What is the ideal/best path to becoming an IT?

[PsyGuy]

Long Post Ahead.


I understand what you are asking, one of the issues we have on this site is we get asked a lot of the same questions and one of those questions is how do i become an IT now because im overseas, which triggers a certain response. In that context a lot of the previous contributors advise and counsel is very appropriate.
You arent looking to become an IT now, you really are backpackers/travelers, who are just using education (albeit English Language education) as a means of supporting your travels, and in your case this really is the way to go, since ES education has two very strong factors that support that form of lifestyle: 1) You will find work everywhere, year round. Its far less stressful not having to deal with agencies, or references, or year long job search times and then being locked into 2 year contracts and locations. 2) You can actually travel and experience and explore a region or city. You can find a position somewhere that will give you a flight allowance, stay a few months, then move to a neighboring country spend a few months there, then head out of the capital, etc. Being an IT requires commitment in resources and energy, you dont get to travel much except over long holiday breaks, being an ET requires a pulse and a smile. You show up on time do the Genki/monkey dance, and leave. You dont have much marking or planing to do, and the instruction is more 'edutainment'.
It would be just as big a mistake to spend 2 years and the money getting a masters and/or certification and finding out you dont like teaching and/or kids.

If your partner really is interested in woodworking and has other related skills then with a science background Design Technology is a marketable option. Martial Arts is more an ASP. Though instead of ET he may find opportunities to teach/coach martial arts as a sort of pseudo business to local expats who dont have the host language ability. It would be like any private/tutoring on the side. Put up some flyers and meet in a park collect the fee then provide an hour lesson.

Since you have plenty of time and have not done advance degrees already, and you are interested in IB, I would strongly look at the Universities that provide an IB Teaching Certificate. There are a number globally (disclaimer, I have one). In the US the IB Teaching and Learning Research certificate (the higher level certificate) is only available at George Mason University in Virgina, its an expensive university, and there is considerable debate about the value of a IB teaching certificate, but you would be able to get both masters degrees, the IB certification, and state certification in your fields (Literature and Chemistry).

Certification programs vary greatly in the US (and overseas certification is available and a possibility). In the US the two states that are the gold standard for parking (the process of moving certification by reciprocity to an advantageous state) are: 1) California, 2) New Jersey. The issue with renewal and moving to one of these two states has less to do with testing and more to do with PD (Testing is going to be a reality of wherever you go, how easy that testing is to organize is the issue based on where you are and what programs you pursue). So before going into PD (Professional development requirements required to renew a certification), most states have layers/levels/tiers of certification that can be divided into generic categories of 1) Entry level, 2) Professional level, 3) Advance level. Some states have all some only have 2 and some only have 1. In addition states have various "transitional" or temporary certifications that apply to various types of applicants (the most relevant, is those that apply to out of state candidates).
CA has two certification levels the preliminary certificate (entry) and the CLEAR certificate (professional). The preliminary certificate is what you get if you dont meet all the requirements for the CLEAR certificate, and CAs CLEAR requirements are esoteric, they essentially require a masters degree and full/professional certification in ESOL, otherwise you ahev to spend a year in induction essentially repeating a year of ITT/EPP (ITT is Initial Teacher Training, a common term in the UK and EPP is Educator Preparation Program, a generic term for referring to programs that train new teachers for professional education).
The benefit of the CA CLEAR certification is that 1) CA drives WASC accreditation which is the most prominent accrediting body for overseas American curriculum programs. 2) The 5 year certificate requires no PD requirements, you just submit a renewal application online and pay the fee.
NJ is the only state to offer a lifetime permanent certificate. There is no PD requirement and there is no renewal process. As long as you dont do anything that would invalidate your certificate you dont have to do anything. The disadvantage is that its New Jersey, and doesnt enjoy the same reputation and popularity as CA. does (and NJ also has some esoteric requirements as well).
I would however not recommend getting certified in either CA or NJ, while the requirements for out of state transfers are esoteric, NJs is easier than CA, but both processes for ITT/EPP programs have very high work expectations. The problem being that as an English Lit teacher (DT) in either of those states have very low vacancy availability which you would need to do to get the professional certificate.
Another option which might be very attractive to you since your degrees and academic background relate primary to your areas of certification is to simply apply for QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) in the UK which is also a lifetime certificate that requires no PD or renewal (for ITs anyway) after you obtain whatever state certification you pursue.

There really arent any "best" states to get certified in. CA and NJ are the ideal places to park a certificate and D.C. is the clearing house for reciprocity towards US educator credentials. Another brief background. There are 2 type of educator certification programs:
1) "Traditional" programs which are largely university based and coursework/degree focused. You want to be a teacher you go to a university with a certification program either as an undergrad, a grad student or in a hybrid called a "Post-Bachelors" (PB) program. The undergrad route consists of applying as an undergrad and completing a second major in education and any required courses for your major. The benefit of this route is you get another degree in about a year (though another bachelors degree). The cost is usually lower for undergrads than grads. The graduate pathway is often combined with a Masters program and typically take 2 years (though some are as short as 15-18 months). These cost more, take longer, are more work, but you get a masters (though its going to be in education and not a teachable content area) this is also likely the only route in your state to add something in educational support such as librarian or counselor. The Post-Bach pathway is about a year of professional education coursework combined with student teaching. You get certified and some credits but no additional degree, though the cost and time investment is less.
The other primary benefit of a traditional program is that you will be guaranteed a student teaching placement (field experience), which will not delay your certification (which could be a major problem for an English Lit teacher).
2) Non Traditional or Alternative Certification Programs (ACP). These are certification programs offered by private organizations and businesses. They vary greatly, some of them are online, some of them are F2F (face too face), some of them are combined. Some of them have multiple options for field experience (a generic term to describe the hands on training done in a school and classroom and include student teaching, clinical teaching, practicum, and internship, etc. ). The majority of these programs do not provide course credit, but use various types of seminars to deliver the primary training. Then when youve completed those seminars you either compelte clinical teaching (student teaching essentially) over the course of a semester or do an internship that involves you teaching as the teacher of record for a year under little supervision. Practicum is similar to internship but involves more supervision and is more like co-teaching or team teaching (practicum is more common in areas like counseling or administration, etc.).
Texas has ACP programs that can certify a DT in one semester (4-4.5 months) from start to finish. Most ACP programs are between 9-12 months and cost between $5K-$6K, about half or less than a year of tuition and fees in a university environment.
The best place to start is what is locally in your state and close to home, since you will qualify for in-state tuition at a university. Some states have better reputations than other states especially at lower tier ISs where status and prestige mean more than quality that local recruiters are not likely to understand. Try to avoid fly over and southern states, they have generally poorer reputations in student success which translates to recruiters as inferior trained DTs.
Since you are interested in IB, it would be too your advantage to do your field experience in an IB school, even if not in the IB program the closer you can get to IB the better you can spin it on your resume.

Generally, states have a generalist certification for primary (elementary, K-6) and single subject certification for secondary (6-12), with K-12 options for some specialty areas such as the fine and performing arts and/or technology, reading, SEN/LS (SPED, Special Education), etc. Some states have combined certifications that combine a group of certifications into one category, the most common being "science" that combines biology, chemistry, physics, etc into one certification and "social studies" that combines history, social science (psychology, political science, sociology), civics, geography, etc. into one certification. I have also seen Language arts that combines Literature, drama, speech, journalism, etc. into one certification. A major issue is how easy your state allows you to add endorsements (these are additional areas of teacher certification), some states only require you take an exam, some states require you to have a minimum number of credit hours close to or equivalent to a degree (about 24 course hours). The exam route is far less costly in time and resources.

As described above, A masters is one way of getting certification and will give you a compensation increase, but their are two components that build an ITs resume: 1) What they can do (certifications, degrees, etc.), and 2) What they have done (experience). Of the two experience rules. After a few years recruiters care less about your academic background but what you can do in a classroom as far as moderating your students success. The problem is that the standard bar to entry in IE is 2 years post certification experience, it might be very hard doing that in Literature, so a graduate program allows you to put your time to use while job searching. Many ITs as they advance to the middle of their career have a masters, that does make you more competitive all other factors being equal. Experience though is king, 2 years in a classroom honing your craft is far more marketable then a degree that takes you out of the classroom.

Unless you are considering an "Ivy" such as Harvard, Yale, OxBridge, the Sorbonne where you get your masters doesnt matter much, unless a particular recruiter/admin/manager happens to be an alumni.

Schools have different compensation scales based primary on a matrix of experience (step) and degree (band). Some ISs pay very little for a Masters over a Bachelors some pay significantly more. At tier 1 ISs the difference is about 10% more for a masters.

There are many IB ISs that will not look at your resume without IB experience. However the IB is growing very quickly, and there are IB ISs that will take inexperienced ITs. Many IB ITs got their initial experience in a DS or a low tier IB IS. IB training is generally regarded as worthless and the rule is no amount of training is worth any amount of experience. Anything you can do to add IB experience is going to give your resume utility. You dont need to be qualified you just need to edge out all those less qualified than you.

Smaller ISs generally need ITs to teach across multiple areas. Common combinations (especially at lower secondary) are Maths/Science and Literature/Humanities (Social Studies). The best combinations are those that involve school leaving level or very niche/specialized areas.
For couples you should strongly consider adding or pursuing primary (elementary) education, its much easier for an IS to create or appoint in primary then it is to create a literature vacancy. All leadership really needs is a room and to divide a class/grade into smaller classes. Which at primary isnt an issue for scheduling compared to departmentalized classes in secondary. ISs will do this and create a vacancy for a high needs IT and the partner/spouse is part of the package.
The worst scenario would be if both of you were certified in the same area, such as both of you being counselors.

ITs that are entering the profession for travel are tourist teachers and they are avoided, they are usually the ones that put in the minimum, and are gone as soon as they can.

There is a vast difference between teaching English as literature and teaching English as a language. The only thing they really have in common is English in their name. TESOL is nothing like teaching as an IT, as the previous contributors indicated it is basically babysitting and edutainment in an English immersion environment. Recruiters are very weary of ETs trying to slide into an IT, and at a certain level of IE in the lower third tier you find a variety of academies, bilingual schools and EAP programs that resemble IE. The language of instruction in ISs is English, students need a working understanding of it to attend most upper tier ISs, and while lower tier ISs do provide ESOL support many of the students in ESs are working on their English language so that they can attend ISs. Recruiters generally treat anything with ESOL attached to it as poison.

SUNY is the State University of New York, as @SJ indicated they (as well as the TCNJ, Teachers College of New York) offer international cohort education programs that are primary aimed at an 'International Masters" program that offer certification options. They arent bad but they are expensive, especially at out of state tuition rates.

The general requirements to enter IE as an entry class IT is a bachelors degree (it need not be in your subject, but early in your career it helps), a professional credential, and 2 years post certification experience. When an IT candidate lacks the 2 years post certification experience they are considered an "intern class" IT. There is an intern section of the SA BOS fair. Intern vacancies are not common, typically its one or two whole school vacancies and many ISs dont have one at all. Most ISs are not resourced to mentor an intern IT and ISs are largely private/independent ISs that collect tuition for which parents are not paying to have their children taught by inferior teachers while training.

Most ITs were DTs for a number of years before pursuing IE. Thats really the common path of entry.

Teach Now and Teach Ready are the primary pathways for ITs who are already overseas either in the ESOL field or at the bottom of the IS field. There are ISs that hire ITs without professional credentials, but these ISs are the train wrecks of IE, many of them in hardship locations. Teach Now and Teach Ready facilitate the challenge of completing field experience requirements for certification.

Teach Ready requires you to take your exams in the US, and has a less structured (move at your own pace program), Your field experience however is only 5 days. Teach Now uses the Praxis which can be taken globally in many locations, there program is more structured, you have to move at the pace of your cohort. Teach Nows field experience is 12 weeks long, this provides more time int eh classroom but can be more difficult to arrange since 12 weeks is most of a term which is a harder sell to an IS you arent already working with as opposed to Teach Readys 5 days which is much easier to arrange and schedule.

From my perspective I would not go the US route to certification. It has little to do with IE, and it focuses way to much on Common Core, Assessment, and ESSA, with the new legislation there is going to be a significant dilution in ITT/EPP programs. Its going to take a number of years for the new regulations to be interpreted and work themselves out. Since you have a lot of freedom, and time I would suggest a B.Ed from Canada in your fields (a 12 month program) at somewhere like UBC where you can also complete an IB Teacher and Learning Certificate as well. You can then use the CAN certificate and apply for certification in D.C. which gives you a US certification by completing some Praxis tests (you can take globally, and you can then apply for QTS in the UK by completing an application.

However to answer your question of a "magic bullet" You are likely going to want an ACP program, since internships are more common and the norm where you can use the internship experience as teaching experience on your resume. An ACP program is also going to have the most lax admission requirements for your partner.

I would recommend the Texas Teachers Certification program given your specific requirements:
www.texasteachers.org

1) Their program has a full year internship option and a 12 week clinical teaching option. You being an English Literature teacher is going to be a challenge to a full year internship. You may consider something like ESOL or SPED for your internship and then add English literature.
2) They have both all online and blended learning in a classroom delivery environment as options.
3) The GPA requirement of 2.5 can be exempted and any bachelors degree is accepted for any area, of which they offer more than 60.
4) The program fee is around $4K and $195 to start, there is no application fee.
5) You can transfer the Texas certification to NJ for a standard certificate assuming you complete the one year internship.

[wrldtrvlr123]

@ PG

Wow. I don't dare quote that or I might break the internet. That post might be a word count record (even for you). I'm sure there is some good information in there but I didn't even make it half way.

Not to highjack the thread but are you considering moving anytime soon? Any interest in the transfer round or going back int'l?

[Gwyn]

PsyGuy:

Thank you so much - your post was basically a mind-dump of everything I wanted to know, and a great starting point for further research. I will definitely look into those programs you mentioned. I have a few follow up questions for you...

Does getting a second Bachelors normally take just 12 months, or is that specific to B.Eds, or specific to that particular program in Canada (is it designed to be taken as a second bachelor's?)? And will having the QTS as a lifetime certification limit us to British schools, or do American schools accept QTS as your certification as well? Or is it just a gateway to other American state certifications (DC)?

In reference the Texas program, you mentioned that the min. GPA requirement can be waived. Is this true of any post-Bach program or specific to the TX one? Would GPA be a limiting factor for the Canadian B.Ed, after a few years of work experience (TEFL)?

In reference to the woodworking and martial arts, what is an ASP? And, what is required to be certified in Design Technology? Is that a field that is in high demand for IS?

Again, thank you very very much for the thorough response. It took me almost 20 minutes to read it so I can't imagine how long it took you to type all of that up. Thank you!!!

[shadowjack]

Gwyn,

getting into a PDPP (post-degree professional program) in Canada is based on academics and experience. You would be going up against Canadian students with good marks. Given that a starting teacher makes north of 40K and at the top makes north of 65K (and much more depending on district), education in Canada attracts students who are academically successful. Unlike the US it is not seen as demeaning and teachers have not been attacked the way they have in the US.

However, as an international student, your fees would be greater, so who knows? The only way to find out is to pay your application fees and apply.

Shad

[PsyGuy]

@WT123

The LW had a very deep inquiry, it was as long as it needed to be, but I believe it is one of my longer responses.

Not interested in the transfer round, it wouldnt do me much good. Im pretty happy where I am but there would still be a few ISs I would be interested in, but at this point they are elite ISs, in a couple of limited regions/locations.

@Gwyn

A second Bachelors degree (completion of a second undergraduate major) is about 450 contact hours or 30 credit hours. In some universities the sequence of courses is something that can be completed in a year. This assumes that:
1) The Uni offers their full major over the course of a year. Some Uni offer their major over the course of 2 years with lower division courses taken by students the first year and upper division courses being offered the second year, or the department alternates upper division courses every other semester.
2) You meet all the pre-requisites for the major. These could add between 3-9 credit hours in coursework, before you can declare or add that major (this is common in professional education programs).

In professional education programs (those that lead to certification) these departments are usually structured around a 12 month program if you meet all requirements for admission into the professional education program. Those per-requisites typically require:

1) English Composition (often fulfilled as a general education requirement)
2) Speech
3) Developmental Psychology (which has as a per-requisite general psychology, an option as part of the general education requirements.)

Assuming those are completed the 12 month program starts in the summer with a student taking a history of education course (or similar course) and either finishing their prerequisites or they take the Uni "elective" education course that is whatever that Uni is into, it might be a SPED course, or ESOL, or Educational Sociology, Reading, Maths, Technology, Research, etc.., whatever is hot or trending or a focus of the Uni.
At the end of summer the student applys for admission to the teaching program, and submits to a background check. If they are admitted then in the fall they start the professional "trinity" of education coursework which is:
1) Meds/Peds (Methodology and Pedagogy, or How to teach and Why) in their subject area.
2) C&I (Curriculum and Instruction, What to teach and How to create it) in their subject area.
3) Assessment (Making tests, creating rubrics, marking schemes, and conducting observations).
Thats three classes, if not done in the summer the student takes their education elective as well.
In the spring the student does student teaching. Some time during that year or in the summer after student teaching the student takes their licensing exams, and then they get certified after paying their fee.

B.Eds are either "5th year programs" or they are typically 12 month one year post professional programs, there are longer ones, but 12 months is common.

In CAN traditionally a B.Ed WAS your certificate license to practice as a teacher, and teachers registered with Teacher colleges that permitted them to teach in a particular jurisdiction. In recent years that changed, and now their are certificates issued by various territories upon completing registration and application procedures. In the past a B.Ed could be taken as a first degree, you could graduate high school and get a B.Ed as your degree and teach. Now B.Eds as first degrees are limited to primary (elementary) education, secondary teachers need to do a B.Ed as a second degree, though their are programs that combine the B.Ed into a 5th year program.

QTS will not limit you to British ISs. At many lower tier ISs British/American/Canadian/European, etc.. is just a choice of curriculum, and has nothing to do with many of the aspects of education in a DS. You will find Asian ISs that are all local students that are a IGCSE testing center and aside from teaching that curriculum there is nothing "British" about them. At upper tier ISs ASs hire British ITs and BSs hire American ITs, the same with Canadians, Australians, Europeans. The only exception to that is in some curriculum (mainly Canadian) you must be licensed in that province for that IS to hire you (those ISs offer various levels of assistance in this). QTS is a professional "working" credential for instructional services, it is as widely accepted as an American/State professional teaching credential.

The issue with QTS is that in the UK, a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) is an academic qualification, its a 1 year program that provides you the academic background in education. QTS is awarded to those teachers that have demonstrated competency in the classroom. When a DT in the UK completes their PGCE they are referred to as NQTs (Newly Qualified Teachers), these teachers are licensed to teach, but to get full QTS they must complete a one year period of supervised teaching in a classroom as a teacher of record and be rated satisfactory in the required teacher competencies, this is called "induction". They have one, and only one opportunity to satisfactory complete induction, if they fail they can never get full QTS, and this means they can not teach in a Maintained (public) school, they can still teach in a variety of other types of DSs and they dont have to complete induction at all to teach at other then maintained DSs.
So QTS is validation that a teacher has been trained and is competent in "teaching"/education, it has no bearing on your competency in a particular subject or teaching area. In the UK and much of Europe (and the world) what you are content qualified to teach is what you have studied academically, there are no examinations that allow you to add endorsements/certifications to a license. This isnt an issue when your degree and your certification area congruent or closely matched.
You want to become certified to teach English Literature and Social Studies/Humanities, your degree in Journalism is close enough to English that with QTS you wouldnt have an issue marketing yourself as an English IT. However, there is nothing in your academic background from your posts that would indicate you are qualified in social studies/humanities, you could add that on a US certification, but nothing about QTS would indicate that you were qualified to teach social studies/humanities.

In general ACP programs are more flexible on GPA requirements than traditional Uni programs. I cant say its true for all ACP programs but if your looking for the most flexibility your most likely to find it in an ACP program. The program in Texas i referenced earlier had accepted candidates with as low as a 2.0 GPA.

In general I agree with @SJ, you are competing against applicants with strong backgrounds, but you are also going to be a foreign/international student paying applicable (higher) fees and tuition. Of course there are a number of universities in CAN (its a big country) with varying admission and acceptance ranges.

ASP is After School Program, also known as Extra Curricular activities. In IE its commonly expected or contracted that an IT will provide some degree of ASP activity or support. This can be supervising a club from yearbook too athletics too tutoring. Some ITs have a hobby like Japanese dance that they do, some cooking, some just help out with coaching or supervising an athletic sport like football (soccer), some do societies like MUN (Model United Nations) or SGA (Student Government Association) or other clubs such environmental science club, or literary club. Some just provide ESOL or academic tutoring.
The obligation is typically once per week for about an hour. Some ISs require more, some dont require any ASPs at all.

Design Technology is an IB sciences subject in DIP. It is difficult to get certified in, its usually a vocational certification program, and their arent many Uni that offer it. Usually a student pursuing design technology is in engineering or architecture, etc. It crosses ICT (Information Computer Technology) and Art. Many actual DTs and ITs obtain certification in a more traditional subject, typically in the sciences and then through the process of examination or experience add design technology, or several certifications that combined are equal to design technology.
Design technology is a niche field vacancies arent common, but they arent uncommon either, when they do become available they are difficult to fill, and often have a small number of applicants. Having any amount of IB Design Technology experience would be marketable, however its not a magic bullet.

[Keiora]

I know this isn't a new thread, but I just thought I would pipe in with a little information... Memorial University of Newfoundland (located in St. John's, NL) has two post-degree programs that lead to certification. BEd Primary/Elementary (Which runs 15 mos - May through the following August) and BEd Intermediate/Secondary (which runs 12 mos - September through the following August).

On top of that, MUN is that it has the lowest tuition for a major university in the country at 85$/credit hour for Canadian students and 293$/credit hour for international students. The grade requirements are also very low, which works to the favour of your boyfriend... Last I checked all you needed was a 70% average, which is a little scary tbh. XD

Anyway, just a thought! :)