Job Discussion Forums

alexcase · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 215 Location: Seoul

Update:

It seems like ESL Judge is no more. I had contacted them many times to ask them to fill in the details missing from the About section on the site, but no reply and now they are gone

TEFLtastic blog- All the truth that's fit to teach- www.tefl.net/alexcase

SaratheSlytherin · Joined: 21 Jul 2009 Posts: 137 Location: North Carolina

[quote="redsoxfan"]Doesn't this suggest that TEFL is not a real "profession"?

The behavior of some individuals in the field is considered unprofessional by some, but how does that undermine the respectability of the field? If it's a real profession, it's going to be a real profession, regardless of the way certain INDIVIDUALS behave.

The world is full of "real" teachers who behave unprofessionally, but that doesn't taint the entire teaching profession.

How do you define who is a "real" teacher and who is not? Different schools and programs require different credentials. The TESOL and CELTA are recognized the world over as respected teaching credentials.

Gusss · Joined: 08 Nov 2008 Posts: 81

Schools expect us to provide references - however we have no idea what we are getting into when we work for a new school. DavesESL cafe acts as a reference for schools - if it is a good school there will be more positive remarks than negative.

ancient_dweller · Joined: 12 Aug 2010 Posts: 415 Location: Woodland Bench

that website doesn't work anymore, i guess mediation never took off. i suppose it is best to do things the old fashioned way. tell em how you feel, if they refuse to listen, tell the world how you feel.

Prof.Gringo · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 3:34 pm Post subject:

jxyz · Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 16 Location: Riyadh

[quote="SaratheSlytherin"]

How do you define who is a "real" teacher and who is not? Different schools and programs require different credentials. The TESOL and CELTA are recognized the world over as respected teaching credentials.[/quote]

The CELTA and TESOL help - but a fake teacher is a fake teacher regardless of qualifications.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 8482 Location: On a Short Leash

Both CELTA and generic TESL/TEFL certifications are newbie level - ENTRY certifications. They don't make a professional teacher - they just start people on their way.

I think it's overstating to call them 'respected teaching credentials,' and they certainly don't 'make' a teacher 'real.'

It's just a start. They indicate at least a minimum commitment to the field and are rightly desired by schools that hire newbies.

Some teachers with these quals are in fact 'real,' but it's the energy and commitment they put into doing the job - and learning more about it - that make the difference.

igorG · Joined: 10 Aug 2010 Posts: 1473 Location: asia

I am sorry but the CELTA, TESL/TEFL or any other accreditation of the teachers have little to do with the situation.

Educational institutions are commercializing much more than they ought to and certs are becoming more of pieces of paper as much as licences to operate businesses/schools are.

Many schools around the world put their needs in front of the academic ones, and after they hire they have little in a sense of support or pro development for FTs set up. It often is up to other FTs at schools to help and if there aren't any qualified/experienced ones, locals usually aren't up to the task.

Ixchel · Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 4:53 pm Post subject:

Sorry but it's extremely expensive to teach overseas. Most teachers buy their own tickets. I've known many teachers who went overseas who gave up their apartments and sold their belongings including their cars (my car is 12 years old but in perfect condition because I'm the original owner-I could not get another car with low miles in perfect condition for a price I could afford. In other words I couldn't buy back my own old car)

Many give up jobs back home (and in this economy good luck finding anything) basically shut down their lives.

So to give up everything only to spend $1000. on a ticket to find out the school is a scam is totally *****d up. And I certainly want to know everything I can before leaving. And since many countries have no protection for non-citizens (if you could afford to stay and fight anyway) the only way to protect yourself is to find out from other teachers what the situation is going in.

I understand that some people are just disgruntled employees (although I also know that's based on something too) but I am an intelligent, well-educated and experienced teacher. I can read a post about a school and understand when a person is unhappy and when there have been contract violations or abuses.

Since 1985 when I graduated college and was offered my first overseas teaching positing (in Japan which I didn't take because I was getting married) there seems to have been a huge explosion of shady language "schools" around the world. The salaries in Asia and the Middle East (the other area I looked into teaching 27 years ago and also had friends there) are the same as they were in the 80's. So the only thing we have to protect our interests are sites like this where we can find out about bad employers. And there seem at this point to be more bad ones, than professional ones.