Job Discussion Forums

isle-teach · Joined: 03 Sep 2006 Posts: 12

Hi everyone,
I've been an ESL teacher for more than 5 years, and now I'm looking into securing a job at an international school. I have an MA Ed (Applied Linguistics) and a CELTA.

The international school websites I've looked at talk about teaching qualifications. I was wondering whether a PgC Tesol would land me that dream job, or whether I have to go for a PGCE (Sec) and then specialise in ESL? Any advice would be appreciated! Very Happy

jammish · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1704

You'll probably need to get a PGCE in the subject you want to teach. For instance, if you want to teach maths at an international school, you'll have to do the Maths PGCE. And so on and so forth.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

To teach at international schools, you usually need a teaching license valide in your home country plus some experience.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

isle-teach · Joined: 03 Sep 2006 Posts: 12

Thanks for the advice everyone! PGCE here I come! Very Happy

jammish · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1704

jammish · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1704

The_Hanged_Man · Joined: 10 Oct 2004 Posts: 224 Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

I currently teach at an international school in Kuwait. While it is true that is possible to land a job without prior teaching experience or even a certificate I would not recommend trying it.

First of all, unless you are looking for a tough to fill, high demand position (eg AP Physics or Calculus) you would not be a very attractive candidate. As a result, the only schools that would consider you would be the rather dubious ones that have trouble recruiting. Trust me you don't want to work at one of those places regardless of the location.

Secondly, International Schools tend to be very hands off in how they manage their teachers (at least compared to how it is in the States). For experienced teachers this is great as you pretty much get to do what you want as long as it is within reason. However, for a newbie teacher this can be a serious problem as you probably won't get very much support. As a result you could end up floundering and extremely frustrated with very little guidance.

In the end, I think the best course of action for someone looking to break into international school teaching is just to suck it up for a few years to get the certification and at least one year of full time teaching experience.

ktodba · Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 54 Location: UK

Once you get the PGCE and go through the qualifying period (12 months in UK education) you are offically qualified to teach - any subject your school requires that is. End of story - this is why most international schools seem to want 2-3 years experience, they are looking for the finished product rather than a rough diamond. I'm a qualified business teacher and having seen cover teachers trying to replace subject specialists I can understand why international schools want experience. Remember that they are targeting the upper echelons of their countries and are probably charging a lot - have a look at British / international schools in the countries you're interested in for more info.

Good luck.