Qualifications for teaching in Latin America

[somuchtosee]

Dear All

Is it possible to teach in Latin America with UK teaching qualifications (PGCE) rather than US certification? Does anyone know anything about teaching in Spanish-medium schools, if one has a good level of Spanish?

Thanks.

[Cheery Littlebottom]

Well, I did, so yes! I was in an international school, not a local one.

[somuchtosee]

Thanks, Cheery! How did you get the job? I hear the UNI fair is the best for Latin American jobs but some advice from someone who's done it would be great.

[Cheery Littlebottom]

This was a long time ago, my first IS teaching job so I found it in TES (Times Ed. Supplement)
I am uncertain about the best fair as I was not looking at S.America this time around. I am sure you will find a great deal of information on this site.
Best wishes
Cheery

[heyteach]

AASSA, American Association of South American Schools, is really the place to go if you're keen on South and Central America. They have a very early fair (early December). I can't speak for a PGCE curriculum; their Website will have info on their member schools so maybe you can have a look at the schools' Websites. Don't be put off by schools using the IB; some will hire and train you themselves.

Speaking Spanish or not is necessarily a deal maker or breaker.

[canadian_inabox]

I was hired for next year by a school in Colombia with Canadian teaching qualifications, so yes there are schools that do not require US certification.

[somuchtosee]

Great, thanks for all the information everyone.

[calciodirigore]

Try the LAHC (Latin American Heads Conference) for more "British" style schools. They post openings on their website and are the UK school equivalent to AASSA.

Good luck.

[Rover]

A PGCE is a Post Graduate Certificate of Education, in other words - UK certification. A PGCE means you are UK certified, so therefore yes obviously with that you could teach at any school in Latin America, including all the American schools, and be able to get a work visa. So yes, you would be fully qualified.

Some schools might have prefer you to have, say, IB experience of experience of teaching internationally, or in the States, or for a certain number of years having taught in England. However, that is experience rather than relating to qualifications which was what was mentioned by the OP.

UK qualified teachers (just like US/Canadian/Australian etc) are present all over Latin America.

[Rover]

Most schools in Latin America seem to sell themselves as being bilingual rather than exclusively English-medium, although there are a few that only have Spanish lessons in Spanish. The better IB schools tend to expect their best students to take both English and Spanish as a Group 1 IB subject, for example, and to gain a fully bilingual IB Diploma. There are even some German, French and Canadian schools. For example, there is a Canadian school in Guadalajara and a German school in Barranquilla, Colombia. Search these links for schools, there are loads in the Americas.

http://www.ibo.org/iba/
http://www.lahc.net/home.htm
http://www.aassa.com/

To be truthful, lots of schools in the region have trouble attracting teachers at all, and uncertified teachers have been taken on in the past, including at some of the best schools in the region, although I won't mention names. This was particularly so amongst their local hires (i.e. foreigners hired locally). This seems to be changing as the continent is becoming a more attractive destination it seems. However, there are a lot of low-paying schools around, and beggars can't always be choosers...

On the other hand, some of the top schools have excellent packages, but they are obviously far more difficult to get in.

[Cailin]

My teaching qualification is not from The US. I was hired for a school in Venezuela -at the CIS fair in London.

[Rover]

Usually, American schools hire Brits, and British schools hire American teachers. There might not be many, but international schools do tend to have some teachers from various countries.

I'm not sure I'd want to work at a school that only had, say, teachers from the US or Canada or the UK. Kind of defeats the whole idea of being an "International" school. Then again, there are plenty of "International" schools (or so they sell themselves as) that have only local staff, so what do I know?

[heyteach]

I guess that depends on your definition of "international." I've always thought it to mean that the student body are international, not the staff. To me it didn't matter where anyone was from, anyway.

[earlychildhood]

Hi all,

I am interested in attending the aassa fair in December, but I wonder how competitive a candidate I am. I have seven years early childhood experience and plenty of PYP training and experience. Early Childhood is a very high needs area in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, but AASSA cannot advise me on South American early childhood demand. Does anyone have any thoughts?

The tricky part is that I have an infant and husband as dependents, and I know that can be a major deterrent for many schools. Any thoughts?

Thanks!