About Us

Mr. Wickens is a “Teacher Recruitment Specialist” with a proven track record in education.  Mark worked in the Halton District School Board for 31 years in a variety of roles. He was an elementary school administrator for 10 years.  He has been committed to supporting new and established teachers to be the best they can be. For the last 12 years, he has been an award-winning lecturer, international field placement supervisor and international presenter from the Faculty of Education, Brock University.  His passion is providing professional development in China and developing international teaching opportunities for teachers in China, South Africa and England.

Mr. Wickens has been an International Teaching Field Placement Supervisor in multiple countries during his time at the Faculty of Education.  For over ten years he has supported his students at international career fairs by helping them make connections with outstanding, reputable agencies in England, China, India and South Africa.  He and his committed network of contacts are well positioned to support you on your international teaching adventure.  

Mr. Wickens is known for his strong values and dedication to students and his staff.  Mark has worked passionately for over four decades to be a role model for the “Standards of Practice” and “Ethical Standards” of the teaching profession in Ontario.  Mark’s goal is to support you in your quest to have a successful international teaching placement and fun cultural experience. Reliable, honest communication and outstanding service are fundamental expectations that each client will receive from Mark and his team.

Mr. Wickens works with agencies that have a proven track record.  His academic recruiters take the time to get to know you so that they can place you in the school that is the best fit for you.  Mark has traveled to England to meet the Headmasters (Principals) and has toured many of their schools.  He wanted to ensure his teacher candidates were working with a reliable and dedicated team of professionals, who knew how to support and value Canadian educators.  

Mark’s placement agents in England and in other international locations have over 20 years’ experience with providing expert, friendly, flexible recruitment services.  We are committed to helping Primary, Junior, Intermediate, Secondary and Specials Needs schools, in fulfilling their short and long term staffing needs. Mark personally knows his team and trusts their judgement and commitment to his teachers. He values the friendly, supportive, collaborative approach his agencies have implemented as they interview applicants and match them to the teaching positions which are the best fit.

Mark Wickens has selected a  recruitment team and school administrators that will support their Canadian teachers and help them to adapt to a new curriculum and a new international setting. The school administrators demonstrated they were dedicated to developing “Future Ready” educators that were knowledgeable in research based pedagogical strategies. Their focus was “Deep Learning” tasks that made a difference in retention of knowledge. One assistant head was finishing off a Ph.D. at Ontario’s Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) with one of our well known academic researchers,  Michael Fullan! Small world!

At Inspiration, our goal is to support you in locating an international teaching position which is an excellent fit and provides the experience you are looking for.  We prefer to place teachers with at least one year of experience but we will consider new Teachers College Graduates too.  Our recruitment teams in England will work to help you get your Visa and Health Insurance. They will help you locate accommodation, help with setting up a bank account, assist you in learning the transportation systems and provide tips on what to see.  They will also help connect you to other international and Canadian teachers and hold social activities. .

Some of our school trusts (a family of schools) were also interested in Canadian students that might be interested in taking their teacher qualifications in England!!  They will even pay you to attend school while you are practice teaching and earning your Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). What an amazing opportunity!

Mark will counsel you on what you must take into account if you go over to England prior to getting on an “Occasional Teachers List” in Canada.  Plus before you leave, he will coach you, on the things you need to do to maintain contact here with a board of education to increase your chances of getting an interview, once you return.

Let the adventure begin!!!!