The fourth in our series looking at the different trends, developments and insights from international schools, we head to Switzerland to hear from Liz Free, CEO and director at International School Rheintal, about how the region has seen a strong push for teachers to head to Europe - especially from the UK and South East Asia.
She also explains why appealing to a wider mix of potential recruits has become an important part of its recruitment strategy and why she believes international teaching is becoming a longer-term career route than it was several years ago.
How did your recruitment for this academic year go?
This last year saw a strong recruitment round for us in Switzerland.
Global factors seem to have created quite a dynamic market, where Europe has become increasingly desirable for both those new to the international market and also those established in international education.
We saw many applicants, who had stayed in their roles the previous year, start to have the confidence to make a move this school year.
This meant that we saw 100-plus applications for each teaching role and over 50 applications for each of our newly formed head of primary and head of senior school roles.
Interestingly, for the head of school roles, the distribution of countries from which applicants applied differed by education phase.
In primary, we observed a bias towards applicants based in the UK, forming 24 per cent of all applicants, which is unusual. This may be a product of increased dissatisfaction with the UK primary education environment.
The next largest areas included Thailand (12 per cent) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (15 per cent). The latter applicants were predominantly American and British passport holders looking to come to Europe following the challenging lockdown situations in Asia and the Middle East.
The head of senior school applicants, though, were more from those currently in Europe (18 per cent) and the UK (13 per cent). We received around 16 per cent from Asia and 6 per cent from the UAE.
This is an interesting profile compared to primary and suggests that there is more of a global movement within the primary sector at this time.
As a global lead for @WomenEd, I am acutely aware of the leadership gender gap across the global education market. In our applicants, we observed 65 per cent of applicants identifying as female for the primary head role and 42 per cent for the senior school head position.
Based on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) global data, almost 70 per cent of the teaching profession is female (in OECD countries). In this recruitment round, we averaged 54 per cent of female applicants for head of school roles, so there is still a way to go!
Have you adapted your recruitment strategies over the last few years?
We actively encourage applicants from underrepresented groups and state this in our job adverts and information pages.
Sending an inclusive message is increasingly important and, of course, one of the ways that we can live our mission as an international, ethical and diverse global community.
We want, and value, diversity in our staff in every possible way.
We also know that the financial situation in many countries has led schools to relook at their packages.
We are pleased to continue to offer full school fee payment for children of employed staff and see this as a way to invite families to our community and value the contribution parents as staff can make to a school community.
International working is international living, and we look at all aspects that can affect a potential employee so they can thrive at our school. It is much more than just a job!
We have also considered the power of social media and actively use our school and staff networks on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
Have local hires increased - either for teaching or non-teaching roles?
We still have a bias towards international hiring for teaching roles and local hiring for support roles. As we are in a comparatively rural part of Switzerland, the recruitment market is quite static.
However, we actively advertise on global platforms as well as local platforms and through the local Cantonal authority for all roles.
What has staff retention been like this year?
We saw stability in the first year of Covid and then, last year, we had a turnover of around 8 per cent.
This is well below norms for international schools and is partly reflective of the stable environment in Switzerland; a country that is often referred to as the “Golden Handcuffs” as when you come, you never leave!
Have you seen any changes or new trends in retention?
Our staff are aspirational and actively keen to engage in professional learning to develop their practice and maintain their employability.
Staff concerns about moving “home” and being able to transition into a domestic system are less than I would have observed when I joined international education in 2006.
The vast majority of the teachers in our school see a lifetime career in international education.
How does wellbeing play into retention efforts?
Offering an environment where you can thrive in your life is the key driver that we highlight in our recruitment.
We don’t see wellbeing as an add-on but as entwined in every aspect of working in our school.
We identify as a community international school and really highlight this feature and what it means for living well every day at ISR.
Liz Free was talking to Dan Worth
