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Teaching placement abroad with children

Hi everyone. I'm currently doing a 4 year international degree with teaching and as part of my 3rd year I'm required to teach abroad for a semester. In order to gain the honours portion of the degree I have to do this. The issue I have is that I have my husband and daughter to worry about and travelling abroad for that long is very difficult. My only current option is a 3 hour each way journey every day and that will be very costly/tiresome. I was wondering if anyone had done similar or had any ideas at all. Thanks.

Reply 1

Schadenfreude65

Forget about the 3 hour each way on a daily basis. That's not realistic, and you wouldn't get home in time to see your daughter before bedtime anyway. Travelling home every weekend might be manageable, if you can afford it. How old is your daughter?

Reply 2

CrazyKittenLady

have you had a look at part time courses you can go in a couple of days a week and complete over a longer time period means you can spend more time with your daughter. but still be able to get the degree you want. Yes it will take longer but means you won't be as stressed or miss out on precious time with your child. what course are you taking? can you work independently at home at all or will you have to be in every day?

Reply 3

Alpyra

She's 3 years old currently and a pretty difficult child. We have no family or friends here either so extra care isn't a possibility. Unfortunately it's the actual full time teaching practice that I need to be abroad for so it's more finding a suitable location. I think travelling back on weekends may work depending on workload but I'll need to discuss that with the placement coordinator.

Reply 4

username3105252

Have a chat with the coordinator.
Is there a chance you could all go? There could be scholarships available with bursaries.
If you need to teach, you'll be teaching English if that is your first language so if you can get a placement in a private school there is a chance you could get your child in their nursery.
It's not really an option to go without the child as you'll be miserable. I can tell you that you're not the first to do this. It can be done! My uni are being pretty positive about my year abroad with my two children.... make some detailed enquiries. Good luck!

Reply 5

DrSocSciences

One semester is a finite period, so difficult or inconvenient arrangements should be tolerable in the knowledge that it's not long-term, and essential to your qualification. I'd go solo, but with fixed plans to alternate travel at w/e: one weekend you travel, the following one they travel. (Or at a 2:1 ratio, with you travelling more frequently than your husband and daughter). Make it an adventure for your daughter, or she'll pick up your cues about it being emotionally challenging.

I have had to say no to so many unbelievable opportunities during my children's early years (that dads with supportive partners would've taken up in a heartbeat), that I've become evangelical about women doing whatever is necessary to access fully those opportunities that will define their future careers.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 6

Schadenfreude65

If your partner could take a sabbatical from work for one semester so that you could all go, that would probably involve less stress for everyone (especially if your child has challenging behaviour). She will be young enough that taking her out of school for that period shouldn't do much harm, though I guess that depends on her level of need.

Sharing out the weekend travel as DrSocSciences suggests sounds like a pretty workable option too.

Reply 7

Alpyra

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm going to discuss it further with the coordinator to get a full idea of which placements are up for offer and then go from there. Alternate weekends sounds like the best plan as this is really not an opportunity that I want to pass up. Thanks again