Safety Checks: How to Research the Locale of your International Teaching Opportunity — Black Edition (4/9)

So what comes first, checking the school or checking the locale? Why not both? Ensuring your safety and securing knowledge for appropriate preparation and expectations is a crucial part of going international.

Before we begin, if you are looking for a community of teachers in preparation for an international role, or are interested in connecting with those who are, please join our LinkedIn community to support teachers investigating their next opportunity: BAME International Teachers Support Network (Free Resources).

Teaching internationally in a country you have not previously lived and where your status as a BAME person may have different implications is a challenge. There are elements of safety and comfort specific to your existence that are crucial for you to ensure are present, or even absent.

In this article we will explore some preparatory steps to ensure you have picked a suitable location to move to and that you can be confident in your ability to live safely and comfortably.

As the longest article in this series, for ease of navigation, here is a breakdown of the sections, each has a TLDR at the end which summarises the key points:

1. Speak to your school and their teachers — But be critical!

2. Find out what a typical life is like and what is available — Diet, Hair and Skincare, and Medication

3. Good Research — Where to find information

4. Orange flags — Commonly missed factors for your consideration

5. Safety as an interracial couple or family

6. With all these concerns, why would I go?

7. In sum; Community is King

1. Speak to your school and their teachers — But be critical!

This is your first port of call. As discussed in the previous article, during the interview process it is critical to ask questions concerning the quality of life both at the school and in the country generally. These discussions will allow you to gauge the school’s response to your questions as an assessment of the school and its representatives while also providing you with key information to protect and prepare yourself.

Be careful though, job fairs and interviews are typically experienced through rose-tinted glasses both for yourself and the person representing the school. It is near unavoidable that school representatives will present the experience in a positive light or understate the severity of the potential issues you may face. You may also, subconsciously, be wanting to hear positives and you will be liable to take it in.

Bring a critical eye and ear to your meetings with school representatives and during interviews.

To ensure that you are not swept by the excitement and desire to make it work, make sure you write down key questions and note down the responses while asking for them to elaborate further. It is not unlikely to be told that the experience within the country is challenging (often with a solemn head tilt) but fine, or that the other BAME member of staff the school may have has never complained.

This is not enough.

The fact of the matter is that the person you are speaking to is not you, and with over 90% of international school leaders being white men or women, it is unlikely the person you are speaking with has experienced many of the challenges that your questions refer to.

A good representative may be able to refer to the experiences of others but a school that is interested in taking you on should be comfortable putting you in contact with members of staff at the school. If possible, it is beneficial to speak with other BAME teachers currently at the school.

Whether the school’s representative or a BAME member of staff, they may be willing to have a less formal conversation where they can speak more openly. In my personal experience, I have had school representatives agree to a quick coffee or follow up chat outside of the fair somewhere in the venue. In these scenarios, they have always spoken more earnestly.

Similarly, a private email/WhatApp/WeChat exchange with existing members of staff can be eye-opening. It is amazing what removing the veneer of formal ‘work hours’ representation can do.

Now, although they are excellent sources of information, these conversations cannot be taken at face value. Each person’s boundaries regarding what they consider to be discrimination or uncomfortable are different. When researching ask the person you are speaking with for specific examples.

Every person and their experiences are different so it is important to recognise that you might be speaking to the most extroverted and social person who ignores certain expressions of racism (i.e people who respond positively to being photographed and filmed in public due to their race or appearance in countries such as China).

Understanding the events that they were experiencing, not simply their reaction to them, is crucial to making a decision for yourself regarding if you are comfortable putting yourself at risk of similar events taking place.

If you can, have one of these conversations whether via email, video chat, or preferably in person. Ask them key questions concerning their overall feeling of safety and how they are interpreted by the local community.

For example, is it a country where people see no boundary in touching your hair out of ‘curiosity’, will you be assumed to be a drug dealer, basketball player, refugee, or something else in your attempts to live your life? Ask specifically for experiences they have had whether at work or in day-to-day life where they consistently feel unwelcome, uncomfortable or in any way unsafe.

Remember that these questions are useful even when you are moving to a country that you are familiar with, share a language with, or have ancestry there. When I travel to Jamaica, as a man with two Jamaican parents, I am a foreigner or assumed to be a tourist. The assumption that you will be treated preferentially in a location can set you up for a rude awakening and it is important to ask questions before you leave.

TLDR: Prepare specific questions concerning safety, racism, and day-to-day challenges for your meetings with your target school. Whether at the job fair, in a formal interview, or in a less formal interaction. Hearing from multiple people is crucial and one person’s response to a situation may be completely different to yours, so always establish specifics rather than accept vague descriptions. Ask these questions irrespective of where you are going or preconceptions you may have about the experience you will have.

2. Find out what a typical life is like and what is available — Diet, Hair and Skincare, and Medication

We each have our specific needs and wants in our day-to-day lives. This may range from what we eat, to how we want to style ourselves, to how we take care of our health. These specific considerations need to be planned for in detail prior to accepting an international role.

- Diet

We often associate travel with food but there is a sincere difference between a holiday diet and everyday food. Although you may want to take a box of cornflakes with you, there are larger implications for this.

For example, in Central and Eastern Asia, it can be quite challenging to find vegetarian cuisine when you are outside of the major international cities. Though there are many vegetable-based dishes, they can often be prepared in meat broths, animal fat, and other ingredients which may invalidate the vegetarian status. This subtle detail has led to many people being frustrated and limited in their experience.

Concepts such as halaal, vegan, kosher, etc may be completely absent from the cuisine where you are. Even in Chongqing, one of the largest cities in the world, outside of the city centre or generally in smaller, non-chain restaurants, you may struggle to find a good selection of dietary options. But, with a little research, Muslim and vegetarian communities and restaurants do exist in plentiful amounts.

As a fallback, there are also international food stores in most major cities where sourcing popular American and western European food products should not be too difficult though it will come at a premium.

- Hair and skincare

Hair and skincare is another important consideration. Where you currently reside, the diaspora has likely given birth to amenities such as the Afro-Caribbean store near you. This diaspora and associated amenities simply may not exist in your target country. If you have braids or skin that does not react as well to water-based creams and soaps, you need to consider this.

Finding out if you will be able to find someone to regularly look after your hair, whether someone to braid, an appropriately skilled barber or source the products you need can dramatically change how you live your life.

An additional consideration is that in many parts of Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and also several countries across Africa, it is not uncommon for moisturisers from higher-end pharmacies and stores to contain skin-whitening ingredients without being explicitly detailed on the label.

- Medication

What about that cream that you use for your eczema or psoriasis? Is it available in the country or what is the version that they prescribe there? Medications that you currently take may not be available or may be in a completely different form in your target country due to different medical laws.

It is crucial to speak with a medical professional prior to moving to ensure you can take a suitable supply of your medications to accommodate for any time taken to secure a new source. A new source that you should be confident of prior to making the move.

These areas of day-to-day life introduce a new element of planning and consideration for your time in that country which is worth knowing before you get there.

By speaking with your suppliers in your current locale, you can find out from them where their products are available and distributed or put you in touch with suppliers. Healthcare professionals should also be able to advise of basic differences in availability or at least point you in the direction of who to contact.

Generally, speaking with a medical professional in the country you are considering may be the best course of action. Whatever you do, ensure you do it before you make your final decision.

TLDR: Food, hair and skin care, and your health are critical considerations before you leave. Ensuring that you can secure the items and treatments that you need on a regular basis must be done before you even book your flights. These seemingly mundane and everyday things are easily neglected in the whirlwind of planning an international move but for members of the BAME community, it can be even more critical.

3. Good Research — Where to find information

There are several avenues you can take to make all the research above easier. The first port of call will be your own networks. It is likely that someone in your school knows someone who has worked internationally and might know someone in… You get the idea.

Alternatively, you can search for FaceBook groups, WhatsApp groups, LinkedIn groups (such as BAME International Teachers Support Network (Free Resources)), Discords and subReddits for different groups of people within the country or city you are thinking of moving to. This research will be a great starting point for the realities of day-to-day life while also discovering whether there are already people similar to yourself living in the place you are going.

Through these groups, you can read posts and connect with people to learn what their experiences and strategies are. Even if you are unable to find a specific group, a quick post to a more generic ‘Foreigners in XYZ’ group or generic www.expatXYZ.com type site can get things started. If you are desperate, even searching for teachers working at schools in the country on LinkedIn can be a starting point. Speaking with the people who are living where you want to go is one of the best ways to learn about it.

TLDR: Popular social media sites and blogging sites are a treasure trove of resources and networking to contact people who may already be living where you want to go. The best information will be direct from these people and learning from them how they manage their lives there. You don’t need to plan everything out, but check what the day-to-day realities are, what they miss, what they struggle to get, and what you need to plan for.

4. Orange flags — Commonly missed factors for your consideration

Any diversity in a location is almost always a good start, but there may be negative tensions between the communities there. Watch out for places with high diversity but high levels of segregation (i.e areas of the US such as LA and New York, southern African countries, cities such as Dubai, and certain cities in Asia such as Shanghai) where people X live here, people Y live here, and intermingling is not common.

Though communities having associated areas is typical through the formation of diasporas, central places of worship, and influences such as redlining, locals will be able to tell you how ‘open’ these different areas are when asked targeted questions.

You may need to consider where is ‘safe’ in that locale for you and if you will be content with that. My wife and I turned down a job in Venezuela upon learning about distinct segregation in the city. Upon questioning, the representatives advised me of major no-go areas, self-imposed curfews, and distinct colourism which informed the migrant teacher’s strategies to stay safe.

I was glad that I took the time to question this as it became apparent that black or darker-skinned people can face additional discrimination in more affluent areas whilst fairer-skinned people are more likely to be targets of crime. Thus, with me and my wife each being vulnerable to one side of that coin and potentially more so as an interracial couple, it was a red line for us.

Local attitudes towards colourism are a key consideration. Areas of the world that favour fair skin (though a global phenomenon, there are particularly noteworthy expressions in Asia and the Middle-East) may reflect this in their communities and how welcoming they are. Though my Chinese colleagues were friendly and lovely people, I will never forget speaking about my wife and being told by a colleague that they could not imagine marrying a black person because they think their skin is so ugly…

… Mind-blowing and unacceptable but ultimately a clear reflection of the cultural values. The fact that what was said was not seen in any way to be wrong or inappropriate was an important lesson to learn.

Similarly, visiting Dubai and recognising that the Mall of Dubai is where the Middle Eastern Arabs and Northern Africans (fairer skinned i.e Sudan, Egypt, etc) are expected whilst the Mall of the Emirates is where darker-skinned Africans are expected was an important lesson. It cannot be understated how much more welcome I was with my wife in one of those malls; I will let you speculate which one.

TLDR: Not everything is a redline issue that will make or break your decision. Often, there are nuances that we simply need to prepare for and decide whether or not we are happy living in that way for a number of years or more. Considering the existing diversity in the location you are travelling to and the realities of discrimination is crucial to carve out a happy existence.

5. Safety as an interracial couple or family

If you are travelling as a couple, and you are an interracial couple, it is worth considering if interracial mixing is common in the area you are travelling to.

For much of my travelling in South Asia, Northern Germany and non-cosmopolitan areas of Europe, I would find that when my wife and I were together, holding hands or visibly in a relationship, people would stare, take photos (specifically in Asia), be shocked or even laugh. In Dubai, Morocco, Singapore, and across Asia, literal groups of people have been shocked by the relationship between me, a brown-skinned Jamaican, and my wife a fair/olive-skinned Armenian/Syrian.

Now, although these scenarios are abhorrent, there are also many doors that our relationship opened as our heightened visibility actually made socialising easier in many senses while quickly attracting more cosmopolitan-minded people to us. In rare instances, it even provided higher status such as in some high-end restaurants and locations in South Asia, the managers offered us discounts in exchange for taking photos of us at their venue for advertising.

This is definitely not a make-or-break scenario, but something to be aware of as it can have day-to-day implications on eating at restaurants and general treatment in public.

Depending on the races involved in your relationship and where you find yourself in the world, you may come across people who are offended by your union and commonly find one of you asked the question ‘but why are you with them?’. Unfortunately, this is generally with the consideration that the fairer-skinned should not be with the darker-skinned. This can be quite grating and can genuinely impact your ability to socialise comfortably.

TLDR: Your relationship may alter how you are perceived in another country. When considering our partners and our families, strong emotions can be evoked, and this can be an important source of stress as we seek for ourselves and our families to be treated with respect. Being aware of how the local communities will engage with you and your significant others will help you to prepare for the worst while being open to experiencing the best.

6. With all these concerns, why would I go?

When you are researching the concepts described above, you are confirming that the experiences people describe to you are acceptable and you feel that you can accept or adapt to them.

As you learn about these challenges and considerations, it can quickly seem overwhelming, especially when all listed. Don’t let this intimidate you, ultimately, as a BAME teacher, you have already endured challenging and frequently unsafe or unstable conditions but are unlikely to ever list and consider all of them together.

In undertaking this international move, you are not taking on more challenges, they are simply different or in a different context. When entering a new location, it is important to take stock of what you are entering into in realistic and comprehensive terms to ensure that you are travelling safely and setting yourself up for sustainable success.

You are able to take this on, it is no more than anything that you have successfully overcome to reach this point in your life, it is simply a different version and your preparation will make the transition smooth.

Challenging cultural expectations are not a reason to avoid a country completely, but something to consider in what you deem to be an acceptable quality of life. Your move is by no means a permanent one and experiencing something new and then leaving is as valid an experience as anything else. 2 years or 20, prepare to have experiences that you enjoy and can sustainably engage with from a self-care perspective.

I loved my experience in China, but I knew that I could not endure it for more than 2 years. The school was wonderful, but day-to-day life was a challenge with constant pointing, staring, people pulling their children away from me or treating me like a zoo attraction. People regularly questioning my partner or judging her based on her relationship with me.

I quickly recognised that if anything ‘bad’ was to happen, a road accident or a dispute or altercation, I would certainly be assumed to be guilty to an extent that could put my life and freedom at risk as I saw happen to my acquaintance Wendell Brown during his ‘extended’ time in China. It was scary at times, but I also made lifelong friends, learnt a new language to a conversational level (bucket list tick), and grew as a person in ways that are invaluable, positive, and more than worth it.

My favourite analogy is that it was like living in a beautiful large home that you have always wanted. But, every hour an ice-cold drop of water will drip down the back of your neck, wetting your clothes and sending a shiver down your spine. It doesn’t seem too bad; at first, you dread it, but then you get used to it. But it is draining and distracting. It makes you spend more time considering how you will dress, and how you interact with people. It makes you more irritable at times, disturbs your sleep, and makes you more nervous to go out at times. Then, when you are already having a bad day it can be the tipping point. But, with appropriate preparation before moving in, you can overcome the challenge and navigate it appropriately.

There are ways to address it and prepare for it and that is far easier if you are aware of it. You do not need to master or ‘conquer’ these challenges and having an exit strategy is also very important.

TLDR: Life has its challenges wherever you are and there are many challenges you navigate on a daily basis in your current life. Though learning about the myriad of potential challenges in a new country can seem overwhelming, it is no more than what you have now, it is simply less familiar. Consider what you think you can handle as a ‘culture shock’ and prepare for it positively, understanding that you can adapt and become familiar with a new way of living while navigating it more and more successfully. In addition, always be aware of your limits and plan an exit strategy.

7. In sum, Community is King

Having access to a sympathetic and supportive community, planning for your needs, measuring your expectations, and ensuring that you have the mental resilience for the challenges you have researched can really change your experience.

I encourage people to be well informed to have the best experience they can in the country they choose and to ensure that they choose somewhere they are confident that they can be comfortable.

Key Points:

• To be confident of your ability to exist and live within your own cultural expectations, research the lives and experiences of other similar people currently living in the area.
• Remember to consider even seemingly basic elements of your life such as your diet, skincare, haircare, and other mundanities that you may take for granted at home.
• Do your best to find someone, whether through your school or through personal research and your own networks, who you can speak with and have an extended conversation with.
• Support from an existing community or building your own is a crucial safety net for both your mental health and general well-being, especially in the first year abroad when you will have many questions and uncertainties.
• Make a list of your specific needs and research them prior to travelling. Where this cannot be done remotely, be aware of your ‘time-limit’ once you get in the country before you will need more of something so that you can plan how you will get it

Best of luck to you in your search!

Have you found a school that you are excited to apply to? How and why did you select it? Do you have any concerns about the process or any potential barriers? Feel free to share your stories with me here or via Twitter @dsinclair17

Check out the articles below to find out more about how to get the best from your international teaching experience!

· Abstract

1. Introduction: My Perspective on Teaching Internationally — Black Edition

2. Introduction: Why You Should Teach Internationally — Black Edition

3. How to Secure an International Teaching Job — Black Edition

4. Safety Checks: How to Research the Locale of your International Teaching Opportunity — Black Edition

5. Three Reasons Why International Teachers Quit and How to Buck the Trend — Black Edition

6. Navigating the Expat Community as an International Teacher — Black Edition

7. How I Used Dating Apps to Find Companionship as an International Teacher — Black Edition

8. For the Money or for the Experience? The Moral Dilemma of International Teaching — Black Edition

9. International Teaching; It’s Okay to Say No — Black Edition