Job Discussion Forums

[BinneySK]

Hi all
I am South African and am currently working in Korea as a entry level, you have a degree and speak English, teacher. My degree is in Marketing and I would like to study to be able to teach (at international schools) as a subject teacher. First choice is English, but I'm open to teaching Art, History or Drama.

I would like to teach either in Asia or South America, but am not opposed to teaching in the States/Canada/Australia.
It seems as though the US and Oz offer the best (internationally recognised) programs (correct me if I'm wrong).

I have a few queries if anyone can help me out it would be much appreciated:

*Firstly and most importantly do you need a teaching certification to work at international schools or would a MATESOL or MA Applied Ling suffice, I've heard it's a no for the latter?

* With a non educational Bachelors degree, how can I get certified? Online courses would be prefered as I would like to stay and work in Korea for as long as possible.

*Is it true that with all teaching cert courses you have to complete student teaching? Is there any chance to do that abroad (Asia preferably)

* If I got a teaching cert from the US is it easy to 'convert' to work in Australia (and visa versa) ie which is the better certification to get in terms of costs, ease of employment and ease of conversion.

I have been researching past posts so hope I'm not too repetitive.
Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks...... confused.com

[scintillatestar]

[TeresaLopez]

I can't anwer all of your questions, but I can answer some of them. In the US, you must do student teaching in order to be certified. The length differs from state to state, but the most common length is one semester. Some states have reciprocal agreements with other states, making it easier to become certified in state #2 once you have fulfilled the requirements in state #1. In addition, in most states you have to take a certification exam. Some states have their own exam, and others have you take a standardized test like the Praxis test. There are various different tests depending on the grades and subjects you want to teach. Most International schools require a degree in education as well as certification, I have seen a lot of schools that even specify that an ESL qualification is not enough. There are alternate routes to certification for people who have a degree. In these programs you teach in a high needs school and after a certain period of time teaching and doing additional coursework you obtain a certification to teach in that state. The schools are usually in areas where they can't get teachers for one reason or another, and are no picnic, but it is a possibility. Hope this helps.

[BinneySK]

[quote="TeresaLopez"] There are alternate routes to certification for people who have a degree. [/quote]

By degree do you mean a non educational degree such as my marketing degree?

Thanks

[tttompatz]

Another alternative could also be getting either a PGCE or a BEd. tacked onto your current BA..

Many universities offer post grad certifications in Education that lead to a BEd in as little as 3 trimesters (including your practicum).

Vancouver Island University offers such a program (as an example) and it does lead to teacher certification on completion.

Bachelor of Education�Post Baccalaureate Degree (full-time):
http://www.viu.ca/calendar/Education/postbaccalaureatefulltime.asp

There are many others as well.

.

[naturegirl321]

Yes, you'll need a teaching cert, plus two years experience in a school setting.

You will eventually have to go home to get your license as you will have to do a practicum. All the courses I know involve student teaching.

YOu don't have to convert your license. It'll carry over to other countries.

[Chancellor]

[PelemPelem]

In Australia, the qualification system varies between the states; and some have reciprocal recognition of qualifications.

My qualifications were gained in Victoria which has a reciprocal relationship with the ACT (Canberra) and the Northern Territory - there may be others but I have never applied to teach in any other states/territories.

In Victoria, to teach secondary level, you need an undergraduate degree i.e B.A, B.Sci etc. after which you need to also obtain a Graduate Diploma in Education(Grad.Dip.Ed) (which takes one year full time to complete with about 2 X 4 week practicums). You will be qualified to teach only in the major and minor subjects of your undergraduate degree.

To teach in primary schools you need a four year B.Ed Primary or similar. If you already have an undergraduate degree and a Grad.Dip.Ed, you may be able to take a shorter course e.g. Deakin University offered a B.Ed Primary conversion course lasting 18 months fulltime; the University of Canberra also offers a shorter course.

Check out Deakin University website, they do offer many off-campus courses.

http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/education/courses/new.php#mteach

I quote below from the website above:

New courses
Master of Teaching
This program is designed to enable Bachelor degree graduates from various disciplines to gain teaching qualifications in one of three strands: early childhood, primary or secondary.
In the Master of Teaching, applicants may choose to complete studies in a single 'strand', that is Early Childhood, Primary or Secondary OR depending on the entry qualifications of applicants, there is also the option of completing studies in two strands, and becoming qualified to teach in Early Childhood and Primary or Primary and Secondary settings.
Choice and flexibility in timing and place of study are distinctive features of the new course. The Master of Teaching is offered in both on-campus and off campus modes with different strands available at different campuses in order to meet the needs of metropolitan, rural and regional students.

[BinneySK]

Thank you all so much for your help thus far.

What is an alternative certification program? I am really new to all the terms.
To get teaching certification would I need to take courses on all school subjects including maths and science?
Are there any paid internships available in the States or Australia for foreigners?

Thank you for suggestion Deakin Uni I had it on my list already
Thank you again for the help thus far.

[PelemPelem]

Re: Australia. Do you want to teach in primary schools, secondary schools or TAFE institutions?

[BinneySK]

Re:PelemPelem
I'm not sure? I think secondary. A friend of mine is letting me have 'a day in the life' at her school (American international school, elementary and secondary) so I will have a better idea of what each is like. I'm also going to spend time with various teachers to get a better idea.

At the moment I'm teaching at an elementary school, but it's a ESL position. I do enjoy it but think I'll enjoy secondary more. Not sure what the other option (TAFE) is, sorry I'm not familiar with terminology, if you could educate me on it I'd be most grateful.

[Chancellor]

[TeresaLopez]

[fladude]

I was in a similar boat a year ago. I had a BA in History but no ED. I went back to school in Florida and got my teaching certificate via an alternative program. It only took a couple of months. I took classes at a community college over the summer. I was in class basically all day. I did not have to do student teaching. I only had to sit in a high school class for a week and do an observation. After completing the course and doing my observations, I had to pass a number of tests which are similar to the Praxis exams (although Florida does not use Praxis, it uses the FTCE). I took and passed General Skills, Professional Ethics, and content area exams for History and English (grades 6-12). After that I paid some money, had a background check and got my teaching cert. The total expense for everything was about 3 grand including books, background checks, application fees, test fees and gas money. I thought that was a pretty good price (although the program is not open to non-Florida residents).

It is probably a little harder to get a job if you go through alternative certification instead of a traditional BA program, but it is possible to find a job. I was willing to travel, and found a job teaching secondary (high school0 in another state pretty quickly. The three things I had going for me were that I was willing to travel, willing to work in a rural area and I was willing to work in a so called "district in failure" (which means that a significant number of kids are falling behind on their high school graduation test and usually means there are some discipline issues in the classes). I have since completed my first year of teaching and am working on my second. In general suburban prep schools are the most difficult places to get a job.

The easiest place to get a job is either at an urban or rural school which has discipline problems. My school has its share of problems, but I like the students and have had a great time working here, even if I generally don't like the town that I am in (too rural for my tastes). It has been a great experience so far (albeit with some pretty big up and down days).

I also would like to work at an international school after I have worked here for another year or two (I see some schools that want at least 3 years experience so I may go ahead and get that). I'm not sure if I will go directly from teaching high school to teaching at an International school, or if I will go get a CELTA first and do a year of ESL teaching first. I would like to get some ESL experience. I have been told that some international schools look favorably on a teacher having a CELTA and some ESL experience, even if they teach a content area subject (like science). This is probably because it shows that the teacher is familiar with living and working overseas more than anything else.

[Chancellor]