Hello everyone,
I'm currently a Canadian ESL teacher for an after-school program at an elementary school here in South Korea.
I do love the job. The students are great, I have no boss on site, just two Korean co-workers and myself. The hours are short and the pay is generous for what it is. This position has allowed me to experiment with and implement different strategies etc with no interruption from directors etc. It has definitely helped me to develop handy classroom management techniques with elementary students. The downside is that I get very little time off, and the potential for a salary increase is not great.
I'm now at a point where I'm looking to the future. I applied to a teaching course in Vancouver, Canada and have been accepted. The resulting certification is k-12, but the focus is on secondary biology. The plan would not be to teach in Canada, but to teach at international school overseas. This is completely different than anything I've ever taught, since my focus over the past three years has been teaching children or adults. I'm certainly confident about teaching elementary students but I've never experienced being a teacher in a secondary classroom. Is it something that is remotely close? Any less than obvious points on how they compare or differ? Have you taught both? Which do you prefer?
I'm still not completely decided. I'm currently $29000 in debt and a year in Vancouver along with the teaching degree and prerequisites will easily add another $30000 to my debt. I could pay off my current debt with another year and a half in Korea, or quicker if I worked hard at it, but I'm really very tired of my situation here. Is it really worth heading back to Canada for the certification? Is the potential pay increase going to be worth it?
I'm currently working on getting my UK citizenship. Are there better or cheaper options in the UK?
The PGCEi was recommended to me by a friend who has a legitimate certification from Canada but is working in Vietnam. He thinks that if I do some PD courses through Canada that it will be accepted, but I'm very skeptical about that.
Can a Canadian use any American alternative methods like Teach Now in order to become certified?
Any and all suggestions are much appreciated. I really want to get certified, but a $60000 debt is very daunting.
Thanks for any and all suggestions
Teaching secondary school and teacher certification
Response
Every ET thinks their ESOl experience is awesome. In IE ET has no value, and it generally doesnt count.
I would advise against CAN credentialing. CAN wants academic hours, etc.. Its not worth $30K, especially if you dont know if its going to be something you stay with for a career. You will have a problem in that the standard bar to entry is two years post certification experience, and biology isnt in very high demand in CAN, you could be waiting years before building the requisite experience domestically. the other option would be entering IE as an intern class IT, lot of competition for lower tier ISs and hardship regions.
Yes teaching secondary is remotely close to teaching primary (emphasis on remotely). Its a long treatise on developmental differences. In primary students are still pleasers, they want to please adults, they want rewards, etc. In lower secondary its students learning to manage their hormones and relationships. In upper secondary its about balancing self identity and being accepted by your peers.
Ive taught all three, I prefer lower secondary (years 6-9).
You do not need to be a UK citizen to attend a UK UNI, for about £10K you can do a a 1 year PGCE. There are available bursaries in maths and science as well.
Your friend is delusional no CAN province will accept a PGCEi as a full credential.
Teach Now and D.C. certification is open to anyone who can pay the fee (USD$6K) and complete the program.
I would advise against CAN credentialing. CAN wants academic hours, etc.. Its not worth $30K, especially if you dont know if its going to be something you stay with for a career. You will have a problem in that the standard bar to entry is two years post certification experience, and biology isnt in very high demand in CAN, you could be waiting years before building the requisite experience domestically. the other option would be entering IE as an intern class IT, lot of competition for lower tier ISs and hardship regions.
Yes teaching secondary is remotely close to teaching primary (emphasis on remotely). Its a long treatise on developmental differences. In primary students are still pleasers, they want to please adults, they want rewards, etc. In lower secondary its students learning to manage their hormones and relationships. In upper secondary its about balancing self identity and being accepted by your peers.
Ive taught all three, I prefer lower secondary (years 6-9).
You do not need to be a UK citizen to attend a UK UNI, for about £10K you can do a a 1 year PGCE. There are available bursaries in maths and science as well.
Your friend is delusional no CAN province will accept a PGCEi as a full credential.
Teach Now and D.C. certification is open to anyone who can pay the fee (USD$6K) and complete the program.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: Teaching secondary school and teacher certification
You can do the teach now and be certified. Then later, if you want, go for reciprocity in the UK if that is where you are headed.
Be warned - student behaviour at schools that would take a flyer on you in the UK are much rougher than anything you would be used to.
Be warned - student behaviour at schools that would take a flyer on you in the UK are much rougher than anything you would be used to.
Re: Teaching secondary school and teacher certification
Thanks so much for the information guys.
PsyGuy,
I understand that the ESL experience will not count in international schools. It is a pretty sweet gig for what is is though.
I will apply to the Teach Now program and see what happens. I have sent them a few questions related to the program but have yet to hear back.
I have been researching, and it appears that most people are either working in, or try and locate an international school to complete their practicum in. I would certainly be prepared to look in less-than desirable locations to do that.
I did however read a thread on another forum where people claimed to be using their Korean Public school jobs as the base for their practicum. If this is possible, it would extremely simplify my situation. I am employed by a public school, but actually only spend four four and a half hours a day there, and they are also not responsible for managing me. Having been there for more than two years though, I may be able to find a teacher there who is willing to act as my mentor. Have you heard of anyone doing something like this?
shadowjack,
Thanks for the tip. I would probably end up going that route, solely for the purpose of having my teaching credential match the nationality on one of my passports. Not sure if this matters or not?
I would have no plan to return to Canada, the UK or the United States in the near future.
PsyGuy,
I understand that the ESL experience will not count in international schools. It is a pretty sweet gig for what is is though.
I will apply to the Teach Now program and see what happens. I have sent them a few questions related to the program but have yet to hear back.
I have been researching, and it appears that most people are either working in, or try and locate an international school to complete their practicum in. I would certainly be prepared to look in less-than desirable locations to do that.
I did however read a thread on another forum where people claimed to be using their Korean Public school jobs as the base for their practicum. If this is possible, it would extremely simplify my situation. I am employed by a public school, but actually only spend four four and a half hours a day there, and they are also not responsible for managing me. Having been there for more than two years though, I may be able to find a teacher there who is willing to act as my mentor. Have you heard of anyone doing something like this?
shadowjack,
Thanks for the tip. I would probably end up going that route, solely for the purpose of having my teaching credential match the nationality on one of my passports. Not sure if this matters or not?
I would have no plan to return to Canada, the UK or the United States in the near future.
Reply
@Luker
Concur with @SJ, working at a UK DS isnt going to be some elite prep school experience. Its going to be far closer to "brutal".
It would greatly depend on what they were doing in a SK DS. Teaching ESOL without pursuing the ESOL certification isnt going to work. If it was a maths candidate teaching secondary maths in calculus in an advanced program, and the candidate made the case that it wasnt practical to find this level of a classroom do to assessment/exam issues, and the cooperating DSs leadership supported the IT candidate I could see that getting approved. If however the appointment is in a SK primary DS teaching reading support or anything that wasnt an HRT, I dont see that getting approved.
You can always ask, though if the DS doesnt manage you then you dont work for the DS, your either a supply/relief/substitute or your a dispatch ET thats teaching ESOL. Even if you got that approved by some form of "creative documentation" your mentoring evaluator needs to be a fully credentialed professional educator.
There is no rule that your teaching credential match your passport. QTS is very easy to apply for one you have another western teaching credential.
Concur with @SJ, working at a UK DS isnt going to be some elite prep school experience. Its going to be far closer to "brutal".
It would greatly depend on what they were doing in a SK DS. Teaching ESOL without pursuing the ESOL certification isnt going to work. If it was a maths candidate teaching secondary maths in calculus in an advanced program, and the candidate made the case that it wasnt practical to find this level of a classroom do to assessment/exam issues, and the cooperating DSs leadership supported the IT candidate I could see that getting approved. If however the appointment is in a SK primary DS teaching reading support or anything that wasnt an HRT, I dont see that getting approved.
You can always ask, though if the DS doesnt manage you then you dont work for the DS, your either a supply/relief/substitute or your a dispatch ET thats teaching ESOL. Even if you got that approved by some form of "creative documentation" your mentoring evaluator needs to be a fully credentialed professional educator.
There is no rule that your teaching credential match your passport. QTS is very easy to apply for one you have another western teaching credential.