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The K Dog
Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Paris
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2003 7:57 pm Post subject: Land of no opportunity |
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People,
I am a twenty-nine-year-old-teacher of EFL currently living in Paris, France where I have been employed for two-and-a-half-years, and am now considering returning to America, specifically Arizona, to continue in my chosen profession. I have an M.Ed in Postsecondary TESOL, experience in France, Korea and volunteer work in New York. I am quadrilingual (English, French, Spanish and Italian), but I am fearful of going back to the United States because as everyone knows abroad (that autonomous republic to which we keep referring) offers one university posts with free housing, good salaries, paid summers off, etc, but from what I have seen in America it all seems to be adjuncting positions with low pay, long commutes from community college, politics of a certain variety in the lecture hall, one's skin color taken into account (although to be fair this is quite a consideration in Asia but on the other side of the fence), etc. What I am saying is that do you think that going back to America and wishing to continue in this profession without a Ph.D is a waste of time and that I am about to ruin my life whereas I should just stay abroad, take a private retirement fund, live the life with benefits in, say, Turkey, Micronesia, Korea, etc? Just would like to know, and, if you know of any good deals in Arizona, I would be very grateful if you could tell me about them. Thanks. |
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M@tt
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 473 Location: here and there
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Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2003 8:48 pm Post subject: public schools... yawn...... |
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I feel like I have to agree with someone else in another thread (can't remember at the moment...). Public schools. I'll be in your situation soon, and it seems like the only return options are K-12 ESL. It's more lucrative than any adjunct position and a lot more stable. the only problems are: getting certified, teaching K-12, and teaching in public schools.
I find this depressing and am trying not to think about it, since I haven't even been abroad yet. Good luck. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 13859 Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2003 11:08 am Post subject: Private highs |
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Dear The K Dog,
May I also suggest private high schools - including, but by no means limited to, those run by " religious " groups. One advantage there is you don't ( usually ) need to be state-certified ( another couple are - the class sizes are often smaller and the students often better-motivated ).
Regards,
John |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343
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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2003 11:20 am Post subject: no opportunity |
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If it is of any comfort the position in Blair's Britain is not much better.
Many of us get trapped in teaching outside of Albion and cannot return because there are very few jobs.
"Go bind your sons to exile."
Kipling was right - but now it is the daughters as well. |
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denise
Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish
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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2003 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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There ARE decent positions out there, but they are very few and thus highly sought after. Many universities have ESL/IEP programs that don't require a PhD. I think the majority of them, unfortunately, are part-time, hourly wages, no benefits, etc. I'm just now finishing my MA in California, and one of my professors advised me to spend a few years abroad, get a few articles published, etc., to be more competitive for those hard-to-find full-time positions. |
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MindTraveller
Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Posts: 89 Location: Oman
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2003 3:52 am Post subject: Teaching EFL in the USA |
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Another problem about returning the States to teach - your overseas EFL experiences will not count in the salary schedule for USA public schools. So, as an adult who got my Teaching Credential at 40 and had years EFL teaching experience overseas, I entered the USA market at a beginner teacher's level.
I also left it because the office politics were as bad as overseas, and there was no free housing or tax-free income.
The only way for EFL in the USA to 'get professional' is to do what Special Education did years ago - get organized and get laws passed. |
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Africaexpert
Joined: 19 May 2003 Posts: 109
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2003 2:36 am Post subject: Arizona for ESL |
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Arizona is pretty horrible for ESLers. Very tough market, far too many teachers competing for too few jobs. I had to do other work to supplement my income, and was getting pretty tired wortking three jobs. I didn't qualify to teach in ASU's program, despite a Master's degree in another subject and ten years ESL teaching (mostly overseas).
I was able to get adjunct work at Thunderbird and WIU, but it was pretty spotty. For about three months, I taught Bosnians working at one of the resorts. For one season I taught rookies from Dominican Republic for the
San Diego padres farm team. For a couple years I taught refugees, also part-time, before I went to school for accounting.
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chinagirl
Joined: 27 May 2003 Posts: 235 Location: United States
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 6:01 pm Post subject: overseas can count |
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I got 2 years of overseas experience credited by my school district when I began teaching in public schools here. They required official letters on school letterhead signed by the director. I suggest that anyone teaching overseas get a letter when you leave your school stating the lengh of your affiliation, plus job responsibilities.
Some places will credit your overseas exp. Depends on the place. |
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JSJR
Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Posts: 6 Location: New Hampshire, USA
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2003 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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K Dog,
I don't believe your chances of landing a teaching position here in the States are as bad as everyone says. I live in New Hampshire--we're about as diverse as the NHL--and I've seen many job advertisements for teaching English to non-native speakers. I have no idea who it is they need teachers for, but given the number of advertisements I see in the paper I would say your chances are decent. Try the Massachusetts and New York areas too. With all the colleges and metropolitan areas in the northeast I can't imagine it'd be hard to find a teaching job.
Good luck
John |
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