Job Discussion Forums

[Turmerican]

Hi everybody,

I'm a kindergarten teacher (5 years experience) working in an elementary school with a high ESL population (Hispanic student population over 85%). I have a BA in English with a K-6 certification to teach in my state. I've worked with every grade up through middle school, and I have 2 years of college Spanish courses, plus a recent intermediate booster course.

I visited the Yucatan Peninsula over the summer and enjoyed everything about it. So now I am highly interested in Mexico City, as it seems like a neat and thriving place.

All of my experience is with children, though I am very interested in working with adults, as well. In fact, I think it would be a fun new change.

I know that CELTA is the gold-standard, more or less, but I'm wondering if that is what I need, of if my current experience changes things. Right now I am looking for information on what kind of options there are, what kind of schools to look into, best certification options, etc. Really I am looking for any and all helping information and advice.

Thanks so much for reading.

[MotherF]

[
I visited the Yucatan Peninsula over the summer and enjoyed everything about it. So now I am highly interested in Mexico City, as it seems like a neat and thriving place.

In my experience those two places are so different, the might as well be separate countries, and in fact were in the past.


All of my experience is with children, though I am very interested in working with adults, as well. In fact, I think it would be a fun new change.

I know that CELTA is the gold-standard, more or less, but I'm wondering if that is what I need, of if my current experience changes things. Right now I am looking for information on what kind of options there are, what kind of schools to look into, best certification options, etc. Really I am looking for any and all helping information and advice.


It really depends on decking what kind of job you want. If you want to teach K to Six in a bilingual or English medium school you are good to go. If you want to teach foreign language to teens, young adults or adults you really do need a different set of knowledge. The CELTA or similar is just like a basic starter kit for the skill set that kind of teaching uses. I wouldn't pretend that my educational background would prepare me to take a job as a kindergarten teacher.

[esl_prof]

[Rose Cohen]

[spanglish]

Keep in mind it may be near-impossible to support dependents on a an entry level TEFL salary. Your earning potential as a licensed teacher at an international school will be easily triple that of a typical CELTA-qualified teacher. Of course - as you know - K-12 work brings its own stresses (long hours and possibly high pressure). Do a search for international schools on the Mexico and general boards to learn the ins and outs.

[Turmerican]

Thanks for the information everyone. Yes, I understand that Mexico City is highly different from the places I visited. However, I have researched it and am still interested. However, other cities seem very attractive to me as well, such as Merida.

My wife is not exactly a dependent, as she flies out to other places and works 3 or 4 months out of the year.

I'm glad to see that I would be able to teach children with my current credentials and experience. I will certainly begin researching international schools to find out all I can!

However, I feel that I am a little burned out on teaching children and I'd like to try to begin teaching adults or teens if possible. I am now wondering what the pros and cons of each would be. I understand that they are very different skill sets--but I am wondering about differences in pay and the number/quality of opportunities out there. Does teaching adults typically pay more? Are there more opportunities for childhood education?
Thanks for reading and to everyone who has posted so far. This site has been such an exhaustively informative resource.

[Turmerican]

I should also mention that I am willing to get any degree or certification including a Master's. We are planning on making the move in the next 2 - 3 years, and I have saved enough money to return to school.

[FreddyM]

[Guy Courchesne]

[Turmerican]

Hey, thanks for the info. I am researching IB schols and the ASF, neither of which is familiar to me. I may PM you at a later date if that's okay. Do you have any info on salaries?

[Guy Courchesne]

[BadBeagleBad]