Job Discussion Forums

elliot_spencer · Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 495

Is it true that to teach in a high school in Taiwan you need to be a certified teacher back home and just having a BA won't do.... even if the BA is in TESOL?

Thanks guys

BigWally · Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 5:22 pm Post subject:

yes that is true

Big John Stud · Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 513

elliot_spencer wrote:

Is it true that to teach in a high school in Taiwan you need to be a certified teacher back home and just having a BA won't do.... even if the BA is in TESOL?

Thanks guys

I was told by one company all I needed was a bachelor degree and a TESOL certificate! Does anyone know for sure?

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

If you are looking to work legally within a high school (i.e. the high school provides you with a work permit and ARC in their name) then you need to be a certified teacher back home and are limited to high schools that are approved to employ foreign teachers.

If you don't care to be working illegally then you can get a job at a high school without qualifications.

I assume that the OP is asking about the former so yes you do need certification to work in high school in Taiwan.

timmyjames1976 · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 148

Anyone know how this would work for someone with open work rights? I assume that it's ok.

outoftowner08 · Joined: 31 May 2007 Posts: 10

Hi. I got a job offer at an international school in Taipei without a teaching certificate. I have a BA in journalism and several years of random experience, some of it teacher-esque (running volunteer workshops, teaching volunteer training sessions, etc.) I used to be a reporter. My boyfriend got a job at the same school teaching social studies. I didn't think this was possible, but apparently, it is. I will be teaching language arts to grades 9 to 12. I know this is not a Taiwanese high school, per se, but it is somewhat similar.

markholmes · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 661 Location: Wengehua

Outoftowner, you are comparing chalk and cheese and it shows that you haven't done enough research.

As already pointed out to you, the deal you are getting isn't good (actually as an ESL teacher it's good, but for your boyfriend it isn't good at all). There was not a single positive post on the other forum about what you are being offered. You need to listen to these people.

If you feel that you can negotiate with the school then you should negotiate for your boyfriend as he is the certified teacher. Your deal is already good for a newbie ESL teacher.

yamahuh · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Karaoke Hell

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

Jawnee · Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Hsinchu

Okay,

Legal work

To teach at an elementary school or a high school you need to be a qualified teacher. This means you need to have a teaching licence from your state, province or country.

This is the law.

But, it the school that you are or will be teaching at has set up or received a buxiban licence the rules change. If your ARC is through the buxiban you can teach classes at the school in the afternoon (at least for the elementary level classes - I am not sure about high school classes).

How do I know this?

Because a school that I worked at was raided and the teachers that did not have an ARC were deported and the teachers that had an ARC through the buxiban and not the school itself were not deported. They were told that since they were teaching in the afternoon they were okay.

This maybe different for teachers at a high school. It could also be because of a different interpretation by the Foreign Affairs Police in one location versus another location.

So can you teach at a High School without at teaching degree or teaching licence - maybe. Can you teach at an elementary school without a teaching degree or teaching licence - yes if they are a private school that has set up a buxiban.

Jawnee

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

Jawnee · Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Hsinchu

The school is a private school.

The buxiban either has a slightly different name.

The address is the same as the private school.

It started in 2005 and continues to this day.

I do know that the school went through a long and expensive process to set up the buxiban. Because of this I expect that it may be unique in Taiwan or one of a few.

Jawnee

Jawnee · Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Hsinchu

I meant to say that the buxiban has a slightly different name.

Jawnee

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

Thanks for the follow up information Jawnee.

That is really a very special case that you make mention of. I wouldn't think that there are too many other schools in Taiwan, either elementary level or high school, which could really compare.

The fact that this is a private school does set it apart from government schools in regards to legality of foreign teachers. Some private schools can apply for special permission to employ foreign teachers and this school may have indeed done that. Something like a school registered under the Supplementary Education Act or the like.

In order to be legally employed you can only work for the employer named on your ARC. That employer name will be in Chinese and even in the case of chain schools each branch has its own individual Chinese name. In the case of this private elementary school and private buxiban they too would have their own registered business names.

In the case that Jawnee mentions perhaps there was another reason that some teachers were deported and others not. Perhaps the inspecting party overlooked the fact that the registered names were different if they were quite similar? Perhaps the teachers were actually registered to work in the school and not the buxiban? Perhaps they were registered to work in both?

I'm afraid that I don't agree that this is a case that suggests that it is legal across the board for non-qualified foreign teachers to work in elementary schools, nor that you can get your ARC in a schools buxiban and then work in the seperately named school itself.