Job Discussion Forums

[wanderlost]

Folks,
Anyone have any good leads for esl teaching positions in the Toronto area? I have a B.A. in English Lit and a 60 Hr. Certificate from Oxford Seminars. Is this (with some good educational background) good enough for esl jobs in Toronto?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Good enough for ESL jobs in Toronto? Probably not.

UofT, Humber College, Seneca College, George Brown College, York U (although YU's is designed for teaching overseas), and some other places in Toronto have TESL certificates that are recognized by TESL Ontario (the government body for ESL teachers in Ontario). TESL ONtario homepage is- http://www.teslontario.org/index.html

see:

http://www.teslontario.org/new/cert/cert_recoginst.htm

for the list of programmes throughout the province.

Courses are generally a full time year, and start in September (the deadline for application for the university and college courses is pretty soon, I think).

Even though Private Language Schools are private and can therefore hire whoever they want, there are more than enough people in Toronto with the year-long certificate that schools do not need to hire anyone without it (in fact, a common problem is that there are so many people with the certificate that employers can get away with not hiring full time etc, but this is common for a lot of the work areas in which you can get trained by the community colleges in a one-year programme after you finish your BA. Employers use contracts of varrying lengths, including daily, to reduce their staffing costs, and, incidentally, the quality of life for their employees- you have to ALWAYS be fairly actively looking for employment and just pray that your savings will last until the next contract in the case of a lull).

[wanderlost]

Sheesh, I wouldn't have quit that communications contract had I known. I was told by a number of people that it was like the land of milk and honey.

I think I better start looking for other types of jobs then as well, before I go broke.

Anyone have any GOOD personal experience looking in Toronto?

Thanks for the info!!!

d.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Sorry to have disappointed you.

If it makes you feel any better, a lot of people have been told the same thing as you. There is a dire need for ESL teachers in Toronto. But that doesn't mean there are many jobs for ESL teachers in Toronto. Many of the public schools (including the Seperate school Board) schools badly need ESL teachers. You need a B.Ed to teach in them. Also, school boards have no funding for ESL teachers. So what they are really looking for is new hires (to replace the retirees) who also have TESL add-ons (which are courses offered by Faculties of Education, or are approved by faculties of Education- the one year certificates are approved).

Private Language Schools offering TESOL certificates and Private TESOL Training companies don't tell people about TESL Ontario, or TESL Canada, because to do so would impact their bottom line. However, Private Language Schools are very vocal on their web sites about their teachers having university/college training in TESL when making their pitch to students. They also may say that there is a possiblilty that they will hire graduates of their TESOL programme, but it somehow never works out that way.

It *MAY* be possible to get summer language camp experience in Toronto with your Oxford TESOL certificate, but you would be competing for jobs with everybody else looking, which normally includes a lot of people who graduated from UofT, Humber etc. often those who just graduated (these programmes require a practicum that often ends up lasting most of the year- I know mine did).

Many people who do TESL certificates at Humber, UofT et al go overseas to teach after a while of searching and getting nothing other than short contracts, part time only or even volunteer positions.

[khmerhit]

just forget it.

[C76]

Awww.

To think I was coming in here in search of summer job advice...

I'm working on my B.Ed. right now, have TESL certification, etc.