Job Discussion Forums

[monir_kuwait]

Hello to all current and former teachers in Kuwait. I have a BA in English literature and an "Oxford" TESL certificate both from Canada. I know the latter sounds nice but it has nothing to do with Britain�s Oxford University.
I lived in Canada many years, and have two years teaching experience (not in Canada though).
I plan to go back to Kuwait, where I was born and raised, to work and to take walks on the flat desert earth (hope I won�t get kidnapped...I read strange things). I�m Arabic, so I'm wondering what kind of job/salary offers I would get for teaching English, NOT being Caucasian. I assume there is clear preference for the native European-looking type of teacher. I speak fluent English (no foreign accent), but it's clear that I'm Mid Eastern . How much discrimination will I face? I miss the polluted desert sands (yes I do)

[sheikh radlinrol]

[15yearsinQ8]

your homeland, huh?
it amazes me that palestinines and others work so hard and get so proud to get us/canadian citizenship then seem to move back to the same slum apartments in hawalli/salmiya they grew up in....or if they don't get citizenship immediately seem to cling to kuwait more than kuwaitis...
honestly OP , aren't there opportunities in canada?
many people hate, i mean loathe vehemently - with a passion, kuwait
you grew up here , you have nice memories, but it isn't like it was and it can never be
heard the expression ' you can never go home' ....

having gotten that off my chest and no offense OP, you are employable 550-700 kd monthly with a poor housing allowance or school housing
only the top school continue to have white faced westerns with judeo-christian backgrounds and a teaching certificate and experience after that certificatre employed, but you'll get several job offers

[monir_kuwait]

LOL. Thanks for the reply. I�m not Palestinian though. I was a Kuwaiti-bedoon...so I'm the type that looks and talks like a Kuwaiti, just not Kuwaiti on paper. Kuwait has its MAAJOR problems, I'm not ignortant nor in denial about it...and they are (sadly) unsolvable problems.
What�s OP
And I mislead myself, and you, when I refer to the country as my "homeland"...I appreciate the homelessness aspect of my existence (wow that sounds heavy, eh ). Meaning I was born and raised in a place that did not accept me as a citizen, my grandparents are from a country I never lived in, and I�m a Canadian on paper (only because "daddy" paid a good chunk of money) but can never feel accepted, since, for example, every narrow-minded "person" I meet here first asks me "where are you from ". The question is veery offensive and it indicates that I cannot be seen as Canadian. Regarding getting a job here: sure I can, but not a decent one. I have to change my name to a Joe type, and somehow confirm that I drink Lakeport beer on Fridays and Saturdays at least, and watch television while doing it, and eat bacon and sausage for snack, then maybe the employers may get over their peenis insecurities. (I'm trying to be funny here)
There seems to be a tone of...hate, perhaps...but naaaah, I'm fine and dandy with Canada...I love their trees, mushrooms, lakes and mountains! But besides that, I would need more education if I want to teach in a school here(teacher's college).
Wow I went all over the place with my babble (but I hope that my babble is truly Babylonian).

[veiledsentiments]

OP = original poster = you

You are in an unusual situation. Unfortunately your education leaves you with few option even in Canada. (English majors... dime a dozen... few decent jobs... ESL... low pay, few options) Do you have a teaching certificate from Canada? If you don't, do get one. It'll put you just a bit up the ladder and expand your options

Or... get an MA in Applied Linguistics/TESL/TEFL and you could teach in one of the universities in the Gulf.

Do you have family in Kuwait? If not, you may want to consider other Gulf countries. Having a Canadian passport does expand your work options in that part of the world.

VS

[monir_kuwait]

thanks very much VS for the reply. You are accurate about ENGL majors being dime a dozen here...thats why I dont expect finding a job here that would pay more than 10-15 an hour (and no thats not good). I do have the TESL certificate from here..and I got it for the same reasons you mention...to put me abit "up the ladder". I did think about investing time and effort in hunting for something in other Gulf countries too.

[veiledsentiments]

To be honest, your current credentials are absolutely the bottom, you need more to get on the first step of that ladder. That is why I mentioned the teaching certificate (separate from the ESL cert) or an MA.

VS

[Gulezar]

If you have kept up your Arabic, you might be able to get a position as an Arabic teacher. It seems that it is a subject that is popping up even in small community colleges.

[monir_kuwait]

[veiledsentiments]

[15yearsinQ8]

it's not a question of getting a job at a bad or so-so school because as you say 'the money would be ok', it's a question of what are your long term goals and how/if a stint in kuwait would advance you toward them

would your father , who put down so much money, say kuwait w/ so-so salary at so-so school in a country he wanted you to leave advice you to return as opposed to assimilating (w/ its bumps and bruises all immigrants encounter) into canada meeting a nice canadian guy and having children and grandchildren who would truly belong somewhere and have it easier than he did?

people are lining up and bribing officials for a chance to leave and never return and you, who had a father who wanted the best for you, want to return (because of homesickness and memories of a desert that is now sub-divisions of citizens - a class you can never belong to)....sorry but the weirdness of that just set me off

and VS and I are right, certification is a professional license - it denotes a commitment to a profession and the effort to pass standards - a true career advantage so much better than ANY TEFL certificate

[15yearsinQ8]

and another thing
that salary is capped at that range with your qualifications
even with more experience in kuwait you will be extremely lucky to get 10 kd monthly raise per year experiece

your life here is dead end

[Rommel]

[cassava]

I have lived and worked in both Kuwait and Ontario, Canada, and this is my advice: Acquire a teacher's certificate valid for elementary and high schools in the province of Alberta. You will need a year of full-time study, but eventually you will get a job there, even if, initially, you have to do supply teaching. In my view, Alberta has the best educational system in Canada.

Even if you get a teaching certificate in Ontario, it will be next to impossible to get a job there because of an oversupply of teachers and rapidly declining enrollment at the secondary and elementary levels. Currently, there are many highly-qualified teachers in Ontario who are unemployed.

As for returning to Kuwait to live and work, I think you should forget that idea. When I lived in Kuwait, I was amazed at the prejudice displayed by Kuwaitis against their own citizens who had studied abroad and had returned to the country to work as English teachers. They were never considered good enough. I found Kuwaitis to be a generally friendly people; however, many of their ideas about language teaching were based on emotion rather than on sound pedagogical research.

Unless you are extremely wealthy, you should try to make your career in Canada and view Kuwait as a place to which you make long-term visits.
By the way, if you follow my suggestion, make sure that you do not centre your studies completely around English. Build a lot of flexibility into your program so that you have a fighting chance of getting a good job.

[cassava]

I just finished reading the post by Rommel. It appeared after I had submitted mine. If what Rommel says is true, and I have no reason to doubt him, then it means that certain attitudes have changed in Kuwait since I taught there many years ago. Therefore, Monir, I stand corrected. I suggest that you evaluate all points of view and make your decision. At least if you return to Kuwait, you will not have to deal with the god-awful Canadian winter!