Job Discussion Forums

[Prof.Gringo]

[artemisia]

So I assume there are EFL teacher posters on Dave's who are under 35 and doing it but hating it and planning their Great Escape, whereas the ones over 35 have got out and life is now something else? And if you're the second category, are you just popping back to Dave's to spread the good word and share the joy of your Non-Tefl Life?

[mozzar]

[johnslat]

Dear artemisia,

Well, at 67, I've been doing it for thirty-two years, twenty-five of which were EFL and the rest (up to and including now) ESL.

Never made the "Great Escape" - have never wanted to. I love what I've been doing and it's been good to me.

Now I'm "semi-retired," teaching only 16 hours a week at the local community college here in Santa Fe, NM.

Maybe my way isn't for everyone, but then, I wouldn't give anyone else advice such as "GET OUT" or, for that matter, "DON'T GET OUT" because everybody's different, with different needs, wants, dreams, and abilities.

But it's worked for me

Regards,
John

[artemisia]

Dear John,

I have also benefited from EFL. It's allowed me to travel to countries I've wanted to go to and live in and to have a lifestyle I've greatly enjoyed and still enjoy - more so than secondary school teaching (while better paid) ever did. I'd agree with Mozzar that as TEFL is often seen as a joke, then you have the chance to do well in it, if you care enough to try because many don't.

I'd also agree with you (John) that you can't really give others advice because what people want varies so much. One person's 'hell' is another's 'heaven'. I recognise that certain issues are important in life but make the distinction between that and taking myself too seriously - stopped doing that years ago and find self-important people a right, royal pain in the ... !

So I'd also have to say if TEFL is not right for you then "GO"! (And please close the door quietly after you when you leave).

[Insubordination]

[TeresaLopez]

[smithrn1983]

The question of whether or not ESL/EFL is a 'McJob' really depends on who you are. It can be, and for many people teaching right now it is a 'McJob'. On the other hand, for those who want to make a career out of it, it is certainly possible. It all depends on the perspective of the individual teacher. There are those who are simply trying to extend a holiday, and those who view themselves as professional educators. IMO, those in the latter group, regardless of where they teach, have an actual career. I don't see why you would want to insult anybody doing what they enjoy, and making a living out of it. Yes, there are risks, especially regarding retirement, but these risks aren't exactly absent from other career fields either. Learning how to manage them is the key in any profession.

[artemisia]

[TwinCentre]

I've been in the TEFL game a long time, including a long stint with the British Council. I have DELTA, PGCE, QTS, CELTA etc....and seriously...Hod's advice is worth heeding!

If you are in your 20s, doing TEFL now in 2010....try to get out; the industry is in decline, student intake is way down, salaries around the world have generally been in decline since about 1995, standards have plummeted and there are way too many TEFL teachers too compete with for decent jobs.

Catch the midnight express and find another career....OR, work on the fringe of the industry (open your own teaching business, go online and develop somekind of 'mega online learning method', develop materials, invent a new method, innovate something...blah blah).

TEFL has become a Mcjob...coz the industry is over-run with wannabe teachers, students are harder to find and schools can only afford to pay peanuts...or can get away it.

[naturegirl321]

I'll get out. Eventually, but this is what I'll be doing for the next five years, at least. But yes, I agree, everyone should get out. Less competition that way!

[HLJHLJ]

I've yet to come across a profession where the majority of 'old timers' say their field is going from strength to strength and encourage newcomers to jump on the band waggon before it's too late. Teachers, plumbers, lawyers, builders, pilots, even refuse collectors have all told me their job is going to hell in a handcart and you'd have to be crazy to want to try and get into it now.

Throw in the current economic situation, which is putting immense pressure on people to work harder for less money, rather than risk losing their job, and the prophecies of doom are only getting worse.

Jobs are what you make them, and in that respect ESL/EFL is no different to any other.

[Perilla]

It may have become a McJob here and there, but it beats most McJobs in our respective homelands. And there are many back home who can't even get a McJob flipping burgers.

[Hod]

It�s like a British Council staff meeting in here, this backslapping.

I disagree with TwinCentre and still maintain that TEFL up until the age of 35 is fine. After that, you will be teaching for life whether you want to or not. Don�t put yourself into that desperate situation where you have no choice.

I never realised how lucky or glad I was to escape TEFL until I did so and returned to my old employer. The changes in technology and people�s careers were the biggest culture shock of my life.

Some say I�ve gone back to the rat race, which is kind of ironic when I now live in a part of Germany that thousands of TEFLers would give both arms to work in. With an EU passport, I can work in a number of countries and want to give France a try next year.

I�m still not convinced by the teaching career path even with an MA, which I don�t even rate as a qualification having seen a lot of MAs trying to teach (not teach, lecture). And where exactly can you go progress to apart from a classroom or doing a mundane admin job looking after people � in a classroom?

[artemisia]

If this thread even merits being called a debate, it's become a rather pointless one. But yeah, it would be good if you all got out of TEFL teaching!! I'd agree that there are many non-jobs in lots of fields and some EFL ones would certainly fall into that category.

However, if there are posters who currently work as TEFL teachers who think that it's all a waste of time and a non-job then I'm all for you getting out of it because, apart opening up more work possibilities for the rest of us, anyone who genuinely resents doing this line of work is most likely ripping off students.
Not that an unprofessional attitude surprises me in the slightest.