Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bobbybigfoot]

Education in N. America is a joke. It's a shadow of what it once was in Canada, and it's a shameful farce in the US.

Increasingly, both countries are pushing out daft, self-centred and ego driven children.

The future does not look pretty. Certainly not in the US.

[alistaircandlin]

To be a secondary school teacher in England you can have your first degree in education or any other subject. Unless you did extra training, you would be expected to teach the subject you majored in at school. You then apply for teacher training college.

We don't have grade point averages in the UK but I think the new government has specified that you now need at least a second class honours degree to train as a teacher.

Most people do the PGCE - Postgraduate Certificate in Education. This is a one year course that is mainly practice based. You are posted in different schools, you get a mentor and have to plan and deliver a given number of lessons. I think you have to complete 150 days teaching practice, from what I remember, but don't quote me on this. Your lessons are observed and assessed by your mentor and tutors from college. As well as teaching and planning you have to write academic essays and produce a portfolio of evidence to show that you have met a long list of teaching standards. I can honestly say that doing the PGCE was the most intense period of my life, more so than doing a Master's degree full time - I often got by on three or four hours sleep - planning until 2am and then up at 6am to drive to school. This might be different for some people, but at the very least it will be a challenging and stressful year.

After getting your PGCE you are still not fully qualified. You have to find a teaching post and start as an NQT - a newly qualified teacher. To contradict what I claimed above, your NQT year is probably going to be the most intense, stressful period of your life. You are now teaching full time, but you are frequently observed and again have to show that you have met a new list of teaching standards. If you pass this year, congratulations, you have QTS - Qualifed Teacher Status and are legally qualified to teach.

Putting aside my overly-dramatic tone above, it genuinely is a tough thing to do and there are many drop outs but personally I'm glad I did it. It has allowed me to see what it takes to really plan a good lesson, design a scheme of work, manage a difficult class and deal with that kind of stress. It's a job that never stops: evenings and weekends are pretty much gone, at least for your first few years.

Also, it does allow you to go for the better jobs available in the ESL field if that's what you want to do, especially if you majored in English.

There are other ways to qualify in the UK too: on the Graduate Training Program, where you qualify on the job, or as an Overseas Trained Teacher. If, perish the thought, I had to go back and do it again, I would definitely look at the GTP program.

[olsanairbase]

[Kwangjuchicken]

[enchoo]

They will pay for most of your graduate school plus you will get a teachers' salary. I used this to get my second masters plus teaching license within 5 years. Now I really stand out everywhere. PM me if you need more details!

Beware that they will probably have you teach in an economically challenged area in the states where you have to be an entertainer and teacher. Many posters experiences in Canada match mine in the US while I served as a Public middle/high school teacher in the states. After my 5 years of service here I got out of dodge and now I am getting jobs (and not talking hagwons exclusively) left and right in Korea due to my versatile experiences.