One great benefit of international teaching is the chance to teach different curricula - the IB curriculum, US Common Core and the British curriculum.

This can be a great opportunity to broaden skillsets, become more-rounded educators and try out new teaching styles.

However, it can be daunting too - after all, how can you apply for a job where knowledge of a whole other curriculum is required, or teach something new with no past experience?

Well, there are ways to get around these hurdles: here are six useful practical tips I’ve picked up during my time switching curriculum to help make the process that bit easier.

1. Familiarise yourself with accreditation bodies

Currently, most international schools are accredited by NEASC if they provide the US curriculum, while British schools are accredited by British Schools Overseas. IB schools also have a similar process.

Compare and contrast how they operate and be aware of their similarities and differences to understand how their curricula are managed and overseen.

This can help you realise many of the skills required are transferrable and demonstrating you have done this in an interview or application shows the right mindset schools want of adaptable, flexible teachers.

2. Get to know the local inspection bureau 

Another good tip is to familiarise yourself with the regulatory bodies that hold the school accountable for high-quality service.

In the UAE, for example, they have local inspections conducted by KHDA or ADEK (depending on which emirate you decide to teach in) and every school is inspected by the same body, regardless of which curriculum they provide.

So if you switch from a British curriculum school in Dubai to an IB school, the local inspection will still be the same.

If you are interviewed for a role where another curriculum is taught, then it’s worth highlighting your previous experience with local inspections to demonstrate how you already have adequate knowledge and training on the internal assessments.

3. Gain experience outside the classroom environment

Of course, you will ideally still want to gain experience of a new curriculum before applying for a new job.

One good route to do this is private tutoring. Many families value international teachers and so there is usually a high demand for teachers in language centres or after school clubs.

As such, if your current employer allows you to work independently after school hours or during vacation time, then this could be an effective way to get experience of a new curriculum or syllabus with less pressure.

It means you can go at your own pace and slowly immerse into the new curriculum at ease and gain hands-on experience in an informal setting.

4. Become an examiner

Internationally, many assessment bodies - such as Cambridge, Pearson and IELTS - are on the lookout for the best talent to mark examinations as an assistant examiner.

Many of these jobs are virtual and require an online commitment only.

It means you can work flexibly while gaining extra training within new curriculua that you wish to teach - and it also contributes to your CPD.  

5. Download past exam papers

Looking at past papers to understand the sort of questions they are asked is a great way to understand what a curriculum expects of students at key moments.

Usually in the US curriculum internal assessments will be an indicator for which university the students will be accepted to or which work path they will take after graduation.

The SAT exams are also common for students to take at schools and looking at past papers can provide useful training during a curriculum switch.

The most useful website is: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/full-length-practice-tests.  

In British schools, students will do GCSE and A level and they will choose between the most common exam boards, Cambridge and Edexcel. Both of the exam boards’ websites provide resources, training and live CPD sessions.

6. Talk to other teachers for help

There is a huge network of international teachers who regularly move jobs that can offer advice too - you may know some already. For example, I managed to speak to these teachers who gave the following advice

Robyn from South Africa moved to the UAE and landed a job in an US curriculum school.

She emphasised how she did many little things such as browsing on Pinterest for resources and ideas and then she used a Common Core comparison chart that had all the core standards from grade 1 -5 for Maths.

She read through it to understand how the students can progress through each standard and compared it to how she measured progress in the South African curriculum. 

Leela from the US moved from Kuwait to the UAE and switched from the US common core to the IB curriculum. She was confident in making the jump because she had secured two years teaching the US Common Core in Kuwait.

Her new school in Dubai was confident she could apply her skills learnt from Kuwait to be a successful IB teacher.

She started the new role and immersed into it easily through informal measures, such as learning from other homeroom teachers and other subject areas. This meant she could easily pick up new strategies and ideas which she could apply in cross-disciplinary lessons.

Lorraine from the UK moved to Kuwait and already had experience teaching GCSE level in the UK.

When she went to Kuwait, she had to teach IGCSE and BTEC. She said the best way to develop her confidence in delivering IGCSE was to use the Cambridge website and download the relevant syllabus and past papers.

Orla Carlin is an English teacher working in the UAE. She has taught internationally for seven years