Job Discussion Forums

[blueocean]

I am originally from China, now working in South America to teach Chinese. When I am done with my contract here, I am planning to go to Canada to get a Master's degree, preferably in Education since I like teaching. For the record, I have a Bachelor's degree in English Education and Master's in Cross cutlural communication from China. I hope I could work and live in Canada after studying there.

Originally I was thinking about doing either TESOL or Second Language Education. But it doesn't look like a good a choice according to posts on this forum. If you go to other countries outside north America it is a good choice. If I go back to China, it is a reasonable choice. In addition, Being a Chinese really puts me at disadvantage to compete with native speakers in Canada.

My passion is in teaching and I have taught Enlgish and Chinese so far. Since I do not have other teachables I am not sure what major I should choose. Master in Education or Educational Studies looks very general. What kind of jobs could you find with such a degree? What suggestions do you guys have for me? Thanks in advance!

[santi84]

Hi Blueocean,

Do you have a plan on how you are going to work legally here in Canada? As a Chinese citizen,you will not be sponsored to teach ESL, there is no company that can justify this to immigration when there are a lot of MA TESOL graduates here heading to China because there isn't much work available.

If you know a way to work legally in Canada, some school districts in Vancouver, British Columbia are looking for fully qualified Mandarin instructors, particularly at the high school level. Mandarin is Vancouver's second language (as opposed to French elsewhere) and there is an increased demand for anglophone students to learn Chinese as an elective in school.

You might want to consider phoning around for that, unless you are set on teaching English, but I don't see how a Chinese citizen could get sponsored to teach English here. I do know a few non-native speakers teaching here (Czech, Chilean), but they worked here legally due to their husband's Canadian nationality.

Good luck!

[blueocean]

thanks Santi! Definitely helpful to get some inside information.

If ever, I am going to Canada on a student visa, which allows me a student work permit, provided I meet some conditions. However it is valid only for maybe 2 years. I have no idea how to extend it after that. Need to do more searching.

About the TESOL thing, Yeah, it doesn't look like a good bet at all. I looked up the job ads online. Unlike the U.S., There are not a lot of Mandarin teacher ads except for a few private company's.

Your information on Vancouver is encouraging. Maybe the safest is to do a Second Language Teaching Degree, which could qualify me to teach Mandarin in Canada and English in China. But yeah, a work permit should be my biggest concern.