I'm now one month into my TeacherReady course and will be taking my subject area and professional exams in October. If all goes well, I will be fully certified in Grade 6-12 Mathematics by April 2014. My husband is starting in the October cohort and should finish a month or two behind me (Chemistry 6-12).
That said, would there be any point in us attending the SA Bangkok fair in January without full credentials? It's quite a lot of money for 2 people, so we could only justify the cost if there was a good chance of us getting provisionally hired or getting our feet in the door. We would be seeking employment starting in August 2014 and would be willing to move anywhere in the world.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Uncertified teacher attending the SA Bangkok fair?
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Snowbeavers
- Posts: 72
- Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:56 pm
Do you have full-time teaching experience? If not, I would say no as it is quite competitive and most candidates are experienced international teachers. Most schools will probably not take a chance on candidates this early in the recruiting season. Better off attending a later job fair or maybe the one in HK.
Saying that, both Chemistry and Math are difficult positions to fill so you might get lucky.
Saying that, both Chemistry and Math are difficult positions to fill so you might get lucky.
Realistically, that's not a lot of teaching experience. It's all pre-certification, which often isn't counted. And the English teaching is often also not counted. You'll be taking a big chance going to a fair this year, for 2 reasons. 1. Schools don't really do 'provisional' hires. They need to hire you or not. They can't take a chance as to whether you will successfully complete your certification on time. What would they do if for some reason, you didn't, and they were left without a teacher after the hiring season has finished? 2. You really don't have the experience schools are looking for. With completed certification, you might have a chance in lower tier schools, but without, it's a crap shoot.
I wish I had better news, but I don't want you to waste your money for no reason.
Have you looked into the ISS internship programs? It's designed for people in similar positions.
I wish I had better news, but I don't want you to waste your money for no reason.
Have you looked into the ISS internship programs? It's designed for people in similar positions.
Sid,
I appreciate the comments. I knew it would be a stretch, but we didn't want to dismiss the idea out of hand without more input. Perhaps we can still hope for a last minute hire at a tier 2 school and skip the fairs this year.
I haven't heard about the ISS Internship program...is that run by a particular organization or are you referring to the internships ran by individual schools? We've spoken to a few schools about the latter, but they were all volunteer positions.
I appreciate the comments. I knew it would be a stretch, but we didn't want to dismiss the idea out of hand without more input. Perhaps we can still hope for a last minute hire at a tier 2 school and skip the fairs this year.
I haven't heard about the ISS Internship program...is that run by a particular organization or are you referring to the internships ran by individual schools? We've spoken to a few schools about the latter, but they were all volunteer positions.