Hello everyone! I’m contemplating switching from teaching in international schools (I’ve taught math and science) in the Middle East and Europe, to ESL teaching (in a language school, public school, or elsewhere).
I’m really looking to compare the pros and cons of both, but having no ESL teaching experience, I’m hoping that those who’ve done both the international school route and ESL teaching route can help me. Any comparison you can provide is welcome!
Specifically, I have the following questions:
1. For a reason I won't get in to, I'd love to have just a 1 year contract with the possibility to renew (opposed to the standard 2 year contracts in international schools). However, I’d still like the summer months off. So, I’m basically looking for a contract from September-June. Do ESL teaching jobs typically offer such contracts, or do you usually need to work through the summer months?
2. The second thing is the “community” aspect. I’ve loved teaching in international schools because of the community of other western expats, who speak English, whom I can befriend in the midst of the new culture/language. I’m wondering if ESL teaching would offer such a community. From my research, it sounds like the two main options for ESL teaching are placement in language schools (where there WOULD be others who spoke English…but you’d be working after school and the weekends), or in a local school (where most likely the local teachers would not speak English).
3. The third question is about age. I just turned 40. Is the ESL teaching community primarily individuals in their early 20’s?
4. And the last question had to do with workload. When I was teaching in an international school, work never ended, and I’d be working well into each evening, and all weekend (typical for teaching). What is the workload like with ESL teaching? Is it more or less time consuming? How did it compare to the work load of international teaching?
Thanks everyone!