Job Discussion Forums

tschmottlach · Joined: 28 Apr 2010 Posts: 6

I am a white male, native English speaker with 12 years of teaching experience and with a CELTA certificate...so I could probably land a job in the UAE but my wife is a Nepali who has taught ESL for 19 years at an American International School in Kathmandu and she has her Master's in English...will she even be able to get a job here or are the companies and schools discriminatory towards only white, native speakers? Any help would be appreciative, thanks.

helenl · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1202

Your options are limited by your credentials. CELTA is recognized but not by the employers who pay a decent wage on time and in full. In order to teach at most schools you would need a teaching qualification (CELTA won't cut it) from the country which curriculum is being followed (US/UK/Oz etc.)

Racism is alive and well in the GCC and your wife's ethnicity would act as a reason either not to hire or not to pay her a white person might make. Unfair and unethical? yes. Happens all the time? Also yes.

freesoul · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:38 am Post subject:

Ironically, your wife might get better chances in landing a decent job that you do. As for the so-called discrimination in hiring practices according to �appearance� , this is absolutely B.S.
I am a living example of non-whatever-native getting as much as my Anglo-saxon-looking �native� colleagues.
As long as you got MA+CELTA+3 yrs of tertiary experience, you�re officially eligible to apply and perhaps to be hired. Now, if you read posters saying the contrary to what I have said, it is because they work in places that are rife with unwritten rules lobbying in favour of �native�. It is true; there are plenty of these places, but some others are really tolerant and professional in their recruitment processes.

Good luck in your job hunting
Cheer!

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I agree mostly with freesoul... with the minor quibble that if you have an MA in TEFL or Applied Linguistics, you don't need the CELTA for the top tertiary employers. It certainly wouldn't hurt you, of course.

VS

Iamherebecause · Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 8:53 am Post subject:

optimistic · Joined: 04 Aug 2010 Posts: 43

post deleted

helenl · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1202

HCT has hired non native speakers in the past. However, HCT is experiencing an identity crisis and severe upper management as well as an increasing number of poorly managed campuses.

Is it bearable? Probably. Is it desirable especially long term Probably not.

Iamherebecause · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:42 am Post subject:

I know of many non-native speakers who have been recruited to work in the foundation programme at UAEU. Some are bilingual English-Arabic; but others have had a whole range of L1: Chinese, Bulgarian, Italian.

UGRU is recruiting large numbers for next academic year. However the situation there is not that clear.