I worked there for two years. I mostly agree with chocolatefrog except for student numbers. In the campus where I was at there were anywhere from 10 to 25 maximum in a class. I had 26 for while but only for a the last few months of school but this is not the rule.
In regards to vacation, the days need to be accrued, first year is 30 days and the 2nd is 40 days, which means if you don't want to be docked in pay you'll have to show up.

Some admin is incompetent but not always. The last year I was there we had a highly qualified principal, however she was limited in what changes could be made. If you are a beginner and can tolerate a for profit school and don't mind being nickle and dimed it might work to get experience but if other options are available I suggest you take them.

Another annoyance was the PD Saturdays focused on business strategies on marketing the school and it's services.

The positive part was the parents of the kids were always a joy and wonderful to work with, but this would be the same for any Vietnamese parents.

If you plan on taking the job and are a male plan on wearing a tie everyday.

Glad I am no longer there.

Search Associates will hold their first South American fair in Bogota, Columbia in February. I would expect that their would be a large presence of Central and South American schools there.

The OP stated he needed or wanted it to teach in an international school, so transferability wouldn't be an issue. I am certified through Utah and never had an international school I worked at or interviewed with have a problem with certification from there.

The thing with Utah though is that if you don't teach there for 2 or 3 years you end up with a level 1 license that has to be renewed every 3 years and requires quite a bit of professional development points which I find challenging to always fulfill when teaching abroad.

I do agree Canada would probably be cheaper though.

Mixedbagofdonuts is incorrect. The Praxis Exams are a requirement of most states to be certified to teach, however there are no states which will grant certification based only on a Praxis Exam. It is only an addition to the required coursework or degrees needed to be eligible.

You might try http://www.phoenix.edu/ or a similar online university. They offer some degrees for non Us citizens and it depends on you how soon you can complete the required course work. They should also be able to direct you to which state is the easiest to get certified.

This website can you give the requirements for each state http://www.teaching-certification.com/t ... tions.html

You should verify the information as it is not a state maintained website. Requirements frequently change as they are mostly different for all of the 50 states plus DC so it might not always be updated.

Also if you do go the online route it may be possible that you can find an international school to hire you as you work on your certification.

Good Luck

I haven't either, now that I think about it. Hopefully someone will post a reason why.

In regards to workload, I am with a QSI school and have a small class and the workload is quite light. I am in a small school and this year 2 of my fellow teachers had only 2 students each in their classes. In regards to location though, they have schools in some not so common locations. Another thing you should keep in mind is your age, many countries like China, have age limits and schools also often discriminate against older teachers. QSI does not. Salaries are reasonable and health insurance is the probably one of the best out there. Good Luck

Not necessarily, I found out the hard way. My contract ended on July 31st but the last day of school was the 12th. I went to the doctor to find out that my insurance was cancelled on the last day of school even though my contract ddn't offically end until the end of the month. Check with HR. It will be the safest route.

I agree, certification is the only way to go if your serious about a career in international schools. Unless you don't mind being stuck in a third tier school.

Another real possibility to this might have been fraudulent documents. I personally met and saw documents of background checks and all kinds of diplomas that were being churned out in an Asian country where I worked. This was all done by a Brit living there for a fee of course. You only needed a copy or photo of what a real one looked like. I imagine this is a lot more common in SE Asia where there are all kinds of not so reputable English teachers floating around rather than at legitimate International schools, but still a real possibility.

My thoughts as well newchapter. If getting a masters degree means keeping up with best practices it would have to be an ongoing process of getting masters degrees.

I was in the same dilemma and did go ahead and get my masters. I'm not too sure it really helped land a job but it did get me on a higher salary level. However, in comparison with the student debt I still have because of it, I'd probably be better of if I had left well enough alone. Like fine dude said, it's a tough call, just not sure if it was worth it for me, but who knows, maybe in the future.

My first position was in China. Pretty sure they still hire newbies and pretty sure there are no restrictions on visas for newbies.

In my experience yes. I'm in my third country now with the same authenticated documents, however I have heard that this isn't always the case. I guess it depends on the country. My colleague, is working in his 8th country and claims that if it is apostilled then it is valid anywhere, but if authenticated at the embassy then it is not always accepted in another country. I am sure that various people will have have had different experiences though as is always the case when working abroad.

You can get them (fingerprints) done at the US Embassy or consulate abroad. Did it twice already, the last time just over a year ago. It was also free. You can also get your diplomas authenticated at the Embassy or consulate, that will cost 50 USD though.

Try QSI, they are family friendly and I have seen single teachers with a trailing spouse and 3 school aged kids. All kids get free tuition as well and great health insurance. Downside is there is a good chance you'll have to put in, at least your initial period, in the stans.