Job Discussion Forums

[Chancellor]

[AdrianG4]

Teaching English is serious business, but please - teaching our native language to speakers of other languages doesn't require your unrelated BA degrees - it is freakin' English for goodness sakes. Of course there's heavy grammar and one must know how to best present it, but hey, I got a knack for it via my TESOL cert course and real teaching practice since then. And I supposed the 100 hours of volunteer teaching to my felllow Mexican immigrants in South Texas helped as well.

As a degreeless, TESOL certified bilingual English instructor, this is how I've learned and managed to teach in Mexico, a language institute currently in Phoenix and soon China

I guess some of y'all learned through your Economics major

[Glenski]

[markcmc]

[Perilla]

I have three degrees, including an MEd and CELTA, and I have to say that I learned very little about teaching from any of them. Most of the good teachers I've come across down the years were people with patience and what I'd describe as a natural affinity for the job. Admittedly most of them were also properly qualified (and usually with QTS, not just CELTA), but I've also known many teachers who had all the quals but weren't good teachers.

IMO a reasonable level of education is essential for a teacher (not necessarily a degree), but after that many other things come into play, including the nature of the job itself. If it's one-on-one or small group tuition in an informal setting I think personal and people skills are just as important as educational training.

[Glenski]

Oh, please! Let's not go down this road again!

[jpvanderwerf2001]

As one who hires teachers, I can say this: Everything else being basically equal, I would more likely hire the person with a degree. Why? Because students here in Russia very often ask what their teacher's qualifications are. If they have a degree and a certificate it looks better than if they don't have a degree and have a certificate. Also, since I usually need to hire "sight unseen"--only "meeting" them through Skype, say, then a degree at least tells me they can start/finish something related to education.
One can argue the relevance of having completed a degree all they want, but people doing the hiring will definitely look at it as a plus.
Now, I have hired and had some great success with teachers sans degrees, so it is possible to get a decent job w/o the "paper". My advice: 1) Find a country where degrees aren't legally required; and 2) Settle yourself in a place with very few native speakers; that way your stock will be much higher.
Good luck!

[Perilla]

[MrMrLuckyKhan]

[spiral78]

....sounds like someone is upset to see sooooo many tefl jobs out there in the hands of 'completely unqualified' teachers who didn't spend 4 years+ getting as qualified as him....


I've got 12+ years of experience, a BEd, MA TESL/TEFL, and a slew of certifications and other crap.

I simply don't have to compete on the same job market as the giant basic one that sometimes hires teachers without degrees or certification or experience. The jobs that newbies want/fill/compete for simply aren't on my personal radar.

Many regular posters on Dave's are, like me, in a different level of the profession. No, it doesn't 'upset' us to have 'competition' from the newbs.

If I may presume to speak for others, we're simply trying to be sure newbies know what is the standard for whatever region/job market they aspire to work in. It varies quite a lot, and our experience in all the ranges and regions can help newbs to plan how to maximise their chances. I'm a bit tired of the occasional insinuation that we are somehow trying to discourage the competition.

[MrMrLuckyKhan]

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Let's stay on topic and not post derailing comments. The topic is not one of teachers with degrees vs. teachers without degrees.

Future off-topic comments will be deleted and result in sanctions.

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Let's stay on topic and not post derailing comments. The topic is not one of teachers with degrees vs. teachers without degrees.

Future off-topic comments will be deleted and result in sanctions.

[Serious_Fun]