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puregreentea
Joined: 23 Mar 2016
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 Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 11:34 am Post subject: Newbie needs advice. |
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Hi all
This is my first post so I apologise if I am asking basic questions.
I am looking at getting a job in Korea teaching English but not quite sure which route to take.
I am 31 year old male from England (Not white- british asian).
I am a qualified secondary school teacher and my main subject is Music. I have been teaching for 6 years, 5 years in the same school. Age range is 11-18.
Have a degree in Music (BSc) as well as my teaching qualification (PGCE).
I have plenty of experience with teaching students from all different types of background and behaviour issues. I am also full aware of the differences between being a secondary school in England and teaching English as a foreign language in Korea.
A friend who has been teaching english in Korea for 3 years said I should apply through EPIK route and will have a good chance of being accepted.
Currently completing application form but wondering if there any other different routes to consider.
Thanks in advance. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Are you thinking of doing this for a couple of years and going back to music, or making TEFL a career? Why choose Korea in particular? |
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puregreentea
Joined: 23 Mar 2016
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 3:24 am Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Are you thinking of doing this for a couple of years and going back to music, or making TEFL a career? Why choose Korea in particular? |
Its depends how the first year goes but I'm definitely open to making TEFL a career. After teaching music for 6 years in the UK i need a change and the teaching profession here is becoming more and more demanding.
I've chosen Korea due to the range of opportunities available but i'm open to other countries/suggestions. I've have wanted to teach abroad for a while and now is the time to take the plunge  |
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JohnML
Joined: 05 Jul 2015
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 4:44 am Post subject: |
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| puregreentea wrote: |
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Are you thinking of doing this for a couple of years and going back to music, or making TEFL a career? Why choose Korea in particular? |
Its depends how the first year goes but I'm definitely open to making TEFL a career. After teaching music for 6 years in the UK i need a change and the teaching profession here is becoming more and more demanding.
I've chosen Korea due to the range of opportunities available but i'm open to other countries/suggestions. I've have wanted to teach abroad for a while and now is the time to take the plunge |
Few suggestions that might be helpful.
1) The profession is becoming more demanding everywhere. The expectations and demands are still higher in the UK but Korea is catching up. There is creep in the hours of working that people are usually contracted on these days. Also the holiday leave is pitiful compared to the UK outside of university positions.
2) PGCE + 6 years of experience = you are considerably more qualified than many, many people here. I think you'd be silly to jump into teaching English unless you are specifically interested in it. EPIK would have you underpaid for what you are really worth. You have many better opportunities in international schools, if the country doesn't bother you many places in China would have you on a considerably better salary.
At the very least you could look into it. |
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puregreentea
Joined: 23 Mar 2016
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:19 am Post subject: |
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| JohnML wrote: |
| puregreentea wrote: |
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Are you thinking of doing this for a couple of years and going back to music, or making TEFL a career? Why choose Korea in particular? |
Its depends how the first year goes but I'm definitely open to making TEFL a career. After teaching music for 6 years in the UK i need a change and the teaching profession here is becoming more and more demanding.
I've chosen Korea due to the range of opportunities available but i'm open to other countries/suggestions. I've have wanted to teach abroad for a while and now is the time to take the plunge |
Few suggestions that might be helpful.
1) The profession is becoming more demanding everywhere. The expectations and demands are still higher in the UK but Korea is catching up. There is creep in the hours of working that people are usually contracted on these days. Also the holiday leave is pitiful compared to the UK outside of university positions.
2) PGCE + 6 years of experience = you are considerably more qualified than many, many people here. I think you'd be silly to jump into teaching English unless you are specifically interested in it. EPIK would have you underpaid for what you are really worth. You have many better opportunities in international schools, if the country doesn't bother you many places in China would have you on a considerably better salary.
At the very least you could look into it. |
The work demands is something that I am used having worked in the English National Curriculum so it wouldn't be a problem.
EPIK have informed me that I would start on Grade 2 which isn't too bad (but considerably less what i currently earn). Ideally I would work my way up into a university position.
Very open to looking at China but not sure where to start. |
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JohnML
Joined: 05 Jul 2015
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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| puregreentea wrote: |
| JohnML wrote: |
| puregreentea wrote: |
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Are you thinking of doing this for a couple of years and going back to music, or making TEFL a career? Why choose Korea in particular? |
Its depends how the first year goes but I'm definitely open to making TEFL a career. After teaching music for 6 years in the UK i need a change and the teaching profession here is becoming more and more demanding.
I've chosen Korea due to the range of opportunities available but i'm open to other countries/suggestions. I've have wanted to teach abroad for a while and now is the time to take the plunge |
Few suggestions that might be helpful.
1) The profession is becoming more demanding everywhere. The expectations and demands are still higher in the UK but Korea is catching up. There is creep in the hours of working that people are usually contracted on these days. Also the holiday leave is pitiful compared to the UK outside of university positions.
2) PGCE + 6 years of experience = you are considerably more qualified than many, many people here. I think you'd be silly to jump into teaching English unless you are specifically interested in it. EPIK would have you underpaid for what you are really worth. You have many better opportunities in international schools, if the country doesn't bother you many places in China would have you on a considerably better salary.
At the very least you could look into it. |
The work demands is something that I am used having worked in the English National Curriculum so it wouldn't be a problem.
EPIK have informed me that I would start on Grade 2 which isn't too bad (but considerably less what i currently earn). Ideally I would work my way up into a university position.
Very open to looking at China but not sure where to start. |
You're selling yourself extremely short, it's ironic because most people doing ESL sell themselves too much and almost always fall short. EPIK pay grade 2 for your level of qualifications and experience is not what you should be aiming for. It'll be 1.2k~ GBP a month (if it hasn't gone down). International schools in China will offer you more side benefits/time off and are around 2.5k GBP+/month. In a much cheaper to live country. Don't take my word for it, also uni jobs in Korea are fairly competitive more so than int school jobs.
A PGCE is an extremely valuable certification, teaching at a school level in most asian countries it's actually more valuable than an education MA. They usually ask for 1 or two years experience but often accept new teachers. You have... six. goddamn. years. experience. You're a shoe in for a good job, don't let it go to waste. They're dying for teachers with experience in teaching key stages 3-5 of the English curriculum in many subjects - music being one.
Usually applications will be done through a recruiter or to the school directly (on their website). Look up a list of international schools in China,visit their websites and apply that way or they are usually listed on websites like echinacities. People over on the Chinese board might be able to tell you more. You handled yourself in a UK school for 6 years, that's not something many teachers could do over here and not only because of lack of proper teaching qualifications.
To prove my point although this job advert is outdated, this is what you're looking at (and you smash those requirements). http://www.tltpglobal.com/job-detail.asp?id=3090.
I'm urging you to reconsider going into this field for your own sake, you can do way, way better... thank me later. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 5:42 pm Post subject: |
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| If you want to continue teaching music then the advice above is useful. However if you want to live abroad and teach English, EPIK would be better than a hagwan (private evening school). If I was you I'd get a CELTA and apply to work in a country a bit more interesting than Korea. being British you've also got the whole of the EU to choose from. You won't make much money but I guess if that was your primary motive you'd want to stay with the music teaching in the UK or elsewhere. If you find you like TEFL after a couple of years then you can think about upgrading your qualifications accordingly. |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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Is the PGCE accompanied by the equivalent of an MA? You'll need that, plus a couple of years of university teaching experience, to move over to university teaching. A caveat, for what it's worth, is that smaller, rural colleges often waive this requirement.
To work in a major university, though, the MA in a related dicipline (Applied Linguistics, TESOL, etc...) is the gold standard. |
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