85. Changing Schools? What Factors Will You Prioritize? Carefully Consider Criteria With Our Panel of Vets!

What is your plan for the next time you recruit? What stage are you at in your life and career? What experiences are you hoping for in your next school, city, and country?

To assist you in making this big, life-changing decision, we once again reached out to our trusted veteran panel of Amy Hunt, Rob Howe, and David Ross — this time to discuss how to make such an important life pivot.

Amy is currently teaching Psychology and Science of Mind at Nueva School in San Francisco. She left the US at age 25 to teach IB English in Ethiopia, where she met her husband, Lee. They taught together in Rio, Minnesota, Barcelona, São Paulo, and Brussels before returning to the US in 2020. Amy is also a yoga therapist who reads, loves murder shows and pickleball, takes hikes and cold plunges, and tries to coax her three 20-something children to fly the nest. 

David is retired  He began teaching in Los Angeles, then moved to Malaysia with his family for 6 years.  He then took a one-year sabbatical with his family to bike across Europe, then taught in Vietnam for nine years. He enjoys SCUBA diving, free diving, playing in a band, pickleball, staying fit, and cooking. He is also a proactive investor and proponent of financial literacy.

Rob Howe is a businessman and international educator. He began his career in the technology industry. After a 1.5-year sabbatical, he met his wife, an international teacher, and decided to become one. He first taught for 2 years in Jakarta, Indonesia. He then returned to the USA, started a new career in sustainability consulting, and adopted two children from India. In 2014, he returned to overseas teaching in Lebanon, Zimbabwe, and finally Vietnam. 

Our Guiding Question was “When putting your recruiting plan together, what are some key criteria to guide you when looking at potential schools, cities and countries?”

Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:

• Assessing your current stage in life/career, along with clarifying your values
• Creating a recruiting plan: Listing the criteria you desire in your next school/ city/country and doing your research
• Defining the non-negotiables for your search
• Unpacking numerous criteria from our blog post, “Profiling Schools, Cities, and Countries”
• Final thoughts and recommendations from our panelists

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Profiling Schools, Cities and Countries blog post at the Educators Going Global Info Hub

Recorded June 19, 2025.

Categories: Recruiting | School Life | Finances | Parenting | Transitions | Travel

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Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.