So many schools call themselves “international” – it’s hard to know which ones are reputable. Here is how we identify a good international school.

Why should we encourage bilingualism in the English-language classroom? When emergent bilingual students use their mother tongues meaningfully in classroom activity, they continue to value their home languages and cultures.

No matter if you are teaching in Timbuktu or Chicago, you will have to deal with students that are attentive, disruptive, well behaved, and some that might be better described as a bunch of monkeys. Is there a clear cut solution across the board that will work for every student? No! The solution that is available for all teachers everywhere is their ability to innovate and think creatively to help everyone learn.

According to recent statistics, the number of expats in China is now over 240,000 and counting. HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey ranked China in the top 3 destinations for expats, based on quality of living standards. Moving to China might seem daunting at first, with factors such as pollution, language barrier and culture shock to take into account. However, it’s clear that China remains an attractive destination to live and work, with many teachers moving there to take up international teaching jobs.

Iraq is a sometimes overlooked teaching destination which has seen more than its fair share of conflict for many years. This didn’t deter international teacher Chris Jamison, who decided to make Kurdistan his home. What is it like, and is it safe for expats? We asked Chris a few questions about his experience so far.

We strongly believe that ‘internationalising teaching’ isn’t about just working with privileged private international schools. Our vision has always been to work with a range of institutions that benefit from overseas teachers where teachers can learn and develop professionally in an international context. These organisations might be charity projects, local schools, social enterprises too – places where teachers can learn new transferable skills.

We support organisations like this in two ways. First, we offer free advertising on our website. Secondly we have committed to giving 10% of our profits to education charities in Cambodia – where our Asia office is based.

When looking for a new overseas teaching destination, many teachers dream of year-round sun, balmy tropical evenings, and free time spent relaxing at the nearest beach or pool. Not so for international teacher Chris Dwyer, who decided to move to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, where temperatures plummet to an unforgiving -30°C in winter. Teacher Horizons blog editor Sammy asked Chris a few questions about his experience so far.

To go home for Christmas or not to go home for Christmas? If you’ve been teaching abroad this year, you have inevitably had to make the decision. It might have been an easy decision, or you might have had to literally draw a table of pros and cons.

Since you’ve undoubtedly made the decision already, I’m going to take a light-hearted look at both options and reassure you that whichever option you chose, you’re probably right.

Probably not the first country that springs to mind when you decide to leave the safety and comfort of home for an adventure! At the time I joined Teacher Horizons the news was awash with footage of Iraq under attack as the ISIS fighters moved from city to city.

Erbil, the city I now call home, was being surrounded and it looked like it was going to be the next victory for the fighters, just as I was preparing to move there.

It can be easy to forget that teaching and learning form part of an ongoing conversation, and not a monologue directed at students!

Whether we know our subject so well we forget to pause for feedback, or we’re so scared we won’t know the answer to a rogue question that we just ‘plough through’ and hope for the best – we can all make room to involve students more with these handy tips that have served me well so far.