Teacher Exchange

How do You Even Start Preparing for a Year-long International Teaching Exchange

Swapping jobs and homes is more involved than you might think. Factor in not knowing the exchange partner, and there are a million concerns and questions with not so many answers yet. Here are some:

Many questions

Transportation there: Buy? Lease? Public transport? Insurance rates? Driving on the other side of the road!

Pets here: Anyone want to house-sit a dog and nine fish?

Personal items left: Pack away? In the house? Elsewhere?

Starting package for partner: Parkas and Boots? Food? Toiletries?

Winterizing and regular house maintenance?

Packing: What to take?

Banking: Local accounts? Exchange rates?

Budget: Cost of Living? Unknown expenses?

Family: School for son? Social life for wife?

Work: Grade level? Curriculum? Philosophies? Requirements for assessment and reporting?

Travel: Getting there and Back? Overlap with partner here or there? Vacations while there?

Utilities: Transfer names? Fees for changing responsible party?

Electric: Protecting and powering our devices?

Application in the Mail

A dozen pages of personal and professional profiles, community and job descriptions, home layout and photos, references, and a statement of medical fitness carefully sealed in a large brown envelope hit the bottom of the mail bin today destined for the teacher exchange program coordinator. Now the wait.

Months of talking, planning, researching, questioning, and budgeting lead to seeking out an as-yet unknown colleague from Australia with whom to swap lives for a year.

Hopefully. There are no guarantees.

The Canadian Education Exchange Foundation (CEEF), successfully places about 65% of their applicants. Tempering enthusiasm with cautious realism is a challenge.

While official handbooks and guides help applicants with processes and understanding the implications of an exchange, reading firsthand accounts reveals the intensity, scope, and less obvious aspects of the undertaking . Teacherexchange.ca chronicles the thoughts and processes, from beginning to end, of a teacher and his family pursuing an international teacher exchange.