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demet
Joined: 26 Jan 2005
Posts: 13
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 Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:19 pm Post subject: realities of working in TURKEy |
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| Hi, I am thinking about going to Turkey to teach... i have read so much conflicting stories about working there and i have a couple of questions. What type of school is the best one to apply to?? dershane, lise, kolej?? what are the requirements, a degree or diploma in tesol?? thank sto everyone that replys!! |
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FGT
Joined: 14 Sep 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 12:12 am Post subject: |
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Minimum requirements are a degree and a TEFL qualification. If you teach in a Lise (High school) or Kolej (Private school) your degree should be in either English or Education. I'm not sure about university posts.
As to what is best, you'll find different people sing the praises of different environments. Personally I prefer language schools (the "proper"ones) where you teach small classes of adults who, by and large, want to learn - discipline is rarely a problem. In a good language school you can expect to take home +/- 2,000 YTL per month, usually with free accommodation. |
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Faustino
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 601
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:59 am Post subject: |
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| What are you goals? Do you plan to stay in Turkey for about a year or will it be longer term? Do you want to live in the heart of Istanbul or somewhere more sedate? |
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demet
Joined: 26 Jan 2005
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 5:35 pm Post subject: |
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thanks again for responding guys  . I am planning to relocate to Turkey and stay for a long period of time. I was born in turkey but have been in canada for most of my life. I am a citizen of turkey and thought that this would be the best place to start teaching since i wont have deal with work permit and visa issues... any advice.
I didnt finish university but i do have a tesol diploma along with specialized certificates in tofel prep etc.. |
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molly farquharson
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 839
Location: istanbul
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| I think if you don't have a university degree you will have a harder time finding a job at a better school. Maybe you could finish it here and get the pedagogic formasyon while you're at it. |
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justme
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 1944
Location: Istanbul
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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| If you're a Turkish citizen, you may run into a problem with salary-- Turkish citizens make about a 3rd of what the foreigners do. Since you've always lived outside of Turkey, there may be a way around this, but I don't know what it is... |
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whynotme
Joined: 07 Nov 2004
Posts: 728
Location: istanbul
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:50 pm Post subject: |
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| justme wrote: |
| If you're a Turkish citizen, you may run into a problem with salary-- Turkish citizens make about a 3rd of what the foreigners do. .. |
you must be joking.... |
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31
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 1797
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 5:04 pm Post subject: low wages for Turks |
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| ITU pays its foreign EFL teachers 1000 dollars but only pays the Turks who have a 4 year degree in the subject and often an MA only 3-350 dollars a month in lira. |
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whynotme
Joined: 07 Nov 2004
Posts: 728
Location: istanbul
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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| in Itu or Ytu this might happen 31 .... the law for the teaching staff working for the Government brings disadvantages toTurks as you wrote, but the contract types are different...what would happen to your friend if he is given a sack,or has an operation.... |
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31
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 1797
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 7:10 pm Post subject: the sack or an operation |
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If he was sacked he would walk round the corner and get another job.
Operation- I`m not sure what you mean. If you mean who would pay, he has SSK the same as the Turks and as you know it is almost useless with regard to medical care. He would of course have to pay for private medical care same as the Turks. If you mean he wouldn`t be paid for time of because of ill health like at English Time I am not sure. Isn`t that illegal in Turkey? Wouldn`t ITU have to pay some sick pay or give him back his job afterwards?
But you would have to agree that ITU pays the foreigners 3 times what it pays the better qualified Turks. |
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Faustino
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 601
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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Are you sure about this 31? I know five people currently working at ITU's language department and this is not the picture that they paint.  |
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31
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 1797
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 7:29 pm Post subject: ITU |
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| What picture do they paint? |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:11 pm Post subject: Foreigners are lucky.... |
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| Quote: |
| ITU pays its foreign EFL teachers 1000 dollars but only pays the Turks who have a 4 year degree in the subject and often an MA only 3-350 dollars a month in lira. |
Foreigners are very lucky to be paid as much as they do to teach EFL in Turkey.
When ghost lived and worked in different parts of Latin America (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil) the foreign teachers were never paid more than the local teachers doing the same job - that is teaching English. That is why, unless you work for an International school in Latin America - the pay you make will not enable you to save much - if anything.
In some scenarios (in Central and South America) you actually have to "pay to teach" under the disguise of some flaky benevolent program to help the locals.....and one sees quite a lot of foreigners actually paying to teach in places like Guatemala and other Central American countries.
When ghost taught in the Dominican Republic for 4 months in 2003, the salary was so poor (about $2/hour) that using a credit card was a necessity to supplement the meagre salary.
As for lifestyle and people - ghost prefers different parts of Central and South America. And the students, in general, are more pleasant to teach in Latin America. In Turkey, one finds that many students go behind teachers' backs at the drop of a hat, to complain about the foreign teachers - seems to be a national pastime.....and the act is somewhat devious, because the teachers usually have no idea in class that something is amiss.
Once again - foreign teachers of English in Turkey are a priviledged lot to be getting the salary and conditions they have.
But ghost thinks the good days may eventually burst, sometime in the not too distant future, before Turkey joins the Euro. Union....and yes, one is almost certain that Turkey will be admitted.....the Euro powers that be would not want to be perceived as segregationist by not admitting a country that is (and has always been) inextricably linked to Europe.
The issue of Turkish apologies to Armenia will be arranged to suit everyone, even though Turks, in their hearts, have no intention of admitting responsibility for the heinous acts that were committed against the Armenians. But that is another issue, too lengthy to discuss here.
Last edited by ghost on Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Faustino
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 601
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Faustino thinks that ghost should visit more often. |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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| It's been a few weeks since we have heard from you Ghost. Welcome back. |
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