Job Discussion Forums

[jbourne]

Hi everyone! Where should I begin...

My experience:

I am a 25 year old graduate student. I am a native of North Carolina, USA. This is also where I currently reside.

When I graduate from this program (Spring 2011), I will have a graduate certificate in secondary education (concentration in history). This basically means that I will be a little over halfway to reaching my master's degree in secondary education. I will be licensed to teach, and I will have a semester's worth of experience teaching within a public high school.

I spent two years mentoring children of all ages, who had developmental and/or psychological disorders.

I also have a BA in psychology.

Where I need help:

I have very little experience traveling, and I have never really had the means with which to gain more. I have always been VERY interested in countries and cultures different than my own. I have always loved academia as well. Therefore, teaching abroad seems like a great way to embrace these two passions of mine.

For a while now I have researched the best way to achieve this goal. However, I have become a bit overwhelmed. I have run across so many websites and books with contradictory information. I am not sure what certifications I would need to teach where. I am unsure as to what websites, certifications, and other information sources have more credibility than others.

I am really very interested in teaching in east Asia, or Europe. Though, I would consider teaching basically anywhere. I have read though that the demand for english teachers in Japan is declining. I have also read that it can be difficult for an American to be hired to teach in Europe, for a variety of reasons.

Where would a person with my background be most likely to land a decent position teaching? I would imagine that China would be the largest new market for this sort of thing.

What certification providers are legitimate? Do I even need a certification?

Any insight or resources that you all could provide me I would be greatly appreciative of. Thank you!

[denise]

Is there any particular reason you're thinking about teaching English and not history? I'm asking because of your comment about liking academia. Many (most?) entry-level English teaching jobs are far from academic, so you might be disappointed. There are some universities that actually feel academic, with conferences and seminars and whatnot, but you generally need an MA + a few years of experience for those jobs.

If you stick with history (you'd need more than one semester of experience), you can apply to international schools. Since I didn't go that route myself, I can't comment on how academic they are, but at least you'd be surrounded by other career teachers who, in theory, are interested in education--not necessarily the case in language schools.

d

[Chancellor]

You could add an ESL endorsement (or whatever North Carolina calls it) to your teaching certificate (it always helps to have extra endorsements) and then get a couple of years of experience teaching in North Carolina before heading overseas to, say, an international school (e.g. those under the IBO umbrella www.ibo.org) or the Department of Defense school system. Another option is to get your teaching certificate and go teach in one of our trust territories (Guam, American Samoa, etc.), which would be a good jumping off point to travel around Asia in your spare time.

[jbourne]

[jbourne]

[natsume]

[Glenski]

You'll have problems getting a visa in most of Europe, so look at the eastern side only.
As for east Asia, could you be a little more specific? That covers a lot of ground. Visit the country-specific forums for advice on certifications and other requirements.

What do you consider a "decent" teaching position, BTW? (salary, duties, schedule, type of students)

[jbourne]