Canadian Teacher in UK?

I was just wondering if there are any Canadian teachers out there who are struggling to teach in the UK system...

Could really use someone who knows where i'm coming from to share ideas with...

and welcome to the UK. I've been here since Aug 2001 and began my teaching career in England in a comprehensive. I moved to Scotland and taught in a behaviour unit, a mainstream primary, a special school and now I'm working in an independent special school for children with autism.

Teaching here can be very overwhelming; if you'd like to share ideas, that'd be great.

I'd really like to share ideas. I would send you my email address but I'm new to this site, and i'm not sure how to send private messages...

I worked for my local LEA and now starting a new job in Cheshire.

The first door i knocked on was Reeds agency

click on PM for private messages. The rest under my name is for instant messenging.

wow, i definitely didn't expect to find this a topic on here! i'm here doing my pgce (equiv to teachers college in canada) for primary school, and have definitely found it difficult during my teaching placements. the school that i am currently at is ok, but maybe i only think that because my first was such a disaster! it was a nursery class, and during my first week a child hit me in the face, and it just went downhill from there! are children better behaved in canada or am i just inexperienced? i'm trying to find a job to teach here next year, but sometimes i wonder if that's the best plan. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hello Nikki,

I just curious to know why you're doing your training over here rather than in Canada? Most of us come over after having finished our training, so your way is a bit novel.

The education system is more different than I had expected and there have been times when I have appeared completely "out to lunch" to my colleagues. They forget that many of the things they do naturally are more to do with "culture" than "natural" - but it takes someone outside the culture to notice this.

There are other options for work than London. You may want to check out Scotland.

hi brenda,
i guess that it is a bit strange to do my training here, but there are actually quite a few canadians who do train overseas. i found out about it through a program in canada called teach. so i applied to a couple of different places in canada and here, and my favourite option was here. they do also have really well respected training programs that are easily transferable to other countries.
i do wonder about a lot of the differences here. i was in shock about a few things during my first week here. the learning of joined up writing from the start (and the format of their writing), jolly phonic alphabet (which i still mess up on), school dinners, and changing in the classroom all together before p.e. it's still really different, but i am enjoying it. and i think after training here i do want to teach here. i know some people who have trained here or in australia and then had trouble finding jobs in canada, and i imagine that adjusting to new curriculum in your first year teaching would be really tough too!
so what year do you teach? and do you teach in scotland? there are definitely many other parts of britain that i should check out and look into. but for a little while at least, i'm going to stay in london.
thanks!
niki

I'm in my fourth year of teaching and have taught every year apart from 10, 11, 1 and nursery. I have worked in mainstream and special school settings. Right now, I teach teenagers with special needs in an independent school.

I know that quite a few Canadians do their training in Scotland, but many of them opt to go back after they have finished. I would have done my training here, but it would have cost twice as much so I did my training in BC.

And you're right, adjusting to a new curriculum makes life a "bit" more difficult, I'm learning my third one since finishing my training.

wow, you definitely sound like a super teacher! i might be coming to you for advice in a couple of weeks when i'm in my placement full time