I need some advice on how to become qualified to teach ESL in an international school based on my experience...
20 years teaching experience (not in ESL)
10 years international teaching experience
1 year teaching for VIPKID
I'm back in the USA but not currently teaching in a brick and mortar. We are looking to go back overseas in the coming years. I am a certified teacher and I want to be an ESL teacher in an international school. How do I become qualified? Is it enough to get an online TESOL/TOEFL or CELTA cert.? or do I need a degree in teaching ESL with certification? or do I need an endorsement on my current license? I could certainly rank these as far as effectiveness but I have significant experience overseas and plenty of years under my belt...that's what makes me wonder if I can simply get an online cert to be qualified.
Also, do you see any need for the CELTA over the TESOL/TOEFL?
THANK YOU!
Changing teaching genre to ESL
response
You dont even need an online certificate. In the hierarchy of education credentials a CELTA/DELTA is below that of a professional educator credential. A CELTA is fine if your teaching an Eikaiwa or Hagwon Your objective is to work in ISs not in ESs, and as any IS they are going to want ITs with professional credentials.
The easiest and more marketable approach would be to add an ESOL endorsement to your current credential either directly by assessment (PRAXIS) or transferring your credential to a region that does have an assessment pathway to additional endorsements (it may be the time to consider a jurisdiction that doesnt require PD).
What an assessment pathway to an endorsement wont do is give you experience providing ESOL services specifically, in IE every lesson that isnt with native speakers is an ESOL lesson, and you can certainly spin that to market that experience, but as many professional ESOL ITs/DTs will argue (and rightly so) is that teaching ESOL isnt just a reading program. You can however get this type of experience (if you want) a number of ways, check with your local library or extension learning program (usually run out of a community college or large DS district) for volunteer opportunities or programs.
If you want an online certificate understand that any coin you pay would have been better used as toilet tissue, the gold standard in ESOL is the Cambridge CELTA/DELTA (and of the two the DELTA is the higher certificate) everything else is essentially a very expensive piece of paper. You would be just as marketable spending an hour creating your own certificate and printing it out, for all the good it would do.
Masters degrees in TESOL are generally only a requirement when focusing on direct appointments to foreign Uni ESOL instruction. If you are looking at one of the Little Tigers (HK, SG, JP) for employment at one of their Unis than yes you will want a Masters in TESOL or a very closely related field if you already have a Masters. In other regions like China a Masters in TESOL is not needed, and any masters will qualify you for a fulltime appointment (as opposed to a part time contract) but you want to teach in IE so all a Masters would do is give you an increase in band on the salary scale (assuming you didnt already have a Masters)
The easiest and more marketable approach would be to add an ESOL endorsement to your current credential either directly by assessment (PRAXIS) or transferring your credential to a region that does have an assessment pathway to additional endorsements (it may be the time to consider a jurisdiction that doesnt require PD).
What an assessment pathway to an endorsement wont do is give you experience providing ESOL services specifically, in IE every lesson that isnt with native speakers is an ESOL lesson, and you can certainly spin that to market that experience, but as many professional ESOL ITs/DTs will argue (and rightly so) is that teaching ESOL isnt just a reading program. You can however get this type of experience (if you want) a number of ways, check with your local library or extension learning program (usually run out of a community college or large DS district) for volunteer opportunities or programs.
If you want an online certificate understand that any coin you pay would have been better used as toilet tissue, the gold standard in ESOL is the Cambridge CELTA/DELTA (and of the two the DELTA is the higher certificate) everything else is essentially a very expensive piece of paper. You would be just as marketable spending an hour creating your own certificate and printing it out, for all the good it would do.
Masters degrees in TESOL are generally only a requirement when focusing on direct appointments to foreign Uni ESOL instruction. If you are looking at one of the Little Tigers (HK, SG, JP) for employment at one of their Unis than yes you will want a Masters in TESOL or a very closely related field if you already have a Masters. In other regions like China a Masters in TESOL is not needed, and any masters will qualify you for a fulltime appointment (as opposed to a part time contract) but you want to teach in IE so all a Masters would do is give you an increase in band on the salary scale (assuming you didnt already have a Masters)
Re: Changing teaching genre to ESL
I have a TOEFL certificate and it would not prepare me for teaching EAL in an international school. You will definitely need more comprehensive EAL training.
I think because there are so many EAL/teaching English opportunities around the world, there may be some idea that EAL doesn't require the same level of expertise or pedagogy as other subjects. Any decent school will look for an educational background and experience, just like any other subject, and they don't have to scrape the bottom of the barrel. If you are really interested in EAL, get the good training so you can be effective--not just with students, but as a support system for teachers as well.
I think because there are so many EAL/teaching English opportunities around the world, there may be some idea that EAL doesn't require the same level of expertise or pedagogy as other subjects. Any decent school will look for an educational background and experience, just like any other subject, and they don't have to scrape the bottom of the barrel. If you are really interested in EAL, get the good training so you can be effective--not just with students, but as a support system for teachers as well.
Reply
@mamava
I strongly disagree, the LW is an IT with 20 years of actual classroom experience and 10 of it in IE, they have already demonstrated success with students and being able to support other ITs.
What would "good training" be, returning to an EPP/ITT program where they might have a class on language acquisition and the rest would be the same meds/peds/asst? The LW needs a primer on developmental reading and language acquisition, a couple of books will take care of that.
I strongly disagree, the LW is an IT with 20 years of actual classroom experience and 10 of it in IE, they have already demonstrated success with students and being able to support other ITs.
What would "good training" be, returning to an EPP/ITT program where they might have a class on language acquisition and the rest would be the same meds/peds/asst? The LW needs a primer on developmental reading and language acquisition, a couple of books will take care of that.
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Lastname_Z
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Re: Changing teaching genre to ESL
mamava wrote:
> I have a TOEFL certificate and it would not prepare me for teaching EAL in
> an international school. You will definitely need more comprehensive EAL
> training.
>
> I think because there are so many EAL/teaching English opportunities around
> the world, there may be some idea that EAL doesn't require the same level
> of expertise or pedagogy as other subjects. Any decent school will look
> for an educational background and experience, just like any other subject,
> and they don't have to scrape the bottom of the barrel. If you are really
> interested in EAL, get the good training so you can be effective--not just
> with students, but as a support system for teachers as well.
Honestly, any motivated, driven teacher that has taught their subjects at the lowest tiers has gotten experience in ELL. Most of the kids in the lowest tier schools (in Asia) are locals (therefore ELL). They are also lower-level English speakers (the higher ones are in tier 2 or higher schools). Couple that with some formal education and you have experience + education that matches EAL teaching.
> I have a TOEFL certificate and it would not prepare me for teaching EAL in
> an international school. You will definitely need more comprehensive EAL
> training.
>
> I think because there are so many EAL/teaching English opportunities around
> the world, there may be some idea that EAL doesn't require the same level
> of expertise or pedagogy as other subjects. Any decent school will look
> for an educational background and experience, just like any other subject,
> and they don't have to scrape the bottom of the barrel. If you are really
> interested in EAL, get the good training so you can be effective--not just
> with students, but as a support system for teachers as well.
Honestly, any motivated, driven teacher that has taught their subjects at the lowest tiers has gotten experience in ELL. Most of the kids in the lowest tier schools (in Asia) are locals (therefore ELL). They are also lower-level English speakers (the higher ones are in tier 2 or higher schools). Couple that with some formal education and you have experience + education that matches EAL teaching.