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New Year’s Goals and Resolutions for 2016

By Lorraine Clarke Reilly,

24 Jan 2020

New Year’s Goals and Resolutions for 2016 This time of year encourages bold promises of change, improvement, development and the leaving behind of old, not so beneficial habits.

So, jumping firmly on the New Year’s bandwagon and filled with good intentions, we give you the run-down of some of the most popular resolutions for the coming months.

From career changes and new goals to self-improvement and development, we recommend some of the ways in which you can reach these goals. Progressing your career in the right direction January is synonymous with taking stock in how your career is progressing and developing.

If you're one of the many education professionals considering change, the New Year can be a positive motivator and springboard to spur you on. Perhaps you've always wanted to teach abroad, if so, be sure to check out The Educator's world-wide jobs listing for the latest jobs.

You can sign-up to receive email notifications of relevant vacancies simply by tailoring your job search preferences, we'll then send you email alerts of suitable vacancies as and when they become available. New year new country - make the leap to teaching abroad Spreading your wings and teaching abroad is an extremely enriching experience.

If you've decided 2016 is your year to work overseas, then try to get along to one of the many international teaching jobs fairs taking place over the coming months to network and meet recruiters. Global Education Logistics has fairs in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Edinburgh from now till April 2016.

For those who can't make it to a recruitment fair, the International Education Group offers both online and onsite fairs.

Links are available under the 'Useful links and resources' section. Coming back to teaching after a break On the other side of the coin, perhaps you're thinking about moving back home after teaching abroad or you're an overseas trained teacher looking to experience teaching in England.

If you've been keeping an eye on education news in the UK, you'll know the economy has been going from strength to strength, and this combined with a shortage of teachers means greater choice for those looking for work. According to a recent TES article, an NAHT survey revealed that 79 per cent of school leaders who advertised positions had a problem filling them.

In specialist subject areas such as maths and sciences, teacher recruitment has been particularly challenging of late, which is good news if you are considering returning to teaching after a break.

In a bid to encourage potential and returnee teachers back into the classroom to teach, the government is offering a range of financial incentives for certain subjects.

More details on that can be found under the 'Useful links' section'. Calling overseas trained teachers With a focused recruitment drive, overseas trained teachers' skills and experience are also in demand.

Maths, physics and chemistry teachers in particular are highly sought after due to a current shortage of secondary teachers in these specialist areas. For teachers who qualified outside the EEA and with a subject specialism in any of these areas, it's now easier for schools to sponsor you for a Tier 2 visa.

Visit the Get into teaching website for more details, linked below. Teachers who qualified within the EEA may be eligible to gain qualified teacher status (QTS) in England without having to undertake further training or assessment.

Which means making the move to teach in England is easier than ever. Professional development opportunities in 2016 The New Year is also a time to consider improving and refreshing your skills, and so we're on the lookout for suitable goals and opportunities.

The TES Institute has a range of courses covering professional and personal development which is worth exploring. Twitter offers the opportunity to incorporate and manage CPD as part of a flexible and personalised schedule to suit you.

Collaborate with peers and find resources, articles, and research specific to your interests. At a pan-European level, eTwinning provides a space for education professionals to come together to communicate, collaborate, develop projects, and be part of a learning community. For event based CPD, the TeachMeet website publishes a list of UK wide workshops of CPD courses in various subject specialisms.

The site also has general event listings aimed at teachers who would like to come together to collaborate and share best practice with peers and education professionals. More 'me' time with a healthy work-life balance According to a report by OECD, teachers in England and Scotland have longer teaching hours and bigger primary classes than in most other developed countries.

While this is hardly news, it does make the quest for a healthier work-life balance more challenging. If you're prone to taking work home with you, working evenings and weekends in a bid to stay on top of planning and marking, try to use the new year as an impetus for change, and resolve to carve out time for yourself on a regular basis.

For advice and tips on how to structure workload, see the article 'Time management: Successfully juggling the demands of teaching'. The biggest challenge for the teaching profession in 2016 Throughout 2015, the issue of teacher recruitment emerged as a clear trend.

We read news of teacher shortages, issues with recruitment, declining numbers of graduates going on to choose  teaching as a career, and most recently, a surge in the number of supply teachers being used to fill school vacancies. In 2016, it's likely that teacher recruitment will remain a problem, and likely intensify for schools in rural or isolated areas, where competition to attract potential candidates is ongoing. Useful resources and links: