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jbrannan · Joined: 13 Feb 2013 Posts: 25 Location: USA

I have TESOL certification and a Masters in elementary education. I taught 18 years in elementary education and and in my 13th year as and ESOL teacher. Aside from the age issue (60), any thoughts on what my job prospects are with the degree/certification that I have? Thanks!

Qaaolchoura · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:55 pm Post subject:

There are two well-known with "TESOL" in the name: SIT and Trinity, and likely other more obscure ones. Assuming it's one of those, or another course of at least 120 hours and observed teaching practice, that's your basic entry-level qualification. Your MA and teaching experience are more interesting.

If you have a Master's in elementary education, I assume that means you're qualified to teach in your home country public schools? (And that the 18 years of elementary education are in your home country?) I've seen a rash of people with similar (but often weaker) quals to yours whom people have advised to look for a job in an international school.

Any rate, even if you don't want or can't find a job in an international school (I know American public schools have a mandatory retirement age, and international schools might be the same), you'd certainly be qualified for jobs in public or private schools in some countries, which often pay better and has better hours and benefits than ESL teaching. In Turkey for example, the best jobs for foreigners (jn terms of pay, hours, and benefits) seem to be private primary/secondary schools, and the best of those packages require home-country teaching qualifications.

~Q

tttompatz

chica88 · Joined: 28 Dec 2012 Posts: 107

tttompatz

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

I'll be 60 in two months. For the last few years, I've been wondering if this is going to be a problem. I've been making a point of telling prospective employers my age at the outset of any negotiations; specifically, asking if it's going to be a problem. It hasn't been. I just renewed at my current position (China) until July 2014.

Most of the places had teachers who were several years older than me; this isn't just China, I've talked to Indonesia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Turkey, etc.

johnslat · Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 12:45 am Post subject:

Dear johntpartee,

60, huh - you young whippersnapper. How about openings for a "spry 70"
(I really HATE that adjective "spry" - it's only applied to us geezers, well, the lucky ones, anyway. Have you ever heard of a "spry 20 year old?" Very Happy

.

Regards,
Geezer John

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

After you TURN fifty, you actually start moving FASTER; i.e., you HIT 60. That's how you get to be a broken-down-old-wreck.

johnslat · Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:29 am Post subject:

Dear johnteepartee,

George Carlin:

"Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited
about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!"

You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on
five! That's the key. You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the
words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. . . YEAS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED, we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 . . . and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a
day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.

And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92." Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

Regards,
John