The International Schools Review Forum

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As always,

it's optimal to have a related degree just like it's optimal to have experience.

Neither is a set in stone criteria / requirement.

Just use all job search resources and be flexible / open about location and school and that gives you the best chance you got.

Which id wager gives you a solid shot of landing a job.

sdakota wrote:
> Hello, again.
>
> I am 7 days away from completing my student teaching! I will be graduating
> with three certifications, 6-12 English, 6-12 Social Studies, and pK-6
> Elementary Ed. I had two student teaching placements, one in 3rd grade, and
> one in 6-8 grade English.
>
> My undergraduate degree is in Political Science - but after my student
> teaching experience, I'd much rather teach secondary English (just a better
> fit for me overall).
>
> I have also been quite fortunate to secure a position as a 9-12 English
> teacher at a local independent school for the rest of the year.
>
> Going off the "PsyGuy" advice I received in the past, it matters
> what you are certified in, and what you've taught...well I'll be certified
> in secondary english, and have almost a year (counting my student teaching
> placement) in secondary English.
>
> Do you think it will be a problem not having an undergraduate degree in
> English while looking for jobs abroad? I did receive English training
> during my teacher licensure program, just not an undergraduate's degree
> worth of it.
>
> Thanks!

i always thought that when you do your teacher education for secondary, you had to already have 2 teachables? many good schools will require you to have an undergraduate degree in the subject you teach in order to even secure a visa.

your certs. should help you land a position somewhere but not sure if it would h.s. english...

best of luck!

v.

@vandsmith

At most only some schools / countries. Def not all.

I have found that most schools care much more about the experience plus certification, not that your degree necessarily matches. However, some countries, as has been stated, do require them to match, for what I assume is visa related. The one country that comes to mind and it is always clear in job postings: Turkey.

For example, if you are going to teach HS English there, your major needs to have been English (or presumably Education?). Even if you are licensed to teach English and have 10 years experience, my understanding is that they won't be able to hire you if your major was say, Sociology.

This is not THAT common though, in my research anyway.

There are two elements to an ITs resume what they can teach (degrees, certifications) and what they have taught (experience), of those 2 experience is king. Your degree isnt going to matter much ina few years with strong experience and school leaving scores, until then however your resume has a lot of white space and your academic background is going to mean more to a recruiter since they have little experience to base your competency and proficiency from.
There are a lot of literature ITs with more experience then you and degrees in literature, and many of the upper tier ISs are going to have plenty of applicants, and even lower tier ISs are going to have a pool of applicants.

Your English training was not anything close to competency in literature. Your student teaching doesnt count, assuming you finish in December, you will have half a year at the end of this year. A degree in literature like a degree in most everything consists of a major of about 30 semester hours of study or a years worth of full time study.

You do not need two teachables for secondary, many ITs do in complimenting subjects such as math/science and humanities/literature, etc. Many DTs/ITs in the states focus on one subject area and have only one certification area.

Turkey gets around those restrictions by hiring an IT in their background, to get the visa, and then assign them to classes that they were hired for.

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@sdakota

If you truly are at a strong/upper tier independent DS you would find it very challenging to find a comparable opportunity at an IS with your resume. I wouldnt withdraw from looking or searching, its possible, but if you can build a reputation for success and move into a school leaving year classroom that would be a more marketable resume to bring to iE, as opposed to some bottom third tier IS in a hardship location teaching lower secondary.

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So its not really an independent school? When I write posts I typically write it as "private/independent school" referring to the common term private schools in the States and Independent Schools as the common term for a private school in Europe (UK). In the States an Independent School has a more specific meaning as a school that is a member of one of the national/regional independent school associations that set strict and rigid (and rather high) membership standards for its member schools.

My apologies for the confusion.

I would amend my previous response to clarify that if you can get into a school leaving course/classroom for next year it would be more marketable than what I would expect for an IT at a bottom tier IS/hardship location would be able to get. If you cant get into a school leaving classroom, then there are too many factors that will probably be about equal between what you would be doing in IE and what you are doing now. Most lower tier private stateside schools are equivalent in their experience to a lower tier IS.

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@sdakota

This may sound confusing but No, SACS as well as the other regional accrediting bodies (IE. WASC, etc.) are organizations that serve as defacto regulatory bodies. Being a regionally accredited DS/IS grants a school/district/local authority two primary benefits:
1) Courses, and transcripts are accepted within and between accredited DSs/ISs. A student from a SACS public DS in the States would have their courses and transcript "generally" accepted from by a WASC IS in Japan ("generally" because some course may not have an equivalent between schools. A student in the states may have "cheer leading" thats recorded as a fine arts credit, and the new school may not have cheer leading, and may decide its PHE and not fine arts).
2) Regionally accredited diplomas and transcripts are accepted on their face by accredited universities for purposes of admission and enrollment. While districts/local authorities may have different categories or 'tracks' resulting in a diploma (such as a college preparatory track and a vocational track, etc.).

The INDEPENDENT local/regional/international accrediting organizations is very similar except A) They arent a defacto regulatory body. Universities and other DSs/ISs can accept, accept in part, or reject coursework and qualifications issued by international accrediting organizations, and they arent as widely accepted, nor is any university an accrediting member of one of the INDEPENDENT regional accrediting organizations. B) Standards for the independent organizations are generally higher, and in most circumstances are higher then the regional accrediting bodies.

That said the Independent accrediting organizations are just a "club", DSs/ISs want to be members they have to accept the requirements and standards (and pay the fees), and in exchange they benefit from mutual association with other members.

A DS/IS/district/local authority can be both regionally accredited and independently accredited.