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TG12345
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 41
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 Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 3:33 pm Post subject: Mexico questions |
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I have some questions about teaching English in Mexico. I have just finished my 4th year of student teaching and the block with my grade 8s went very well. I have another year left so I suppose it is too early to begin looking for jobs, but I have some questions.
1) What kinds of schools hire a lot of teachers in Mexico? Is it only private and international schools, or is it also possible to get a job in a public school?
2) How much are wages? Do the schools provide or help with accomodations or transport?
3) For people who have taught in Mexico, how are the students like? Are there many issues with discipline and motivation (like I am used to  ) or is that less of an issue? Or does it largely differ from school to school?
4) What are some things about teaching and/or living in Mexico that you found most challenging or rewarding (or both)?
5) Can you get jobs in Mexico from job ads in Canada or is it necessary to go there? Are there many jobs for English teachers in Mexico? If one goes to Mexico, how do you go about looking for a job in a school? Is it necessary to know Spanish first?
6) What can you do in your free time? Is it possible to do volunteer work during weekends or evenings or other times when not teaching?
Thank you and take care,
Tomasz |
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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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| Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Tomasz,
Way to much information for one post! 
It would be better in a couple of different threads.
I'd put 1, 2 and 5 together in one post,
3 in another,
and 4 and 6 in a third.
Also, it's a large and very country with a lot of different teaching contexts.
I'll think about this over the weekend and try to answer on Monday |
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TG12345
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 41
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| Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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| MELEE wrote: |
Tomasz,
Way to much information for one post!
It would be better in a couple of different threads.
I'd put 1, 2 and 5 together in one post,
3 in another,
and 4 and 6 in a third.
Also, it's a large and very country with a lot of different teaching contexts.
I'll think about this over the weekend and try to answer on Monday |
Hi MELEE,
As always, I look forward to learning from you, so please share your insights and experiences with me when you can.
Take care,
Tomasz |
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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 2:39 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico questions |
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| TG12345 wrote: |
1) What kinds of schools hire a lot of teachers in Mexico? Is it only private and international schools, or is it also possible to get a job in a public school?
2) How much are wages? Do the schools provide or help with accomodations or transport?
5) Can you get jobs in Mexico from job ads in Canada or is it necessary to go there? Are there many jobs for English teachers in Mexico? If one goes to Mexico, how do you go about looking for a job in a school? Is it necessary to know Spanish first? |
That I know of there are private language institutes, private primary and secondary schools, a few international schools, public and private universities and a few private high schools that hire English teachers. To teach in a public primary or secondary school you must be a graduate of a Mexican teachers' college (called Escuelas normales). We've talked about the other reasons why those jobs are not exactly desirable in the past, if you seach "Public schools" in the Mexico forum I'm sure you'll find it.
Wages vary drasitcally. You'd have to narrow down your question to a type of school or part of the country to get a helpful answer on that one.A few schools provide accomodation. Some help find accomodation. Some leave to you do it all yourself. I've only heard of a handful of schools paying for transport to Mexico. If you give incompany business classes, I think it is normal for the school to pay your daily transport.
There are schools that advertise on the internet and hire teachers from abroad. There are also a lot of schools that don't for a variety of reasons. There are a lot of jobs in Mexico, but not all of them are good jobs. If you were to arrive without a job, you should pick a city that interests you look in the phone book and call/visit schools. Mexico is a large and varied country. You might want to travel around first, if you have the money, to see what part of the country you might like to live in. It is not necessary to speak Spanish, but if sure helps.
| TG12345 wrote: |
3) For people who have taught in Mexico, how are the students like? Are there many issues with discipline and motivation (like I am used to ) or is that less of an issue? Or does it largely differ from school to school? |
Again, Mexico is a large and varied country. And there are so many different teaching contexts. From Highly motivated professionals, to bored teenagers. Children who have no idea why you want them to speak English, to people facing a dead end in their career if they don't learn English fast. Even among a group like say, teenagers, you will still find a wide variety depending on the region and socio-ecomonic situation.
| TG12345 wrote: |
4) What are some things about teaching and/or living in Mexico that you found most challenging or rewarding (or both)?
6) What can you do in your free time? Is it possible to do volunteer work during weekends or evenings or other times when not teaching?
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I've made a life for myself here. Being part of a Mexican family is both the most rewarding and challenging aspect of my life. But the average Foriegn English teacher in Mexico is probably not in that position (though a high percentage of people in this board are!). Also staying calm behind the wheel is also one of the biggest challenges--but most of the teachers I work with avoid that to by not owning cars. The noise level is a big issue for a lot of people, and I recently re-read a collection of travel writing on Mexico from the 1930s and 40s and several of the authors in that collection mentioned the loud music, so that's a long standing aspect of Mexican culture. I suspect that the challenges are more common across the board and that everyone finds unique rewards.
As for free time, again, it's a large and varied country, you can do just about anything that you can do anywhere else on the planet (except snow ski!) Of course you can do volunteer work if you have time and energy left at the end of the day. A lot of teachers in Mexico are working a lot of hours. I've mostly done linguistic related volunteer work, translating and interpreting for the Lion's Club, the Rotary Club, and other organizations on various projects. |
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