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bigkev
Joined: 11 Apr 2009
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:04 pm Post subject: Is it possible to teach with just a college diploma? |
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Hey guys,
Just wondering if it's possible to find work in Chile with only having a college diploma. I have plenty of experience working with children of all ages and even worked in a school environment for 2 years, just not as a teacher. I'm 24 years old and my diploma was a 2 year course that I took in a police foundations course and I'll also be taking a TEFL/TESOL course.
Thanks for any tips and feedback,
Kev |
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Dia
Joined: 09 Apr 2008
Posts: 92
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| Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:18 am Post subject: |
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I don't really understand why you say "just" a college diploma when you'll have a college diploma AND a TEFL cert., it seems.
Ideally people will be native speakers with both. That said, there are people that become employed without a TEFL certification, and I have seen job reqs for people that only mention requiring that you are a native speaker. There should be some availability for any mix of background, though it might take longer to find exactly the ones you qualify for.
Also, I don't really understand what your course/diploma was exactly, nor know how that would affect your job prospects but I suggest writing a really good CV (resume) that emphasizes your experiences in schools and your various qualifications. |
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bigkev
Joined: 11 Apr 2009
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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I have a college diploma...the diploma is in police foundations (a 2 year program to help with my future goal of becoming a police officer in Canada)...I plan on taking a TEFL/TESOL course to help me get a job teaching english in South America. I have about 5 years of experience working with children. I worked for 2 years in a boarding school, and although I wasnt a teacher I did substitue several times but most of the time was just supervising the kids on a daily basis. I have been working with an autistic teenager for the past two and a half years, where I have been directly involved in all aspects of his life, including academics.
I've read a lot about needing a university degree to teach in Chile...with my above written qualifications could I still get a job even though I dont have a degree??? |
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sharkeyv
Joined: 29 Jun 2008
Posts: 43
Location: Santiago
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:28 am Post subject: |
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| bigkev wrote: |
I have a college diploma...the diploma is in police foundations (a 2 year program to help with my future goal of becoming a police officer in Canada)...I plan on taking a TEFL/TESOL course to help me get a job teaching english in South America. I have about 5 years of experience working with children. I worked for 2 years in a boarding school, and although I wasnt a teacher I did substitue several times but most of the time was just supervising the kids on a daily basis. I have been working with an autistic teenager for the past two and a half years, where I have been directly involved in all aspects of his life, including academics.
I've read a lot about needing a university degree to teach in Chile...with my above written qualifications could I still get a job even though I dont have a degree??? |
Hi bigkev,
You are right, almost all schools on this continent say you need a degree as well as a TEFL cert.
In reality, this is not the case. The standard of university education here is nothing like that of North America or Europe. Degrees are two a penny here.
In Chile, in order to get a 'subject to contract visa' (which is the first working visa you get and a reputable school will help you with that), you should legally have a degree. Remember though, this is South America!!! There are ways around everything.
Believe me, if you have a TEFL and good personal hygiene you shouldn't have much trouble finding work.
Best of luck. |
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capalito
Joined: 29 Dec 2006
Posts: 20
Location: Santiago, Chile
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| Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, so many people teaching in Chile with "Police" diplomas,
this can�t be good. No wonder my students don�t want to study with native "traveling " teachers.
Where are the professionals? |
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sharkeyv
Joined: 29 Jun 2008
Posts: 43
Location: Santiago
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| Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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| capalito wrote: |
| Wow, so many people teaching in Chile with "Police" diplomas |
That's a new one on me. What's a Police diploma? |
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hughesie
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:07 pm Post subject: |
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| capalito wrote: |
Wow, so many people teaching in Chile with "Police" diplomas,
this can�t be good. No wonder my students don�t want to study with native "traveling " teachers.
Where are the professionals? |
There is no evidence that many English teachers in Chile are teaching with just police diplomas.
Tell me where you read that? What I read is of someone in Canada asking about his chances of teaching without a degree. I personally think he should get a degree and then the world is his oyster.
Where are the professionals? Good question - they are everywhere - the unfortunate FACT is that a 'backpacker' (whatever the hell that means)
whose native tongue is English is going to be more employable than someone like you. You may not like it, but the hard fact is that students want native speakers to teach them langauges - whatever that language is. It is about time you non native English speakers stopped bitching about the fact that 99.9% of you are nowhere near good enough to teach English to native speaker level.
Its like me and you - I speak Spanish, but I am not a native speaker. You are a native speaker of Spanish - whose going to get the Spanish teaching job between us two?
Oh, hang on! Aren't you Chilean? Maybe I would get the job!  |
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capalito
Joined: 29 Dec 2006
Posts: 20
Location: Santiago, Chile
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:47 am Post subject: |
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I still make more money and have more students than you do, LOL.
No seriously, my point is that being native doesn't automatically make you a good teacher. I know that for a fact cause I have taught at several companies in Santiago where the students have said the same thing. Even my sister who works at Banco de Chile had a terrible experience with an Australian kid they assigned to her as a teacher. He had no system, wouldn�t correct any of her mistakes, and would only talk about his �carretes�.
I think that at least at a basic level, being native is not important when working as an English Teacher, as there are other factors that need to be taken into account. I may not be native but there has to be a reason why I have so many students. Chileans aren't stupid, they are not going to throw away their money. If I have offended anyone with my opinions, I apologize.
and here is the definition of backpacker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpacker
cheers |
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hughesie
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:53 am Post subject: |
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[quote="capalito"]
| Quote: |
| I still make more money and have more students than you do, LOL. |
I doubt it, I earn over 3 million won a month tax free, rent free and stress free working in South Korea in a public school of over 2000 pupils.
| Quote: |
| No seriously, my point is that being native doesn't automatically make you a good teacher. I know that for a fact cause I have taught at several companies in Santiago where the students have said the same thing. Even my sister who works at Banco de Chile had a terrible experience with an Australian kid they assigned to her as a teacher. He had no system, wouldn�t correct any of her mistakes, and would only talk about his �carretes�. |
Yes, there are crap teachers but whose fault is it? A famous English saying is 'you pay peanuts - you get monkeys' No decent English teacher worth their salt who is getting a decent wage is going to turn up half arsed to a class are they? I bet most English teachers in Chile are professional.
| Quote: |
| I think that at least at a basic level, being native is not important when working as an English Teacher |
True - but with language accqusition once the learner has accquired enough of the target language, your services are no longer needed whereas with me - I can teach British English, American English, Australian English - I can take any English language learner to a very high level of proficeincy - whereas you can't - as you have just admitted yourself.
| Quote: |
| as there are other factors that need to be taken into account. I may not be native but there has to be a reason why I have so many students. Chileans aren't stupid, they are not going to throw away their money. If I have offended anyone with my opinions, I apologize. |
People will pay peanuts instead of paying a bit more to get someone decent who can actually teach them - as in the case of the Australian who taught your sister English - The fact that you are wanting language exchange to 'stay fluent' means that you aren't fluent thus you have no real business teaching English beyond the basics. If you are making a decent living teaching people the basics then good on you but I can travel the world teaching my native language whereas - outside Chile - no-one would pay two cents for your services. You know it and so so do I. |
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cvmurrieta
Joined: 10 Jul 2008
Posts: 209
Location: Sendai, Japan
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 4:54 am Post subject: |
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[quote="hughesie"]
| capalito wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I still make more money and have more students than you do, LOL. |
I doubt it, I earn over 3 million won a month tax free, rent free and stress free working in South Korea in a public school of over 2000 pupils.
| Quote: |
| No seriously, my point is that being native doesn't automatically make you a good teacher. I know that for a fact cause I have taught at several companies in Santiago where the students have said the same thing. Even my sister who works at Banco de Chile had a terrible experience with an Australian kid they assigned to her as a teacher. He had no system, wouldn�t correct any of her mistakes, and would only talk about his �carretes�. |
Yes, there are crap teachers but whose fault is it? A famous English saying is 'you pay peanuts - you get monkeys' No decent English teacher worth their salt who is getting a decent wage is going to turn up half arsed to a class are they? I bet most English teachers in Chile are professional.
| Quote: |
| I think that at least at a basic level, being native is not important when working as an English Teacher |
True - but with language accqusition once the learner has accquired enough of the target language, your services are no longer needed whereas with me - I can teach British English, American English, Australian English - I can take any English language learner to a very high level of proficeincy - whereas you can't - as you have just admitted yourself.
| Quote: |
| as there are other factors that need to be taken into account. I may not be native but there has to be a reason why I have so many students. Chileans aren't stupid, they are not going to throw away their money. If I have offended anyone with my opinions, I apologize. |
People will pay peanuts instead of paying a bit more to get someone decent who can actually teach them - as in the case of the Australian who taught your sister English - The fact that you are wanting language exchange to 'stay fluent' means that you aren't fluent thus you have no real business teaching English beyond the basics. If you are making a decent living teaching people the basics then good on you but I can travel the world teaching my native language whereas - outside Chile - no-one would pay two cents for your services. You know it and so so do I. |
Yes, if you have decent qualifications for EPIK, SMoE, and GEPIK, then you can make a decent salary in addition to the free apartment. I had interviewed with EPIK prior to deciding to stay in northern Japan because of my girlfriend. I still may head to the Land of Morning Calm to teach some time before I die.
Our Chilean member on here couldn't get a job as an ESL teacher in Korea anyway, correct? From what I had read for the Korean E-2 visa requirements, only NATIVE speakers from a select few countries can get that visa. Like Korea, many of the ads for ESL teachers in Japan ask that the applicant be a native speaker.
As for correcting mistakes, that is a case-by-case basis. If it is during conversation, then I don't ESPECIALLY if I am teaching a group because to do would destroy the confidence of many of my students. Hence, I would be out of a job. Yes, some teachers may not have a system, but I know many who do. Having one is how we build our reputations in the respective countries where we teach.
Not having a system is not limited to English teachers. I once had a native Spanish teacher at a community college in California do nothing but TALK in Spanish when I wanted a little more structure in the class. No, the course description mentioned nothing about free conversation in Spanish. |
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