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Questions prior to seeking employment overseas.
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darkavenger



Joined: 03 Jul 2012
Posts: 4
Location: MA

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 6:26 pm    Post subject: Questions prior to seeking employment overseas. Reply with quote

A simple bit of background information before I start. I graduated college with a BS in Elementary Education and History, and am also a licensed teacher. My only experience is student teaching, substituting for 5 years, and working at an after school program with a focus on helping the students with their studies. I am looking to stay in the states for at least one more year as I try to pay off my debt, after which I shall leave.


What I am wondering is what other qualifications should I look into? Should I seek an tefl certifications or attempt to find employment at an elementary school within the states in order to have enough experience to work at an international school? I'd rather look into an international school, but the job market in my area, Massachusetts, isn't the strongest and I very well could end up working in a behavioral school. I guess my question is Is it worth gaining the experience in order to work at an international school? Also is a BS good enough or should I work on a masters beforehand?

Hopefully that is clear enough, if not I'll try to make it more clear. Thank you for any responses.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To get a sense of the general qualifications required for teaching at international schools, check out teachaway.com.
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darkavenger



Joined: 03 Jul 2012
Posts: 4
Location: MA

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Should have added areas that I am looking into.

1st would be South Korea, Thailand or China
2nd Latin America
3rd: Caribbean


and thank you I will look into that link
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For teachaway.com, click on "teach abroad." And really, for countries not listed on teachaway's site, just do an internet search on the following: (country) teach international school.
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tttompatz



Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

darkavenger wrote:
Should have added areas that I am looking into.

1st would be South Korea, Thailand or China
2nd Latin America
3rd: Caribbean


and thank you I will look into that link


For the Asian market you are good to go now.
For paying off debt, nothing beats S.Korea. You are "good to go" now with your current credentials and the ability to pay off $12k/year and still enjoy a comfortable lifestyle are very realistic.

As to working in "international schools" ...

Top end international schools are well paid (US$60-100k) but HIGHLY competitive.

Middle tier international schools, decent English or Bilingual schools (throughout Asia) have nice remuneration packages with salaries in the $40-60k range and potential savings in the $12-20k range since the relative costs of living are so low and many of them include housing and air allowances.

Look at programs such as the NET program in Hong Kong, public schools in Taiwan, Bilingual schools in Thailand, and a mixed bag of choices in China.

Start getting your documents in order now. International schools usually start their school year in Sept but local English/Bilingual schools are on the Asian academic calendar (start in the spring - March to May).

.
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coledavis



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 1838

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Forgive me if I've got this wrong, but are you planning to teach English as a foreign language? As a set of skills, language teaching is rather different from other types of teaching, so unless you learned to teach French or another language, I think you need to spend some time doing a course in TEFL. (And it may be a good idea in any case).

As to which TEFL course, this is a bit tricky.

Usually, for people teaching adults and adolescents, I would say CELTA or Trinity. However, this may be less than necessary for someone who already has a teaching licence, but for cheaper cases caveat emptor. There are also courses for teaching English to younger children, although you may find that your experience with children, wedded to a qualification for teaching older people may give you more flexibility when it comes to applying for jobs.

There are also online courses; while I would advise newbies to education to avoid these, there is an argument in your case. However, it is not a strong argument if you lack practical experience of language teaching.
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EFLeducator



Joined: 16 Dec 2011
Posts: 595
Location: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

darkavenger wrote:
Should have added areas that I am looking into.

1st would be South Korea, Thailand or China
2nd Latin America
3rd: Caribbean


#1 is the BEST choice. Why? $$$$$$

#2 Laughing

#3 The great EFLeducator does not have enough information on this location to assist you.
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coledavis



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 1838

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not terribly well-informed about the Caribbean either, but aren't the local people there largely English-speaking?
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amisexy



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 78

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="coledavis"]I'm not terribly well-informed about the Caribbean either, but aren't the local people there largely English-speaking?[/quote]


Yeah, i'm pretty sure all of the islands with money are either English speaking, or part of the EU.

Where else?
Dominican Republic- Dirt poor.
Cuba- Dirt Poor/ Illegal for Americans to go there.
Haiti- Dirt Poor/ Disaster zone.
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coledavis



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 1838

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This wasn't quite my point! My point was that the English-speaking parts, like Jamaica and Barbados are in no greater need of our services than any of the obvious 'native speaker' countries.

But you do point out what I had forgotten, that several countries in the Caribbean are not primarily English speaking. As for poverty, well most of the countries we operate in have a great deal of poverty; that doesn't mean that there aren't some members of the populace in any given country who will pay to be taught English. People just need to do their research. However, as Cuba is out for Americans and Haiti, as was suggested, currently has other priorities, maybe Puerto Rico may at least be worth a bit of internet digging. Here's a starter: http://www.eslbase.com/schools/puerto-rico
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coledavis



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 1838

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And the same website cites a school in Barbados..
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MotherF



Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One thing you left out of your original post is what kind of teaching you think you want to do.
So first, what teaching are you currently licensed to do? Lower elementary? High School Science? P.E.? All quite different.

If you are licensed for lower elementary, and you enjoy working with that age group you are good to go. Teaching English to kids is often done through the natural approach and they will benefit from the same kinds of phonics activities native speaking kids do.

If you have a desire to work with teens you are probably also good to go in terms of training, as really, that puts you ahead of most of the job seekers out there. Laughing

Teaching adults is different and you'd really benefit from a training course of some sort. If you really just want to get out of the US, then you could go to Asia or Latin America (after paying off that debt) and get a job at one of the language school chains that will train you to teach in their method. That's a good opportunity to see if you actually enjoy this (teaching and living overseas) or not.
AFTER you have established that you enjoy it--if you want to stay in it for the long term, then you can look into an MA or other ways to move up the ladder a bit. But I really don't recommend people get the MA first. I've met some who did that and half way through their first teaching contract realized they don't enjoy this.
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EFLeducator



Joined: 16 Dec 2011
Posts: 595
Location: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

amisexy wrote:
Cuba- Dirt Poor/ Illegal for Americans to go there.


Right! There are too many other places a professional TEFLer could go to in order to teach.
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darkavenger



Joined: 03 Jul 2012
Posts: 4
Location: MA

PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am licensed in elementary education which ranges from grade 1-6, ages 6-12 approximately. I would have no issues working with other ages as well. As to I debated the masters first is because in MA you have five years to get one once you graduate. However, I do not necessarily ever plan on teaching in this state. Also my plan would be To work in ESL for a year a two while gaining experience in order to work in an international school.
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darkavenger



Joined: 03 Jul 2012
Posts: 4
Location: MA

PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also thank everyone for all your help

Also I've pretty much narrowed the choice down to Korea, Thailand, China
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