Job Discussion Forums

[overhere]

Hi I am about to transition into teaching.

my background...American man, 50, white Native speaker
23 years experience as a corporate trainer/manager/social worker

Bachelor's in Social Work, Masters in Social Work, Public Administration and Labor relations. I also hold a Juris Doctorate.

Starting a Masters of Education program (TESOL) at the University of Missouri in January. I plan to complete the program in 2 years, In the meantime I plan to obtain a CELTA.

I serve as a volunteer ESL teacher now and have worked part time at a couple local colleges.

My question is in regard to International Schools...I realize most require teacher certification from one's home country...Although I am willing to tackle another graduate program and a CELTA I am not willing to go through all the hoops to be state certified.

Is there any hope for me landing a position with a legit international school without state certification?

I do plan to teach TELF at a non international school but I just thought it would be nice to have other options.

countries of preference are:

Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, China, Indo, Phillippines, Equador and Mexico. I am open to other countries as well.


Thanks in advance for your help.

Tim

[tttompatz]

[Isla Guapa]

If you're interested in Mexico, I suggest posting on that forum. There are lots of friendly, helpful folks there who can give you solid advice.

[overhere]

Thanks Tom

I thought that was probably the case...If I were younger I would consider the required certification..but the clock is ticking!!
Sounds like I might run into an opportunity if I got lucky but should not spend alot of energy or focus on international schools. Thanks for your input. Much appreciated!!!

[overhere]

Thanks Isa I will post the question in the Mexican forum as well...I have posted there in the past and your are right folks there are very helpful! Thanks again.

[naturegirl321]

I worked at an IBO school without state certification; BUT I had state eligibility, which meant that I could teach in state schools in the US, but never did. Anyways, at my school only one of the foreigners was a certified teacher in their home country. Granted, I wouldn't recommend working for this school since they regularly got rid of people to avoid paying bonuses, but, there aer schools out there. You'll usually get paid less. I got paid 1500 after taxes, which isn't much in the intl school range.

There are desperate schools out there, newly IBO ones, ones whose teacher haven't come back from vacation, last minute jobs, etc.

The thing about the U of Missouri, while I've heard good things about it, TEFL and intl schools are vastly different and require different certs. If you want to work at an intl school, I suggest you get state certs, they'll take just about as much time as the MA. Lots of places have fasttrack programmes, see my PM.

There really aren't that many hoops, some tests and forms, but some programmes only take a year and your MA will take two.

As for your choices: you might be able to teach at public, non international schools in the land of the morning calm, there's a separate forum, but the pay and benefits there were more than I got at an intl school

Just food for thought

[Glenski]

I can't answer for any of the countries on your list, but I'd guess that many will tell you that despite the experience you have listed, even with a master's, you will still need 2 years of experience teaching in your home country in a public school with the master's behind you.

[overhere]

Thanks Glenski and NG...I will check out the link regarding fast tracking...NG thank you very much...I actually would love to work in the land of the morning calm but have been somewhat discouraged when I read about age discrimination there (I will be 52 when I make this transition)...nevertheless i have put out some feelers there and got a fair number of responses for someone as ancient as myself ...I have recently been reading alot about Equador...I realize the pay isn't great but I will have a small pension so i think i could make the numbers work...I want to teach because I really enjoy it but at the same time i want to be paid something I plan to spend a few weeks in Equador in March to get a feel for it...my first preference however remains somewhere in Asia.

Truthfully, I will be thrilled just getting an offer anywhere LOL

Thanks again for your help! .

[nomad soul]

Overhere:

Given your academic credentials and age, have you considered just doing a post-graduate cert in TESOL and/or a CELTA? This would provide you with the training you want/need but in a shorter timeframe versus the two years (and money) you'd invest toward another masters degree.