Hello everyone,
My husband and I are in our late 20's and are trying to figure out the best way to transition into careers as international teachers. I've read through similar threads on this and other forums, but I was wondering if anyone could give us advice on our specific situation.
Background: We are both US Citizens and native English speakers. I have a B.S. in Mathematics and 4 years of overseas experience teaching ESL. My husband has a B.S. in Exercise Science and 3 years of teaching experience (also ESL). We have just accepted positions for this school year at a well-known private English Program (EP) school here in Thailand. I will be teaching upper-level mathematics, and my husband will be teaching science and computing for the school's GAC program.
Goal: To eventually work at an international school teaching high school math and science.
I realize that, as things stand, we are in no way qualified for international school positions. Since going back to the US to obtain our teaching certificates is financially unfeasible, we've started looking into alternative certification programs like Teacher Ready. This particular program supposedly allows one to receive a Florida state teaching certificate after the completion of an 8-10 month long online program, an in-person mentorship, and 3 state teaching exams.
Our new school has offered to set us up with mentors and we feel that we can complete the program and pass the exams in the allotted time. However, I have to question whether this certification will be of any use with our lack of home country teaching experience. For the same cost, we could both pursue MSc degrees in our subjects through the Open University.
So, some questions...
* Would 1-2 years of subject teaching experience (most likely at an EP school here in Thailand) PLUS the Florida state teaching certificates make us competitive candidates for 2nd tier international school positions?
* As someone with a B.S. in Math, would I be better off getting a MSc in Math instead of a teaching certificate?
* Is there anything else we can do over the next 2 years in order to increase our chances of finding decent international school positions?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Career planning as a teaching couple
Get the teaching credential, and you'll be respectable candidates. Your experience in an EP, as opposed to a regular school, will not be very valuable, and may not count at all, especially any portion before your teaching certificate is official. But it's not a bad start, and it's miles better than no credential and no experience. You will have some teaching experience, which should be taken into account in the recruiter's mind even if not in the pay scale.
A Masters would not really help at this point. You obviously know Math already, so that's not the issue. You need something to prove you know how to teach, at least on paper. If you later decide to seek a Masters, you could do it in either education or Math, and that would be fine. But without a teaching credential, you might never get out of the starting block.
A Masters would not really help at this point. You obviously know Math already, so that's not the issue. You need something to prove you know how to teach, at least on paper. If you later decide to seek a Masters, you could do it in either education or Math, and that would be fine. But without a teaching credential, you might never get out of the starting block.
Certification, certification, certification : It's the same as a medical doctor's. No matter the breadth of experience or the praise, people are more likely to raise their eyebrows and question as to why that doctor does not have a license to practice. Would you trust a doctor without a license to practice? No, of course not. It's the same with teaching : I don't think that parents would willingly give their students to educators without licenses to teach....no matter how naturally brilliant one is, as a teacher.
So, to answer your question : Get your B.Ed first before getting a Masters ( M.Sc in Math ). I also have an M.Sc in Math which made me look " attractive " in the market, but ultimately, it was the B.Ed that landed me the job. Also, if you and your husband are sure about teaching as your lifelong profession, I would veer towards getting an M.Ed in the future ( in the area of numeracy development, in your case ).
So, to answer your question : Get your B.Ed first before getting a Masters ( M.Sc in Math ). I also have an M.Sc in Math which made me look " attractive " in the market, but ultimately, it was the B.Ed that landed me the job. Also, if you and your husband are sure about teaching as your lifelong profession, I would veer towards getting an M.Ed in the future ( in the area of numeracy development, in your case ).
Interesting points. Sadly, a B.Ed is not going to happen at this point in my life. We've worked extremely hard over the past three years to get rid of our debts and to set up some investment income, and I'm not sure taking out loans for a second Bachelor's would be worth it. An M.Ed is something I might consider in the future though. I've looked into a few programs that have a concentration in math education, and it looks like that might be a good next step after getting my teaching certification.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
A B. Ed. is not essential, although it does open a few more doors. The certification is the key issue, and you already have that.
Do NOT do an MSc in Math - your certification is the ticket to teaching at better schools. Schools in many locations cannot hire you if you are not certified as a teacher and can prove it.
As to what you can do over the next two years - research schools, do pro-d, and network, network, network so that you have people who can 'introduce' you at schools.
Do NOT do an MSc in Math - your certification is the ticket to teaching at better schools. Schools in many locations cannot hire you if you are not certified as a teacher and can prove it.
As to what you can do over the next two years - research schools, do pro-d, and network, network, network so that you have people who can 'introduce' you at schools.
Reply
Unless your in Canada and want a Canadian qualification you dont need a B.Ed and in most American universities a B.Ed in anything except primary usually isnt available.
You need a certification first. Teaching is a regulated profession and a certification is your entry into that profession. A Masters will get you in at some bottom tier schools but it will stall career as you wont be able to move up to better schools without a certification.
While you should get the certification first, it really isnt an either or question, you will need a masters degree sooner rather then later. The majority of ITs with 2+ years experience have masters degrees, typically a M.Ed. The M.Ed has more broad marketability, but in mathematics an M.S. in a math related field would be more marketable for a math teacher wishing to stay in the classroom. It would go further in ensuring a recruiter that you truly could meet the needs of your upper secondary advance math students in 11-12 grade.
You would not have to do much more then a year (2 tops) in university to get a B.Ed or Education degree. You really need to just meet the requirments for an education major, though in most situations this will involve certification and require student teaching etc. Cost wise your looking at around 30 semester hours, or a quarter of a full degree.
Your EP experience doesnt count, and its not worth anything. Without post certification experience (the typical entry standard is 2 years), your looking at third tier ISs.
I would try to do your internship/mentoring training in an IB school. Thats whats going to make the biggest difference in an experienced teacher. An IS isnt going to be interested in you at this point as a teacher but in exchange for a local package especially in math an IS with IB may be willing to offer you a position as an intern, which you would need to do ina similar capacity for the teach ready program anyway.
SA (Search Associates) has an internship coordinator, and the BOS fair is the intern fair. You could get into a tier 1 school in an intern position that once your certified would give you a very marketable reference if not an offer for a full teaching position.
With 2 years its reasonable to do a 1 year Masters in that time as well, that would certainly make you more marketable.
Your husband needs to explore getting certified by the appropriate sporting agency as a coach. Football (soccer) is the most common and marketable.
You need a certification first. Teaching is a regulated profession and a certification is your entry into that profession. A Masters will get you in at some bottom tier schools but it will stall career as you wont be able to move up to better schools without a certification.
While you should get the certification first, it really isnt an either or question, you will need a masters degree sooner rather then later. The majority of ITs with 2+ years experience have masters degrees, typically a M.Ed. The M.Ed has more broad marketability, but in mathematics an M.S. in a math related field would be more marketable for a math teacher wishing to stay in the classroom. It would go further in ensuring a recruiter that you truly could meet the needs of your upper secondary advance math students in 11-12 grade.
You would not have to do much more then a year (2 tops) in university to get a B.Ed or Education degree. You really need to just meet the requirments for an education major, though in most situations this will involve certification and require student teaching etc. Cost wise your looking at around 30 semester hours, or a quarter of a full degree.
Your EP experience doesnt count, and its not worth anything. Without post certification experience (the typical entry standard is 2 years), your looking at third tier ISs.
I would try to do your internship/mentoring training in an IB school. Thats whats going to make the biggest difference in an experienced teacher. An IS isnt going to be interested in you at this point as a teacher but in exchange for a local package especially in math an IS with IB may be willing to offer you a position as an intern, which you would need to do ina similar capacity for the teach ready program anyway.
SA (Search Associates) has an internship coordinator, and the BOS fair is the intern fair. You could get into a tier 1 school in an intern position that once your certified would give you a very marketable reference if not an offer for a full teaching position.
With 2 years its reasonable to do a 1 year Masters in that time as well, that would certainly make you more marketable.
Your husband needs to explore getting certified by the appropriate sporting agency as a coach. Football (soccer) is the most common and marketable.