Job Discussion Forums

vallillo1983 · Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Posts: 194

I have a freind from uni who is on my course and a UK citizen and not an American! and he's going to teach esl in NY schools. the NY detp of education will sponser his visa and all! So, he told me they are desperate for ESL teachers, he found the job on http://www.nycenet.edu/teachnyc/ so can I ask, as they are sponsering foreign teachers, why dnt you americans wanting to go home apply? BTW, we are not certified to teach in UK state schools as we do not have a teaching licence, we can only teach in private schools!!

fraup · Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:28 am Post subject:

I'm in the US and although I haven't checked the site, most public schools require certification unless they are desperate. Certified ESL teachers will get the better jobs in the better schools in the better areas. The rest will be sent to the hardcore schools in hardcore areas, where the situation has been made even worse by the notorious No Child Left Behind program, courtesy of Mr. Bush.

Take the job, and let me know in a couple of months how it's working out. Oh, and did I mention the rents in NYC these days?

rusmeister · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 867 Location: Russia

I'm certified and I left.
ESL in the US is in desperate straits.
If the school has an ESL dept, it's usually...(in the foreign language dept?)...
NO!!
They are lumped with special ed!

Brooks · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara

sounds familiar.
I remember Austrian teachers getting hired to teach math in public schools in New York. Probably they didn`t go to the best ones.
That means they couldn`t get Americans to teach there.

Noelle · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 361 Location: USA

The "NO Child Left Behind" policy is soooo ridiculous.
It's not even close to being logical and obviously hasn't been working.
This is a big reason why I teach overseas.

About to come home though to do my Masters in TESOL. Still debating over whether or not to get certified. I know there's a big demand in public schools but I don't even want to look at the PRAXIS

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

fraup · Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:32 pm Post subject:

Noelle--the PRAXIS wasn't difficult. I have a CELTA, plus a 30-year-old English B.A., and I had no problem passing. There are probably study guides available if you're near a U.S. library.

Jizzo T. Clown · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:13 pm Post subject:

I'd worry less about the PRAXIS and more about the working environment. Confused

rusmeister · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 867 Location: Russia

I wonder if anyone here has read John Taylor Gatto's works and speeches? (26 yrs in NY public schools, teacher of the year several times, including State teacher of the year)
I read his stuff a year after I left, and it was like lightning on a dark field at night which in one swoop illuminated the landscape I had only seen my local bits and pieces of. I had spent several years beating my head against the system trying to develop effective teaching and earning my teaching credential and never fully understood the insanity of political indoctrination instead of training teachers to teach in the credential program, the outrageous conditions in the schools and the uselessness of district admin in wasting teachers' time in staff meetings that gave little to nothing useful to blocking my efforts to build cooperation among district ESL teachers, etc.
I read Gatto's acceptance (of TOY award) and resignation speeches and his "Underground History of American Education" - free online - and realized that for the most part, his research and theory fully explained everything that I had experienced.

If you are working in a US school or considering it, I strongly recommend reading his speeches (5-7 minutes each) and at least the intro to his Underground History (5 minutes).

http://www.preservenet.com/theory/Gatto.html

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm

Update:
Let me add a 3rd link here, this one is very quick.
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/historytour/history1.htm

Chancellor · Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:32 pm Post subject:

Between the politics and being required to teach all this political correctness nonsense, there's no way I want to teach in American public schools. Besides, when there are American high school seniors can't even find various American states on a map or when there are American high school seniors can barely read on a sixth grade level, it causes one to wonder about what they've been taught in those schools.