Job Discussion Forums

[kozma]

I have an office admin. certificate and a legal and realtime reporting certificate (court reporter) totalling three years college. These courses included business English classes, bootcamp grammar, and punctuation. If I take the four-week TEFL course, will that enable me to secure a teaching position overseas?

[Glenski]

What is your nationality and age, and what country were you thinking of working in?

In Japan, you cannot work as a teacher with those qualifications unless you are eligible for a working holiday visa (dependent on age and nationality).

[dmb]

[31]

True there are many ''teachers'' working illegally in Turkey but they end up working in the crappy language schools for an hourly wage. They get no social security, work permit, holiday pay, minimum salary and are universally treated with contempt by their employers. Sure some do ok and I know of at least one degreeless DOS who has been here for donkey`s years but the majority of unqualified ''teachers'' get disillusioned with the poor pay and conditions and having to do the visa run which is costly in terms of losing hours. I won`t say that the unqualified or underqualifed bring the profession down but if TEFL were a profession then professionals wouldn`t be suggesting you work illegally without a degree.

[dmb]

[31]

Well here is one definition of profession taken form my Oxford Pocket Learner`s Dictionary:

''An occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, that requires considerable training and specialized study. ''

Now does that sound like TEFL?

[younggeorge]

[PAULH]

[31]

And every bar in Turkey is a gay bar IF YOU WANT IT TO BE.

[Justin Trullinger]

Really?? Hadn't heard that. But I know some friends of mine will be on the next flight to Turkey! LOL

Justin

[EnglishBrian]

Some countries demand a degree, others not. Of course it looks good on a CV but the best teacher I ever worked with didn't have one - but he did have a really professional attitude.

I guess if you want to get into tutoring in universities then MAs and PhDs get to be important but in my experience there aren't that many countries which employ native speaker teachers in there universities. Are there? Those people seem a relatively select few.

For myself I still find the idea of a 'Doctor of TEFL' faintly amusing - guess I wont be climbing higher than 'TEFL journeyman' myself then.

[31]

TEFL Doctor sounds better.

TEFL journeyman-no-journeyman is for carpenters, bricklayers etc. How about TEFL migrant worker?

[EnglishBrian]

Maybe true - brickies need more training than the average TEFL teacher after all.

For the original poster, this degree debate sometimes splits along the lines of

1) Those working in countries where you have to have one (and often not necessarily a TEFL Cert.) - where people working without them are doing it illegally, often for dodgy organisations and some would argue 'unprofessionally', and where progression up the career ladder depends on getting higher degrees.

2)Those in countries where you don't need a degree. I've found CELTAs and Diplomas tend be be regarded much more importantly there. Every man and dog has a BA, so if you haven't got one it just becomes an interesting talking point, rather than a factor affecting whether you get a job or not.

[31]

Career progression-there is not much of that in TEFL.

In language school the DOSes are DOSes because they stayed a second year whilst everyone else left.

In unis and high schools it is usually the local teachers who become managers of relatives of the owner.

In the BC you have to put the years in for which you are rarely paid well for the amount of work you do.

TEFL back home is a joke.

[dmb]

(I have asked 31 this question on the TUrkey Forum but he hasn't answered) If you hate TEFL so much why don't you leave it?