Teaching (high school) Art & Design in Poland realistic?

Hey there, I'm from NL and have been teaching Art & Design lessons in bilingual high schools there for around 3k euro salaries working a 4 day workweek. In NL it is part of every high school curriculum to teach students art, so there are plenty of jobs...

I now moved to PL with my Polish partner (he does not work in education and nor does his family, just as clueless as me). I have been searching for a job as an art teacher in Warsaw lately and it seems scarce here. The offers either pay ****** (around 3k zl per month) or they are at some very prestigious schools with intense requirements (not really my vibe)... I have tried searching the entire education section on OLX, the preschool offers are plenty and I could at least earn 7k - 8k zl per month if not more (or so the offers say). The way it looks now I might settle for a job like that since I'm qualified to teach both age groups, and I like teaching young kids just as much as adolescents.

Are there other legit places besides OLX to find teacher jobs, am I overlooking something?

Please tell me your tips / thoughts / advice on this. Any input would be much appreciated!

Bascially any jobs website will have an education section.


I presume those are private pre-schools? The pay may not be as much as they say. They sometimes advertise high salaries, especially if they're using a recruitment agency, but the actual offer is lower or if it's from an agency the job doesn't really exist. They just want to register you on their books and that's how they suck you in. Do the jobs mention language skills in Polish?

Another thing to bear in mind if working for private pre-schools is that they are often run by chains on a franchise basis and the owners/principals of the schools have no background in education and make a lot of demands on staff. Expecting you to do a lot of stuff outside of working hours is common.

The only thing I can think of that you may have overlooked is working in art therapy or art for disabled adults or children, maybe in a centre for autism or something.

A lot of jobs in Warsaw are found by word of mouth, through making contacts, so I'd say get out and about and start networking in likely places. You can also go door-to-door with your CV. In Poland a visit in person still works better than emails.

You could also try making contacts through volunteering, though it's not a big field in Poland.

Forgot to mention, a public high school in Poland would require fluent Polish.

Interesting things to explore, thank you!

As for speaking Polish, I would describe myself as intermediate. Is it common for an employer to fund Polish language lessons for their employees?

Studying intensively for a year now, but I assume I will need lessons to get to a higher level. I do hope to be able to work 'in Polish' one day.

Not in your field :)

These look interesting:

mnw.art.pl/projekty/wolontariat/informacje-podstawowe/

ochotnicy.waw.pl/aktualnosci/847-ksiazka-i-sztuka-warszawskie-partnerstwo-dla-wolontariatu-na-zoliborzu