I'll be graduating in December with a Mater's of Education in Urban Childhood Education. I have a 3.8 GPA and have been awarded two Graduate Assistantships while attending my program. One of the scholarships is tutoring fellow graduate ESL students in writing. Also, I have one year of substitute teaching experience with a great recommendation from the principal at that school. I also have credits in my undergrad that pertain to language acquisition. Currently I'm student teaching. My application should be finished within the next month. I've been submitting the required material to Search Associates and plan to attend the Cambridge, MA job fair in February. I'm from NYC and my master's program's main focus is culturally diverse classrooms.
So, what do you all feel my chances are in getting a decent paying teaching position in a SE Asian country?I'm also applying as an intern. Is it more of reality that I would be hired as an intern, rather than a teacher? What is the pay difference? I believe the school year starts for them in April, so would attending the fair in February allow me enough time to secure a position by the beginning of the school year? Any information would help.
Thanks!
What are my chances?
The school year for most of the schools in the SEARCH database is either late August or early September. Start dates for April are rare - you may be thinking of local schools (Thai gov't schools start in April).
If you go to a later fair (March) you may have a better chance - I found the Bangkok fair in January to be very competitive. Schools know they have time and can afford to wait for the perfect candidates. If you have IB experience you'll be a shoe-in. They also like teaching couples. However I did speak to a guy at the job fair last year who said he was hired at the fair in Cambridge with no IB experience.f
One more thing - they probably won't care about substitute teaching. My advice is to email some of the schools you're interested in and see if you can get interviews. Why not stay in your own country for a few years and get some teaching experience?
If you go to a later fair (March) you may have a better chance - I found the Bangkok fair in January to be very competitive. Schools know they have time and can afford to wait for the perfect candidates. If you have IB experience you'll be a shoe-in. They also like teaching couples. However I did speak to a guy at the job fair last year who said he was hired at the fair in Cambridge with no IB experience.f
One more thing - they probably won't care about substitute teaching. My advice is to email some of the schools you're interested in and see if you can get interviews. Why not stay in your own country for a few years and get some teaching experience?