Job Discussion Forums

omark · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 10

Hi everyone,

This is my first post at the cafe. I am nearly finished with a B.A. in linguistics and I plan to take a five week TEFL certificate this winter. It is not a well known certificate like Celta, but it is 130 hours total with 10 hours of supervised teaching practice. I have a few questions about teaching in Turkey.

1.) What type of job I could expect getting in Turkey with these qualifications? Would I be able to find something at a school or institute with a low stress environment? I am mainly interested in teaching adults.

2.) Is it possible to work part time and live a reasonable lifestyle even if it is somewhat below the standards found in western countries? If one was to work 20 hours a week, would the 20 hours include time preparing for lessons or would one have to put a lot of extra time into preparing for the classes?

3.) I read that the workweek in Turkey is between Monday and Friday. Do language schools typically follow the same working days? As a practicing Muslim, will it be possible for me to have enough time off on Friday afternoons to attend the Friday prayers?

That is all I can think of right now. Thanks in advance to everyone who replies.

FGT · Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 762 Location: Turkey

If you want to teach adults you'd probably work in a language school (unless you count university students as adult, which I don't). Whether or not you find this to be a stress-free environment depends on you and the school. Some do, some don't.
In a language school the working week can be any 5/6 days. The weekend (Saturdays and Sundays) is often the busy time so you are likely to work those days.
Some language schools have two set shifts: Friday-Tuesday and Monday-Friday, but others are more flexible.
If you are prepared to work for only one day off a week, you would have more chance of choosing which day off that would be.

20 hours in a language school usually refers to contact/classroom hours - preparation and breaks (which may have to be spent with students) are additional to that.

There are no fixed rules about part-time teaching.
In theory it would be possible to earn a living wage whilst only working 3 or 4 days a week - it all depends on who you work for, how flexible they are about time-tabling and what the hourly rate is.
In practice it is very difficult to find continuous part-time work that consistently pays a living wage.

billy orr · Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 229

In addition to FGT's points, you might like to think about these...

You say:
'I plan to take a five week TEFL certificate this winter. It is not a well known certificate like Celta, but it is 130 hours total with 10 hours of supervised teaching practice.'

I wonder why you have chosen that course? The CELTA or Trinity are likely to be more useful, more recognisable by employers and so on. You need to be sure that employers in Turkey will recognise the TEFL qualification you get and that it is acceptable for getting a work permit.

Also, I would doubt that any teaching job can be described as stress free. Teaching is a job where all our personal qualities are under daily scrutiny by a potentially critical audience. When we get it right it is wonderful, but it isn't possible to do that all the time, and coping with that can be stressful. Other sources of stress can be less than sympathetic management. Teaching kids in a school is probably the most stressful.

It is a good idea to consider all types of job- language school, universities, high schools and younger.

Good luck,

eclectic · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122

Most teachng jobs, despite what all the nauseatingly-positive dreamers and crystal-skull people insist, are simply glorified bouncer positions.

omark · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 10

Thanks a lot. I have a couple more questions.

"If you want to teach adults you'd probably work in a language school (unless you count university students as adult, which I don't)."

I can certainly see why you wouldn't consider university students to be adults, but for my purposes, I wouldn't mind teaching university students. Would this open up more possibilites beyond working in language institutes?

"In theory it would be possible to earn a living wage whilst only working 3 or 4 days a week - it all depends on who you work for, how flexible they are about time-tabling and what the hourly rate is."

It sounds like most people would work 5 or 6 days a week. How many contact hours a week is most common amongst teachers?

"I wonder why you have chosen that course? The CELTA or Trinity are likely to be more useful, more recognisable by employers and so on."

I agree. However, the course that I plan to take seems to be of a similar educational quality and since I would have to travel to take a CELTA or Trinity course, they would be outside of what I can reasonably afford at this time. I am hoping that my qualifications can help me to get my foot in the door, and if necessary, I would consider doing a part time CELTA course after saving the money for it.

"You need to be sure that employers in Turkey will recognise the TEFL qualification you get and that it is acceptable for getting a work permit."

How can I determine whether they will accept the qualification? In this case that I cannot get a work permit, what do most people do to leave the country on a tourist visa. Can one easily cross the border at Bulgaria or Greece and then come back into the country after getting the passport stamped, or is it more involved than this?

"Teaching kids in a school is probably the most stressful."

Thanks for the tip. Even if it is not possible to find a stress free job, I wouldn't mind trying to find a job with minimal stress.

eclectic · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122

there's only so much you can find outonline---my exp has always been to just go to a place and see it live and in-person.

tillymd · Joined: 07 Apr 2009 Posts: 114

I agree.

omark · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 10

I think you're right. Life isn't confined to the size of a computer screen.

eclectic · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122

<quote>Even if it is not possible to find a stress free job, I wouldn't mind trying to find a job with minimal stress.<>

Does this sentence have any meaning? Shouldn't it say "Even if.....I wouldn't mind a job with a bit of/some stress", or something like that?

The "trying" thing just threw me for a loopster. But I have OCD, so its understandable.

AtaturkOllie, that ws a great space cadet comment. I was cracking up good for about 10-15 seco Laughing

nds.

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:18 am Post subject:

Indeed it is a muslim country, the further East you travel the more this becomes apparent. The mosques are busy places especially on Fridays.

eclectic · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122

Bursa would be pretty far west---my grampa was born there in 1984! Came to New York at age 18. How is Bursa compared to Adana in terms of whatever?

eclectic · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122

what I meant there was----(just got back from teaching 17 brats throwing erasers and punching each other)-- do you think Bursa, being so far west in Turkey compared with more eastern cities like youand I are discussing here (Erzurum, Sivas, Van) would be LESS Muslim than say Adana?

Mr. Kalgukshi · Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:34 pm Post subject:

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