Job Discussion Forums

[jcarroll]

Hi again!

I'm planning on trying to find some work teaching in a private language school this summer to see if I like teaching. If I do, I think ideally my goal would be to teach English in a French secondary school or CEGEP.

I've skimmed the websites of all the universities in Montreal and I'm not seeing a clear-cut roadmap for how someone like me with a bachelor's in an unrelated field (Economics) would cross over into getting certified and teaching in public schools without going back and doing a second undergraduate degree. I really hope that's not how it works� Also I would really love not to have to leave Montreal and study somewhere else in order to accomplish this.

Has anyone here done this before? Also can anyone tell me what the job market is like for teaching English in French schools in the Montreal area?

Thanks!

[smurfetta]

Here's a link that might be helpful:

http://www.qpat-apeq.qc.ca/

I know in BC, you have to be a certified teacher to teach ESL in secondary schools. Not sure about Quebec though...

[santi84]

I'm in Montreal.

The answer is no, you cannot become a public elementary/high school teacher in QC without a BEd or additional teacher certification (ie. MA that comes with teaching certification for older teachers who did not require a degree in the 70's or 80's etc.)

I moved here from BC for my husband's job, this is a permanent move, and I've been through all these hoops in the past year. With a non-education degree, you'll need a BEd in TESL from somewhere like McGill and that's about 3 years full-time, WITH credit from your previous degree (my degree was in TESL but not a BEd in TESL so I still have to do the 3 years). Sorry, getting a 2nd degree is the only option (believe me, I'm choked too).

This is Canada. You can't get a degree in Economics and teach English in Canada. That stuff flies in Korea and China but not here. Canadian schools have very high standards and even a Canadian BA in TESL from BC is not acceptable in Quebec, so economics is definitely out.

French secondary schools and CEGEP requires you to be fluent in French, which you probably are if you are asking about Montreal. The CEGEP requires a degree in TESL and a few years experience, minimum, for an assistant position and a minimum of a master's degree to be an actual teacher.

Good luck - but you are not qualified at all for any of this yet.

[Trinley]

Hi, I taught in private language schools in Montreal for a couple years. I found no shortage of work there, although the pay is not so good if you work for a school. A friend of mine asks $40/hr for private lessons and somehow gets it, although not a lot of hours. Hopefully you have at least a TESL certificate and some experience. Without any training or experience teaching ESL, I doubt you would do any better than finding some tutoring here and there for 10 bucks.

At one point, I remember looking into subbing in public schools, and the response I got was that I need a degree in Education, as you have been told already. But I just wanted to add that there is a lot of work there in private schools, which don't require a BEd.

[jcarroll]

Thanks for the info so far guys. Also I want to clarify that I'm not expecting to teach English in public schools with just my Econ degree; I'm wondering what kind of additional training would take me to the level of a B.Ed. graduate, be it some kind of consecutive program leading to a B.Ed., or a master's degree, or something else, or a combination. Or is it really true that my undergraduate education is worthless for building toward certification and that I'll have to start a B.Ed. from scratch as if I were coming out of high school??

[Trinley]

I think you should contact the commission scolaire and ask them their requirements. Then you should contact some universities and ask them if they can accept some of your previous undergrad work toward whatever program you would have to complete to fulfill those requirements, whether it be a BEd, masters, or something else. Some things from this site may relate to you:

http://www.immigrer.com/faq/sujet/infos-pour-enseigner-langlais-au-quebec.html

Au niveau secondaire, je te sugg�re d'aller frapper directement � la porte des commissions scolaires (CS) car c'est elles qui g�rent les �coles secondaires et primaires dans leur zone (ex : il y a cinq CS sur l'Ile de Montr�al).

pour enseigner au secondaire, il faut d�tenir un Bacc en enseignement secondaire (BES) assorti d'un permis g�n�ralement.

Il existe un baccalaur�at en enseignement de l'anglais en langue seconde qui se donne � l'UQAM, Sherbrooke, etc et qui est d'une dur�e de quatre ans : je suppose donc qu'il donne acc�s au permis d'enseigner au secondaire. Je te met le lien de la page web de l'Universit� de Sherbrooke sur ce bacc : www.usherbrooke.ca/programmes/bacc/...

[Trinley]

http://www.emsb.qc.ca/en/services_en/pages/employment_en.asp

This website also confirms that you need a BEd even to sub. A few years ago I sent in my CV hoping to sub. I have a degree in Linguistics, a TESL Certificate and several years' teaching experience, and they said no ma'am. No teaching diploma = no public school job.

In the US, we don't have to repeat the general education components of a bachelor's to get a second bachelor's, which means we end up just taking 2 years to complete the core courses (not repeating college algebra and all that junk). I would hope that the same would apply in Canada. I transferred 2 years of US credits into Concordia and got my BA in 2 years, so I think it would take you 2 years to get a BEd. Again, get the specific requirements from the commission scolaire de Montreal, then hit up some universities and ask them what they can accept from your other degree toward your second one. Good luck.

[santi84]