So, my situation is somewhat out of the ordinary and my question is probably a little silly. I will be spending a year in the UK conducting field research (ethnography/folklore) beginning in September 2016, and was curious as to what the protocol is for foreigners applying to be lecturers in the UK. I have experience teaching (designing and conducting courses independently) in the US, but I'm not at all sure of what the qualifications for a university lecturer would look like in the UK. I'm also not sure if it would be appropriate to contact the college in the area I will be working (Orkney College) to let them know that I am available to teach if they have an opening.

I have a BA in History, an MA in Folklore/Ethnography and Scottish Studies, and will have attained the rank of PhD (ABD) before I travel.

Any advice at all would be a great help. Thanks!

I think you could ask them. It's possible that they could give you some guest lectures if nothing else.

Whether they would pay you or not would depend on whether they did have a position available. Most UK temporary lecture positions run from Sept to June and would be usually be full time with full benefits, so they would be unlikely to take on someone if they didn't already need someone. You don't need any specific qualifications other than a PhD, but generally lecturer positions are given to people with teaching experience (which you have) and maybe research experience (which you have).

Sometimes lectures are given by other people other than the university staff though, so I presume that these are paid and it must be possible just to give the odd lecture without a permanent position.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Will you have the right to work in the UK? That is crucial as they won't be able to employ you in any capacity if you do not, and I doubt a small college like that will have the ability to sponsor someone for temporary work given the hoops UKBA makes employers jump through.

the crucial bit might mean tho that as you are abd (all but dissertation), that this might be regarded as a bit dodgy, as the phd degree in the uk often does not entail coursework and is just about writing the dissertation, so having the dissertation not yet done might deter people from hiring you for a proper lecturer position (people normally need a phd and a ton of publications and a postdoc or two can't harm either). you might get temporal/adjunct positions quite easily due to your teaching experience where you might fare better than uk students. adjunct pay is better in your country than in the uk. here we're talking triple digit sums for a whole course taught one semester. sorry this is not more encouraging.

mate said that due to your abd status you'll be probably treated like a phd student on an exchange year and they might give you the odd first year course or so to teach, for not a crazy amount of money.

Bout £15/ph or so?

mine was £30ph before the taxman, after taxman £22. but yeah like eds said, that kind of region. £15 - 30. they only pay the very hour you teach. no extra cash for preparations or grading, or only if you're very lucky. so you might end up with something like £200-400 for teaching one course one semester. they might not even be able to tell you whether you get the teaching a week before the semester starts. not because they want to make your life horrible but because they themselves might not know, even at that late a date, whether they get the money for the teaching. also, teaching tends to be allocated to certain people for opaque nepotist reasons. by all means ask, but as you're up north there might not be many locations to teach... plusside: small classes, so less grading.
again, sorry that it's not a cheerful picture.

For tutorial teaching I got £17ph plus prep and marking time (however long it took).

The cynical would doubtless point out the cost-savings to an institution at that rate... and why they don't employ any more staff.

Thanks for all the advice - it has been a lot of help! £15/ph is not the greatest, but it's around what I was expecting to see. I will be sure to contact the college, if only so that I am on their radar when they are working out which courses will be held.

good luck. if i were you i would only do a course or two of teaching so you can put it on the cv - you can't plan on making a living on teaching alone - and spend the rest on your field research to get that dissertation out of the way and enjoy that beautiful surrounding you're in.

By 'beautiful surroundings,' Windowsill must mean the whisky distilleries of course ;)