Job Discussion Forums

[Marcoregano]

I'd be interested to see what others think on this subject. Having worked in and around TEFL for about 12 years, in Europe and Asia, it seems to me that relatively speaking, few of us have kids compared to the rest of the population. Of course, this is anecdotal and I might be wrong, but given my experience to date I do get that impression. In fact, I know very few TEFLers who have had children.

If it's true, I'd suggest a couple of reasons, and wonder whether people might agree or not. One is that we tend to be on the move a lot, and having kids is either impractical and/or many of us simply don't get into long-term, settled relationships. Allied to this is a lack of long-term security in many TEFL jobs, and some simply don't get paid enough to bring up a family. Some might even suggest that many TEFLers are restless, misfit, maverick types - we wouldn't have had kids even if we'd stayed in our home countries.

Any thoughts?

[jpvanderwerf2001]

I think it's a mixture of all of the reasons you astutely cited. I, for one, do have a child, but I'm at the point in my life when I felt I was secure enough (economically, psychologically) to start a family. Come to think of it, age probably has a lot to do with this phenomenon; many (perhaps most?) TEFLers are 20-somethings who are just in it for the short-term, and wouldn't start a family for nearly a decade no matter what they were doing.
Interesting topic.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

OP, it might be a mixture of things that you cite..but not always. For example, in the TEFL world in which I exist, I receive summer leave tickets for myself, the wife, and up to three kids as well as an educational allowance for up to two kids (don't try to do the math, 'cuz it'll give you a headache as it does us!). Because of these benes, including a provided-flat big enough to hold us all actually encourages us to procreate. Also, except from Japan where I'd have to work my bum off to provide for my family and afford all of the perks we get, we'd never be able to have all of this one one salary. On top of that, I'm on a series of either 2 or 3 year contracts (1996 up to now), so stability and job security, I imagine, have a lot to do with it.

So, really, I think it all reflects on the TEFL world that you find yourself in.

NCTBA

[veiledsentiments]

I'd say it depends on the part of the world you are talking about. In the Middle East there tends to be more married couples than singles and while some were older with grown kids, many had young kids. Almost every year there were teachers who had babies, and most had 2-4 kids.

This was true over a 12 year period.

VS

[jpvanderwerf2001]

VS, do you think that's because the pay scale in the ME tends to be higher? Or do the employers prefer family people? Or is it simply that the social life is less exciting, so it attracts more settled types?

[denise]

[Marcoregano]

Interesting replies, and too early to make conclusions, but the above posts seem to back the notion that a high proportion of TEFLers that do have children are those with the 'creme de la creme' of TEFL jobs - the higher paying, longer-term, more settled jobs - such as those mentioned by VS in Saudi. However, the majority of TEFLers are in less stable and lower paid jobs and, I suspect, are less inclined or feel less able to start a family. Another take on the 'age' aspect mentioned by jpv2001 - I wonder how many TEFlers miss the boat - because of their on-the-move lifestyle they don't really think about having kids, or trying to have kids until it's too late?

(BTW, I didn't intend to include 'backpacker' TEFLers in the OP, as many of them will return to their home counties after a year or two or less and do something completely different, so don't really count as long-term TEFLers.)

[Glenski]

I have one kid, so do 2 friends of mine who are in the same business.

Other close friends have 3, 3, 2, and 2 kids. All of us are males married to local women.

The norm for Japan is 1 kid (and declining).

My friends and I have varied jobs, so there is no distinction between creme de la creme positions and number of kids. If anything, it's the opposite of that presumption.

Perhaps this part of Marcoregano's OP is most relevant:
we tend to be on the move a lot,

Interesting M, because then you wrote:
I didn't intend to include 'backpacker' TEFLers in the OP

So, who is NOT a backpacker yet moves a lot?

[Marcoregano]

[Glenski]

So, you take the term backpacker quite literally, then? And, it seems that the real definition is someone who merely flits from country to country with that pack. Ok, just wondering.

To me, it doesn't make a difference if it is a backpack or a trunk. "Backpacker" means someone who is a transient. In the end (if there is one), it doesn't matter to me whether they settle abroad or back home. I don't think there really is anyone who DOESN'T settle eventually.

[denise]

I think I would fit into the category of non-backpacker who moves around a lot... "Backpacker" in this field is used (usually negatively) for people who value the traveling over the teaching, i.e., not career teachers. I am a career teacher, but my longest stint in any one place is 2+ years so far, for various reasons. A transient non-backpacking career EFLer? And my desire not to have kids wouldn't change if I were back home doing... (gasp)... a 9-to-5 office job.

d

[Justin Trullinger]

I think, Gleski, that the term may be influenced a lot by where you're living. I don't know if people backpack Japan the way they do Ecuador.

Last week, I had 4 walk-in applications from people looking for 90 days work. (The standard length of a tourist visa.)

1 was from someone whose resume showed 2 months at a chain school in Santiago and 4 in LIma. Just working his way up the continent, or so it seems.

2 others had just arrived in Ecuador, but told me of their plans to travel all of South America in the coming year.

THis is what I call a backpacker TEFLer.

I guess you could say that I move around a lot, or at least that I did before I came to Ecuador. (3 countries in five years before I got here.) But I wasn't backpacking.



Best,
Justin

[Justin Trullinger]

I think, Gleski, that the term may be influenced a lot by where you're living. I don't know if people backpack Japan the way they do Ecuador.

Last week, I had 4 walk-in applications from people looking for 90 days work. (The standard length of a tourist visa.)

1 was from someone whose resume showed 2 months at a chain school in Santiago and 4 in LIma. Just working his way up the continent, or so it seems.

2 others had just arrived in Ecuador, but told me of their plans to travel all of South America in the coming year.

THis is what I call a backpacker TEFLer.

I guess you could say that I move around a lot, or at least that I did before I came to Ecuador. (3 countries in five years before I got here.) But I wasn't backpacking.



Best,
Justin

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

I use the term "cowboy" which has been received in quite distain by...er...um...cowboys and I suspect, cowgirls. A spade jes' don' like being called a "spade"!

NCTBA

[Madame J]

I have always wondered what people on here tend to mean exactly by the term "backpacker teacher", and quite why so many folks on here seem to be so disparaging about them. I wouldn't be at all surprised if many of you started out as the aforementioned backpacker, before realising a genuine love for teaching and deciding to stick at it for the long term. No?

I suppose I should grudgingly accept the label for myself, seeing as I don't plan to be away for longer than two years, tops. However, it is as much a genuine love of teaching that motivates me as wanderlust, and in fact it I dearly wish I could TEFL in England and so make a career out of it.

Anyway, back to the original topic. It doesn't surprise me in the least that so few TEFLers I stumble across have children, whether "backpacker" or otherwise. Experiencing an exotic place on the other side of the world for a few years is exciting in itself, but I doubt that necessarily means that you'd want to bring up children there.