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[lyndalorient]

Hello to all,

In a nutshell,

I am 23 years old. I have a 1.1 degree in French and European Studies. I am about to do a PGCE specialising in French. I will spend a part of my course teaching English in a French primary school. I am an EU citizen.
I already have one years teaching experience. By 2009 I will be a qualified English teacher. I am also completely fluent and very confident in French.

What would my job prospects be like in France? Is there mutual recognition of teaching qualifications between England and
France? Would I have a better of teaching in France with a few more years experience under my belt, or would an additional certificate like TEFL be needed?

I would be looking to teach in private or public primary schools.

[rogan]

A quick search of these forums will give you the answers to your question.

There is no mutual recognition of teaching qualifications because teachers in France are seen as " fonctionnaires " - civil servants.

To be a qualified teacher you must pass the CAPES exam.

A TEFL qualification is of no use in the school system but may have some value working for the for profit language teaching businesses.

As you are no doubt aware the PRIVEE is, in fact usually a Church based school seperate from the State system.

You could maybe try some of the EU exchange programmes for teachers.

[lolwhites]

I arrived in France with a PGCE. It doesn't exempt you from the CAPES exam because that's the local selection procedure (as opposed to applying for a job and attending an interview as you have to do in the UK), but it will exempt you from having to do full time training at the IUFM; instead, you can be placed directly in a school and start teaching full time. So, contrary to what rogan says, your qualification WILL be recognised.

BTW don't be put off doing the CAPES because you aren't French. I arrived in France with high school French and passed the exams two years later. It definitely can be done.

[rogan]

I'll say it again, Monsieur LeProf, but a little more clearly:-

To be a qualified teacher in a State school, you must pass the CAPES.

A British Degree will allow you to be a vacataire (a replacement teacher), when there is a vacancy, working a maximum of 200 hours in any Academic year.

With the CAPES you do not apply for a position - you are told where to go by the Inspection Academique.

[lolwhites]

Er, isn't that what I said?

The "normal" procedure in France is pass the CAPES, then do the full-time teacher training in the IUFM. The PGCE exempts you from the second part but not the first.

If you want to be a vacataire (in a university, at least, I don't know about secondary schools) you must either have a main employer already or be a student under 28. The only way around this is to be self-employed and bill the establishment directly, which means waiting months to get paid.

Schools and universities sometimes have one year "contractuel" positions available but you have to keep your ear to the ground. University "contractuel" jobs often go out on email lists but I'm not sure about the schools; you might need to contact your local acad�mie directly for details.

rogan - I got your pm but thought I'd better clarify a few things anyway.

[rogan]

Sorry M.LeP, but the way I read your post was that the UK Degree allows a person to be placed directly in a school. It wasn't clear to me at all.

"instead, you can be placed directly in a school and start teaching full time. So, contrary to what rogan says, your qualification WILL be recognised."

The qualification may be recognised as having the same level as a BAC + 3 or 4 or 5 which may then give exemption to the obligatory introductory course prior to taking the CAPES

Can we be very clear? Whatever qualifications that you have, the only one which allows you to teach in schools is the CAPES.

A vacataire in schools (public or prive) has no age restriction. The only restriction is the max 200 hrs work.

It is necessary to contact the local Inspection Academic and have qualifications translated and accepted (homologue) as a BAC+3 minimum level.
Then when there is a vacancy the Inspection Academic will contact one of the people on their waiting list.

For EU citizens the best way to find employment is to register as unemployed in your home country, ask to see the European Adviser (there is one in every Job Centre) and take all the grants, benefits and travel allowances so that you can to go to your chosen country.
That will also give you direct access to the ANPE in France which will notify you of all teaching vacancies in their area.
And you will still be eligible for unemployment benefit for 3 months.

[lolwhites]

One more point:

To sit the CAPES in the first place, you must have a degree. It doesn't have to be in a related discipline, but it must have been at least a three-year course to make it equivalent to the Licence. You don't need to get it convalidated, but you will need to get an official translator to translate the certificate into French. It helps to get an academic transcript from the originating university to show the course was at least three years long and get that translated too.

If you only have a UK degree, you'll have to do both stages: CAPES + Stage en IUFM. Only the PGCE will exempt you from the stage en IUFM. I don't know what the situation is if you have a Cert. Ed.

[rogan]

lolwhites,

Between us I think we have now made the situation vachement clair..

[lolwhites]

Until Sarkozy goes and reforms it, anyway.

[lyndalorient]

Thanks for the information. I would definately give the CAPES a go as my standard of French is very high. I will also be in Normandy for one month teaching next year, so maybe I might be able to find some fellow native English speaking teachers to advise me on how they went about it.

[rogan]

"giving the CAPES a go "isn't quite so easy.

First you have to register with the authorities before the month of November of the year before you expect to take the exam.

Then it starts to get complicated.

[lolwhites]

I second what rogan says. Not only do you have to preregister online in the autumn, but you'll need to have your degree certificate translated into French as they'll ask for it when you register for real in the winter. Check out the ministry of education website to find out the dates and the documents you need to present.

The you need to prepare for the tests. The CNED have excellent materials so I suggest you enrol with them unless you plan to study full time. Their literary criticism in French is a goldmine of useful phrases you can use in the exam.

[mesomorph]

[mesomorph]

Put it this way, with a First Class in French you could re-invent the entire langue fran�ais and no-one would argue.