Job Discussion Forums

[alwayslol]

In the U.S., there are now some programs to help get people who already have a 4 year degree, but not in education, into public school teaching. Usually there is a few months training, then you are put into a classroom with a mentor teacher while taking night classes to get an official certification equivalent to what someone who followed a more traditional route, i.e. getting their degree in education, did to become a teacher. In other words, these programs are much cheaper (most of the cost is covered by the school district, government, etc.) and shorter. (About one and a half years versus going back to school full-time for two).

So, I'm wondering if there are any similar programs in Canada, and if it is possible for an American to join one in order to teach and live permanently in Canada? Does anyone have a first step for me in finding out? I've done Internet searches with no luck, but perhaps there are different terms for it in Canada.
Thanks.

[Gordon]

Never heard of it in Canada. If there is, I am sure you wouldn't qualify, being an American. You would first have to be a Cdn citizen in order to qualify for any kind of gov't assistance.
The teacher certifications that I know of are 12 months, f/t on top of a bachelor's degree.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

The US has difficulty getting techers to work in some areas (bad ones). So does Britain. The areas in Canada where we have teacher shortages are in remote fly-in First Nations reserves.

Only one in ten who apply to teacher's college in Ontario get in and the numbers are similar in the other provinces. There are usually hundreds of people who already have a four-year degree, and a one year b.ed (and provincial licence) applying for each job. And now thanks to scrapping mandatory retirement, teacher shortages in Ontario not expected to be a big problem.

If you look through want-ads in Canada, you'll see that Canada needs a lot of forklift drivers, and retail managers (hiring campaigns by big box companies usually based in the US), of and of course part time flexible (ie "we will give you ten to twenty hours a week, so long as you are available anytime of the day seven days a week, so can you fit that in around your panhandling-to-make-rent time?") retail employees (this last area makes up 98% of the jobs created in November)! Canada also seems to need a lot of volunteers for arts companies and volunteers for ESL teachers, who of course earn zero, less travelling costs.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

alwayslol,

Have you considered going to Alaska to teach? And is it ESL you're wanting to teach or another subject? I know of a teacher (elementary reading specialist) who went to Alaska because they have a hard time getting and retaining teachers up there. However, there doesn't appear to be a big demand/need for ESL.

And as Gambate said, competition for these programs is stiffer in Canada than here in the states. Why do you want to head north, anyway? Don't you like living in a developed country?

FWIW, The ALPs I've seen in the states aren't paid for by the school district unless it's a high-need area.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I forgot to mention that if you aren't a practicing Roman Catholic who can get a letter from a parish priest attesting to that (like a note from mommy IMO), then you are barred from 50% of the jobs that there are in at least Ontario (the Catholic, seperate system is publically funded and is about 50% of the schools in the province). Actually, it's more than that, because there is also the French school system- pretty big outside of Toronto- in Eastern and Northern Ontario. If you aren't Catholic, the chance of you being French is probably pretty slim. Not to mention that of course there are no restrictions on the non-Catholic school system, so it's not like you are competing for the available jobs only with people who also aren't Catholic.