Job Discussion Forums

[rccanada]

Hi all,

I have a MS in education and three years teaching experience (with state certification and soon-to-be tenure). It is possible for me to get a job in the ME on this experience alone, or do I have to have a TEFL/TESOL degree/certificate? I have another friend who taught overseas (in Korea though) and he said that the school that hired him paid for his certification once he got there. Does this ever happen in the ME? If I do need to get certified, how long do most certification programs take? Is it realistic to plan on finding a job for fall of �09?

(I should also add that my teaching experience has been in elementary schools, though I am open to teaching at any level.)

Any insight would be appreciated. ☺

[rccanada]

Oops: That should have said TEFL, *not* TESF. That's what I get for being hasty...

[jdl]

The short answer is yes. Each institution has its 'criteria' so one has to go on a case by case basis.

[rccanada]

Thanks for the quick response

Any suggestions on how to find decent K-12 jobs? Most of the discussions/job postings I've seen seem to be for college or university teaching positions. Is teaching at public schools a viable option in the ME, or are the best positions at private schools? I should add that I'm especially interested in teaching in Oman...

Does anyone know if I would even be qualified to teach higher ed.? Like I said in my initial post, my Masters and teaching experience have all been in elementary education.

This is my first experience trying to find a EFL job and it just seems very overwhelming to try to coordinate this from halfway around the world and still get a decent sense of what I could be getting myself into in terms of job placement

[helenl]

You probably wouldn't be hired at any public school in the Gulf simply because you don't speak Arabic (or do you) and you probably wouldn't want to because their salaries are generally pretty low.

There are lots of private schools that would consider you for K-12. Suggest you do a search and then come back with some specific names that someone might be able to comment on. There's the American School in Dubai, Jumeirah English Speaking School, Victoria English Speaking School etc. etc. etc. GEMS runs a lot of schools but mainly for Indian expat kids and the teachers are mostly Indian expats as well.

You probably won't be considered for tertiary positions with any desirable organization, especially as you have no certification and no experience teaching EFL. And no, they won't pay for the certificate, you're expected to have the credential before they even look at you.

[veiledsentiments]

[15yearsinQ8]

it's not your degree that will be your biggest obstacle to teaching adult efl, it's your lack of teaching adults efl

i, for one, think an education degree w/ usa certification and experience teaching in the usa is far superior than a watered down ma tefl w/ tefl certificate
if/when you ever do a british council celta, you will not only be bored , you will also be treated as a know-nothing - grin and bear it

eventually you will land a plum adult efl posotion at a major university and you will find your colleagues know plaultry little about education