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| Poll: Strong Case Against EFL Career |
| Strongly agree. EFL is not a career, just a way 22-year-old college grads can fund global backpacking. Anyone who mistakes EFL for a career is a fool. |
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15% |
[ 11 ] |
| Agree. No one who understands DAS KAPITAL could mistake EFL as a career. Marx warned that owners always take maximum profit and try to exploit workers as unpaid slaves. |
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1% |
[ 1 ] |
| Well, EFL can be a career, but like any career, it must be carefully cultivated. Too many use EFL to escape McJob misery in their homeland, then wonder why they get stuck with EFL McJobs overseas. |
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27% |
[ 20 ] |
| Disagree. There is huge variation in EFL jobs and it is absurd to dismiss the whole industry just because one job is bad. |
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43% |
[ 31 ] |
| Strongly disagree. EFL career has been very good to me. Back in my homeland I never would have enjoyed the freedom and high quality of life that my EFL career brings me overseas. |
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12% |
[ 9 ] |
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| Total Votes : 72 |
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| Author |
Message |
Chan
Joined: 26 Jul 2004
Posts: 22
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 Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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| donfan wrote: |
| Teaching in America doesn't seem to have the status that teaching in Australia does. Teachers are much more highly paid in Australia. A first year teacher gets $40,000US. After five years we are on $60,000 while principals can earn as much as $80,000. There are also the added benefits. such as paid holidays, employer superannuation fund contributions and sick days which not many ESL jobs have. |
This is not completely true. It really depends on where someone lives in the States. The starting salary in the last state I lived in was $30,000 USD. After three years, it goes up to $50,000. This is one of the poorest states in the U.S. so the starting salaries in some of the other states are probably higher. I don�t know how long it takes to makes $60,000, but teachers in the U.S. are far from poor. Additionally, I've heard that principals can earn as much as $80,000 (and more). I can�t verify that as I have never been a principal and I�ve never asked my friends (who are principals) what they make.
Anyway, I find this thread to be really interesting. Except for volunteering as an ESL teacher in the States and an EFL teacher in France, my experience is primarily with international schools. I mainly teach English literature and composition and occasionally history or geography. I�m certified to teach ESL as well as other things, but I�m not a true ESL (or EFL) teacher like many of you are or have been.
For what it�s worth, I think the EFL field is what a person makes of it. There are many opportunities within the field itself. Or, for example, like others have shown, you can take your experience, get the necessary qualifications, and use it in a regular school setting in your own country or in an international school. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 3:52 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Additionally, I've heard that principals can earn as much as $80,000 (and more). I can�t verify that as I have never been a principal and I�ve never asked my friends (who are principals) what they make. |
I am sure that some principles make less that $80,000 but even principles in rural areas in Pennsylvania make around $100,000. If you work in a rich suburban district you can earn more than that. |
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donfan
Joined: 31 Aug 2003
Posts: 217
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 9:13 am Post subject: |
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Typical Americans - spend all thread complaining about the status of teachers in America then when somebody suggests that teachers in another country are better off it's lets all get defensive and completely ignore what we've just said before.  |
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donfan
Joined: 31 Aug 2003
Posts: 217
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 9:14 am Post subject: |
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| Typical Americans - spend all thread complaining about the status of teachers in America then when somebody suggests that teachers in another country are better off it's lets all get defensive and completely ignore what we've just said before. |
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donfan
Joined: 31 Aug 2003
Posts: 217
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 9:14 am Post subject: |
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| Typical Americans - spend all thread complaining about the status of teachers in America then when somebody suggests that teachers in another country are better off it's lets all get defensive and completely ignore what we've just said before. |
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guest of Japan
Joined: 28 Feb 2003
Posts: 1601
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:13 am Post subject: |
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Typical Australian. Confuse one post on the first page with "all thread."
Actually no disrespect intended to any other Australians. I've got a good friend who is Australian. I think he might even be a gay minority too, just to cover all the basic stereotypes that go with that last sentence.
For what it is worth, teaching salaries vary around the US and tend to match the income averages of the people living in those areas. Average first year salary is around $30,000 for public education. The trick is getting a job right away in public education. I've known teachers who made over 100k. They weren't getting that on only a BA and a cert. |
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Rice Paddy Daddy
Joined: 11 Jul 2004
Posts: 425
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 1:06 pm Post subject: |
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TEFL'ing in Asia is not a respectable career or a profession.
Life as an EFL teacher in Asia is like living in the 'Wild Wild West' and I wouldn't recommend this lifestyle to anyone. |
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distiller
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 249
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| Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 12:17 am Post subject: |
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RPD,
There are plenty of great international schools in Asia where the jobs are first class and there are places like Hong Kong where you can make a killing in cash at local schools as well. As I've said before you just need to be qualified and selective and there are many options, especially in Asia. |
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