Job Discussion Forums

[JasMine_olMo]

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I have a year left to finish up my BA and I have to declare my major ASAP. Furthermore, I will take a class for my CELTA certification in the summer. I really would like to become a traveling teacher and have looked up vast amounts of information already.

However I noticed that in job posts they say a BA is required. I wanted to know if my BA has to be in a specific major such as English or Education? ...Because I am considering majoring in Art History or History.

I look forward for a response!

[denise]

No, you don't need a major in English or the like. My BA was in Peace and Conflict Studies, and plenty of others in this job have unrelated BAs. With your CELTA, you should be fine for entry-level jobs.

If you choose to stay in teaching and make a career of it, you may need to go back to university--for an MA (and then it does need to be in a related field), teaching credential, etc., but you're fine for now.

d

[fluffyhamster]

No, a degree in any subject will do for the purposes of getting a work visa and teaching English in private language schools (called eikaiwa in Japan), or e.g. as an assistant/non-licensed teacher in foreign public/state schools (e.g. in Japan, as an AET, Assistant English Teacher, on the JET Program or as a dispatched AET, or possibly as a NET in Hong Kong, or perhaps through the EPIK thingy in Korea etc). You don't even need to have a CELTA, with many employers (but these jobs may not be "up to much", needless to say). But if you get just any old degree, you may soon find yourself wishing you'd done that education major instead, and become a licensed teacher in your home country, once you see how much better-paid and perksy the jobs for such licensed teachers are in international schools, for example (but then, the competition for such jobs must be pretty tough, simply because there are far fewer of them to go around compared to work in ELT/EFL generally - I guess quite a few licensed teachers might need to "slum" it sometimes! (I assure you that that gave me absolutely no satisfaction to say )).

[Glenski]

[JasMine_olMo]

Thanks You for the advice! In that case I decided I am going to major in what I like Art History or History. I think it will be fun and when I work in different countrys, I can already have an intensive knowledge about their history And as suggested if I choose to stay in the field, I will go back later on for my MA


The countrys I want to work in are....everywhere! Although I know I most likely will not get a job in western Europe because of no EU citizenship unless it is illegal and I do not want to do illegal. I honestly want to work everywhere even in the middle east. I do not want to live a normal life working in the US. I just want to go with the wind. I was Pre-Med major until last month when I realized its almost time for submitting applications to med school and I freaked out. I had to reevaluate what I wanted out of life and found out that being a doctor would drive me insane with the same routine everyday. Being a "traveling teacher" makes more sense to me and I can also join the Peace Corps for a while and volunteer for the UN. I would not mind being a teacher because I enjoy being a leader.

As for how long I will stay in each country, depends on the contract and how I feel about the place when the contract is almost up, if I still want to be there then I renew it. But knowing me, I will most likely stay only a year. You see I think I have a problem with traveling. For example when I was in Europe, all the time I would go to a new country, I was already thinking about the next one There is so little time to live and I want to make sure I experience every country in the world.

I look forward to speaking to you guys again on this awesome site =D

[Glenski]

[JasMine_olMo]

Glenski, I think you misunderstood me. I know that teachers have basically the same routine everyday day. I meant to say that the environment will be new all the time. If I stay working here in the states, it will always be the same after work and on weekends no matter what I do with my friends. However in a new country, on weekends on my spare time will be a new adventure to explore something new in the country and see and experience something different. Each year it will be a whole new atmosphere as compared to working in the same place for a long time. This is just what I like and need. For example, I go to school and go to work and on my spare time it is always hanging out somewhere different in the city. Nothing excites me here or anywhere in the US because it all feels the same. I lstudied abroad for a year in Europe full time with crazy hard classes (I was Pre-Med) but in my spare time there was always something new and exciting that I did not see yet. That is what I want for myself all the time after having the same routine in work, just see something new.