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.

In 2000, world leaders made a promise that every child worldwide would be in school and learning by end 2015. But with 466 days left before the deadline, 58 million children are still out of school.

The Education Countdown campaign, officially launched last month and led by A World at School co-founded by Sarah Brown, is targeting key barriers to universal education by bringing together top campaigners, youth, business, faith and political leaders.

Financially, I just couldn’t get through another year without a salary during the summer so, after toying with the idea for a few years, I decided to do a placement at a summer school.

I was fortunate to have lovely students and like-minded teaching colleagues – essential to making teaching at a summer school a rewarding and stimulating experience.

If I asked you to use one word, how would you define yourself to others? Are you a Canadian, an American, a Maritimer or a Californian?

Perhaps you’re of First Nations heritage and you recognise your tribe as being the group that you most associate with your identity. Maybe your first response would be Catholic, Muslim or Rastafarian. Or maybe your response would be brother, wife or husband of…

Now more than ever, I see myself as a citizen of this amazing planet and seem to have abandoned my preoccupations with identity.

It’s that time of year again when Londoners and visitors alike fill the streets of W11 for the annual Notting Hill Carnival – Europe’s largest street festival, which originated in 1964 as a way for Afro-Caribbean communities to celebrate their own cultures and traditions.

Taking place every August Bank Holiday weekend come rain or shine, the Notting Hill Carnival is an amazing array of sounds, colourful sights and social solidarity.

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.

With English being such a lingua franca, namely in academia and in the world of technology, more and more Brazilians are recognising the necessity of familiarising themselves with the language.

As a result, a large number of new English schools open in Brazil every year, and as they emerge, the need for qualified teachers and attractive methodologies – combined with affordable prices – become fundamental to a school’s success in the growing private education sector.

On 22nd July 2014, London hosted the very first Girl Summit focusing on how to enable girls and women living in some of the poorest countries in the world to live free from violence and discrimination and achieve their potential.

3.3 billion people are expected to travel abroad this year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Motivations for spending time, resources, and energy travelling abroad range from: studying or taking a crash course, accepting a new job to discovering new cultures, savouring unique delicacies, seeing breathtaking sceneries, and meeting new people.

However, there are issues we all encounter as travellers in a foreign country. Aside from cultural differences, a language barrier can turn a fairytale trip into a nightmare.

I am a first time mum (Fabien is three now) and some of the decisions that other parents have to make, such as where to send your child to school, have been made for me.

Being able to send your child to the Early Years provision at your international school is just one of the perks of the job – seeing them grow and make new friendships. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be able to drop my son off at his nursery and know that I am steps away if needed.