Job Discussion Forums

[Karen Faith]

Hi All,

Wondering if someone could offer me any advice here... I'm a 42 year old Canadian teacher currently teaching primary school in England ( I've been here almost 2 years). Having come here with the intention of staying long term I have now changed my mind, due to various reasons. I have no desire to go back to Canada. What I'm thinking of seriously doing is getting into teaching English. I do have previous experience- I volunteered for a year in 1999 teaching English to refugees in Vancouver. I then obtained a TEFL certificate in 2000 and soon taught English in Brazil for 6 months. Following that however, I decided to recertify as a regular teacher (due to a shortage, rare thing, of teachers in western Canada) after a 10 year absence from teaching. After recertifying and then teaching oncall in Vancouver for 1 1/2 years, the new premier laid off hundreds of teachers and I lost my job ( why i'm slugging it out in England).
Well, I realize now that I enjoyed teaching English way more than regular school and have decided to follow my heart and pursue it even though I know the money will be much, much less.
So, my question: is my teaching English experience too far back in the past to be relevant? Should I get another TEFL?
Know I want to go to a Latin country and Mexico appeals to me the most.

Any advice would be welcome!

Cheers,
Karen

[ls650]

If you have been teaching primary in the meantime, I think that won't hinder you much at all in finding TEFL work in Mexico. In fact it might make things easier; a lot of Mexican schools will appreciate your having experience in teaching other subjects.

[Samantha]

Absolutely come to Mexico! I hear you on not going back to Canada....take a detour and fly into MEX.