Spot on Yantantether!

[quote="buffalofan"]In my opinion it seems almost necessary to get one if you plan to make a career on the international school circuit. From my experience the majority of international school teachers have a masters, quite different from a public school back home where only a handful might have one.

If you have job hunted before, you've probably seen the international school websites where they say "x% of our teachers hold advanced degrees". So lets say you are competing with someone at a job fair for a position at a school like this. You both have similar amounts of experience, but they have a masters and you don't. Who is the school going to hire?[/quote]

Absolute nonsense! I am completely with Mick Travis on this. I am sick of hearing teachers say they are going to do their Masters or Phd in education, when their students are for ever complaining that they are not learning anything and that they can't teach!

How about spending time learning about AFL, cooperative learning, active learning etc and become a better teacher through practice. It's much cheaper and your students (and their parents) will respect you more.

Like Mick Travis said, the majority of teachers with Masters are North American teachers. One of the main reasons for this is for when they return to America, as certain state boards require it.

As for a career in IS Education, my advice would be to get as much IB experience as you can get (PYP, MYP or DP - whatever is relevant), get used to the latest technology (tablets, interactive whiteboards, blogs, make a subject website etc), extra curricular activities such as MUN and the International Award, evidence of teaching practices (not "lecturing", but teaching), evidence of professional development, and how you have contributed to curriculum planning. Nail all of those and you will be very employable. Good luck.

[quote="PsyGuy"]Teachers from Australia, New Zealend, Canada, or the USA dont need a PGDE or PGCE to qualify for QTS.[/quote]

I never said they did, matey!

Teachers who complete their teacher training in Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland all qualify with a PGDE.

I have a friend from Canada, who did the PGDE in Scotland and now teaches in England!

Both are the same, other than the PGDE is a diploma and the PGCE is a certificate.

The PGDE is widely recognised around the world and the Scottish education system is one of the best in the world.

I know lots of Scottish teachers in top International Schools, so that is not a problem, especially in British International Schools. The new curriculum in Scotland - 'A curriculum for Excellence', is basically IB for state schools and has a similar learner profile.

Forget what you read in the news regarding problems in the English system regarding GCSE's and 'a race to the bottom' as a result of the number of competing exam boards, as this is curriculum based. Both England and Scotland produce some of the best teachers in the world. Whether you choose a PGCE or PGDE, you will have a big advantage - good luck!