Dr. Paul Fochtman from Frankfurt International School will be joining an elite group of leaders as our 2018 International Superintendent of the Year. The 2018 International Innovative Leadership Award goes to an outstanding team of MIT-trained leaders that led the way in project-based design learning school programming. The 2018 International Innovative Leaders of the Year are the founding team of the NuVu Studio School in Cambridge, MA. For information on the 2018 AAIE Hall of Fame Award Recipients and the Dr. Ernie Mannino Graduate Student Scholarship Recipient, read the full 2018 Awards Announcement HERE.

A new service we are providing to help keep members informed, is sharing out new leadership changes at our key Member Organizations. We are happy to introduce Kayla Stafford who has followed Tracy Godon as the new leader of the Northern Iowa University Overseas Recruitment Office and Christina Pereira who will be following in her father Joe Pereira's footsteps to lead the Not-for-Profit Division at TD Bank beginning in February 2018. Please take a few minutes to learn more about them below and connect with them in person at the 52nd Conference in New York City. Thank you for welcoming them to our AAIE community!

In this edition, you will find Member Spotlights from Kenya, Manila, New York, Belgrade, Princeton and Madrid, including a special interview with Mary Anne Haas! 

Watch your inbox for more information on the many NEW Membership Benefits and learning opportunities coming available over the next few weeks for you and your whole leadership team! These include: 
• Free Webinars with international experts and AAIE Member Providers
• New discussion NET Groups for members of your leadership team looking for a global resources, support and discussions, moderated by experts for their specific roles
• New Summer Institutes on critical topics such as Marketing, Admissions, Communication and Advancement, Creative Leadership and Transforming Schools
• The full menu of our high quality regular Summer Institutes for Child Protection Leadership Teams and International Counseling: Bullying in the Digital Age.

• To round out these offerings, we also have two new convenient Regional Cohorts beginning for our International Leadership Certificate Program, that allow you to complete your Certificate in less than 12 months with easy continuation options for both Masters or Doctoral Degrees to fit your busy lifestyle.

Don't miss out on timely 52nd Pre-Conferences, such as our 2-day Leadership Transition Retreat, a get the most important gathering of international school leaders this year! There is still time to register for the 52nd AAIE International Leadership Conference & Expo in New York City. Register by 14 January to attend the Opening Session at the UN and we look forward to welcoming you to New York City soon!

All the best in 2018,

Yolanda

Yolanda Murphy-Barrena

Executive Director 

We Thank Our Newsletter Sponsors: ISS & Georgetown University

Member School Spotlight

International School of Manila

IS Manila: Becoming Inclusive

International School Manila

Every Wednesday over 800 High School students gather in the Fine Arts Theater for their weekly assembly. As the lights dim and the Philippine flag illuminates, we hear the first chords of Lupang Hinirang.  Her voice is soft, yet confident and she sings as if Filipino is her mother-tongue. She stands with her head held high with a beaming smile on her face as she leads the rest of the chorus through the Philippine National Anthem. The audience bursts into applause and whistles of appreciation continue to ring out as the choral group exit the stage. Our student leaders give a shout-out to Alexis and more applause erupts in the theater.

This coming May, Alexis will walk across the same stage alongside her peers, wearing the ISM signature green cap and gown to receive her modified ISM High School diploma. In any other time this would not be the case. Fortunately, IS Manila has taken the step to offer an inclusive and specialized learning support program for students with significant learning needs.

Alexis receives support through an individualized program for her core subjects and additional functional academics are also included in her programming. She attends classes with her peers in music, dance and physical education and participates in our after-school co-curricular activities. She is a full member of the Class of 2018. With a modified diploma she will be one step closer to her dream of opening a Pet Cafe - a place where people can go to, "de-stress, have a cup of coffee and cuddle with rescued cats."

Launched with just five students in school year 2016-2017, our Specialized Learning Support Program has grown to include twelve students for school year 2017-2018. The program is overseen by two highly trained specialists who are supported by dedicated paraprofessionals including a Speech and Language Pathologist and a team of Occupational Therapists. With an adult to student ratio of close to 1 : 1, the individualized programming allows ISM to provide a range of services for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Cerebral Palsy and Williams Syndrome to name a few.

Being an inclusive school not only benefits families who once had limited options to live and work abroad, but also our mainstream students. Sharing time and space with children who learn and behave differently promotes open-mindedness and acceptance. 

AAIE Member Organization Leadership Update: 

TD Bank
New Director: Christina Pereira 

AAIE Member Organization Leadership Update: 

UNI Overseas Recruiting Office  
New Director: Kayla Stafford

Affiliate Member Spotlight

MDSA

Are You or One of Your Leadership Team Members Starting a New Role in 2018? 
The AAIE Leadership Transition Retreat Supports A Successful Start! 

Attend this conveniently schedule Pre-Conference and then enjoy the 52nd AAIE to connect with the AAIE Network of Colleagues & Leaders!

There is nothing as important as a great start...get working on yours today!

School Member Spotlight

International School of Belgrade

MAKE THIS YOUR YEAR... & JUMPSTART YOUR LEADERSHIP CAREER!
Complete the AAIE International School Leadership Certificate in less than 12 months with affordable and convenient options for a Masters or Doctoral Degree in Leadership while working internationally!

Up Close & Personal with AAIE

Mary Anne Haas

Does Your School Have Inspirational and Motivated Student Leaders?  
Encourage your star student leaders to apply for the
Top 100 Global Citizens Leadership Challenge! 
100 students

from 50 countries around the world

will be selected to engage, connect, share, learn and meet the 2018 challenge!

Proudly Co-Sponsored by:

AAIE, The College Board, GIN (Global Issues Network) & NSU

Regional Member Spotlight

MAIS

We facilitate these sessions at the Regional Association Conferences to help emerging and developing leaders learn how to prepare and connect with colleagues and leading recruiters to successfully obtain their first or next international leadership position. Our next AAIE Leaders Wanted session will be at the 2018 CEESA Conference in Prague. See you there!

8 Interview Mistakes That Can Cost You Great Candidates

Lloyd French, Manager of Education Partnerships at Teach Away

1. Arriving unprepared.

Preparation is key. An unorganized interview is a big red flag to any teaching candidate.

Read their resume beforehand. If you're trying to skim a resume for the first time during the interview, that will be painfully obvious to your interviewee. Candidates can see right through an interviewer who has not taken the time to review their resume, which gives the impression that you do not take the recruitment process seriously.

Instead, carefully review their work experience, skills and educational background in advance. This will help you formulate relevant interview questions and to conduct a more thorough interview. The more time you spend looking into the applicant's qualifications and background, the better the interview will be, and the easier it will be to determine if they are the right fit for your school.

2. Leaving candidates waiting.

Be prompt - respecting the candidates time, sets a tone of mutual respect. Schedule interviews and stick to that planned time. Even if it's just a pre-screen phone interview, call on time and don't make candidates wait.

When a school head cancels an interview or doesn't show up at the agreed time, especially if the candidate has got up in the middle of the night to accommodate a conflicting time zone, the candidate will perceive this as rude and disrespectful, and assume you're not really interested in hiring them to work at your school.

3. Acting distracted.

Stay focused - they're bringing their "A" game, and expect you to bring yours too. From start to finish, you need to be 100% focused on the candidate. Being distracted during the interview with unrelated subjects, not paying close attention to responses, interjecting with unrelated comments, avoiding eye contact, glancing at your mobile phone for emails or texts, will leave your candidate feeling disrespected.

A disengaged interviewer not only interrupts a candidate's train of thought, throwing a potentially great answer off-kilter - they will also negatively affect a candidate's perception of a school and likely cause them to pull out of the process.

4. Rushing the interview.

You may think you have hit your 10,000 hour rule and can assess a candidate in two minutes. Keep in mind 90% of drivers overestimate how good they are at driving - the same holds true for interviewing. Not only can a candidate turn an interview around, it is easy to forget that this interview is bigger than the two of you in the room.

The interview is a critical marketing opportunity for you to showcase your school to a member of the very valuable job-seeker market. Do your school a favor, and stick to your scheduled time - sell your school, even if you know you're not hiring them..

When you decide to bring in a candidate for an interview, be prepared to take your time. That's the only way to evaluate them effectively and make an informed decision on the right teacher for your school.

A brief interview that doesn't give the candidate the opportunity to really sell themselves, especially if a candidate has traveled to attend an in-person interview, is one of the biggest hiring mistakes we see time and time again at Teach Away.

Imagine you're a candidate excited about the opportunity to interview at this great school overseas. You spend hours researching, thinking of questions and recalling past classroom experiences and lesson plan examples that would be relevant to the open position.

Then, after you've thoroughly prepared and are ready to excel, all you get is 15 minutes of the interviewer's time. I'm sure we can all appreciate how unfulfilling and aggravating that would be.

So don't overlap interviews or schedule them too close together. Show respect and take the time to properly evaluate each candidate. They prepared for you, so you owe the same consideration in return. And allocate plenty of time for them to ask questions at the end. An interview is as much an opportunity for candidates to size up potential hiring schools as it is for schools to audition prospective teachers.

5. Not asking the right questions.

You're an educational leader in your school, you likely have a strong opinion on assessments. Take a page from your own playbook and standardize a candidate assessment rubric. This will allow for easier side-by-side comparisons on those tough calls. Also, clear rubrics can mitigate the impact of dangerous halo effects. Make sure to craft questions before the interview that will help you correctly determine a teacher's experience, qualifications, pedagogical knowledge and cultural fit.

Predictable, redundant, rhetorical or overly-complicated questions can frustrate or confuse the candidate. Instead, actively listen to candidate's responses, and use open-ended questions that ask the what, how and why. This not only gets candidates talking; it will also help you get the information you need to make the right hiring decision for your school.

Don't forget to ask questions that will help you glean candidate's level of cultural awareness, as well their motivations for moving to the country where your school is located, either.

Sidenote: throughout the entire interview, be aware of talking too much, instead of listening. A good rule of thumb - if you're talking more than half the time, you're talking too much!

6. Not being upfront.

Setting a realistic expectation of the challenges faced by educators in your school and community will pay dividends. It's not enough to get them through the door - you need them to stay and contribute.

Yes, it's true that in order to recruit and convince your candidate to join your school you have to "sell" them on the job and your school but you don't need to overstate it. Fill them in on the benefits that a position at your school offers, but don't embellish and make promises you can't keep.

7. Being intimidating.
Leave the boiler room interview tactics to the movies. When it comes to interviewing candidates, a few friendly gestures go a long way. Remember that the best international teachers will have access to a wealth of employment options so your school should strive to present itself as a welcoming, supportive place to work.
A job interview is one of the most nerve-racking experiences a person can go through. Stressed-out candidates can have a hard time putting their best foot forward during the interview, and if you don't know what a candidate is capable of, it becomes challenging to make the most educated hiring decision for your school.
Barraging them with questions is the quickest way to shut your candidate down rather than opening them up. Instead, try to keep the whole interview process as friendly and conversational as possible. Keep your own body language open, and remember to make eye contact with the candidate.

If there are any challenging questions you need to ask, it's best to save those for the end of the interview, when the candidate will likely feel more at ease.

8. Failing to follow up.

The international teacher labor market is getting more competitive every day. Teachers have options and need to make commitments. If it's not with you, it will be with another school. When you aren't transparent about your process (or, even worse, lack a clear one), you're opening the window for great teaching candidates to move onto other job opportunities,  even if initially you were their top school of choice.

At the end of an interview, ask each candidate if they're still interested in the position and take the time to fully inform them of your selection process going forward. Let them know when they can expect feedback and be sure to follow up with them in a timely fashion. And while they're waiting to hear back on next steps in the hiring process, offer to connect your shortlisted candidates with a teacher currently working at the school.

Interviews are your best opportunity to get to know a candidate and determine if they're the right fit for the job. But finding and hiring the right teachers is tough. So don't make it even harder by driving great candidates away with these all-too-common interviewing mistakes.

Don't forget, great educators will always have options, and interviews are a two-way street. A positive interview experience can convince a talented teacher to join your team, but a negative experience is sure to tarnish your school's reputation.

We hope you found this helpful and we wish you the very best of luck with your candidate search this school year!

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Don't miss the 52nd AAIE NYC - Register Today!

School Member Spotlight 

International School of Kenya

●  Act with integrity, self-awareness and with a commitment to personal well-being.
●  Respect others, embrace cultural diversity, cultivate empathy, and recognize humanity's

interdependence.
●  Possess a sense of wonder for the natural world, and our place in it.
●  Cooperate productively, applying effective technology and the ability to communicate in

more than one language.
●  Apply the relationship between the past and present to an understanding of the possible

outcomes of present actions on the future.
●  Understand the relationship between the global and local.
●  Use creative and critical approaches to identify challenges, generate hypotheses and

strategies, and actively pursue effective, ethical solutions.
●  Synthesize skills, knowledge and positive values in both work and play.

Another important facet of ISK's curriculum is our Service Learning program which aims to provide meaningful opportunities for students to initiate and reflect upon sustainable community projects that are mutually beneficial. These projects cultivate both personal and community growth, while building recognition of human interdependence. The desire to incorporate Service Learning into education is growing throughout the world; ISK is at the forefront of innovation in Africa. Each week we have 250 enthusiastic students participating in various school service programs and many more working on the weekends with their families or individual organizations.

An example of ISK's commitment to innovation, combined with the school's Service Learning program, is the student-led "Hand Out" project. This new student club has partnered with e-NABLE to create and assemble 3D-printed prosthetic hands for individuals who would otherwise be unable to afford them.

ISK students in the "Hand Out" group succeeded in printing and assembling a functional prototype that was approved by e-NABLE. "Hand Out" is now the newest chapter in the
e-NABLE community and provides valuable insight into the possibilities and versatility of new technology. The most remarkable part of this project is its human face. A prosthetic hand in itself is no more than a plastic object. It's worth exists only through its possession and use by a person. When it belongs to an individual it can make their life better each day.

In order for "Hand Out" to achieve their objective, however, financial support is required. ISK's fundraising drive last year raised the necessary funds to purchase the 3D printer and this year the group received more support through the school's Inspiration Initiative . This annual giving program enables donors to direct their support to worthwhile initiatives like the Design & Innovation Lab where 'Hand Out" originated. It's just one more way that ISK students, parents, faculty and staff make a dramatic, positive difference in the local Kenyan community.

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