Job Discussion Forums

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

There's been some back and forth on TEFL careers, finding work back home once you're done, and whether anyone can forge a career abroad. I get the impression that most North Americans don't see this teaching abroad as part of a career back home. My own case has been different.

I'm curious...what do those of you who are European (I'm including British here) think of teaching abroad as a career back home?

I ask because I'm genuinely surprised to see so many negative opinions. I see every day job ads for European and international business, with requirements of having time working abroad, with fluency in other languages, and of course, related degrees. I have talked to a good number of younger people who have their eye on this ball while teaching abroad. Are these people simply not posting here?

zaneth · Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 1:36 pm Post subject:

I definitely had that in mind when I left the states. I figured language skills and time abroad would help me back home in Pacific Rim West Coast America. I figured China was the future. I even thought I might end my hippy days and seek a nice comfortable job in government after putting a down payment on a little house.

My big achievement after nearly four years abroad: a Russian pension card. Yahoo! If I retire in Russia I'll get a pension. My future is secure.

yaramaz · Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 1:52 pm Post subject:

I have a Turkish pension book too, which I can claim from after twenty years of teaching (I think). Also, I have skills in a language that is of almost no use to anyone outside of Central Asia- though I suppose I could chat casually with uighurs if pressed.

I can also speak decent Afrikaans, a smattering of Xhosa and Romanian, and can quickly type on four different kinds of keyboard without filling my page with ��şğ�ı.

These skills will stand me in good stead if I ever return to the west coast of Canada...

sojourner · Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 2:59 pm Post subject:

Zaneth,

I am intrigued by your reference to a "Russian pension card".

You mentioned that you have been working in Russia for four years. Are you also a permanent resident ? Or, do certain categories of foreign workers automatically become entitled to Russian social security if they have resided there for the required period of time ? However, recent news reports have indicated that the Russian authorities want to cut back on welfare entitlements. So, what are foreign workers, such as teachers, usually entitled to, regarding state health cover, etc ?

Regards,

Peter

Teacher in Rome · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 1286

In response to Guy, I don't see that my teaching abroad would be of much use to me back in the UK, unless I was going to do TEFL there as well. Given that TEFL salaries in the UK are so woeful, that is an unlikely prospect.

I haven't been working abroad with the idea that it will at some point help me with a career plan in the UK. In fact, I work abroad because I don't want to return to the UK to work.

My feeling is that you need to have other skills to earn a good living in the UK. You might get lucky with a decent TEFL teaching job, but I think retraining would be a good idea. Some posters have said on other threads that primary school teaching is a decent option, and it's certainly true that the UK government has been throwing money at people to train as primary school teachers. In some areas of the country they will also help you out with buying a house - this happened to my sister.

jesszilla · Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 35

I think the skills that you gain as an ESL teacher are probably quite a bit more marketable in Europe than they are in the US. I live in the US, and I'm leaving to teach ESL in Japan precisely because there is so little market here for the language skills I already have (Arabic, Spanish, French). I could forfeit my strong concept of ethics and go work for the government, but that's about it. I like to hope that after I gain some teaching experience and an MA in Applied Linguistics that there might possibly be something back here for me, but I'm not holding my breath. In that case, I might just try to get an M.Ed. with certifications for languages and history, teach for four or five years in the States, and then apply to international schools. I'd love to work in the EU at some point, but I'd have to be a lot more qualified than I am now because of the citizenship issues.
The overall attitude toward ESL here is pretty crappy. Funding for bilingual education is diminishing rapidly, and there aren't nearly enough ESL teachers to go around. The general tendency is to mainstream English language learners into English-only classrooms, and to leave adult ESL learners to community education (few and far between) or university (expensive). So unfortunately there aren't very many positions to be had. I would speculate that this is the reason why many US candidates don't consider ESL a long-term career path.

zaneth · Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 4:11 pm Post subject:

Know what you mean about the ethics. I just don't feel that English teaching is all that pristine either. Spearheads of globalisation don't you know. There are a lot of different jobs in gov't. Something simple, non-military, and with no security clearance might be nice.

Actually, a pension card isn't my only advancement. Fatherhood has been quite an experience. And I have an opportunity for graduate work. I'm hoping that some small little university niche in culture or language might be available to me someday in the future back home.

There aren't a lot of jobs but I only need one.

Sojourner, I'll pm you so as to avoid going off topic.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Interesting, thank you all. I've come into contact with various teachers who've had TEFL as a step in a career direction. Here's a sampling...

US Army - TEFL in Mexico - Law School (wants to be an environmental lawyer)

US food distribution - TEFL Mexico - Christian evangelist

CDN Postal worker - TEFL Mexico - Travel tour operator

CDN journalist - TEFL Mexico - TEFL trainer (that's me)

US uni degree in urban development - TEFL Argentina - now in some UN project in urban development

CDN Bay St broker/trader - TEFL Mexico - Mexico financial consultant

...and my favorite TEFL student...

Surfer - TEFL Chile (still surfing) - Spanish teacher NYC (can you surf in NY?)

It surprises me to hear comments from posters on TEFL being a dead end. I was wondering if anyone out there had different stories.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

i'm interested. What do people mean when they say TEFL as a career. What does it encompass? I'd say that TEFL was my career. But TEFL is more than teaching Headway in a language school. You can go down the academic road, the teacher training one, the business side of it or specialise in some field. Also why would I want to go 'home'? I have local knowledge and contacts here. I have no contacts back in the UK. Best for me to stay put.