Job Discussion Forums

[Scrabble King]

I just read the survey report of China foreign teachers that show 5% more teachers in 2014 sought out TEFL training programs on their own even though there is no mandatory requirement to have a teaching certificate in order to teach in China.

So now one in every twelve teachers in China have a cert (8%) and it makes me wonder if they all work for EF (they require the certificates) or if the schools are now paying for their teachers to upgrade their teaching skills?

Maybe it would be a good idea if everyone who never taught before go through a TEFL course, and let the schools pick up the tab. And if they were to do this, which would be the best program in China to take? I am all for anything that provides grounds for a raise!

SOURCE: http://www.chinaforeignteachersunion.com/2015/01/2014-was-year-of-progress-according-to.html

[Bud Powell]

"...Maybe it would be a good idea if everyone who never taught before go through a TEFL course, and let the schools pick up the tab..."

Why should the schools pay for it? Why shouldn't prospective teachers arrive in China with qualifications? I think that it is quite arrogant of you to think otherwise.

[Scrabble King]

[Simon in Suzhou]

Mandatory requirement or not, more and more recruiters and schools (universities, not just places like EF) won't even talk to job applicants who don't have this. Someone has convinced them this piece of paper is important (and in China right now there is NO DIFFERENCE between a CELTA and a $200 online course). I've got an English degree and 11 years experience teaching ESL, and I've been told by several UNIVERSITIES they won't hire without this piece of paper if I only have a B.A. Several cities, like Guangzhou, are mulling making this a mandatory requirement. Is it stupid? Yeah.

So you can rant all you want about what is legally mandatory or not, what things we should force employer to put into the contract, blah blah blah. The REALITY is that employers can choose to set the standards of who they want to hire, and many are doing so.

I, and several of my colleagues, with loads of teaching experience are knocking out one of these online TEFL courses as we speak. It is a small price to pay to have MORE OPTIONS in the future. If I were going to teach somewhere else I'd do a CELTA, but I plan on being in China for the long-term and it's just not necessary at this juncture, and a waste of money as most Chinese employers don't know/care about the difference.

Pay raise? You're so cute for someone who deems himself as an advisor on this board!

[Scrabble King]

I never claimed to be the expert that Simon purports to be but maybe about 80% of my friends in China are teachers/professors for a few years - about 30 colleagues in all. Most of them have been teaching here in China more than 2-3 years and only one of them has a TEFL, TESOL, or CELTA certificate.

I am not arguing the merits of the extra training at this point - only saying that the vast majority of China expat teachers don't have teaching certificates, and usually, the recruiters who hustle the BS about needing a teaching certificate to get hired only do so because they are collecting some referral fee or commission on the deal. See: http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=616386

Personally, I am in favor of more training - not less. And if the schools were so bent on TEFL training, they'd be willing to pay for the extra OJT right on their premises during dead time. Obviously it is not a big priority for them. Their number one priority is "Native English Speakers" who have real diplomas.

User Cubism and a dozen others admitted teaching in China for years without ever even being asked if they had a TEFL certificate. Its a bit odd when the recruiters are demanding them but not the actual employers. And keep in mind it is the recruiters who post most all of the job ads online - not the schools.

[Guerciotti]

[nomad soul]

[Scrabble King]

[Guerciotti]

Woulda coulda shoulda