Job Discussion Forums

[SuppaTime]

I was emailing with a buddy of mine back in the States yesterday who is finishing a Ph.D. in English literature. He knows I'm thinking about going to Mexico, and he was asking me if there are many chances to teach literature there, but I didn't know, because I'm not there (and I don't have a Ph.D in literature). But I told him this would probably be a good place to find out, and I can refer him to the posts easily enough.
I'm in China right now. Here, there are a fair number of opportunities to do that. That's because, I think, there are just so many full-time positions at uni.s in general here -- that's where most of the jobs are, and they are dying for people. So, probably only, oh, I don't know, maybe 8 to 10% of the jobs involve teaching some lit. But when you consider how many jobs there are, that turns out to be a lot. In Mexico, when there are full-time jobs, is it rare for them to involve lit (for someone who is qualified)? So, all in all, is it hard for someone to land a job like that? Oh yeah, I almost forgot -- would he have different/more stringent requirements for getting tenure than someone who is solely teaching oral English (re. publishing, conferences, etc..)? Thanks all .... SuppaTime[/i]

[Ben Round de Bloc]

At a university that offered a licenciatura en idiomas/ingl�s, it might be possible. Nothing like that in this neck of the woods, however. Occasionally, a private school might want someone to teach a lit course to some of its advanced level students, but it wouldn't be the type of school that required a teacher with a PhD in literature.

Maybe UNAM?

[thelmadatter]

Im thinking the same as Ben. At my campus they are looking for someone to teach literature and an occasional EFL class for the International Baccelaureate program but someone with a PhD is overqualified. Theyre looking for someone with a Bachelors/Masters in English Lit.

[SuppaTime]

Thanks a lot for the replies. By the way -- overqualified? Really? In the U.S., I think someone with a Ph.D can easily get a job teaching at a private H.S. or a community college. Really they're overqualified to teach lit. in Mexico?

[ls650]

At least with this state university, a doctorate is paid substantially more than a bachelors (about 30-40% more). While the uni might prefer to hire a doctorate for some courses, for lowly English language training any native speaker with a bachelors will do.

As for literature, no. We teach general English and TOEFL prep; nothing beyond that.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[hlamb]

At a language school last year I taught one literature course in addition to regular language school fare. It was a small advanced group and the director decided to have me do literature with them because there weren't any texts available to suit their level. In fact, what they wanted more was conversation so we had debates every class on issues raised in the book. Unfortunately, when one student moved to the US the class was deemed too small and cancelled. It was really unfortunate because the students were very motivated-and it was my favourite class too!

From what I've seen at other language schools, this type of course is pretty rare.

[thelmadatter]

I dont work at a language school. Its ITESM. The push is on here to to have masters(any master's, related to what you teach or not ) but no push to have a doctorate unless you are teaching to the masters level (sorry, all technical majors for the masters, no lit).

They would most definitely wonder why someone with a PhD would want to work at the high school and would certainly not pay you more than someone with the minimum qualifications.

However, if your friend wants to give it a shot he can email me a resume at [email protected] and Ill get it to the right person.

Why does he want to teach in Mexico so badly?