Job Discussion Forums

[happychristy]

Hi! I'm a 18 year old American high school student. I would like to someday work as a teacher of english as a foreign language, and perhaps even in international schools.

However, I also want to leave my options opened for other international careers.

If I get a BA in, say, Anthropology, can I still become qualified to become a teacher? Will this be good enough in the eyes of International Schools?

Or would I be better off getting a BA in teaching?

Thank you for your help!

[denise]

From what I know of international schools, they generally require a state credential in the subject that you wish to teach. Meaning a BA in English plus a US credential (I don`t think the state matters) would qualify you to teach English--not EFL, but English.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge or first-hand experience can correct me if I am wrong!

If you want to work in other EFL settings, such as private language schools, generally any ol' BA plus a TEFL certificate will suffice.

d

[The_Hanged_Man]

Yep, pretty much all of the real international schools require certification plus two years of experience teaching in a K-12 setting. As a certified teacher it would take longer to get overseas as you are meeting the experience requirement, but overall international schools offer superior pay and benefits compared to your average entry-level esl job. Right now I am in my 2nd year teaching math in Texas after doing esl in Japan, and I am looking forward to finding an international school position next year myself.

Why not major in both subjects? Given your interest in Anthropology you could angle towards getting your certification as a social studies teacher.

[happychristy]

Thanks for the replies!

Is it possible to be certified as a US socialstudies teacher when you've majored in Anthropology?

Or does one HAVE to major in education to become certified?

[The_Hanged_Man]

Well, you don't HAVE to, as there are alternative certification programs in some states that will certify non-education majors which is what I did. However, I had already been out of school a number of years and in my case it would of taken an additional 2 years of classes and student teaching to go the traditional route.

Since you are just beginning your college career however, IMO it would be best to just major in education. With alternative certifcation it is sometimes difficult to land your first job, and also most alt-cert programs operate in teacher shortage areas where the schools are somewhat less than stellar

[happychristy]

Hmm, I guess I"ll have to think more about it then. I would love to teach, I just don't know if that's what I want to do my entire life. I'd really like to work for non for profit international orgs as well, such as Amnesty.. I just am not sure as to how to get there :S