What are your qualifications?

[klooste]

Hello parents and teachers!

I hope this elongated question finds ya'll well!

I think a little bio is in order before I get to my questions: I am a newbie teacher, fresh out of Uni, who has landed a job in a second tier international school. I have lots of volunteer on my resume, and lots of experience working with children, but I lack experience in the classroom. I've ran camps, and designed lessons which adhere to curriculum. Currently I am teaching in an international school, and I'm loving every moment of it (yes, even the 8am-9pm days of marking)! Thus stated, I know many of you are much more experienced in the field of teaching than I am.

For personal reasons I will be returning to Canada to study a few degrees, and a diploma. I was wondering what qualifications do you have teachers? I hope to make myself more competitive in the international school market (in China, so that I can teach your awesome kids, parents!).

I know experience probably speaks louder than parchments (but I know SOME parents/recruiters quite like parchments)! Here is my plan:

I was thinking of doing an after degree in Biology and chem (2yrs) , a masters in school leadership (2yrs) and an IT diploma course(couple months) I'm interested in all these areas, and I'll have about 4 years classroom teaching experience once I return to Canada. Once I complete a bachelor of science, I HOPE I can say I'm capable of teaching biology and chem in an interview (what are your thoughts, do I need direct experience teaching bio and chem? If so, I can always find some volunteer work in Canada, where I work with a classroom teacher). I've also ran camps which taught youth and children science. Thoughts?

I plan to settle down in China, and I know I'm quite fortunate to be in a tier 2 school so early into my career. I've also heard a lot of teachers have a bachelors of ed coupled with a few more degrees. Is this information true? If so, would it really hurt to pay (too much) money for another parchment, or two?

Please let me know your thoughts! If any of you are working in your dream international school, please feel free to share how you landed a job.

Thanks for reading my wordsmith!

[Nomads]

kloste,

What degrees you get should be based on what you want to do with them. A B of ed in biology with chemistry would be strong. A chem/physics degree or chem/math degree are probably the best, but bio with chem is a need area. The only real reason to get an ed leadership degree is if you want to move into admin at some point. Technology certificate is fine, but not essential. I would recommend getting a masters degree, just to have one. It will not help your job search enough to justify the money and time. I would recommend you wait until you find an area you are passionate about.

As you mentioned experience is generally more important that degrees, although most of the top tier schools require the a bachelor's in education and certification.

Any experience you can get with students is great, particularly if it can be some form of student activities; coaching, Model United Nations, debate, student government.

[Monkey]

I didn't land my dream school until my 3rd contact, and I had to go home for a bit after my first IT job to get some more experience and get my M.Ed. Did I want to go home? No, but it was the right decision for me, even though it meant taking an IT break for a few years.

Forgive me for sounding ignorant, but I don't know how the teaching education and credentialing work in Canada. Would the degree alone make you qualified to teach the subject? In the US, at least in the couple of states I'm familiar with, it's not enough to have a degree in a subject. There are other requirements in order to be certified for that subject and have it listed on your teaching license. This usually involves taking a test like the Praxis with a certain passing score.

My advice is to do whatever you need to do to get certified to teach the subjects you want to teach. Experience helps, of course, but there are many top-tier schools that won't hire you if you're not actually certified for the subject, either because of their own policies or because of the country's visa requirements.

[klooste]

Thanks for the insights! May I ask, Monkey, which school are you teaching in? I've read somewhere on these forums that you are elementary focused (kootos to you for being able to handle the little ones)!

Canada is a bit different from the states: a teacher who majors in English can end up teaching physics/calculus. Majors mean very little here. If I could make a dialogue between an employer and a teacher, it would read as follows:
Teacher: my major is biology, and my minor is English! Do you have any positions for these specializations?
Employer: your resume states you speak French. Can you teach Math 10 in French?
The teacher at this point has two options: agree to teach math and French, or rely on a major to find a job....
Most teachers in Canada (because the job market is terrible) would probably say: YES, ABSOLUTLY! I can teach French, and Math 10! NO PROBLEMO (albeit the teacher would be more professional). Then, the employer will ask: DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT DANCE? CAN YOU RUN A DANCE CLUB?

Again, if the teacher wants a job he/she will reply (with stern confidence): ABSOLUTLY, I can teach dance.

After the interview and job is sealed, the teacher then runs home, and spends hours learning math (in French), and Dance.

I think what I am trying to get at is despite Canada having a really great education system, teachers can end up teaching subjects they never studied in post secondary. My mentor teacher for my field experience was an art major, but he was teaching math and English. He's been teaching for quite some time, so no doubt he's good at what he does. I also taught math despite my major being “artsy” if you will.

I think the rules are a little different for getting into an decent international school. I'm not at my dream job yet, but I am currently employed at a decent international school. The first question the recruiter asked me was my major. I told him I was capable of teaching math, and some science courses, but I got stuck with a CALM and Planning 10 option course for my first year. Midn you, I am not complaining, because I feel this school is very considerate to give me (as a newbie) a few easy courses to teach.

My replies are always book like (sorry in advance).

The reason I want to go back to school and get an IT diploma, and science degree is because I don't think an international school would even consider me for a scientific teaching position, unless I had a parchment to back up my qualifications. I'm certified to teach anywhere in Canada, but like I've said, the certification basically means: “he is capable of teaching any subject in both middle and high school.”

Thanks for any advice you can provide (and I hope I answered your question about Canada's education).

Be well!

[shadowjack]

Actually, Klooste, I would disagree with you a bit. After having worked in urban and rural districts in 3 Canadian jurisdictions, this is not the case.

Certifications count for a lot, when you are first starting out. It is rare in an urban district to be hired to teach entirely out of your teaching area - but it is NOT rare that you teach some courses inside your teaching area, and other, non-certified courses, such as Personal Planning, or CALM, or Health. I once taught a course in introduction to drafting - where is the teaching certification for that? LOL

However, if you go to a rural district, you will likely be teaching a wide range of courses, depending on student numbers and teachers in place. It might be that numbers went up, so they need a teacher who can teach 3 subjects - say, Science 9, Math 10, and Health 8. In that case, a teacher with a biology major MIGHT be hired, especially if one of the senior high bio teachers is due for sabbatical or retirement, because it gives the district a look at a potential replacement and locks the replacement in for a year.

But I have been offered teaching jobs, as have my colleagues, that were outside my capabilities and purview, and I declined. At my international schools I have bee presented with potential teaching assignments for the year ahead, and said no, based on the disservice it would be for students. I COULD teach it, but IMHO, it would be better if the students had a qualified teacher, rather than me. Needless to say, they didn't give me the class.

Just my two cents

shad

[klooste]

Interesting insights Shad!

May I ask which province you taught in? I'm in conserveberta!

I've had friends who majored in English, but got stuck with a knitting and foods classes, because they cooked at The Keg at 16 years of age.

It's funny that you'd disagree, maybe I've only ran into the odd few who have majors in art, but end up teaching math. Even my last practicum mentor teacher was an art major, and music minor, but she was teaching a full course load of IB English. I guess art and English relate (in some sense).


I'm not sure what you mean about CALM not being a certified course-- do you mean CALM is not one of the BIG 4? English, math, science, and ss? Or do you mean you can't major in CALM in university?

My teaching certification –at least in Alberta-- doesn't state my major or minor. In fact, my BC cert says I can teach elementary (even though I studied secondary). I have both Alberta and BC teaching certifications. Double in fact: my parchment doesn't reveal my major/minor, it only says “Bachelor of Ed-- Secondary.”

Do you find international schools focus more on a teacher's qualifications (example: an English major probably won't end up landing a job teaching Chemistry, unless said English teacher has a bachelor of science with a Biology/Chem focus)?

Thanks for your wordsmith!

Be well!

[Monkey]

Thanks for explaining more about the Canadian system.

In my experience, your last paragraph is true. I have yet to run into teachers who are teaching wildly outside of their certification/training area at international schools, with one exception: language teachers. When I was in the ME, some of our Arabic teachers were actually science or math teachers. But our school, unfortunately, would not hire locals for these positions, so if they wanted to work at our school their only option was Arabic. That same principal also thought that being an English Lit major meant you could teach ESOL. I haven't seen this elsewhere, so it may have been isolated to that one school.

[klooste]

Looks like I'll be going back to school (arrg, my cogs are already starting to burn) to study a science degree!

Thanks for the tips Monkey and Shad!