Job Discussion Forums

[Bethany123]

Hey

I'm currently teaching kindergarten in China, but I'm looking into going to Latin America next year. I was just wondering if teaching kindergarten ages is common or do you mostly teach older adults? From what I've gathered it's adults who are striving to learn english and most parents can't affort to have their children learn english. Am I right? What age groups do you teach?

[naturegirl321]

My youngest is 12. I teach at a uni. There are kindergartens in the big cities, but you will probably need to have QTS to teach there.

[Justin Trullinger]

While adults are definitely striving to learn English here, don't forget that these same adults are the kids' parents. And mostly, they seem to have the idea that if the kids learn it now, they won't have to in the future.

There are MANY opportunities to teach kids in Ecuador. Seems like two out of every three schools is advertising Bilingual Education these days. But the level is frequently abysmal. Public schools have a lot of qualification requirements handed down by the government, and this means that they can hire primarily local teachers, who generally have a low level of English.

But the private schools, which are the majority of the schools (blankety blank IMF austerity measures) have more flexibility, and many hire foreigners. (although the majority spell it "foreingers")

But be warned, the quality is variable. In the poshest schools, the conditions, pay, and educational standards are quite good. Understandably, these schools are also rather exacting about qualifications and experience requirements. Good jobs, if you can get'em. And if you don't mind cosying up to the upper classes. (The teacher is an employee. Rather like the maid. And parents, who pay ALOT to have their kids in these schools, often expect the teacher to do as they're told. And certainly not to be too demanding of their little darlings.)

In the lower tiers, there are as many different situations as there are schools. Some are genuine educational institutes, which try to give students the best scholastic opportunities they can with limited resources. Some are profit machines, dedicated to bringing in as much $$$ as possible. All are plagued with incompetence at some levels, and some are plagued with incompetence at all levels.

If teaching kids is your goal, another option is a language academy that offers after school programs. You can get your kiddy fix that way, without the pressures and frustrations of being in a badly run school environment.

But if you have the energy, and the patience, and know what you're doing, the schools could use you! It won't be at all easy, but it could be REALLY rewarding.

Regards,
Justin

PS From your online handle, I have no idea about your gender. As a man who teaches elementary grades, I should let you know that this is met with suspicion here. Early childhood is "women's work." If you're a woman, this could work to your advantage. If not, be prepared for another obstacle.