Job Discussion Forums

[draws333]

veiledsentiments... Yes I am new to these boards. I'm looking all over the world for employment in the teaching field right now. And yes if I don't manage to find anything decent, I'm going to build up experience here first. Unfortunately the education is flooded here in Ontario, this is why I want to travel. As well, I like the idea of living rent free, seeing the world, and saving some money.

I see getting experience first than travelling as backwards in terms of where I'm at in life. I want to travel and teach than if it's for me stay for years and possibly never come "home" or stay for a few years and eventually work my way back home to settle down.

I already have a South Korean job lined up with the EPIK program there but I'm seeing if I can find anything better. Its roughly 25,000 a year. It is a ESL job obviously, and with my qualifications I feel like an international school teaching either Canadian/american/British/Australian curriculum would be best. I do know how competitive the market is, so I'm using the Korean job as a backup plan.

I appreciate your insight veiledsentiments.

[globalnomad2]

[veiledsentiments]

[globalnomad2]

Ha ha, you know my other name, which came after GN2. It's been retired for now.

My friend got her degree in earth sciences education first before having to do the semester-long practicum.

[Shimokitazawa]

[veiledsentiments]

Not many PhDs pass through here and they never tell us what they were offered. I don't know if that is because they get darn near the same as MA holders or so much more that they are embarrassed. I have "heard" that teaching general TEFL courses, PhD's don't get much more than MAs. But if you are a content PhD/professor, you will get significantly more. I expect that it depends on experience... and perhaps your field.

Salaries seem to be in a bit of a flux lately in the Emirates. In the past, HCT/ZU/UAEU were quite close in their packages, but right now... with HCT starting to get desperate... while ZU can pick and choose the best of the best for their few openings... will they start to low-ball? PI hasn't been doing much hiring and last we heard on here, they were reducing their pay/benefits. AUS has one of the best packages, in particular for Americans... but they rarely have many openings just because of that.

Not sure exactly what you are looking for, but that is sort of a general impression that I am getting lately about it all. As I said, few of here know anything specific about PhD salaries.

VS

[Shimokitazawa]

[veiledsentiments]

To get the latest on the last couple years at HCT, just check out the threads here. Micromanagement of the classroom is not the major issue, but the whole management system is the problem right now. For instance, the biggest problems now are at the Abu Dhabi branches because of the proximity of the top Admin... who are into micromanaging management... which creeps down to haunt the teachers. To be honest, it is a zoo these days. Branches outside of AD vary by management, but are still victims of the system to varying extents. Many of their teachers have bailed out or been pushed out in the last couple years and their reputation has been affected. I have heard and read that they are having problems recruiting this year. Will they be forced to raise salaries to get teachers? Perhaps... time will tell.

Back to the PhD topic... I don't recall ever working with a PhD in the Gulf in the TEFL departments. The few people who worked on them while they were teaching, departed for greener pastures as soon as they had it complete. (Since I left, there are a few of them at SQU in Oman, but they are all Arabs... where a PhD is a status symbol.) Most EFL employment in the Gulf that requires advanced degrees is basic English, usually Academic for university foundations programs. Few people with a PhD want to be teaching basic sentence structure to fossilized low intermediate students. They usually move up into teacher training or content courses of some kind.

Managements in the Gulf have a tendency to treat expat teachers the same as they treat their other "servants." It is not what we are used to where we arrive to do our classes, office hours, and occasional meetings. Nope... they want our little ankles chained to our desks for 40 hours a week... even if the students aren't there. How much extra work they give you depends on the university, but we are generally treated like office/factory workers. A place like HCT piles on make-work projects and committees, while other places just let you twiddle your thumbs. (at least there is the internet now) Their attitude is that if they aren't able to watch us, we are likely not to bother to prepare lessons or correct homework. It was an attitude that drove me nuts. And this is something that has become worse over the years and since I left.

VS

[Shimokitazawa]

[veiledsentiments]

It looks like people are being terminated for some reason... and the gratuity is being cut. They need to see a labor lawyer in the UAE to see if they are doing something allowed under the law.

If you read the past threads, you will see that a significant number of teachers were terminated at this time last year (or was it the year before... time passes quickly) - partially related to media coverage of various issues, but as far as I know, HCT bought out their contracts and followed the law pretty much to the letter.

We will need to get more details. But, I'd say that HCT is down the list of employers one would want right now. Looks like another rotten chapter to the novel.

VS