Teaching Abroad

By Gwen Carroll Apr. 5, 2023

Alumnus of the school and its current economics teacher, Rob Miller, History Department, did not get his start teaching at the school. Rather, his career began with The American School in Switzerland, teaching at schools in England, Switzerland and Greece.

Miller’s post-graduation plans had never included teaching until his experience abroad—in fact, teaching as a career had not even occurred to him until he received an offer from his cousin to the school overseas. He had not had many chances to travel internationally as a child. As such, he greatly enjoyed his teaching experience in Europe—for instance, small classes of less than 15 students meant he could teach on a more personal level than at a public school. Nevertheless, the job could be taxing at times.

“I taught at boarding schools, so not only did the students live in campus dormitories, but so did I. It was a lot of fun, but it meant I always had to be the adult in the room, which could get very suffocating,” Miller said.

As the schools were all Anglophone workplaces, he never struggled with language barriers during work hours. Miller was able to navigate England without trouble, though in Switzerland and Greece, he began to encounter some difficulty. Simply navigating the countries outside the school was troublesome, as Miller spoke none of the local languages. However, the locals helped him out where they could and after a few years of teaching in Greece, he began to pick up a bit of Greek while off the job.

“In the end, kids are kids, and they all have hobbies and problems, no matter what school they go to. Returning here for me feels like returning to some sort of mothership; I enjoy the familiarity of teaching at the school I used to attend. As a teacher, there are not many places that are much better than here,” Miller said.

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About the Contributors

Gwen Carroll

staff writer

Gwen Carroll is a sophomore at Leland High School. She enjoys writing, both as a hobby and academically, and in her free time, likes to cook and study psychology.