Job Discussion Forums

[Peter_Chestnut]

Hello, I�m new to the forum. I thought I�d give a bit of an intro. I�m and 18 year old male, who is traveling Canada doing a volunteer program called Katimavik. This is a nine month program, in which the Canadian government places you in three different towns and city across the country. In each town or city you live for three months and while there they set you up with, a place to stay, food, and some job to volunteer your time at. I have about 4 months left in the program it ends late June. While in the program I have been lucky enough to get jobs working full time in schools as a volunteer teacher. I have worked at both at an alternative public school in B.C and a normal public elementary in Ontario. I also took professional teacher work shops on Non-coercive teaching, and conflict resolution. Now I�m still working at the public school in Ontario, I teach a grade 7 and a grade 8 media studies/art class. Also with the rest of my day I teach literacy programs to troubled readers/writers in grade 1. After having the chance to work at schools I gained a love for teaching and helping people. I heard from a few Asian friends while living in Vancouver that I should consider teaching there. I started looking into it and loved the idea, so this fall I will get my ESL course from Oxford seminars. Then get a job teaching in China. I hope with teaching/volunteer experience, also being certified, I will be able to find a teaching job in China. Anyway it is nice to meet everyone and I�m happy to join this forum.

[eslstudies]

More and more provinces and cities in China are demanding a degree these days. While you should be able to find something initially, if TEFL becomes a job you want to do long term, you'll need to go back to school for 3 or 4 years.
However, testing the water while you can is not a bad idea.

[spiral78]

I agree with esl studies - get your feet wet first, but be aware that you'll need more education if you find you want to get ahead in the field.

That said, you might be better off to consider a training course that offers supervised teaching practice with feedback from experienced teacher trainers. The Oxford course doesn't offer actual supervised teaching of REAL language students (not peer teachers).

For decent entry-level positions in most places, you need a minimum certification of 120 hours on-site, including above-described teaching practice with feedback.

I think you should check with employers/recruiters in China to be sure that whatever course you take will really give you an acceptable qualification, especially in light of your lack of degree.

[Peter_Chestnut]

Thanks for the input! I'm just wondering would it help my chances if I knew a far bit of Mandarin?

[eslstudies]

It will help your chances of having a good time, but not of finding a great EFL job, although teaching younger kids would certainly be made easier by being able to tell them to stop screaming and hitting each other in their native tongue.
Whether they'll understand your Mandarin is a seperate issue!