Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

Dear Mercury Morris,
Maybe if you had the right qualifications (an MA in TESOL or Applied Linguistics), you could get that "real job"/"career" in the Middle East (since your definition of a "real job"/"career" seems to be based largely on salary.)
In the UAE or Saudi, with the qualifications mentioned above, it's very easy to save at least 80% of a $4000 a month (or more) salary. That adds up to saving about $35,000 a year. Do that for even ten years and you have a nice nest egg.
I did it for nineteen years, which is why I'm now living very comfortably in Santa Fe, NM with no financial concerns.
So, go back to school, get the necessary qualifications and pursue a career that (for me) was a real "working holiday," one that set me up for life.

Regards,
John

[mozzar]

In response to spiral78. I agree that having experience in the field of ESL is a huge benefit to taking a masters degree and you will be able to get more out of it if this is the case. However, surely there must be a middle ground if ESL is to become a more professional career? A one month course isn't enough to make a decent teacher (generally), so surely a longer course at the start, through an established university would be welcomed? Perhaps this one year course could count as half of a masters course. This would certianly make ESL teaching a career choice, much like normal teaching.

In the future i would like to see Europe raising its entry levels to those of the Middle East for entry level jobs and from that point on a masters becoming the minimum for all ESL jobs. I believe this will happen over time as the ESL industry grows and competition becomes more fierce, but i would also hope that schools could influence this by raising their minimum criteria and as such offering more in return.



Mercury Morris - In the UK you would find it impossible to find any normal teachers earning �40,000 - �70,000 per year, unless they had a ltook on more responsibilities, which usually require more qualifications, or had been promoted to a senior staff role in the school. But that is where the teaching profession differs from many others. A teacher can get a degree, followed by a teaching qualification and then spend the next thirty years teaching, aware that if they had chosen a more corporate route they could have earnt a lot more in their lifetime.

To say that many teachers are 'living hand to mouth' is sensational also. An ESL teacher's work isn't stable throughout the year, but with planning many teachers are able to switch between their yearly job and a summer school.

[denise]

Mercury Morris-- Come visit me at my place of work. At 33, I am one of the young 'uns. Many people have families, have lived here for several years, and are earning and saving good money--plus the added benefits of free housing, medical insurance, vacation, airfare home every year, an end-of-contract gratuity, etc. And the vast majority of us have MAs or PhDs. But, as you said, we are in the minority. Sure, the statistics are on your side, but you can choose not to be a transient, to go for the good jobs, etc., etc. This job is whatever you make of it.

d

[spiral78]

In the future i would like to see Europe raising its entry levels to those of the Middle East for entry level jobs and from that point on a masters becoming the minimum for all ESL jobs. I believe this will happen over time as the ESL industry grows and competition becomes more fierce, but i would also hope that schools could influence this by raising their minimum criteria and as such offering more in return.


While it might be desirable, I don't see this happening. There is simply a huge market of people who aren't willing to pay for professional teachers, and the private language schools who cater primarily to businesspeople and/or children fill a legitimate niche in the system.

Further, at the uni level, things are being cut all over. I have a good job, and the economy's not in dire straits here, but we are being pressured to lower our prices, which does affect our benefits to some small degree already. Hopefully we will be able to hold the line here - this uni bills itself as the 'most international' in the region, with nearly all courses taught in English, and most grads going on to international careers where English is the language of communication, so we should have as good a chance to keep the standards up here as anyone can have.

The problem is selling professionalism in language teaching - language learning is such a comprehensive process, a good (professional) teacher is still never more than just one component in a successful learner's toolkit. It's very difficult to package and market 'professionalism.'

[Pikgitina]

[spiral78]

Two points I'd like to clarify from my standpoint:

First, Pikgitina's right - I am not such a rare bird.

Second, I have nothing against the very large sector of the EFL market that employs basically-qualified (non-career) teachers. I was trying to say that I think it's a very valid and pretty useful sector of the language-teaching/learning market.

Not one I'd personally want to stay in forever, and I'm obviously typical in the wish to move on to something different/more professional. Some people move out, and a few move up - I think both directions are valid and understandable.

[JZer]

[JZer]

[JZer]

[gaijinalways]

Interesting. Sounds like the OP didn't respond back yet. Also sounds like he was doing a lot of test prep. I do kind of wonder what the average age of an ESL teacher is, though is does certainly depend on the country and the kind of place one works in. I feel where I work at universities, most people are older, with a few in the low 40s, high 30s.

As to language schools, it partly depends on the branch and the school. My particular branch has 1 guy in his 60s, another one in his late 50s, a few in their 40s, several in their 30s, and a few youngsters in their late 20s. Not sure what the average time in is now, as we have a few people who are new to our branch (and some to the company) , but not new to Japan where I work.

[Glenski]

[spiral78]

How'd Prague come into this?

Mostly true, though, that there are only a very, very few teachers who have been able to make anything like a 'career' out of EFL in Prague. It's the only reason I'm not living there fulltime myself....economics.

[Glenski]

[spiral78]

I see - I didn't read the whole thread in detail.
I'd agree then with the OP - if your view of the EFL market has been focused mostly on Prague, many of his points are correct.

However, trying to apply the Prague norm to the entire world is obviously inaccurate.

[Global Hobo]

I think Morris does have a bit of a point. I have similar experiences of ESL teachers as him. When I worked in Cambodia I only knew of one teacher who didn't sleep with prostitutes (due to a disability, he didn't feel comfortable). I met many alcoholics, one or two people who were strongly suspected of being pedophiles and many people who regularly used hard drugs including a friend of mine who would inject Kettamine in the toilets at work and zip through galaxies in front of the kids.
Out of the two colleagues I worked with in China; one told me he saw nothing wrong with having sex with children, explaining he believes it really does no damage to them mentally and recalled a night camping in the US where he met 'two great guys' who worked in a Catholic school in New York where they would get the young boys to perform fellatio on them. The other (my flatmate) would pour boiling water over himself at night, still grief-stricken that his girlfriend performed fellatio on his best friend a couple of years ago. The fluid-filled welts all over his lower arms were there for all to see the next morning, his honest explanation there for all to hear.
Though comparatively, when I was in Ethiopia the teachers maintained a high degree of professionalism and served the children very well.
I do think the job asks a lot of resilience from a couple when they decide to have a family and to be quite honest attaining QTS (which I'll have next year) gives you far better job and financial security than ESL jobs, I don't think I could stay in ESL now I have my daughter.