Job Discussion Forums

majestic58 · Joined: 08 Aug 2011 Posts: 19 Location: Canada

I'm starting school in Sept and have narrowed my options down to two:

BA in Linguistics (3 years as my transfer credits cover some of the courses)

or

B. Ed. with a focus in Linguistics (5 years)

I am 32 and Canadian. My short term post-bachelors-degree-goal is to teach English overseas (I want to wander, so I'll likely end up all over the place). The long-term goal being teaching at an international school.

OK, so here are the questions:

-Should I just buck up and do the 5 year B. Ed now, or is it feasible to do the BA in Linguistics and get me MAT or M. Ed. after I've been teaching a while?

- Would I be able to teach at an international school with a BA in Linguistics and a MAT or M. Ed?

I'm honestly leaning toward the BA in Linguistics because it's shorter and I still get to study what I find interesting.. I'm constantly in a state of fernweh and I am just anxious to get out there!

Opinions greatly appreciated.

CarolinaTHeels · Joined: 03 May 2011 Posts: 130

The only real requirement for International Schools is that you are LICENSED.

Meaning you have passed what ever state's or country's exam to be able to teach in the school system.

Dont even have to have a education degree. You can do an alternative certification program in get licensed that way. Which is a lot quicker and cheaper. Think 1 year and 5k.

That option is for people already having a undergraduate degree.

Starting out will be an up hill battle as you wont have any "teaching" experience but there are def some International Schools around the world that hire teachers without experience.

Here is my advice (this is assuming you dont have any degree)

Find the cheapest quickest college to do a education degree. With summer school you should be able to knock it out in 3 years max. Then do a 1 year MA TESOL program.

Then you would be set in terms of teaching abroad.

artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

CarolinaTHeels · Joined: 03 May 2011 Posts: 130

Perilla · Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong

CarolinaTHeels · Joined: 03 May 2011 Posts: 130

artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

Does your friend teach one of the international shortage subjects? (Maths/ science?). There may be a few real (accredited) international schools that take on inexperienced teachers due to the subject on offer or possibly a location seen as less desirable.

Turning up to a job fair is helpful, too, as meeting an applicant directly can obviously make a difference. However, I think basing one's whole long term plans on working in international schools is risky if it comes down to relying on possible openings few and far between. But maybe there are many more international school teaching openings than I'm aware of (?).

sparks · Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 632

I agree with artemesia, don't make decisions now based on some goal which is somewhat hazy and really an uncertainty. Don't you have to keep up your teacher's license? i.e. if you do the five-year degree, then go wander the globe for ten years and decide you want to settle down at a "good" international school, your license will probably be expired anyway. Do the three-year linguistics degree and get out of there, you can always get more qualifications in the future depending on what you decide. You may realize you want to teach at the tertiary level and thus need an MA TESOL instead or that you really want to be a truck driver, who knows? You've got to get out there before making long-term goals.

artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

I can see it's tempting for the OP to go for a shorter degree in something that's of interest. Nevertheless, if possible, I'd try and include another subject (English lit. etc) as either a major or minor. It will be quite a hassle later if you decide on school teaching and don't really have a teachable subject to offer. I doubt linguistics alone would be enough.