Job Discussion Forums

[donfan]

I've always wanted to be an English teacher and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts(Honours) in English Language and Literature. I went to teacher's college in Australia and became a high school English and History teacher. After a few years of the appalling Australian education system I had had enough and decided to go overseas and teach. I completed a one-month Trinity College TESOL certificate before I went.

I taught overseas for five years, mostly in Russia with a couple of stints in Asia. I then enrolled in my Masters degree and graduated at the end of last year with mostly high distinctions.

I recently came to Taiwan and it just staggers me the number of people here who have no clue about teaching here. They're here to pay off debts or just see the world and teach on the side. Fine, if they were taking substandard jobs with lower salaries. The thing that bothers me is that most schools would prefer to take them, whether it's because they have the right accent(i.e North American) or they are young and good-looking.

I speak to people here who have been learning English for years. Their English is atrocious. Obviously their teachers had no idea about teaching. I substituted for a teacher last week and the director commented at the end, "You're the best teacher we've ever had!". Yet most schools would be loathe to employ me because I do not have the image or the accent.

Until this situation changes the ESL profession will be a joke and people will be walking around speaking substandard English. I hope this situation does change but I for one am very pessimistic.

[Glenski]

You should join the discussion thread below (Japan forum)!!http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=7243

[denise]

This issue is a crucial one, but one that unfortunately has no clear-cut solutions. Debates tend to either go in circles or get acrimonious, or both. The debate on the Japan thread has not strayed into flames yet--a credit to its participants--but every time a solution is offered, further problems are raised. There is a lot of room for finger-pointing. Is it the young, inexperienced teachers' fault? Possibly, if they don't take their jobs seriously. But there are always schools that are willing to employ them, as pointed out in the original post. Do we blame the schools, then? Really, who can blame a young 20-something for wanting to see the world? Those teacher-travellers might not even know what they are contributing to (the potential de-professionalization of the industry).

There are quality schools out there that require skills and qualifications and pay accordingly, but they are the minority. The majority of the schools are selling an image, a product, luring teachers in with the promise of exoticism and adventure. Is it those schools' fault for being business-minded? All businesses (and that's what most of those places are--businesses, not schools) seek profit--can we blame them for doing what comes naturally to them? (Well, I can, but that's just me.)

I myself am going in circles now. What is the solution?!?!? There was talk on another thread about professional teachers unionizing. Not likely to happen, but a nice thought--give us some power over the schools!

d

[Wolf]

I started at the beginning in this profession. Undergrad degree and willingness to actually teach.

I've added an in-progress MA and four years' experience to that.

I think that actually caring about how well you teach, plus experience, is a prerequisite for holding you head high.

As to being a "professional," I was just remarking today to a friend that there are people in my home province in Canada who are "real" teachers, and have no more than a 2 year diploma from a teachers' college.

This gets debated here a lot.

[Roger]

I say you chose the wrong country to teach in. In this part of Asia there is no problem awareness, quality or excellence. Education in Confucian societies seems to have no goals, certainly not the goal of empowering the individual person. Don't blame it on expat teachers only - they have no choice but to do thir bosses' bidding. Excellent native English teachers? They get reshaped to fit into the local mould. Don't stand taller than anybody else!
I do deplore the attitudinal problems of many TEFLing backpackers - but they are the product of an Anglo culture that's gone wrong.
Just ask Leeroy why he quit his job!
All these new-fangled concepts of teaching English - juxtaposed to a generally observed lowering of standards throughout the world;
no wonder "student centredness" and similar ideals have a strong currency here - they are selling gimmicks, and East Asia is not interested in foreign cultures ("spiritual pollution"), but in making money!

[nomadder]

You hear so much about these terrible Tefl backpackers. They sound like something akin to an Orc. Yet in all my months of backpacking I've met about 2 or 3 travellers who were Tefl teachers.

In Japan none of the teachers I met travelled much except after their contract on their way home or Christmas in Thailand. So who are these havoc-wreaking creatures and under what rock do they hide? If anything Tefl teachers should travel more-something to talk about in class if nothing more.

I place the blame on the countries and their educational standards re: English. Frankly I like it because if they got their acts together at least half of us would be out of work.

[nomadder]

PS

When I travel I travel. When I teach I teach. Whatever job I have I always try to do my best no matter what.

What about the people over there just trying to pay off loans with no interest in teaching? Are they cretins too?

[struelle]

[Gordon]

Steve, a long trip uninterrupted by such a horrible thing such as work, is very exhilerating. I had a 9 month trip around southern and eastern Europe about 10 years ago. Then a couple of years later a 6 month trip around s-e Asia. I never worked or thought about it. I just moved from place to place when I felt like it and had no deadlines to meet. To me, that is travel at its best.
I may never do such a long trip again due to present circumstances, but I don`t regret a thing. If you have the means, I say go for it.

[Roger]

Nomadder,
you won't see many TEFLing backpackers because those that I come across stick to their job and make dough. They pay off their debts, then return, or fly to another country to TEFL.
Do they see the insides of those countries they live in?

[biffinbridge]

As a qualified teacher with almost ten years of overseas experience, I think it's a bit unfair to blame everything that is wrong with ELT on the poor 'ole backpackers. During my 'time' I've seen some awful 'qualified' teachers.I blame it on the employers as they're the people doing the hiring.You can't blame people for wanting to travel and pay their way if the opportunity exists for them to do so.The real problem lies within the fact that it's an unregulated industry and because of this, standards vary from school to school and indeed,from country to country.In general,I've found that the huge chains of private schools are the very worst in this respect.Ironically they're usually the people who spout the biggest load of pedagogical boll**ks to boot.All this Berlitz or Callan Speed Method nonsense is just marketing hype to con more feepayers into believing that their motives are educational rather than financial.I now work for 'companies' rather than schools.Why?Because the money is better and you don't have to deal with people who've done a history degree and CELTA and are suddenly giving workshops on NLP and the like or becoming DOSs for EF franchises.The whole thing is a joke.All you can do is your best in any given environment,s*d what everyone else is doing or saying.It takes more than qualifications to become a good teacher and you certainly don't need an MA to teach 'Headway','Reward' or any of the other course books you'll inevitably be using in those far flung places.

[Wolf]

[willy]

Taiwan is tough, the parents cant speak English have no idea what a good school is, so they are at the hands of the so called school who is owned and run by a businessman; who has not a hint of what a teacher does but he does know that happy students will beg their parents to signup for another year. And of course that adds up to � you guest it $$$$.

The most honest thing I ever heard in Taiwan was �we really want a teacher who can sing and dance� so I left and came to Indonesia where the most well known ESL school is English First, witch is very sad as they only hire travelers.

As for me, YES I am a bad teacher and all I can do is give my students a shot to pass there grammar test, broaden there mind and open there eyes through my knowledge and life experience, in hopes that they will have a better further.

[naturegirl321]

I give everything when I teach. When I travel, on my time off, I do the same.

TO the original poster.
Learning a language is hard enough full time, but when people do it part time, in a country when the langague isn't spoken in every day life. It may take years to learn the language. HOw quickly do you wnat people to learn English?

[RK]