Job Discussion Forums

[one234]

Hi,

I am just starting to look into a program that is an alternative route to get your teaching certificate. Its in-person program not online and you do student teaching as well. I would like to know if something like that would be acceptable in the Middle East?

[one234]

Just wanted to add that I have a Bachelors in History.

[nomad soul]

If it's equivalent to a CELTA, then it meets the TEFL qualification requirements for employers in the region.

Keep in mind, an unrelated BA will likely get you employment with a Saudi contracting company; the rest of the Gulf requires a relevant degree. Employers in the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait expect an MA plus several years of related (post-MA) teaching experience. Ditto for the better employers in KSA.

[one234]

Thanks for replying

[MuscatGary]

How many hours? How many hours observed teaching? Is the observed teaching with real students or other course participants?

[esl_prof]

[nomad soul]

[one234]

I'm sorry. I just read the other replies.

Yes, I meant the teaching certificate to teach in public schools. (history in my case)

I did not mean a Celta for teaching English.


I will take a look at the Teach Away site. Thanks for all your help.

[esl_prof]

If the end result is a state (or other appropriate government entity if this is a non-U.S. program) issued teacher certificate/licensure that allows you to teach history in the public schools, then, to answer your original question, you should be fine for teaching at international schools in the Middle East or elsewhere in the world. Most schools, however, will also want a couple years of public school teaching experience in your home country before they'll consider you. But, again, the alternative program you are interested in sounds like it meets that part of the requirement.

[nomad soul]

Also do an Internet search on history teacher jobs [insert country] to see actual job ads and the qualifications required. Use that info as a guide for the type of licensure and experience you'd need.

You'll get limited advice on this forum, so check out International Schools Review; it's a site for international school teachers.

[hash]

[Gulezar]

[scot47]

The skills that have to be imparted on Prep Year Programmes at university are similar to skills we would think of as more appropriate for pupils aged 10 to 14.

A colleague in charge of recruitment said that he would prefer tpo recruit trained primary school teachers than those with oodles of TESOL qualifications.

[veiledsentiments]

I must say that I don't completely agree with this. The fact is that a very high percentage of ESL/EFL teachers around the world who are teaching students over the age of 18 are working with zero level and/or fossilized beginners. The approach needed is that required for those levels. It has nothing to do with being an elementary or middle school trained teacher. It has to do with hiring teachers who are used to those levels. The CELTA is very good at training for this from what I saw.

Anyone who has taught in the Middle East for a couple years has been dealing with that issue. This is, of course, ignoring the detail that these young adults are often very immature and seem like our Middle School kids much of the time. But that doesn't change the methodology for teaching English to beginners. That is the question that interviewers should be asking. I was personally not good at the lowest levels, and stressed my abilities at teaching writing from intermediate up to advanced essays. I readily admitted not being all that good with zero level.

IHMO it is simplistic... and probably inaccurate to say that we need trained school/K-12 teachers instead of CELTA/DELTA or MA. It is a matter of teaching skills... whatever their paper qualifications. The best beginner teacher that I ever worked with actually had an MA in Criminal Justice, and neither public school teacher training nor a CELTA. She was just outstanding with fossilized adult learners.

VS