Job Discussion Forums

[Jeanii]

Hi all,

I'm a secondary teacher in Australia (Dip Ed) and have been teaching English for four years to mainstream kids (aged 12 - 16). Have some experience teaching kids with English as a second language, but nothing formal. Just wondering if people with actual teaching degrees still need to get a CELTA (or TESOL or whatever) certificate to teach English overseas? Considering a range of contexts/countries at the moment so can't be more specific. The broader the better :p

Thanks in advance

[Glenski]

Japan is very competitive right now. Get the certificate, I'd say. You sound like you're qualified for international schools anyway, where they would probably require it. Serious teachers get the right training & education.

[Chancellor]

[somewhere_else]

[Jeanii]

Thanks for your replies. I'd just like to clarify that my teaching degree is in middle-schooling across the board (that is, teaching science, maths, english and social studies) and is not english specific per se.

I could do an add-on to my degree so that I'm qualified in ESL teaching. Would that be generally recognised in terms of being the equivalent to the CELTA course?

[Chancellor]

[naturegirl321]

CELTA seems more towards those who want to work in institutes.
PGCE or licenses, are for those who want to work in schools or internatinal schools.

Where do you want to work?

[dave3br]

Depending on where you want to work, if you want to teach adults the CELTA would help with your job hunting and teaching.

Given your background, International Schools would probably be a better bet for you, giving you more choices and better pay. Your certification and experience will be how you get those jobs. Adding an ESL endorsement to your certificate would probably help even though teaching overseas will be different from teaching ESL in the States. CELTA becomes less important but would still be nice and it could become very important if you decide (or have to) look for work at a language school at some point.

When you decide where you want to teach, at what level, and for how long, I'm sure you can get more specific recommendations.

Good luck!

David

[Chancellor]

[Glenski]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Chancellor]

[Jeanii]

Thanks again for your responses.

At this point in time, I have been considering international schools in the same age group I'm qualified and experienced to teach in now - eleven to seventeen year olds. I'm not sure how reputable a website it is really, but I've been keeping an eye on the 'International Schools Review' website to get a feel for what's out there.

I hadn't realised that the CELTA certification was mainly for adults, I thought perhaps there were different CELTA courses with a different focus for each. Teaching adults is not really something I'd be interested in doing unless I really had to.

I'm quite open to going just about anywhere. My main motivation for considering teaching overseas is to work in a different culture and experience something other than Australian public schools. A culture where the kids appreciate what you're doing for them would be an added bonus as I'm saddened and worn out by the fact that the public education system here is becoming a bit of a joke. Being able to save a bit of money and do a bit of sightseeing would be great too, although not necessarily above anything else in terms of my priorities.

Thanks

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Jeanii]

Thanks for that.

'Appreciate' as in one kid out of thirty-two doing their homework once in a while and not being told to eff off every five minutes...? Oh, and kids who actually COME TO CLASS (minus their drugs...iPods...mobile phones...) would be great too!