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teaching jobs in North America....
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Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:13 pm Post subject: teaching jobs in North America....

Where do you think it's better to teach? In Canada or the US? What are the best places to teach in the US? I am certified in social studies and French. I taught in the US for a couple of years, but I left, because it was a terrible district. I am thinking of teaching again...

blaseblasphemener

Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:51 am Post subject:

Try teaching French in Calgary or Edmonton. There has been a major teacher shortage in the province for some time, and my cousin got a job straight out of university with her French teaching credentials. Just don't buy a house, wait until the market drops about another 30% or so.

brento1138

Joined: 17 Nov 2004

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:33 am Post subject:

Both are probably OK, but go for Canada due to the health care, pension, and possibly higher pay. My Mom is a school teacher and says that 70% of the employees at her school are old and will retire within the next five or ten years, including herself. Pension... health care... nice enough pay scale... 2 months vacation... job security...

tomato

Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: I get so little foreign language experience, I must be in Koreatown, Los Angeles.

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:31 am Post subject:

Someone in the United States recently told me that there is an increase in the Spanish-speaking population in the United States, and therefore an increase in demand for Spanish teachers.

Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:06 am Post subject:

tomato wrote:

Someone in the United States recently told me that there is an increase in the Spanish-speaking population in the United States, and therefore an increase in demand for Spanish teachers.

How is life in Alberta? I am not really a conservative person.
I was thinking of B.C. and getting my US certification recognized there.
Is it just in Alberta where there is a major shortage? What city is the most progressive city in Alberta? I am more used to Ontario and Quebec when it comes to Canada, but I don't mind going West. Also, how is transportation in say Edmonton and Calgary?

Thanks for answering my questions so far. I really do appreciate that.

blaseblasphemener

Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:34 am Post subject:

Adventurer wrote:

tomato wrote:

Someone in the United States recently told me that there is an increase in the Spanish-speaking population in the United States, and therefore an increase in demand for Spanish teachers.

Honestly, life there is hustle and bustle. The weather is for shyt, and there are very little lakes unless you go to B.C. It's a young population, ambitious, educated. Fairly white, but that's changing fast.

I personally will not be moving back there, but if it's a job you're looking for, it's likely a good bet.

khyber

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:20 am Post subject:

Quote:

I'm currently subbing in Edmonton right now and have a decent grasp on what you're going through. I'll post some info here but if you want more specific stuff, feel free to pm me.

Gang violence is starting to creep into Edmonton a lot more but that is easily avoidable. Drugs seem more popular now though. In our building we had a meth dealer (90% certain...definitely some kinda dealer) who had one of the sketchiest and eerie looking customers; he looked like one of the men that faught for Saruman in lord of the rings. He would carve things into the walls of the hallways. He chased a board member through the halls with a knife threatening to kill him. Strangely, he ended up dead about 2 weeks after the dealers got kicked out. Apparently he was stabbed to death between the buildings and the "neighbours are all being uncooperative" (for the record, the cops knew a LOT about this guy). I'm sure a lot of "neighbours" were ecstatic!

Culturally, if you get into the arts scene Edmonton is a GRAND town. A place called the ARTery is becoming a bit of a hub for it all. There's tonnes of good music (though not exactly a glut of good venues...a real shortage actually) and galleries. It can be a bit spread out but there are currently about 3 or 4 different areas of interest now.

As for the jobs, then yes, if you have French, you'd get a teaching job within a year FOR SURE; especially with an otherwise intriguing resume. I would suggest you actually do some subbing for a few months to try to get a hold of what a) education is like back home b) what schools may be of interest to you in your job search. The latter is especially important as I found some schools I would never enter again (you don't fear for your safety, but the kids can be rough). I have a friend who counsels at a local HS and boy he has stories. But I've found 80% of the kids here, totally fine, with only 2-3% trouble.

Conversely, I have two schools who now have me on their preferred call list. I have subbed for every teacher in the elementary school and the whole science department at the middle school. I get calls from regular teachers too. Of course, there are also strange weeks. The week after christmas holidays I had not ONE day of work but about 18 phone calls for work for the remainder of january and a chunk of february.

Being conservative is not a prerequsite in Alberta and it's not as though there is no "lefties" out west. It's quite a thriving community really; we just can't take the PCs down often enough. As I understand it though, Calgary is far more conservative (but that is PURELY anecdotal).

In BC, there are TONNES of really redneck towns in the interior; just as bad/worse than small town alberta. And Vancouver is such a brilliant city. The two things that can't work for me personally are the 5 months of straight rain and no sun, and the house prices. Edmonton weather is cold in the winter (we've had two stints of -30s that lasted almost a week) with nice breaks (starting tomorrow, it's 0 and 2 weeks ago it got upto +11C I think). But it's soooooooo sunny! Sky's been completely blue the last few days. That's nice.

My wife and i live near downtown so public transit is not so bad. It can be a fine place to live because you are usually going against rush hour traffic so commutes are much faster (we have a car). Though, there are some sketchy areas near downtown, there are some awful pretty places too.

The condo market is still surprisingly hot (though not new units). Houses are cooling down but it's tough to find anything better than livable for less than 200G

crash bang

Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Location: gwangju

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:33 pm Post subject:

TONNES of really redneck towns in the interior; just as bad/worse than small town alberta elitist much?

Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:13 am Post subject:

crash bang wrote:

TONNES of really redneck towns in the interior; just as bad/worse than small town alberta

elitist much?

Now, what about people who are already certified? Aren't their jobs to be head if you have more than one certification as I do with French and social studies?

mises

Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:09 am Post subject:

crash bang wrote:

TONNES of really redneck towns in the interior; just as bad/worse than small town alberta

elitist much?

Those red neck towns have strong spirits of volunteerism, extremely low crime and a strong sense of cultural self. I suppose the problem for lefties is that they are mostly white, and rather like their culture and place.

khyber

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:19 pm Post subject:

Quote:

elitist much?

"much"?

Quote:

It's not that I have a problem with their "Strong sense of cultural self". I have a problem with the distrust of "outside cultures" that goes along with a life that does not experience variety. I find that people who have grown up in small towns (especially those who have never travelled) more commonly display that.

I don't think every person living in small towns is a racist; not by a long shot.

One of the things I disliked most about S.Korea was the monoculture: It was really boring for me. Small towns don't have a variety of vibrant cultures and now that I have taught in schools in small towns and big cities, the effect of this is obvious. They have just one. For people who take joy in that, that's fine.

I don't. I think it's boring. Capiche?

And FYI:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070628/crime_rural_070628?s_name=&no_ads=You possessions are safer but otherwise, you aren't THAT much safer (per capita) in rural/small urban centers in W.canada. I'll tell you now: Drugs are destroying small towns and rural areas. It's not going to get better either.

Quote:

Now, what about people who are already certified? Aren't their jobs to be head if you have more than one certification as I do with French and social studies?

I'm not completely certain I understand this comment (if it's directed at me Adventurer).
If you get certified to teach in Alberta, and you are fairly aggressive with getting yourself out there to schools, schools will definitely "pull strings" (cater placement requirements to certain candidates) to get you in. The number of degrees or certs. won't necessarily make a difference: Having the right ones will make far more difference. French and social? You teach junior or high school?

mises

Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired

Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:05 am Post subject:

Quote:

It's not that I have a problem with their "Strong sense of cultural self". I have a problem with the distrust of "outside cultures" that goes along with a life that does not experience variety.

There is quite a great deal to disturst in outside cultures. Cultural relativism is very 1990's.

Quote:

You possessions are safer but otherwise, you aren't THAT much safer (per capita) in rural/small urban centers in W.canada. I'll tell you now: Drugs are destroying small towns and rural areas. It's not going to get better either.

In Canada, where crime is already very low, an area that has even lower crime from the usual, is very very low crime.

And drugs are not destroying small towns. That is a 'moral panic'. People in small towns have lives that are so safe and secure, than any little problem can seem like a crises. Clearly, addiction and abuse are problems, but far from destroying these cities.

I am from a rural area in Alberta, and I now live in a city of about 5 million people. I prefer my current living arrangement, but definitely see benefits in a smaller city with large homogeneity.

Anyways, diversity makes people unhappy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/5012478.stm

Quote:

It is an uncomfortable conclusion from happiness research data perhaps - but multicultural communities tend to be less trusting and less happy.

khyber

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction

Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:27 pm Post subject:

Quote:

There is quite a great deal to disturst in outside cultures. Cultural relativism is very 1990's.

Did you mean to type "to distrust" or did you mean "of distrust"? To me, the difference is huge.

Quote:

I am from a rural area in Alberta, and I now live in a city of about 5 million people. I prefer my current living arrangement, but definitely see benefits in a smaller city with large homogeneity.

Are you living in S.Korea?

Quote:

Anyways, diversity makes people unhappy:

First off, the UK's version of Multiculturalism is not the same as Canada's. I'm not writing it off, but is there a comparable study done of Canada?
The portion of that article that is telling appears near the end:

Quote:

Trevor Phillips believes we saw it all too clearly in the disturbances in the Lozells area of Birmingham in the Summer of 2005.

A tight-knit Asian community came into conflict with a tight-knit black community because, Phillips argues, the ethnicity that binds each community together is stronger than the links between them.

"You have two communities who more or less faced each other across a single road. They are communities which have high levels of internal bonding.

"But actually there wasn't and is very little bridging between these two communities and I think this is a perfect demonstration of what happens when people who are very different, look very different and think they are very different never touch, never interact."

What is required is a sense of identity that overarches creed, culture or ethnic background.

Quote:

And drugs are not destroying small towns. That is a 'moral panic'. People in small towns have lives that are so safe and secure, than any little problem can seem like a crises.

Your experience in small towns is definitely more comprehensive than mine, but I can't really claim those words. That was just what I heard from my the people in my dorm when I went to UofS; and that was a while ago.
I understand (and agree) about the moral panic thing though. But to me, that seems just as unhealthy.

mises

Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired

Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:17 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Did you mean to type "to distrust" or did you mean "of distrust"? To me, the difference is huge.

I mean "to distrust". I use the term 'culture' to mean a shared perspective. Not all shared perspectives are docile. There is much more to culture than interesting food.

Quote:

Are you living in S.Korea?

No. I just can't seem to quit Dave's....

Quote:

First off, the UK's version of Multiculturalism is not the same as Canada's. I'm not writing it off, but is there a comparable study done of Canada?

I'm not sure. But the UK is merely Canada + time. It is also quite a bit smaller, so people are forced to interact more. The big study done on this focused on LA:

(The first summary I found on this very mainstream book the net of this is from the wildly anti-immigrant VDARE.. a very distasteful site)

Quote:

Want a neighbor you can count on? Move to Montana. That's one conclusion you might draw from a Harvard University study released today, which finds that Los Angeles residents trust each other less than most other Americans.

The study is billed as the largest-ever survey on "civic engagement" - activities such as joining social or community groups, voting and simply making friends. � And it links L.A.'s low standing to the area's ethnic diversity.

Those who live in more homogeneous places, such as New Hampshire, Montana or Lewiston, Maine, do more with friends and are more involved in community affairs or politics than residents of more cosmopolitan areas, the study said.

Los Angeles residents are among the least trusting of people such as neighbors, co-workers, shop clerks and police, the study said. L.A. tied with Boston, Chicago, and eastern Tennessee. Only north Minneapolis scored worse. Angelenos also trust people of other races less than residents of just about everywhere else. San Diego tied Los Angeles' dismal "inter-racial trust" score. The only cities that did worse were Phoenix and Charlotte, N.C. The best places, in terms of trusting others and those of other races, were Bismarck, N.D., and rural South Dakota, the study said. � The survey of 30,000 Americans in 40 communities was led by Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam

And from the more sane Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/04/the_downside_of_diversity/

Quote:

The downside of diversity
A Harvard political scientist finds that diversity hurts civic life. What happens when a liberal scholar unearths an inconvenient truth?

By Michael Jonas | August 5, 2007

IT HAS BECOME increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength. From multicultural festivals to pronouncements from political leaders, the message is the same: our differences make us stronger.

But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam -- famous for "Bowling Alone," his 2000 book on declining civic engagement -- has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.

"The extent of the effect is shocking," says Scott Page, a University of Michigan political scientist.

Quote:

This is one of the reasons I don't want to live in such a place (though, mostly cause wages and economic opportunity is much lower). They scare easily.

I currently live in a city with among the most high foreign-born % of the population on earth. It has ups and downs, but on balance I'm quite happy. My larger point is that I appreciate heterogeneity, and don't at all fault people for wanting to be with their own. I dislike the assertion that heterogeneous places are somehow inferior due to the heterogeneity. I see the opposite as true. Diversity is a weakness, commonality is a strength.

Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:36 am Post subject:

mises wrote:

crash bang wrote:

TONNES of really redneck towns in the interior; just as bad/worse than small town alberta

elitist much?

I think it is good to have a spirit of volunteerism, but doesn't that exist in many parts of Canada? Crime is generally low in many parts of Canada. Do you think it's particularly lower in those areas? I wouldn't want to teach in a small town, but I don't mind teaching in an area where people are mostly white. To be frank, that might be easier for someone to teach people from a similar background. I do not mind diversity, but it depends on what kind of diversity we're talking about i.e the mentality of many in the community present.

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