The International Schools Review Forum

I have 3 years Mathematics teaching experience in London (PGCE) and 1/3 masters credits for a course teaching advanced maths (run by MEI and IOE). I don't have a maths degree but an undergraduate degree in Psychology, I did a conversion course to teach maths.

Options...
1. Pursue teaching abroad for September - and maybe settle for less prestigious schools who care less about the lack of maths degree.
2. Forget it for this year and instead complete the other 2/3 of the masters in mathematics education and start applying again next year.

Will International schools hold my lack of maths degree against me? Would a masters hold me in better stead for better jobs?

Any advice appreciated!

Hannah

Hi Hannah,

there will be schools who take you now, but you might or might not enjoy your experience. Having the math masters would open up a better level of schools (opinions might vary) as well as possibly avoiding trouble with immigration authorities when your school applies for a visa for you (no direct math certification. Turkey, for instance, would not give you a visa to teach math at present).

My advice, finish the masters, it's done, and move on out.

Shad

What would be your plan to finish your masters if you entered IE? Once you move away it will be far more difficult to complete.

The rule is experience is King, no one cares what your background is if you have solid perfomance indicators in your teaching field and subject, and a lack of Masters with solid performance background will not make you unmarketable for upper tier ISs.

There is nothing keeping you from both you an plan on finishing your Masters while job searching and if a suitable offer is made you can then decide if you want to enter IE or finish your Masters, it need not be one or the other.

I would recommend getting a job now in order to start getting experience and then doing your Masters online while you work. I am doing that exact thing right now, and feel confident that I will be much more marketable with 4 years of experience (I re-signed at my current job) and a M.S. in Math Ed.

Thanks guys.

How easy would it be to complete the masters remotely from an International School? Is anyone currently doing this? I am at the moment enrolled at IOE at UCL in London doing the Teaching Advanced Maths course (which has the 1/3 credits) but there is no obligation to complete and get the full thing. It is a foot in the door though in terms of applying to complete the whole masters, I'm not sure if I can do that remotely at UCL.

I am not 100% sure either way if I'm bothered about the Masters, I think classroom experience is way more important in terms of teaching. Still, a part of me would want the masters to have the qualification...

Hannah

I did my Masters where you are currently studying and I think it helped me a lot. Every school I interviewed with me asked me about it, and I got quite a few decent job offers despite only having a couple of years of experience. I also get paid more than my colleagues without Masters (although pretty much everyone at my school has one).

I am currently studying for a Master of Mathematics for Teachers online through the university of waterloo. It costs around $10,000 over however long it takes (2-3 years). The math is high level though so if you don't have a math background you may struggle. Middle school math won't cut it.

@Hannahuk34

It depends on the workload of your IS and how well you manage time. An upper tier IS is going to make you earn every coin they give you in their really nice compensation package. That doesnt leave a lot of time for anything else, especially when in a new country. A third tier IS where you can phone in your lessons and the expectations are lower would allow you more time and mental resources to focus on your studies.

An unfinished degree is worth nothing, except demonstrating you cant finish what you start.

Experience is far more valuable than training, no amount of training equals any amount of experience is the general rule.

In general ISs have better pay for advance degrees but the difference can be significant or negligible.

Strongly concur with @pgrass, lower secondary level maths isnt going to be of much value an IS is going to expect a maths IT can teach all grade and form levels (at least all secondary) algebra through calculus.

Thanks for the responses. It is interesting to hear about the view on this.

Just to be clear, this course that gives 0.3 masters is a separate course. It isn't that I've not finished or completed a masters, but I can choose to continue on and apply to do the full thing if I want to/have the money. It's a course primarily on teaching maths A-level that happens to include masters credits.

I am still unsure, I have heard back from one or two schools, but I'm finding it difficult to unpick which schools would be suitable!

So many decisions to make!

Also, I have been teaching A-level maths this year at my current school.

@Hannahuk34

Thats fine, some ISs (its uncommon) have salary bands for credits/units that are not a full degree. Also understand that most universities that are not part of a consortium (they have sister/brother ISs and DSs), often cap the amount of credit/units you can transfer (and its usually no more than a semesters worth of credits/units), makes it all the more important to be happy with your Uni.

As your already a competent maths teacher, you should strongly consider a related field or different field for your Masters, having a Masters in maths isnt going to add anymore to what you have now. Generally I advise waiting to do a Masters until you need it for leadership, counselor, librarian, etc. A Masters in education technology would work well with your skill set, and increase your marketability. A Masters degree should do more than get you into a classroom or a salary band increase.