Job Discussion Forums

[tjc]

Hi there,

With a PhD in Education and an MA in Applied Linguistics, which universities can I consider applying for work in the UAE?

I have three years of TESL experience but no university level lecturing experience. On the one hand, I've been told that working in the Gulf and/or China is great for a new lecturer; on the other hand, I've heard that without sufficient experience, I may face difficulty in finding a job.

I asked this question on the Saudi forum and thankfully was advised not to waste time over there. There was a lot of positive feedback about the UAE however, and I've been hearing positive things about the place for a while now actually.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Afra]

If you are looking for a lecturing position, the UAE is not the place. If you are looking for a teaching job in ESL, then you probably don't have the experience. You don't say if you have ever taught academic English.
Being British is neither here nor there.

[Pikgitina]

I don't see why 3 years' experience wouldn't count as sufficient experience for teaching ESL, especially if you are so well qualified.

I don't know much about the place, but you could try the American University of Sharjah (AUS), which gets good reviews on here and is sometimes described as 'perhaps the only real university in the UAE'.

I suppose the departments of education at other tertiary institutions might also be interested, even without lecturing experience.

Do your research carefully so that you are sufficiently prepared if and when you do decide to teach in the Gulf. Students lack an intrinsic desire to know more about the world and to learn new things. When in class, teachers are either engaged in crowd control, asking students why they have yet again not brought stationery to class, negotiating rewards in order to get students to focus, etc. There are many reasons for this, all of which have been discussed endlessly on these boards.

The students are, however, malice-free, spontaneous, enthusiastic talkers, 'young' for their age (compared to their counterparts in other countries) and often keen to please their teacher.

My colleagues and I sigh a lot and wonder what's it all about - if there's really any meaning to it all. The answer is no - meaning will have to be found elsewhere, in other words in your personal life. That's assuming that meaning is a priority for us all, of course.

Advice that often goes around is that you have to remind yourself why you're in the Gulf: money, long holidays, lots of opportunities to travel (probably while you're able to save, too).

Honestly, if anyone's looking for a satisfying academic career, this is not the place where they should come. All of us who come to live here end up compromising some things in order to be able to gain something else.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[veiledsentiments]

Hello again tjc... did you have a chance to look at the websites of the places I suggested? They may give you more information on job openings to help you to focus your questions.

Pik's suggestion of AUS is good, but as the name implies, it does tend to lean towards Americans... which can be problematic for someone trying to get that first job.

VS

[PeterWilliams]

You could think about the British University in Dubai (http://www.buid.ac.ae/buid/html/home.asp) or Middlesex University in Dubai (http://www.mdx.ac/Vacancies.asp?Link=About%20Middlesex%20University%20Dubai&SubLink=Vacancies) who both have Masters in Education programmes - the latter is recruiting for lecturers for that programme. Depends on whether you would prefer to teach ESL or not.

[lazycomputerkids]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

What Pik is sayin' is the last line of 'Gone wid da Win'". "Tamaroes anudder day". Dat said, I'd hate ta work where he does!

NCTBA

[lazycomputerkids]