I ran across this article in Flipboard that reports there is a teacher shortage in the UK. To the extent that schools are phoning past pupils to encourage them into the teaching field. Does anyone have any firsthand accounts as to whether this may be true or not. If it is indeed true, I question if this will have any impact on future international teachers who wish to find employment in the UK? Would they still face barriers because they are not UK or EU citizens?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... rtage.html

So it seems from reading that southeast Asia is the likely destination in which the teacher's packages allow one to live relatively decent (US style) AND save at the same time?

Which grade and subjects are they teaching there at the school Cheery?

Cheery,
I'd love to know how your friends are liking the American School in Rio as Rio is where I most want to end up on a more permanent basis.

I prefer SA compared to Asia just on a personal note but I'm sure I will eventually end up doing a run in Asia at some point when I get started.

In comparing the two when it comes to the availability and desirability of the locations for say history vs science, what are we talking about exactly?

Is it that science teachers can pretty much have their locations of choice and history teachers are stuck in the guts of the ME or what is the situation exactly? The explanations are so broad when talked about it, for those of us not in the world of IT yet, we need a more detailed picture to be painted for us.

What are some case comparisons in terms of both for entry level science teachers vs entry level history teachers?

While my current major is history with a minor in secondary education, I've often given thought to changing it to a science major instead. My question when confronted with this dilemma is;

Would I rather major in and teach a subject just because it is more in demand or teach a subject that I enjoy more?

Points to consider for myself in my situation:
- Math is my weakest area, science and math go hand in hand.
- My entire curriculum (credits) thus far has been followed for a history major and therefore switching would set me back at least a year in order to take the science classes that I had not been taking.
- let's just say I'm not 24 years old and I don't have 10 years to get through school and begin my teaching career.
- It is not that I don't enjoy science, I actually very much enjoy the science part of it immensely, just not the math portions.
- I know that I could be an effective teacher in either subject so this is not the worry, I'm an Honors student and overachiever which is why I hold a 3.945 GPA. Even in math I've only ever made one "B" which was in Honors Probability and Statistics.

It seems there are an abundance of posts touting discouragement towards the marketability and availability of humanities degrees and positions. Surely there have to be some successful international teachers who teach humanities courses and not just in the ME or third tier schools.

Are you a humanities teacher and found success on the international teaching circuit? I would love to hear your story!

Thanks.

[quote="indogal"]I am at a very large school in Brazil. Our school only has one psychologist & she is planning on staying for a while. But, I know our school does a lot of hiring at the AASSA fair, as do many of the schools in the region. Good luck![/quote]

Which school are you working at? Brazil is where I would like most to end up and would love to hear about your experience there. Feel free to message me privately if you would like.

[quote="PsyGuy"] A M.Ed can be done in a year, and many schools have "5th year" options that combine a bachelors and a M.Ed (though sometimes schools will offer a Masters in Teaching, or a M.A./M.S. in education).[/quote]

[b][b]Thanks, I have emailed to ask about this. [/b][/b]

[quote="PsyGuy"]I understand you really want to do polisci, and Im concerned what your dean said. In IT social studies (also referred to as humanities in IB)is largely history. If social studies is a sunday, then history is the ice cream. PoliSci or Global politics is only in a pilot program in IB right now, but these are the DIP exam registrations from 2012:

History 39,855
Economics 16,334
Psychology 13,965
Business 9,370
Env.Sys. 7,007
Geography 6,123
ITGS 3,267
Philosophy 2,952
Anthropology 1,946

You see whats the most common, the largest course, its history, followed by economics and psychology.
I can understand why you dont want to do history, because outside teaching there isnt a lot of job opportunities for historians (espcially with only a Bachlors) but why not economics, theres some more math in it but its got the same if not better employment opportunities in the corporate sector, and there is a lot of demand for economics in international education. You could always minor (or even dual minor in history and/or polisci) as well.[/quote]

[b]If you don't mind me asking because I am learning all of these abbreviations, what does DIP stand for? Wow, that's quite a number of history registrations. Does that mean the market is really saturated with history majors looking for IT jobs? I know many have mentioned that everything runs in cycles, etc but it would be nice to go into the arena in somewhat of a demand you know. Probably wishing on a star here but one can hope can't she? :)[/b]

[quote="PsyGuy"]This brings me to the statement your dean made. If the courses for history and polisci are dual/cross coded across the departments, then the argument he makes for polisci is the same argument then can be made for history, in which case history is going to "look" better and be more marketable on your resume. Recruiters arent going to get to your transcripts if you dont get pass the introduction and that means having the right words and language on your resume.

Lastly, on this specific issue, since the IB Global Politics program is in the pilot stage, you could if you timed it right be graduating and entering the IT market at just the right time that its approved as a general course. Which would mean youd be competing with almost no one (or very few) who had had previous Global Politics experience, a sort of even playing field. The same thing happend with ESS, and will likely happen with health science. Though it didnt happen with LT Performance. You would be taking a sizable risk banking on that.[/quote]

[b]Well, I'm looking at graduating probably in 2016 so I don't know where that would put me on the time frame you mentioned but I don't want to go into something banking on circumstances that I have no control over. I'm not that crazy of a risk taker.

I know for certain that whatever the outcome is, I will not be doing any type of alternative certification. I will do my certification through the university no matter what.[/b][b][color=blue][/color][/b]

Thank you Shadowjack and Walter, all points well made and will certainly take your advice into consideration when the line has to be drawn. Will spend some time thinking on this one. I do plan in trying to get hired right away in a local IB HS and teach here for a few years to get some experience under my belt before reaching for international status. During this time I will also try to pursue my masters as well. So hopefully when the time comes to branch out onto the international level I will have some teaching experience, hopefully in an IB school, and my masters in my content area. That is my plan anyway.

It is not that I dislike History, of course not, or Biology for that matter...but if you asked me to choose one over the other, I would choose political science is all.

Great advice with well stated points from a recruiters perspective which is important - thanks guys!

I just spoke with one of the deans in the education department at the college where I will be attending and posed my questions to him.

This is what he stated being that I do have a greater interest in political science than history, I could major in political science with content area certification in social studies and minor in secondary education. He stated that the history and politics department are combined there and many of the classes can cross reference for either subject. As long as the requirements for the content area are met, it should not be a problem.

This would put me graduating with a B.A. in political science, content certification in social studies with a minor in secondary education.

Although I know many schools put emphasis on history in social studies, I would not mind teaching other areas as well such as economics and/or american government if those areas are offered. One aspect I enjoy about social studies is that it is a broad subject area so you are not pigeon holed in one particular subject.

As I mentioned before, if I were gifted at math I would most certainly go for math but I am not. And all of my classes and path have been tailored towards the liberal arts and not the sciences or I would go for a biology content degree. Of course I could always go back and pursue a B.S. in biology as well so all is not lost. I just plan on making myself as qualified and as attractive a social studies teacher candidate as I can.

Trojan,
I have received the same "advice" and/or feelings from others as well when this topic was discussed.

I do not want to waste more time and money pursing the alternative route so I don't really see any other option other than to proceed the education degree route though.

Although when it comes to a masters degree, do international schools prefer a masters in education vs a masters in a content area?

[quote="upintheair"]Your admission counselor has no clue about teaching abroad!

Take advice from those of us teaching abroad--if you want to break into the good international schools, you need a degree in education, which leads to a teaching certification.

Look--if you really want to teach--why would you major in one thing and then go through the alternative certification? That is at least two years of extra coursework--and you are basically (at least, in my licensure state) repeating the last two years of college.

Some Tier 1 schools snub their noses at candidates who have alternative licensure. A degree in education is a make or break for the ultra, ultra competitive.

Your admissions counselor may know people who taught abroad--perhaps ESL in a language school (that's a tougher life than international school) or a local Ecuadorian school. Anyone with a degree can do that (you probably don't even need the degree). His/her friends were certainly not at Academic Cotopaxi, the US State Department school in Quito.[/quote]

Yes, I figured as such when she mentioned an education degree being required but didn't want to tell her she was wrong, I just bit my tongue because I knew but thank you for reaffirming that I was in fact right. Like you said, her friends may have taught in some lower schools or ESL but that is not my goal.

You are right, it is just a conflict arising inside of me because I have love for both, politics and teaching, but I must ultimately make a decision.

[quote="shadowjack"]
Better yet, do a BSc in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, or Physics and then a teaching license or BEd degree - and then get out there and put it to use![/quote]

Unfortunately when God was dispensing gifts for math, he skipped over me. Math is not my forte.
Although I do enjoy biology, all of my classes have been geared working towards a B.A., not a B.S.
To change that now would require starting over in many areas. :(

While I know that math and the subjects you mentioned are much more in demand than history , politics, etc, I do believe that we should also work in subjects that we enjoy too.

My goal is to teach internationally, this is not a question.

I am receiving various opinions from college advisors and such about what I should or should not do.

Example: I am being told that it would be much better to major in a content area such as a B.A. in Politics instead of a B.A. in secondary education - social studies. This option would give me more of a competetive edge than just having an education degree.

But the conflict here is that I DO want to teach and if I understand how the system works, that would place me with having to do one of the alternative programs that are offered in order to then go back and get my education classes and get certified to teach.

One of the admissions counselors keep telling me that you do not necessarily have to be certified to teach abroad, she has friends that taught in Ecuador and had never taken education classes, etc.

Well, I mentioned to her that in all of my research I had done that you in fact DO need to be a certified teacher and not just have a degree in a conent area. Can someone re-affirm this for me?
You can't just have a degree in a conent area and teach abroad can you?

So knowing that I would like to teach abroad, would you go for the B.A. in secondary education - social studies or go for the B.A. in Politics and then do the alternative program for education certification?

It just seems that people are placing more "value" on the content area degree than the education degree.