Job Discussion Forums

[SunShan]

I'm looking for advice on my situation:

33-year-old British male
BA English and Linguistics degree
CELTA
Less than a year's teaching experience

It's taken me over four years to achieve the above qualifications as I know Asia is where I want to spend the majority/all of my life. The thought of staying in England any longer is really depressing! My natural thoughts are to just work in many countries and not come back.

However, I have an opportunity to get my teacher's licence/PGCE/QTS in England, which means staying, I'm guessing, maybe three more years - one to get qualified, another two for experience. I'm thinking that career-wise this could be good as I can work in international schools/better paid places etc. Whereas staying on the TEFL path, although very enjoyable, could cause me problems if I get married & start a family, not save money for retirement etc.

Is the three-year sacrifice worth it given that I really just want to stay abroad? Maybe I could come back in a few years to do the PGCE.

If I get my teacher's licence, would I be more employable abroad doing primary (5-11 year-olds) teaching a wide subject curriculum, or secondary (12-16) teaching my BA subjects?

I've thought about doing a Master's and DELTA instead, but with my lack of experience and current finances, they're some way off. At the moment in England, I can get £9,000 wages for my PGCE year, which is more than the usual £6,000 (payment difference between graduating with a 1st Class and a 2.1 or below degree). This money would make the year more financially bearable, and may even change for the worse in the future.

In a nutshell, it's taken me over four years to get to the point where I can finally go. I was in my '20s when I started this journey, now in my '30s it's kind of hit me that I should be a bit more responsible for the rest of my life (though I hate to think so conservatively).

The countries I see myself in are: Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. I don't want to come back to the UK.

Any advice much appreciated. Especially from those who have been in a similar situation, wished they could go back and get a certain qualification... Or just went out there and TEFLed without a care in the world.

[Maitoshi]

Just a thought ... wouldn't doing the teaching certification and two years teaching give you something decent to fall back on in case you find life in Asia looked better on paper?

Have you lived in Asia previously?

[SunShan]

[Maitoshi]

I'd say keep on keeping on, then. If you find that your feelings change on the matter, you can always go for more certifications later. So many people work toward more and more certifications lately, only to wind up doing something totally unrelated, anyway. If you are happy and being at least somewhat responsible in life, why rock the boat?

[HLJHLJ]

Definitely get the PGCE now, it will be worth it in the long run. If you don´t do it now you will find it much harder to even get on a PGCE course later, and you probably won´t even be eligible to pay home student fees, let alone get the bursary/wages. It would be madness not to take that opportunity while you have it.

With certification and your NQT years out of the way you will always be able to get work overseas in international schools. It will be better paid and more stable than TEFL work. The contracts are usually around 2 years and include relocation fees/flights, etc. so it´s financially more realistic to be able to move around if you want to. You will be just as employable in primary or secondary, you need to decide which age group you prefer working with.

Also, depending how you do your PGCE it´s sometimes possible to do at least one of your placements overseas at British international schools.

[nightsintodreams]

Once you've been out of the country for three years you'll be treated as a foreign student, so you've still got a couple years left before you have to make that big decision.

If I were you, Id just spend a couple years enjoying your new life, learn more about Japan, Asia and TEFL in general and then make a decision as to whether a teachers licence or MA would be more valuable for what it is you want to do.

Do you really want to be a teacher in an international school? I imagine the hours are much longer than what you're currently doing. I'm convinced that with a slightly better than bog standard job plus work on the side you can make as much as the average international teacher does and probably work a similar number of hours with less stress. Also, wouldn't the life of a teacher in an international school be a bit like living in a cultural bubble? For me at least, that kind of takes away the point of being in Asia.

[SunShan]

[nightsintodreams]

Well, there's lots of work in Japan outside of eikaiwa and even some smaller eikaiwa have more favorable working schedules than the big corporate ones.

[HLJHLJ]

[G Cthulhu]

[SunShan]

[G Cthulhu]

[SunShan]

[G Cthulhu]

[SunShan]