American School of Barcelona Review from March 2016

[Badger]

 

I had very mixed feelings about my year spent at the American School of Barcelona. While there are some great reasons to work at the school there are also considerable drawbacks. In general I would recommend the school for someone who wants to get their first experience of teaching abroad out of the way before heading to a school in a different city.

The best part of teaching there was the students. They were all very motivated and discipline problems were rare. I also thought the level of the teaching staff was very high – surprisingly so given how frequent teacher turnover is – I would say most teachers only stay on for a couple years at most.

Being in Barcelona itself is also great. It is a cultural Mecca and Ryanair flights make it easy to visit other parts of Spain and Europe. It is a very LGBT friendly city with a fun and active nightlife.

The curriculum is also very strong, although some of the books and resources are somewhat out of date. This is understandable given the economic meltdown that has hit all of Spain over the past few years.

All of that is the good news. As I hinted before there are some major drawbacks that contribute to the high turnover rate.

First off, the school is not in the city itself. Instead you'll have to take public transportation to get there which can mean a commute of around an hour or more each way, which will cut into your free time.

Secondly, unlike other international schools, housing is not subsidized – and rents in Barcelona – and even outside the city – are very, very high. You can expect that you'll probably have to have at least one and probably multiple roommates simply to be able to afford a roof over your head.

This is a lead in to the third and most pressing problem – the salary offered simply does not reflect the cost of living at all. It would be impossible to support a family or a spouse on the amount of money you make. (And with unemployment so high if you are married the odds of your spouse finding a job are slim to none.)

You'll have to either have quite a bit of savings when you come to the school or be prepared to live a very spartan lifestyle. Being surrounded by lots of great cultural activities or events that you can't afford can be very frustrating. And if you still have outstanding student loans there is no way you'll be making any payments on them while you are working here.

Still, a year here can give you teaching experience for your resume so that you can get a higher paying job at another school that will provide housing, not force you into a long commute and allow you to save money.

This makes it somewhat ideal for younger teachers, but not the best place if you have extensive experience teaching abroad.