The International Schools Review Forum

Hey everyone!

I'm looking to teach at International Schools in South America. I have a business degree and I plan on doing a 9 month online certification program based out of Florida. I plan on completing the online portion in Colombia while I am teaching ESL, then return to Florida to take the state's tests to get fully certified.

The program is TeacherReady.org. Anyone have any experience with that program?

I plan on getting certified in Secondary Biology.

I know getting a job at a GOOD International School will be difficult without any experience but i'll be happy with any decent job starting out.

What grade level and subjects are the most sought after in the International School field?

Is it best to try and get hired at International Job Fairs than trying to get hired "in" country?

Thanks again for your advice and comments. They will be much appreciated!

Certification in any science is certainly a plus; be prepared to be able to teach a combination like chemistry/bio. The school I was at in Ecuador had teachers teaching just one subject in one grade all day, but many schools will have you teaching more than one subject or grade level. Work as hard as you can to be able to teach upper level sciences.

You do not want to be hired locally; you will not receive the transportation/medical/housing benefits offered to overseas hires. The Association of American Schools in South America starts recruiting at a fair in Atlanta in December, and my school hires on the spot when they find someone promising. (I got hired at the Iowa UNI fair).

Hmm when I contacted the lady that runs the Northern Iowa International Fair she just said you must hold a teaching certification / license from a state.

You take and must pass the same tests a normal education major would in order to get your certification from the state of Florida.

I will be in South America for 6 months prior to starting any program and will ask the International Schools myself I suppose to get a definitive answer.

I disagree that you need a degree in education but you do need formal educator preparation.

I doubt the "teachready" credential will be worth anything. Even if you get a standard florida certification, a school is going to see from your resume/transcripts that you have no education courses, and more importantly you didnt do any type of student teaching or teaching internship.

It really (and no offense) sounds to me like your trying to take the shortcut to entering the international teaching field? Since the recessions have hit however a lot of displaced corporate workers have flooded the teaching field, hoping/looking to start a new/next career. I suppose its fine if you want to stay back home, but international teaching isnt somewhere you start at, its something you move up to. Understand that your experiences are just not going to be competitive to the other pool of candidates, and despite how good or a "natural" you think or have been told you are, everyone else your competing with has been told the same thing, and the reality is the person thats going to beat you out for the job every single time, is going to have better credentials then you do. Im sorry not trying to sound mean or be rude or offend you.

You take education style courses online. That is ALL the online program consists of. You must learn your subject area on your own.

Also you do your student teaching / internship with your mentor teacher.

But not having the education degree is obviously a negative. Since Im only wanting to teach in Colombia primarily I will need to get down there and have a talk with the International Schools to get a better idea of what I need to do.

Sorry you got the wrong impression.

The replies I have received have been helpful in letting me know that the online alternative route might not be the best way to go about things if the schools i'm interested in will not hire due to not having an education degree.

I will def have to go and talk to these schools in person while i'm there living and teaching esl for 6 months before returning back to the states to begin which ever method / route would be the best for someone in my situation.

The advice / comments I received are not what I wanted to hear and are troubling to say the least as it appears I might have to go back to University and delay moving abroad for almost 4 years!!

Thanks for the clarification. I wasnt very clear I suppose. Let me try and explain. If I do a bad job, hopefully someone else from the forum can clarify better. Education like courses or seminars are not classes, the "teach ready" program does not give you an accredited transcript with any courses on it. The program is very much an Alternative Certification Program, which is fine after youve taught a couple years and have some experience. The issue is that with out "real" teaching experience (meaning post certification experience) the only thing to evaluate your effectiveness in the classroom is going to be your training program, and certification, and everybody else your applying against is also certified, so what makes you "special" that a school should hire you?

Your degree is in business and your certification is biology. When an admin looks at your resume, the first thing thats going to stare them in the face is that you have NO expertise/experience in teaching science. You have few if any college courses in science, no experience teaching, no education courses and other then a certification, thats it. To review entering the tier 2 market you need at least 2 years experience.

Were sorry but your not going to sell us. I understand your desire, but I think youve "bought" to much into the pitch the program is giving you. Its not an issue of being qualified its an issue of being competitive, and the only schools that are going to be interested in you are going to be the schools that cant find anyone else. Your not a viable choice for a school, your a desperate schools lack of options. Those schools are going to be third tier schools in undesirable regions.

Seriously, youd be better off getting certified in Business Studies/Economics. You have a degree and hopefully some corporate business experience, which makes for a more robust resume. Try this take your resume, and instead of a science certification, picture if it was music. Now imagine your a principal looking at your resume, would you hire a teacher who had no music teaching experience, and no training or education based solely on having a "music certification" especially when you have a pile of resumes of teachers who do have music teaching experience, and music training, and can actually perform musically? Now who would you hire???

Sorry not trying to offend you, so heres my advice if this is really what you want to. You might want to consider applying as an intern, or ideally find a program that will let you do student teaching at an international school. You might take a hit in pay or even have to work for free, but you will have access to schools that wouldnt otherwise be interested in you. Hopefully after a term student teaching and your certified, the school will offer you a contract.

Lastly, as I wrote earlier you dont need a degree in education. Most teachers (outside primary) dont have education degrees, unless its their Masters degree. Even if you did go back for an education degree, it wouldnt take you 4 years. You already have a degree so all you would need to do is go back for a second major degree, in which case all you would need to complete is the course work for an education major (about 30-40 hours) which you could do in a year (possibly, if the school offered the whole sequence in a year) or 2 years at the most. Not only would you then have an "education degree" but your have completed certification requirements as well, and it wouldnt take longer then 12 months.

After getting certified, I would get experience. Ideally I would try and obtain a job abroad and if I was unsuccessful I would just get a job in which ever state i'm certified in. Then do the same thing the next year.

So after reading your last post it appears there is many people without Education degrees and that the main thing someone needs is "experience". Is that accurate?

I wouldn't mind getting cert in Business Studies/Economics, but I would be wary of that for the simple fact of that subject is not as common and i'm not even sure if that is offered or common in the International circuit. I want to be certified in a subject of high need/desire to help with securing jobs.

Im just trying to figure out the BEST way to go about teaching abroad with someone in my shoes. ie no education degree and with time and money being a concern.

Just getting a job in the USA isn't that easy anymore. A lot of teachers have decided to move to overseas teaching because it's gotten so hard to find a job in the States.

You don't "need" a degree in education. Most people who teach Diploma level have there bachelors in the subject they teach or a closely related subject.
Business studies and economics is in stronger demand internationally then in the States. Aside from that though it doesn't matter how "high needs" the subject is if you won't be considered qualified...

Most people cant find jobs because they are not flexible and dont want to teach in "x" town or in inner city schools ect.

What is it that makes someone qualified? Experience?

I guess the only way for me to get a definitive answer is to actually speak to the directors and school administration of the actual schools id be interested in working for.

I will be in Colombia and Brazil this summer and will try to gather as much intel as I can. Then proceed from their given the info I received from the schools.

Qualified depends really on four things: Certification, training, experience and "logistical" hiring factors (such as dependents, etc).

Certification doesn't matter much, because everyone is pretty much certified.

Education as in the relationship of your degree to your teaching subject, and whether you have an advance degree.

Experience is the big deciding factor usually. It includes 1) How many years of teaching experience. 2) How many years teaching a certain subject. 3) What grade levels your experience is in. 4) Curriculum experience (IB, GCSE, IGCSE, etc). 5) Relevant non teaching work experience.

Let's compare business and science for you:

Science:
Certified - Yes
Training - No
Experience - None

Business:
Certified - Yes
Training - Yes, Bach. Degree
Experience - Non Teaching (Insert number of years)

So either area your certified, but science for you and your resume is a big lot of nothing. With business you have education and some relevant non teaching experience. You'd be a stronger candidate for a business position then a science position.

Hi CaliPro, heyteach, flossymoo, and PsyGuy,

TeacherReady is an online alternative teacher certification program targeted to recent college graduates or individuals making a career transition to the teaching profession. It is state approved by the Florida Department of Education, NCATE accredited, and is affiliated with the University of West Florida.

Though this alternative certification program is online, field experiences are embedded throughout the instructional lessons. In addition, completion of the program earns interested individuals 12 hours towards a master’s in education degree from the University of West Florida.

If you are interested in connecting with teachers who have completed TeacherReady, visit the facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TeacherReadyProgram).

TeacherReady teachers have taught at more than 25 different international schools. The most recent admissions class included 5 teachers from one international school in Egypt who applied because its director approached them and recommended they take it based on his experience with TeacherReady students completing their field experiences at his school.

If you or other readers still have questions about TeacherReady I encourage you to call (US 850.432.7051), email (sarah.miller@studereducation.com), or check out their website. Beyond the information or answering content questions, we welcome the opportunity to connect you with TeacherReady teachers in the field or administrators who work with them. I have been familiar with the program for many years, but just started working with the program as a part-time instructor and researcher.

Julie

Thanks for the info Julie.

I have actually decided to get my Masters in Guidance Counseling next year after teaching ESL in Colombia.

I dont really want to be a teacher so im gonna stick with something I know ill enjoy but still be in a school setting.