Winter 2007

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Prep Time ... for Retirement

Questions and Answers

Carol Baird-Krul and Enise Olding

Question
Since my retirement from teaching, I’ve moved to an area of the province in which I’ve always wanted to live. The time spent moving was busy and enjoyable, and I love it here, but now that I’m settled, I find myself at a loss as to what to do next. Although I decided on this move, I now feel a bit like a fish out of water. Do you have any ideas for how I can get my life into gear again?

Answer
There are a few things you can do to become part of your new community, and a good way to start is to seek out a newcomers club or a similar group that consists of people who are new to the area. Not only will you be amongst others who hail from different locals and walks of life, but you will enjoy the shared experience of getting to know the local area.

You mention that you’ve always liked the area you moved to, so we can assume that you are somewhat familiar with it. However, there are always hidden gems and things to discover, and going to the Tourism Information Centre or Chamber of Commerce/Trade will reveal events and organizations that you may not know about. Some of these might tweak your interest and get you going in new directions.

You might also want to seek out the local retired teachers organization which will provide an opportunity to meet new people with a professional background similar to your own.

And if you miss the teaching life and want to get back into it, you might want to explore volunteer tutoring or elder college instruction. If these don’t exist in your new community, perhaps you can be the one to get something going—it sounds like you have good organizational skills. Check with the local post secondary educational institution too, for community lecture series and other events.

No doubt there are many service and other clubs in your new community, but one that might appeal is Probus (www.probus.org/canada.htm). Members of Probus are retired professionals and business people, and engage in social as well as educational and life enhancing activities such as hiking, reading and singing groups, and computer and discussion groups.

As you explore your new home town with all it has to offer, remember also all the things you have to offer in return, and how much sharing your skills and energy will benefit others and yourself. No doubt your love of teaching and learning will emerge to ensure that you have a full, interesting and exciting life in the years ahead.

Question
What are the most problematic aspects of teaching overseas? I hear wonderful stories of teaching in other countries and see others’ photos, and it all sounds exciting. There have to be some negatives—what are they? I’m thinking I might like to teach overseas and I want the whole picture!

Answer
Whenever a person moves out of their experiential sphere there are difficulties, and teaching overseas is no different. Having taught overseas in three quite diverse countries, and having acted as a consultant to other teachers planning to work abroad, I agree that it is not always wonderful. The negatives are dependent on the actual living and working situation as well as the individual involved; however, there are some potential difficulties for all those considering teaching overseas.

Aside from the obvious problems of different food and language, housing is often problematic because what is considered adequate or luxurious in the host country can be considerably less than acceptable to the participant. A possible solution, unless you are housed on campus, is to negotiate an alternative choice of residence, where you will pay the difference between the cost of the housing provided by the school or company and the cost of an apartment that you find acceptable. If you are housed on campus, I suggest that you take ownership of the space provided and make your private area as comfortable as you can and very much your own.

Although comfortable housing is important, the biggest employment challenge facing an offshore educator, regardless of the type of school, is the teacher’s ability to be flexible in the face of cultural and educational differences that may not always make sense to a Canadian trained and experienced teacher. Constant comparisons can cause discontent and bad feelings for you and your new colleagues that no one needs.

Another potential problem is the lack of teaching resources or curriculum, something that does not necessarily present itself until you are in place. So again, being flexible is a necessary attribute, as is problem solving and thinking on your feet.

Finally, in some overseas teaching situations, you may not have many, if any, colleagues who speak English well, so loneliness may be an issue that you will have to contend with. If you become ill you may have to deal with a difficult situation with minimal support. To remedy this, I suggest that you take every opportunity to meet people—locals and ex-pats—in order to create an on-the-ground network.

When all is said and done, what needs to be stressed is that a positive or negative outcome of any overseas teaching experience is really dependent on the individual and his/her situation. From my own experiences and those of others I am familiar with, I can say that if you maintain an open heart and mind, you’ll find that even the most serious of challenges while teaching overseas can have positive aspects and benefits.

Carol and Enise are the creators of a series of pre-retirement and post-retirement planning workshops: Transition to Retirement: The Uncharted Course©, Recently Retired: Charting a New Course© and Ideas ... Enhanced and Advanced©, and authors of Transition to Retirement: The Uncharted Course (see: www.PacificEdgePublishing.com). Previous articles on retirement may be viewed in back issues at www.CanadianTeacherMagazine.com.