Job Discussion Forums

[Rock1984]

Hey there,
I've got a few general questions with regards to teaching Engrish abroad.

I've read a lot in various places that many employers in various parts of the world are only interested in applicants who posses not only a reputable Certificate in teaching English, such as CELTA, but a degree of some sort.

I have not done any teaching courses yet, I'm a complete noob, but I am looking to enrol in a part-time on-site CELTA course quite soon. I do not have any other qualifications let alone degrees in anything. This may not be completely straight forward to answer but will this lower my chances of getting a job? If so, how detrimental is it? I mean, is having a CELTA qual but no degree about as useful as having no teaching qual at all?
Also, I'm unclear on what the significance of a random degree has on teaching English in the eyes of employers, the emphasis being on 'random' being that they are happy with a degree in anything at all from my understanding. Perhaps someone could explain so I can understand what this is about.

Answers to this may depend on where in the world I want to work, so I have plans to travel through Latin America next year and am highly considering teaching somewhere there depending on how much of a hassle obtaining a work visa proves to be, and/or not obtaining one.

To add some more perspective, I'm looking for decent paid jobs if I can help it (relative to my lack of teaching experience of course), not so much the jobs that would equally be given to someone with no qualifications etc.

I also have (wishful -money pending) plans to travel SE Asia or Europe after Sth Am and would be equally interested in teaching there. This may or may not present another issue that by the time I actually start teaching, it could potentially have been 12+ months after doing the CELTA. Would this cause any problems in gaining employment?

I'm really quite keen and excited to start a CELTA course, but being realistic, would I be better off to wait until I'm closer to getting a job?

[Mike_2007]

The degree (any degree) is usually required by the government of many countries in order to secure a work permit, that's why it needn't be related to teaching or English. Jobs in higher education will most probably require a related degree or master's.

Without a degree you'll be limited to working in countries where no permit is required (eg. another EU country if you hold an EU passport) and/or for schools willing to pay you under the table.

[Madame J]

I believe most of Latin America is fine without a degree. Hear the pay's a bit cack though.

I'm also degreeless and currently working in Indonesia. I'm at EF which I believe is bottom of the ladder pay wise (and many here will say, in every other way too), but I've been told that there are many better paying jobs here even for those without a degree. I may or may not start looking into these next year.

[norwalkesl]

The schools will often be very happy to hire you without a degree. It is the govt office that requires the degree for the visa. In some countries like China the political pull of the school can overcome this and they can get you a visa and residency book.

Countries where one can work without a degree:

China
Indonesia
Mexico, Central and South America
Russia
Japan has a loophole of 3 years experience trumps lack of a degree.

In some countries a CELTA will be essential without a degree, others won't care at all. I do know that here in China everyone has the impression that I am an excellent ESL teacher and I can only attribute this to the CELTA course I took.

[rebeccas6]

I suspect many language schools across the world would be so happy to have someone who possesses a genuine TEFL qualification ie CELTA, which is the gold standard, (as opposed to some obscure online random 'qualification') that they won't mind very much about the lack of degree.
Also I don't think the lack of degree will have huge bearing on the hourly teaching rate - you'll just get put on the new teacher's hourly rate.
I'm basing what I say on my experience teaching in France and the UK.

[Rock1984]

OH, so it's a govt requirement to obtain a working visa! Now it makes sense, I thought it was some weird employer requirement. Thanks for clearing that up people. Well, in that case I would say the best way to get around that would be to start going for interviews and hopefully land a job, then cross your fingers and hope that the employer completes the neccessary paperwork to appease the powers that be. Is that how it's normally done?

In the mean time, I've emailed a couple of TESOL training groups and had one response so far, from Australasian Training Academy and I was hoping someone here could have a look at the course for me to see how it stacks up. This particular training group offer a blended course and yes, I've read the great debale on face to face vs. blended vs. online, so I understand that a blended course sunch as this may not give me as high a chance of getting work as a face to face course would. However, I gathered that this was basically because most of the blended courses don't have a practical teaching component, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, I'm interested in the Cert IV in TESOL which is 28 hours of face to face, plus 10 hours of supervised practice in a real ESL class, and the rest is delivered online. It is an accredited course in Australia.

I understand that the theory is all delivered online prior to any class time. The 5 days of class time comprises of learning 12 core units. After this there are 3 elective units that are competed online.

This is just one option that I've looked at, there are a couple of places here that offer ful face to face CELTA.

This one also appeals to me as the price of the Cert IV gets knocked down to about $2645, where as all other courses are about $3k.

The Diploma in TESOL also caught my eye, but it takes 38 weeks to complete, and I wont have enough time to do it unfortunately. It's exactly the same price as the Cert IV too. I take it a diploma would land me a better job too.

Heres the link: http://www.ataonline.edu.au/?doc=bbs/gnuboard.php&bo_table=about&wr_id=5&PHPSESSID=6f2b1ab9f89338d99d99a6de68e594be

Please let me know what you think, I want to enrol in something asap, as time is of the essence.

Cheers.

[Justin Trullinger]

THere is a thread around here about blended learning (partially face to face, partially distance) courses. Check it out before you make a decision.)


Best,
Justin

[Rock1984]

Justin thanks for your input. I found a thread specifically about blended courses with practical supervised teaching and it seems the clear verdict is that most employers want NOTHING to do with online qualifications in any capacity, thanks for helping me answer my own question

Never the less, this course does seem to be one of the better online/blended courses that are out there, in Australia anyway. It seems a bit of a harsh reality that genuinely good courses like this, that seem to be of fairly high standard, may prove to be a disadvantage in the real world. And a lot of people will be none the wiser when they enrol in it.

[norwalkesl]

[Dedicated]

Rock 1984,

Try to get hold of a very useful book called :
" The CELTA course" (Trainee Book) by Scott Thornbury and Peter Watkins (University of Cambridge -ISBN 978-0-521-69206-9).

and check out <www.cambridge.org/elt/celta>

The book has 40 units divided into four topic areas, one of which is Language analysis and awareness, and includes the "sounds of English", the phonemic chart, and some practical ideas/lesson plans for teaching pronunciation.

As a CELTA trainer, I can really recommend this for pre-reading, then reflection.

[Rock1984]

Thanks everyone for clearing up my queries. I'll be sending applications in to a couple of unis in the next few days...Dedicated I'll check that book out as well. Cheers.