period of direct instruction to introduce the new concept being learned, followed by guided group practice and independent application.
In international classrooms, lesson planning demands more from a teacher. This is because a single classroom often includes native English speakers, students learning English as an additional language (EAL), and learners with diverse academic backgrounds or specific learning needs (SEND), all in the same room. Lesson planning is far from just writing down a schedule of topics, and it needs to accommodate a range of learning styles and unpredictable classroom needs.
According to the 2024 OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), teachers globally spend an average of 7 to 8 hours per week on lesson preparation alone. In international classrooms (where many different languages are spoken), adapting materials, simplifying instructions and making lessons inclusive adds a substantial layer of unseen preparation time to an already demanding schedule.
Admin workload remains a considerable demand for teachers. On average, about half of teachers report excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress. In 18 education systems, teachers' reports of excessive administrative work as a source of stress have increased since 2018, but in only 9 of those education systems did time spent on administrative work increase. 2025 research from Taylor and Francis Online suggests that (75%) of teachers identify general administrative work as a contributor to workload pressure.
Discipline and managing student behaviour in the classroom creates a calm and structured learning environment for children to thrive. In an international school, however, teachers need to go far beyond just managing behaviour or enforcing rules. They need cultural intelligence and sensitivity because what constitutes respectful communication or acceptable behaviour in a British or Western context can be interpreted rather differently in Southeast Asia or the Middle East. This is where clear boundaries must be set with cross-cultural respect.
For instance, In Western schools like that in the UK, calling out minor disruptive behaviour publicly in class is a common classroom management tool (such as asking a pupil to stop talking). In places like Thailand, Vietnam or Malaysia however, the concept of 'saving face' is deeply embedded in social interactions. Publicly singling out a student or even overly praising them in front of peers can be deeply humiliating for them and create 'loss of face', leading to potential total withdrawal or quiet resistance rather than improved behaviour. Effective international teachers adapt by using non-verbal signals or quiet 1-on-1 conversations at the teacher's desk to address behaviour privately.
Research from Study.com in 2024 revealed that 54% of teachers considered classroom management and student behaviour overall to be significant challenges in their work. Teachers need to harness a mix of verbal and non verbal cues to keep learning goals on track during lessons, and to ensure that students who act out don't bother others.
In schools across Thailand or the UAE, where English is often an Additional Language (EAL) for a large percentage of the student body, instruction delivery doubles as language instruction. Teachers need to constantly modify their tone, pacing and vocabulary without affecting the core subject.
About one in five teachers report experiencing significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms on average across OECD education systems, and the share of time spent on maintaining discipline has increased in almost all education systems since 2018. In 2024, more than 50% of teachers in Brazil report such challenges, and just over 33% of teachers in Chile, Finland, Portugal and South Africa do so. In contrast, fewer than 5% of teachers in Albania, Japan and Shanghai (China) report facing such disciplinary issues. Novice teachers report more classroom disruptions than their experienced colleagues in nearly all education systems.
To make sure what they are teaching is understood, teachers need to continuously measure what their students are absorbing. Student assessment ranges from real-time checks in class, to more comprehensive term evaluations. International schools often have large amounts of investment, and continuous assessment is seen as vital. It identifies learning gaps early, preventing students who may be adjusting to a new language or curriculum from slipping through the cracks.
At British Vietnamese International School HCMC for instance, Principal Deirdre Grimshaw explains that progress monitoring happens daily through observing student discussions, questioning and classwork, allowing teachers to adjust lesson difficulty in the moment. Teachers monitor whether students can explain their thinking, take feedback and self-assess. Progress often shows in how a child learns before it even shows up in test scores. This progress is not only communicated to the school, but to parents, too. International school parents expect continuous updates and open communication about how their child is progressing. This can be quite different to school parents in the UK, who might only get an end-of-term report card.
Marking is certainly a task that many teachers are familiar with, and this part of the job can often take up invisible evening shifts. Providing encouraging and detailed feedback to a student takes far more time than simply assigning a letter grade or a percentage.
When you work as an international teacher, you're expected to provide detailed feedback that guides students on how they can improve so that they can take control and ownership of their academic success.
In 2019 the UK Department for Education’s Teacher Workload Survey found that teachers spend an average of 6 hours per week (for primary), and 6.3 hours (for secondary) marking student work.
Whether an international teacher ends up doing more or less marking than this will depend heavily on where they teach, school type and the subject they teach, but there are some noticeable differences every UK teacher experiences when making the move abroad. UK state schools are famous for rigid marking policies, like red pen feedback and written notes for Ofsted paper trails. Most international private schools give teachers significantly more autonomy, allowing for very minimal annotations. Rather than correcting every spelling error or grammatical slip, the teacher only marks a specific learning goal.
A UK secondary teacher might also teach around 32 students per class. Private international schools in Qatar, Dubai or Thailand often cap class sizes at 18 to 22 students, immediately cutting the physical volume of books or papers to grade. International school schedules also frequently include more scheduled planning and preparation time built into the average school week, so teachers have more ability to get marking completed during school hours rather than at their own kitchen table over a weekend.
That said, expat parents pay high tuition fees and place enormous emphasis on exam outcomes. Marking for upper secondary grades (like IB diplomas) often requires meticulous feedback. If you're an EAL (English as an Additional Language) teacher, marking can take longer because of checking language accuracy, syntax and comprehension.
Parent communication in international schools is often far more intensive than in domestic state schools. Families paying premium tuition fees in cities like Dubai, Doha or Bangkok frequently expect frequent and detailed updates on their child's progress – almost like customer service, because it's technically what they're paying for. Because expat parents also live far away from their extended family networks, it's also more likely that they'll look to the school as a primary support system, with teachers being key points of contact. In Asian countries in particular like South Korea, China and Singapore, a style of parenting that puts heavy emphasis on academic success (known as 'Tiger Parenting'), is common and frequently referred to in media and wider society, and students are pushed hard to achieve learning goals.
Workload research from the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) and peer-reviewed studies in the Journal of Research in International Education consistently highlight that managing high parental expectations and managing a more commercial style home-school dynamic are among the biggest challengers for expat teachers. For UK teachers moving abroad, success relies on setting firm professional boundaries early while using cultural diplomacy to form good relationships with pushy parents.
Technology is forever changing, and with the new drive for using more AI in the classroom and the pressure that international schools face in terms of remaining at the forefront of global educational standards, teachers must constantly upgrade their skills and stay on top of their professional development.
Attending workshops, securing specialised certifications and reviewing current research and studies in their field ensures that teachers are on top of their game. This may mean taking time outside of school hours to attend extra lessons or training that isn't provided by the school. Generally speaking, international schools will expect teachers to take the initiative.
Research from global education bodies like the U.S National Education Association highlights a growing demand for micro-credentials. These are short, specialised qualifications in areas like classroom management, student mental health and educational tech. International school leaders now view micro-credentials as a major competitive edge when hiring teachers, and candidates who have them are in great demand.
Perhaps the most profound role an international teacher takes on is that of a mentor, alongside ensuring student well-being.
According to the COBIS (Council of British International Schools) Annual Research Survey for 2025, well-being and mental health are key priorities for schools. When respondents were asked about wellbeing and mental health challenges observed in their school community within the past two years, top responses related to increases in well-being issues (59%); increases in mental health issues (58%), and increases in social/behavioural issues (48%). The percentage of schools reporting increases rose across almost all categories.
In the same survey, 76% of schools felt that well-being and the mental health of students was somewhat or significantly worse than ten years ago. However, just 38% felt that it was somewhat or significantly worse than two years ago. 61% felt that it was about the same or better than two years ago.
Expat children face unique challenges when they make a move internationally with their family. It's a big change that involves leaving a familiar routine, school, friends and family, navigating a new culture and identity and adapting to new social environments. Teachers are often the first to spot emotional distress, anxiety or social isolation. When they see a student is facing difficulties, they need to listen, provide a safe space, encourage strength and determination and guide students through personal and social problems.
That said, in some cases, pastoral care is extending into some forms of social care, with teachers helping students perform basic tasks that should be managed at home. In the UK in particular, a growing conversation in UK education has recently highlighted a worrying trend that teachers and schools are becoming increasingly under pressure to handle basic social and personal care duties that should be managed at home by parents. These range from helping students to regulate their emotions, to giving guidance on diet and even basic self-care like toilet training and hygiene, and is particularly prevalent within early years education.
While UK state schools often report this is happening as a result of early-years services being completely overstretched, international teachers experience a different version of the same issue. In overseas international schools it is known as the 'Nanny Effect'. In regions like the Gulf states or parts of Southeast Asia for example, many young children grow up with full-time domestic helpers or nannies. This means that some children arrive at school lacking basic independence and with an inability to perform basic tasks like tying their own shoes, packing their own bags, eating independently or tidying up after themselves.
Because expat families may lack local family networks, teachers may also need to step in on occasion to teach foundational social-emotional skills, conflict resolution and self-regulation that would otherwise be reinforced by extended family at home.
Administrative duties aren't glamorous, and they're usually not a key reason why a person decides to become a teacher, but they are important. They're key to tracking long-term student progress, safeguarding and maintaining accreditation compliance.
Day to day, teachers need to maintain precise logs of attendance, behavioural or health incidents, academic interventions, parental interactions and so on. When a student transitions between international schools or moves back to their home country, these records ensure continuity of care and learning.
According to the UK Department for Education’s Teacher Workload Survey, primary teachers spend an average of 6.0 hours per week (and secondary teachers spend 4.0 hours per week) just on general administrative tasks and record-keeping. According to the OECD 'Education at a Glance' report for 2026, teachers report spending about 6% of their working time on administrative tasks on average. In France and Romania, time spent ranges from about 4% or less, while in Japan the time taken is over 9%, and about 14% in South Korea.
At Teaching Abroad Direct, we help UK teachers secure jobs in international schools around the world.
Visit www.teachingabroaddirect.co.uk to learn more about teaching opportunities overseas.
Teaching Abroad Direct regularly speaks with British teachers currently working overseas.
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