The International Schools Review Forum

In February, I have signed a contract with an international school in Taiwan to teach English language arts in a K-12 school. I will be teaching mostly middle and high school students. This school is pretty new, being a government-run local school to becoming an international school starting 2019-2020 year.

I was happy to sign the contract, assuming that my credentials are approved and checked by the school. I have applied to this school on ISS-Schrole.

To tell you briefly about myself, I'm Asian, a TCK, having both TESOl certificate and master's degree, have three or so years of classroom teaching experience and curriculum development work experience for about three years.

The orientation for the new teachers will be on July 30th so the school told me to arrive in Taiwan on July 29th so I bought my one-way flight ticket to Taiwan. I'm planning to quit my job (which I thought I would just stay before I leave for Taiwan) but I have received an email saying that my work permit has been rejected by K-12 Education Administration, Ministry of Education of Taiwan because my TESOL certificate do not correspond to the subject that I'll be teaching (Language Arts).

At this point, I'm thinking.... WTF! I mean, why would a school just sign a contract without checking these things? Did the law change all of a sudden or what the heck happened, I don't know.

The school told me that if I can't prove a certificate that can prove my eligibility of teaching language arts, the contract that has already been signed would be invalid. So, I have asked the professor/thesis advisor/founder of TESOL certificate program for a recommendation letter of some kind that can prove that I am eligible to teach.

Any experienced teachers who can give me some help here? I'm lost......

They either didnt know (theyre a new IS), they thought it wouldnt matter, they found someone else (and theyre letting immigration do they dirty work for them).

A couple of questions, please be specific in your responses:

1) When you state you have a certificate in TESOL, what do you mean by that? Do you mean you have a certificate like a CELTA, or do you mean you have a credential for TESOL such as QTS, a US state teaching credential, a CAN credential by a provincial authority or registration by an AUS territory? Is your certificate issuer a business organization or is it issued by a regulating authority with jurisdiction over the KS/K12 regulated/maintained/public DSs in a region?

2) When you state "have three or so years of classroom teaching experience and curriculum development work experience for about three years". What type of experience is this? Is this experience in a 8am-4pm classroom in an IS or DS that provides education to school aged students as part of a national curriculum (NC) or is this in a language school either during the day, or after school, or in the evenings and the students are mixed ages and purposes?

3) When you state "curriculum development " is this for a regulating authority that provides education to school aged students, are for a recognized publisher that that provides textbooks and materials for the KS/K12 environment or is this you worked at a desk on material that went into the ESs/DSs/ISs binder somewhere and you used it for your own classes?

4) Are you a US, UK, EU, CAN, AUS citizen or permenant resident, and if so which ones?

5) What does the Ministry of Education want, specifically what will they accept? Will they accept another certificate by a business organization thats involved in education or do they require a credential by a regulating authority authorizing you to provide instructional services in literature and language arts in the regulated/maintained/public DSs?

6) How much is this worth to you? What type of resources both in time and coin do you have to spend before you just shrug, throw the contract in the garbage and move on? Its really late in the recruiting calendar, but there are other options though youd have to drop whatever your doing and possibly schedule and take tests, CRB's, etc. an that might require some travel.

The law hasnt changed significantly, what an IS would do in this type of case typically is to hire you as an ESOL IT on the paperwork to get your visa, and then just assign you to the language arts and literature classes. This is a regulated DS, for the time being so maybe they arent willing to do that, but that is question number 7?

7) Whats the IS willing to do here? Its sounding like the IS doesnt really want to work with you. Is this email from the recruiter or leadership you interviewed with and will be reporting to or is this from someone in HR or another office?
This would be super easy for them to just give you a new contract as an ESOL IT contract and then just assign you to "Advanced ESOL for Academic Purposes, Explorations in Literature" or whatever they need the documentation to look like to get it done, and then when they actually are an IS, which is right around the corner and whatever rules they have change, or you have a year and some time to find another solution that meets their needs.

8) Whats theyre plan? Its nutter crazy IS talk that theyre just going to wait until July 30th to void the contract and then go recruiting at the start of new IT orientation with students in classrooms what a week, 10 days, maybe two weeks later

I can see the problem theyre in, they have a government contract that they cant void or nullify, you have to void it by not providing the appropriate documentation but not having a conversation with you about how to proceed is well a level of stupid that only leadership can accomplish. At the very, very, very least your leadership should really want to ask you if you can make this happen, or maybe some kind of deal where you resign now and they reimburse you for your airfare, so they can find someone else in time for orientation. Otherwise if they dont want to have that conversation then go way back to the top of this email, and they have an option three scenario, they dont want you, and they probably have someone else already planed for your position when your contract is voided.

9) What are your options?
Youre planing on leaving, you have a flight, Taiwan is a super easy location to get an ESOL job in. You could just hit Taipei live the city life or head south to Kaohsiung and do beach life.
Theres still jobs out there in IE, this is the middle of the recruiting cycle for the really desperate and bottom tier IS that arent that picky. If your willing to spend another year teaching in ESOL there are a lot of regions in Asia looking for an ET that you can get to really easy from Taiwan.

10) What are you willing to do? I saved this for last, because well its that area that the other major contributors disapprove upon as it involves things like deception, and subterfuge but there could be some options for a "borrowed ladder", a "tail chaser" or a "boiler room" scenario to get you into the job for now.

Schrole cant do anything to help you, if you were an ISS managed candidate your consultant could start that conversation for you, and maybe get an indication whats really going on, but if its a ministry barrier and the IS wont help, than its really all on you.

Its a way, way, way long shot but youre TESOL certificate program isnt going to be able to write anything thats going to say you can teach language arts and literature, but youve already asked and stranger things have happened so it might work.

PsyGuy, I'll try to answer your questions as much as possible.


> They either didnt know (theyre a new IS), they thought it wouldnt matter,
> they found someone else (and theyre letting immigration do they dirty work
> for them).
>
> A couple of questions, please be specific in your responses:
>
> 1) When you state you have a certificate in TESOL, what do you mean by
> that? Do you mean you have a certificate like a CELTA, or do you mean you
> have a credential for TESOL such as QTS, a US state teaching credential, a
> CAN credential by a provincial authority or registration by an AUS
> territory? Is your certificate issuer a business organization or is it
> issued by a regulating authority with jurisdiction over the KS/K12
> regulated/maintained/public DSs in a region?
>
I have received TESOL certificate from an accredited university in Korea. This certificate certifies that I have completed the teacher training course for three months. Although it was offered in Korea, it is in cooperation with an accredited university in the USA.

> 2) When you state "have three or so years of classroom teaching
> experience and curriculum development work experience for about three
> years". What type of experience is this? Is this experience in a
> 8am-4pm classroom in an IS or DS that provides education to school aged
> students as part of a national curriculum (NC) or is this in a language
> school either during the day, or after school, or in the evenings and the
> students are mixed ages and purposes?

Classroom experience teaching at an international school in Korea for one year (this school used US curriculum) and one and nine months at a cram school in Korea. So, I guess, it is less than three years. But I'm working at the same cram school now so that adds up to the total of three years.

> 3) When you state "curriculum development " is this for a
> regulating authority that provides education to school aged students, are
> for a recognized publisher that that provides textbooks and materials for
> the KS/K12 environment or is this you worked at a desk on material that
> went into the ESs/DSs/ISs binder somewhere and you used it for your own
> classes?

Curriculum development at a local publishing company which they owned a cram school. This was for K-12 students. I also did some teacher training, which means nothing at this point, I think.


> 4) Are you a US, UK, EU, CAN, AUS citizen or permenant resident, and if so
> which ones?
>
No, I'm Korean national. I do not have a permanent resident from US, UK, EU, CAN, AUS, and NZ.

> 5) What does the Ministry of Education want, specifically what will they
> accept? Will they accept another certificate by a business organization
> thats involved in education or do they require a credential by a regulating
> authority authorizing you to provide instructional services in literature
> and language arts in the regulated/maintained/public DSs?

I have asked the school to provide the exact document specifies what they really want from me. I have attended AP workshop, which the certificate specifies I have earned 12.0 contact hours and 1.2 CEU from the Collegeboard, which hopefully would certify that I can teach AP English lang and lit. I have already sent this to the school, hoping this would help a little, I have no idea at this point.

> 6) How much is this worth to you? What type of resources both in time and
> coin do you have to spend before you just shrug, throw the contract in the
> garbage and move on? Its really late in the recruiting calendar, but there
> are other options though youd have to drop whatever your doing and possibly
> schedule and take tests, CRB's, etc. an that might require some travel.

This means A LOT to me. I have been looking forward to this day that I depart from Korea to live in Taiwan for many months now. What tests are you suggesting me to take? I'm willing to do anything at this point. But I'm wondering, even if I take some form of tests, would anything would prove that I'm eligible to teach English language arts? Please let me know.

> The law hasnt changed significantly, what an IS would do in this type of
> case typically is to hire you as an ESOL IT on the paperwork to get your
> visa, and then just assign you to the language arts and literature classes.
> This is a regulated DS, for the time being so maybe they arent willing to
> do that, but that is question number 7?

Do you think I should ask the school to hire me as an ESOL IT on paper work and assign me to teach language arts/lit classes? And perhaps, during the course of my stay, I can get the certification they need and submit it. Besides, I have signed for two year contract.

> 7) Whats the IS willing to do here? Its sounding like the IS doesnt really
> want to work with you. Is this email from the recruiter or leadership you
> interviewed with and will be reporting to or is this from someone in HR or
> another office?

I'm not sure what they are willing to do. On Thursday, they sent me an email that they would pick me up from Taipei upon my arrival. Yesterday, they sent me an email saying that MOE rejected my work permit. So, maybe they didn't know when they signed the contract in February? I'm not sure. This email was sent by a foreign teachers liaison and she is basically an assistant to handle all the paperwork and such for foreign teachers at the school. I have talked to the dean of the school but he has never sent an email to me. Even a signed contract was sent through Skype by foreign teachers liaison.

> This would be super easy for them to just give you a new contract as an
> ESOL IT contract and then just assign you to "Advanced ESOL for
> Academic Purposes, Explorations in Literature" or whatever they need
> the documentation to look like to get it done, and then when they actually
> are an IS, which is right around the corner and whatever rules they have
> change, or you have a year and some time to find another solution that
> meets their needs.

So are you suggesting, they are unaware of this? Do you think I should suggest this to them? What should I do?

> 8) Whats theyre plan? Its nutter crazy IS talk that theyre just going to
> wait until July 30th to void the contract and then go recruiting at the
> start of new IT orientation with students in classrooms what a week, 10
> days, maybe two weeks later
>
I hope this won't happen.....

> I can see the problem theyre in, they have a government contract that they
> cant void or nullify, you have to void it by not providing the appropriate
> documentation but not having a conversation with you about how to proceed
> is well a level of stupid that only leadership can accomplish. At the very,
> very, very least your leadership should really want to ask you if you can
> make this happen, or maybe some kind of deal where you resign now and they
> reimburse you for your airfare, so they can find someone else in time for
> orientation. Otherwise if they dont want to have that conversation then go
> way back to the top of this email, and they have an option three scenario,
> they dont want you, and they probably have someone else already planed for
> your position when your contract is voided.
>
> 9) What are your options?
> Youre planing on leaving, you have a flight, Taiwan is a super easy
> location to get an ESOL job in. You could just hit Taipei live the city
> life or head south to Kaohsiung and do beach life.
> Theres still jobs out there in IE, this is the middle of the recruiting
> cycle for the really desperate and bottom tier IS that arent that picky. If
> your willing to spend another year teaching in ESOL there are a lot of
> regions in Asia looking for an ET that you can get to really easy from
> Taiwan.

I can give it a shot by just visiting Taiwan. But I guess this won't guarantee anything.

> 10) What are you willing to do? I saved this for last, because well its
> that area that the other major contributors disapprove upon as it involves
> things like deception, and subterfuge but there could be some options for a
> "borrowed ladder", a "tail chaser" or a "boiler
> room" scenario to get you into the job for now.

If there is such thing, I'm willing to try. But is it worth the try?

> Schrole cant do anything to help you, if you were an ISS managed candidate
> your consultant could start that conversation for you, and maybe get an
> indication whats really going on, but if its a ministry barrier and the IS
> wont help, than its really all on you.
>
> Its a way, way, way long shot but youre TESOL certificate program isnt
> going to be able to write anything thats going to say you can teach
> language arts and literature, but youve already asked and stranger things
> have happened so it might work.

I believe you are right. Unless the school provides an official rejection document from MOE, I'm not sure what they want exactly at this point.

If I should provide you with more answers, please let me know and I really appreciate your help!

Sorry -
TESOL certificate program was a six month program FYI.

So, I have some questions...

1) Can you teach English language arts and literature with TESOL certificate? If not, why? I have worked as both ESL and English language arts for quite a while and I didn't have any problem.

2) If you need a certain "certificate" to teach English language arts, what would it be and can I take a standardized test to get that certification within a month?

3) Why can't they just take my degree in TESOL as a proof saying that I can teach English language arts?

4) I have already sent the certificate released by the Collegeboard where I attended AP workshops to teach AP English language arts and lit. Would this help at all?

5) Honestly, I have done some research and technically TESOL certificate allows you to teach English to the speakers of other languages. Since I'm going to Taiwan and most of them speak Chinese, why can't they accept it?

Thanks in advance!

straycat:

I'm really sorry about your situation. PsyGuy knows a lot about certifications and a bit about other things. He's given you some good advice on that front. But I'll push back slightly on one thing.

Work with ISS-Schrole on this, especially if you had any direct contact with someone from their staff. Even if they're just someone you met at a fair or had an email exchange with, reach out. It's true, they don't have much direct power here, and they're not your "agent" the way Search Associates (falsely) presents their people. But I've found them to be extremely helpful in - situations.

You've indicated that this means a lot to you, and therefore I suggest considering (but not necessarily pulling) every lever available. You never know which one might help. Yes, you should be tactful--bulldozing isn't likely going to work, and even if it does could place you in a situation where you force your way in but there's resentment on both sides--but you should try to find someone who can either shed some light on this situation or interface with someone who can. If it's someone who's not immediately responsible (e.g., an ISS-Schrole contact), just understand that going in. As long as you're not treating them as if fixing this is their job, you're not likely risking any downside just by reaching out.

Beyond maximizing your chances of making this work without burning bridges, I advocate this for another reason. The school has screwed you over (or at least taken you to the brink). If you were truthful and forthcoming about your qualifications, and they hired you despite the fact that the ministry wouldn't grant a work permit to someone in your situation, they need to make it right. If they follow through with the threat you alluded to in your OP (unilaterally invalidating your contract unless you can provide information that wasn't requested prior to them offering you a contract), that's the sort of thing that should render them blacklisted by ISS. You working through ISS (or at least reaching out to them for guidance) not only increases your chance of resolving this, it implicitly ups the ante for the school if they think washing their hands of you is a viable solution.

@straycat2019

So you dont have a professional educator credential, which in SK would be a grade I or grade II certificate issued by the SK MOE because if you did youd have mentioned that.
The TESOL certificate you described is an industry ESOL certificate, sounds like its equivalent to a level 5 course, but is immaterial to a Masters degree (assuming your Masters is in TESOL). Regardless its not a professional edu credential.

Did you teach ESOL at this IS in SK for a year that uses a US Curriculum? Was this IS accredited by a regional accrediting body like WASC?
The cram ES doesnt count and isnt worth anything in IE. So at most maybe you have a year of experience.
The curriculum development isnt worth anything, it was in-house for a cram ES.

AP workshop certificates arent worth much, but maybe something. Were these part of your visa application? Were the AP workshops for ESOL, I get the impression they were ESOL AP workshops?

In answer to your inquires:

1) Because they are very different academic disciplines that happen to share the term "English". In one category you have English Language (full stop), thats teaching English as a language addressing listening, speaking, reading and writing. The other category is English Literature, thats exploring and studying the thematic issues of politics, history and culture though the genres of the cannon in poetry, prose, novel, and drama. A common American/US term for English Literature thats used in IE is "English Language Arts", its just literature studies by another name, though at very early and developmental levels of KS/K12 edu students study the literary cannon but also learn how to compose writing in terms of grammar and structure, which as rules are something that ESOL ETs do as well. Theres is some overlap between ESOL and literature but based on your contract description and your issue with immigration, it appears they want a literature IT and not an ESOL IT.

2) Thats a really complicated answer which I will answer below, but to give you a preliminary response, it depends on what they mean by "certificate".

3) Because what they mean by "English Language Arts" means they want Literature, not English language and your degree isnt in literature.

4) Probably not, Im a bit confused by your AP course there is no "AP English language arts and lit." theres "AP English Language and Composition" which is more an ESOL course in terms of the essay writing components of non-fiction. The other course is "AP English Literature and Composition" which is the AP literature course. Its possible it could help, its a lot more likely that its not going to make a difference to immigration, but it might maybe.

5) Again, because teaching English as a language and teaching English literature are very different academic disciplines.

So parsing the metrics:

The first thing you need to do on Monday is contact your IS, and NOT talk to this teacher liaison. You need to talk to your leadership your reporting to and who signed your contract and have a discussion. What you need to talk about is:
1) Whats going on?
2) Can they help you with anything?
3) Can the IS change your contract to ESOL and assign you to the literature courses or different courses?
4) Can they give you more time than July 30th? When do students arrive and you have to be in a classroom? How much time can they give you.
5) What type of certificate do you need? Specifically:
A) Does it need to say English Literature or will "general studies" be sufficient? Essentially is their issue you dont have a "teaching" certificate or that your certificate is in ESOL?
B) Will they accept something like a workshop certificate in literature?
C) If it HAS to be a professional credential to teach literature, how long can they wait if a credential is in processing (meaning youve met and submitted all the requirements, your just waiting for the document to be issued).

So all those questions are because, it depends what they mean and want as a certificate, and ho much the IS will help you is going to make huge differences. I see three possible solutions:

First, maybe they didnt have the AP workshop certificates and maybe they werent in literature, but if that will make them happy and get you the visa then I would suggest looking at taking an IB workshop which you would want to take Language A (English): Literature. Typically, online workshops are a 4-6 weeks long, but F2F workshops are over the course of a weekend, and you get your certificate within a day or two of the workshop. The problem is that your going to have to travel to them and theyre in places like CAN, AUS, and the USA, which with the cost of the workshop and travel is going to cost you around USD$2K. There are workshops in July.

Second, if their issue is that your certificate is an ESOL certificate and they will be happy with a general studies certificate and it dosnt have to be a professional credential. Than ACSI will issue you a temporary 2 year certificate, though you may have to request that they keep the "general studies" designation on it as opposed to ESOL. The only requirement is you have a bachelors degree, though you might have to have your transcripts evaluated by an NACES service. Which brings me to the issue of time. You have a very short time line, if this was August 30th for the deadline that would be an easier issue but you have about 5 weeks before your IS is pulling your contract and thats really, really tight if they cant or wont bend. The ACSI time frame is 2-3 weeks, but if you need an NACES evaluation your going to need a couple weeks to get that processed, and its going to be pricey. Still its doable, 2 weeks for the evaluation and three for the application and document issuance you would have some days to spare and it would cost you a few hundred USD.

Third, if its got to be a professional edu credential, you have basically one option. The problem is I dont think you can get it done in time, unless all the stars and planets are aligned and you have both a luck dragon and guardian angel. You would be applying for a MA (Massachusetts) provisional credential in English Literature. You would have to:
A) Contact the MA DOE to get an MEPID, this will be your id number when creating an account.
B) Create an ELAR account for the MA DOE.
C) Start the application
D) You will have to have an NACES evaluation done of your transcript assuming they were done in SK. You can find them here:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/licensure/acade ... lency.html
E) While your doing that you need to pass two MTEL exams they are the communication and literacy skills test and the English subject matter test. You are VERY fortunate as there is one testing center in SK that offers these exams, so you can take them locally.
F) Upload everything and submit the application.

The MA provisional credential will effectively be a lifetime credential, as you will never work in MA. The major problem is going to be time. The NACES evaluation takes about two weeks and thats not including getting transcripts from your Unis, posting them, then two weeks later getting the results. In addition while the two exams you need to take are local, I doubt your going to be able to take them right away. Your probably looking at a few weeks scheduling before you can take them. Exam results post about a week after the exam. So basically if you start everything this week, it might all come together and then maybe the MA DOE issues the credential by the 30th. You might just get it done at the wire and get the credential emailed to your IS by or on the 30th.
This is the closest to taking an exam and getting a credential for you that there is.

As to the more deceptive and subterfuge options:
1) Your Asian, and not to be racist but you probably have a very common family name and maybe you have a common given name as well. There are a lot of public database lookup for DTs in the US, a little FB stalking may narrow down some DTs and then its just a matter of searching for them on the DOE website and printing out their certificate. For example if you your name was Jennifer Lee, you could maybe go over to the Texas public educator look up and find this certificate (https://secure.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECONL ... 951&mode=C) for a 4-8 English literature teacher and then well print it and submit it. Thats whats called a "borrowed ladder".
2) A "Tail Chaser" is where you fabricate a certificate, print it on some nice paper, put a foil seal on it, make a copy of it and then put the original of it in a document frame. You then take that to notary to have it notarized as a true and accurate copy of the original, you then send that to the Ministry for an Apostille, and they attach another form with seals and stamps on it. You end up with a very impressive packet of official documents and the examiner is too focused on those authentication documents that they dont get to checking the validity of the actual document being authenticated.
3) A boiler room is essentially starting your own company, creating a simple website with an email address for a private teacher certification program (something like "The American Institute of the Royal Education Society") and issuing yourself your on certificate. Alone or combined with a a tail chaser above if they check it out back to the original document its going to check out, they email your office, you reply your certified.

I dont disagree with @GrumblesMcGee, I would also suggest pursuing Schrole assuming you have a personal connection or contact you can leverage. My problems with it are:
1) My impression is that if youre like many ITs who register with Schrole, you dont actually have a personal contact and that your experience with them has been submitting a digital application and using their jobs database. You have no human interaction or relationship to take advantage of.
2) Schole isnt really in the business of resolving labor disputes with the ministry or even serving as a IT advocate when dealing with an IS. Its not really their business, as helpful as they are and want to be.
3) You really dont have time to wait a week to get some kind of response from Schrole even if you get a response. You need to have answers and a course of action the early part of this week.

@PsyGuy - Thank you very much for your advice and help. This really means a LOT to me and every bit of your advice is so amazing and I admire & respect you in every way!! Let me answer your questions/clarify the things that you were confused about.


PsyGuy wrote:
> @straycat2019
>
> So you dont have a professional educator credential, which in SK would be a
> grade I or grade II certificate issued by the SK MOE because if you did
> youd have mentioned that.
> The TESOL certificate you described is an industry ESOL certificate, sounds
> like its equivalent to a level 5 course, but is immaterial to a Masters
> degree (assuming your Masters is in TESOL). Regardless its not a
> professional edu credential.
>
> Did you teach ESOL at this IS in SK for a year that uses a US Curriculum?
> Was this IS accredited by a regional accrediting body like WASC?
> The cram ES doesnt count and isnt worth anything in IE. So at most maybe
> you have a year of experience.
> The curriculum development isnt worth anything, it was in-house for a cram
> ES.
No, my job was to teach English literature to high school seniors and middle school students 7th-9th graders. It is not accredited by WASC but it is ACSI and accredited by MOE in SK. They hired me as English language arts & literature teacher and I was on a one year contract. This was a local hire.
Yeah, I thought working at a cram school and curriculum development won't help much either.

> AP workshop certificates arent worth much, but maybe something. Were these
> part of your visa application? Were the AP workshops for ESOL, I get the
> impression they were ESOL AP workshops?

When I was doing several Skype interviews with the IS in Taiwan, they really wanted a teacher who can teach AP English lang&Lit. So I told them I can teach the courses. There was a weekend AP workshop in Seoul in March so I attended the workshop for two days in the weekend and received the AP English language & Lit combined. I have all the books and all. I sent the certificate to the school already on Saturday, but if they want an official teaching credential like you said, maybe this won't help at all. But I sent it anyway.

> In answer to your inquires:
>
> 1) Because they are very different academic disciplines that happen to
> share the term "English". In one category you have English
> Language (full stop), thats teaching English as a language addressing
> listening, speaking, reading and writing. The other category is English
> Literature, thats exploring and studying the thematic issues of politics,
> history and culture though the genres of the cannon in poetry, prose,
> novel, and drama. A common American/US term for English Literature thats
> used in IE is "English Language Arts", its just literature
> studies by another name, though at very early and developmental levels of
> KS/K12 edu students study the literary cannon but also learn how to compose
> writing in terms of grammar and structure, which as rules are something
> that ESOL ETs do as well. Theres is some overlap between ESOL and
> literature but based on your contract description and your issue with
> immigration, it appears they want a literature IT and not an ESOL IT.

Okay, understood. Since there is no big difference in terms of teach English in SK in schools or in cram schools and I'm a local anyway, I don't think this would matter but I guess the case is little different when you want to work abroad, you would make sure you have the right certification, which is on English literture? But the thing that is confusing me is that the subject that I'll be teaching is English language arts (to native speakers is what the IS has said) but I still would want to get the certificate on English literature because it covers both literature and language arts?

> 2) Thats a really complicated answer which I will answer below, but to give
> you a preliminary response, it depends on what they mean by
> "certificate".
>
> 3) Because what they mean by "English Language Arts" means they
> want Literature, not English language and your degree isnt in literature.
>
> 4) Probably not, Im a bit confused by your AP course there is no "AP
> English language arts and lit." theres "AP English Language and
> Composition" which is more an ESOL course in terms of the essay
> writing components of non-fiction. The other course is "AP English
> Literature and Composition" which is the AP literature course. Its
> possible it could help, its a lot more likely that its not going to make a
> difference to immigration, but it might maybe.

Yes, I meant to say AP English language and composition & literature and composition combined.

> 5) Again, because teaching English as a language and teaching English
> literature are very different academic disciplines.
>
> So parsing the metrics:
>
> The first thing you need to do on Monday is contact your IS, and NOT talk
> to this teacher liaison. You need to talk to your leadership your reporting
> to and who signed your contract and have a discussion. What you need to
> talk about is:
> 1) Whats going on?
> 2) Can they help you with anything?
> 3) Can the IS change your contract to ESOL and assign you to the literature
> courses or different courses?
> 4) Can they give you more time than July 30th? When do students arrive and
> you have to be in a classroom? How much time can they give you.
> 5) What type of certificate do you need? Specifically:
> A) Does it need to say English Literature or will "general
> studies" be sufficient? Essentially is their issue you dont have a
> "teaching" certificate or that your certificate is in ESOL?
> B) Will they accept something like a workshop certificate in literature?
> C) If it HAS to be a professional credential to teach literature, how long
> can they wait if a credential is in processing (meaning youve met and
> submitted all the requirements, your just waiting for the document to be
> issued).
>
> So all those questions are because, it depends what they mean and want as a
> certificate, and ho much the IS will help you is going to make huge
> differences. I see three possible solutions:
>
> First, maybe they didnt have the AP workshop certificates and maybe they
> werent in literature, but if that will make them happy and get you the visa
> then I would suggest looking at taking an IB workshop which you would want
> to take Language A (English): Literature. Typically, online workshops are a
> 4-6 weeks long, but F2F workshops are over the course of a weekend, and you
> get your certificate within a day or two of the workshop. The problem is
> that your going to have to travel to them and theyre in places like CAN,
> AUS, and the USA, which with the cost of the workshop and travel is going
> to cost you around USD$2K. There are workshops in July.

Like I said above, I already took F2F AP workshop in English language and Lit combined. Are you saying it would help more if I take the IB workshop as well? I'm willing to travel BUT if AP and IB are basically the same (one is international and one is American), I already have AP...

> Second, if their issue is that your certificate is an ESOL certificate and
> they will be happy with a general studies certificate and it dosnt have to
> be a professional credential. Than ACSI will issue you a temporary 2 year
> certificate, though you may have to request that they keep the
> "general studies" designation on it as opposed to ESOL. The only
> requirement is you have a bachelors degree, though you might have to have
> your transcripts evaluated by an NACES service. Which brings me to the
> issue of time. You have a very short time line, if this was August 30th for
> the deadline that would be an easier issue but you have about 5 weeks
> before your IS is pulling your contract and thats really, really tight if
> they cant or wont bend. The ACSI time frame is 2-3 weeks, but if you need
> an NACES evaluation your going to need a couple weeks to get that
> processed, and its going to be pricey. Still its doable, 2 weeks for the
> evaluation and three for the application and document issuance you would
> have some days to spare and it would cost you a few hundred USD.
>
> Third, if its got to be a professional edu credential, you have basically
> one option. The problem is I dont think you can get it done in time, unless
> all the stars and planets are aligned and you have both a luck dragon and
> guardian angel. You would be applying for a MA (Massachusetts) provisional
> credential in English Literature. You would have to:
> A) Contact the MA DOE to get an MEPID, this will be your id number when
> creating an account.
> B) Create an ELAR account for the MA DOE.
> C) Start the application
> D) You will have to have an NACES evaluation done of your transcript
> assuming they were done in SK. You can find them here:
>
> http://www.doe.mass.edu/licensure/acade ... lency.html
> E) While your doing that you need to pass two MTEL exams they are the
> communication and literacy skills test and the English subject matter test.
> You are VERY fortunate as there is one testing center in SK that offers
> these exams, so you can take them locally.
> F) Upload everything and submit the application.
>
> The MA provisional credential will effectively be a lifetime credential, as
> you will never work in MA. The major problem is going to be time. The NACES
> evaluation takes about two weeks and thats not including getting
> transcripts from your Unis, posting them, then two weeks later getting the
> results. In addition while the two exams you need to take are local, I
> doubt your going to be able to take them right away. Your probably looking
> at a few weeks scheduling before you can take them. Exam results post about
> a week after the exam. So basically if you start everything this week, it
> might all come together and then maybe the MA DOE issues the credential by
> the 30th. You might just get it done at the wire and get the credential
> emailed to your IS by or on the 30th.
> This is the closest to taking an exam and getting a credential for you
> that there is.

Okay, I was thinking of getting a US teaching certificate! Thanks for all the details! I really appreciate it!

> As to the more deceptive and subterfuge options:
> 1) Your Asian, and not to be racist but you probably have a very common
> family name and maybe you have a common given name as well. There are a lot
> of public database lookup for DTs in the US, a little FB stalking may
> narrow down some DTs and then its just a matter of searching for them on
> the DOE website and printing out their certificate. For example if you your
> name was Jennifer Lee, you could maybe go over to the Texas public educator
> look up and find this certificate
> (https://secure.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECONL ... 951&mode=C)
> for a 4-8 English literature teacher and then well print it and submit it.
> Thats whats called a "borrowed ladder".
> 2) A "Tail Chaser" is where you fabricate a certificate, print it
> on some nice paper, put a foil seal on it, make a copy of it and then put
> the original of it in a document frame. You then take that to notary to
> have it notarized as a true and accurate copy of the original, you then
> send that to the Ministry for an Apostille, and they attach another form
> with seals and stamps on it. You end up with a very impressive packet of
> official documents and the examiner is too focused on those authentication
> documents that they dont get to checking the validity of the actual
> document being authenticated.
> 3) A boiler room is essentially starting your own company, creating a
> simple website with an email address for a private teacher certification
> program (something like "The American Institute of the Royal Education
> Society") and issuing yourself your on certificate. Alone or combined
> with a a tail chaser above if they check it out back to the original
> document its going to check out, they email your office, you reply your
> certified.
>
> I dont disagree with @GrumblesMcGee, I would also suggest pursuing Schrole
> assuming you have a personal connection or contact you can leverage. My
> problems with it are:
> 1) My impression is that if youre like many ITs who register with Schrole,
> you dont actually have a personal contact and that your experience with
> them has been submitting a digital application and using their jobs
> database. You have no human interaction or relationship to take advantage
> of.
> 2) Schole isnt really in the business of resolving labor disputes with the
> ministry or even serving as a IT advocate when dealing with an IS. Its not
> really their business, as helpful as they are and want to be.
> 3) You really dont have time to wait a week to get some kind of response
> from Schrole even if you get a response. You need to have answers and a
> course of action the early part of this week.

I would wait to contact ISS just yet. I guess I agree with PsyGuy's point on talking to the leadership of IS first thing on Monday morning. I will try to make that happen! Thank you very much again!

So I was not able to get a hold of the leadership, but only the foreign teacher liaison.
She said the leadership are all in the meeting.
She said she has received an email from MOE Taiwan in mandarin so she said I won't be able to read it.
She said she is negotiating with the MOE but I'm not sure if that is what's really going on. I felt like she was in an awkward situation trying to do something about my situation. She said she would give me a sample certificate that MOE wants. I proposed whether they would accept a temporary certificate issued by ACSI but she does not seem like she understood what I was saying. She said she would email me again in the afternoon.

The foreign teacher liaison sent an example of the certificate that the MOE approved and it seems like a professional teaching credential. Im not sure whether I can get that done within a couple of weeks. So I asked for more time.

@straycat2019

A year of IE/DE experience wont help, if you had two years at that DS that might have opened up another option.

My impression is that the IS is seeking a visa for you as a Literature IT as thats what they ant you to teach, and the MOE is looking at the supporting documents and concluding that your an ESOL not a Literature IT, and thats why their refusing your visa.

I can see its confusing, On one side hen an IS says they ant you to teach "Literature" thats not ambiguous, thats a very specific academic discipline. The same is true for ESOL, they want you teaching English as a modern/foreign language. "English Language Arts" can be ambiguous, it can mean teaching English Language, but it usually in most cases "English Language Arts" is just another term for literature with the addition of teaching composition.

"Literature" and English Language Arts" for purposes of IE are the same thing, they are used interchangeably, they both mean the study of literature, genres and major authors.

That makes sense the AP workshops are typically a minimum 6 hour course, you did 12 hours, so a combined course isnt unreasonable. What Im getting is that this AP workshop isnt going to be nearly sufficient for what the MOE wants to issue you a visa to teach literature with.

AP and IB DIP in literature are highly congruent. A successful IT/DT in one is going to have the full content and subject matter knowledge to teach AP/IB/IGCSE/A*/PCU. That said AP is more a testing and examination framework, whereas IB is much more reflective of an actual curriculum. An IB workshop and certificate might have helped more, but it doesnt sound like from your updates its what the MOE is looking for.

So leadership was in a meeting, okay, they have to get out of the meeting sometime. This is a conversation you need to have with executive leadership. At the minimum you need to ask if they can modify your contract to get you a visa as an ESOL IT, and figure out your course assignments, or you need a discussion of time to get the certification/credential they require. This liaison, cant answer those questions, though it seems like she is in a difficult position. If your leadership wont meet with you or talk with you about this very crucial issue, than I would conclude they have decided not to proceed with your appointment, and theyre using the work eligibility clause in the contract to void the contract.

Looks can be really misleading, this is a sample of what the ACSI certificate looks like:
https://scottrieckhoff.weebly.com/uploa ... 102850.jpg
As you can see from the look of it, it looks pretty official
This is an example of a professional edu credential from MA:
https://econdry.weebly.com/uploads/5/5/ ... can_4.jpeg
It doesnt look nearly as official as the ACSI certificate
Id frame the ACSI certificate, not so much the MA credential.
So if the ACSI certificate looks like it would match/meet the TW MOE requirement, than its worth sending the link of the image to the liaison who can forward it to the TW MOE and get a decision if that would work. You would also need them to confirm what the subject matter on the ACSI certificate needs to be, does it have to be in literature or will "general studies" be acceptable. If it will, you can have this done by July 30th with time to spare (not a lot of time, but some time). It also wont require any tests. You can probably even save some coin and time by having the US affiliated University you did your Masters through, write you a letter stating your first/undergrad degree is equivalent to their degree, as they used it for admission into their master program.

If you have to have the MA provisional credential, you need to start working on it this week, and your going to be busy and your likely going to need your ISs to give you a little more time (about 2-4 more weeks) to get the MA provisional credential. It will be a fully legal and valid professional edu credential in Literature however.

But you need to talk to the leadership to agree on a route forward. If they wont talk to you, they dont want you.

Some updates...

So I asked and wrote an email to foreign teacher liaison whether I can meet or have Skype video call with the leadership and she didn't give me an answer. But I called them on Skype anyway, thinking just pick up the phone whoever, I'll just make my point. And then this liaison hand over the phone to the dean whom I first met and signed the contract with.

He said he is negotiating with the MOE to handle this situation as soon as possible. I have already sent a certificate of empoyment of the IS in SK that I used to work for one year, which proves that I was an English language arts and literature teacher. Also with the AP certificate I have sent to them. The dean said he is going to use these two documents to convince the MOE but what they said was, they need to get the upper tier decision makers' approval in order for them to issue me with the work permit.

I'm not sure if the dean would successfully negotiate and even persuade the MOE. By the look of their voice and their attitude, they didn't know this would happen. I was also unaware this would be an issue because in Korea, this really doesn't matter and they assign me to teach English literature, language arts, and/or college level English without any problem. So, I didn't think getting the official teacher provincial credential was on my first priority. Now, I know this and have learned the importance, now that I'm leaving Korea.

I also showed the ACSI certificate on FB and sent the copy for them to look at. I told them I can get this within a couple of weeks. However, they urged me that the certificate has got to mention "English" or "language arts". So, like you mentioned on your previous posts @PsyGuy, they wanted the official teaching credential from MOE in the US. I asked whether "general studies" ACSI would work but they are afraid that would rise another confusion for them and a possible rejection. I saw both the link you uploaded and yes, the MA provincial credential was needed, as they showed me a copy of approved credential and looked similar to MA provincial credential.

As for the contract, the dean is willing to change my contract to get the work permit to be processed and approved. I think that's what he meant... his English was very difficult to understand and it seems like he never used a written email of any kind to communicate with me. I asked for extra time maybe like two months until I receive my MA provincial credential but he didn't give me a definite answer to that. It looked like the only goal he had was to get my work permit approved. I'm guessing once it gets approved, the school would ask me for an official credential, I'm not sure.

He said he would return back to me within 24 hrs so I'm waiting. I've asked a teacher that I met from AP workshop (he seemed to be from the same neighborhood where I did my bachelors in the States) recommended me to think of a Plan B. I've come this far and I'm not sure if I'm willing to work my way for Plan B.

Even if the IS approves of me or if I decide to find a new job, now I know having official teacher credential is crucial. I was looking at the MA DoE and saw that MA provincial license is a five year credential and can't be renewed? Maybe I'm looking at the wrong area or something? I remember @PsyGuy said it is a life long credential. If I start this this week, do you think I can get everything done by August 30? That is what I told them (at least, not officially). I'm pretty bad with test taking... so I may need to study a bit.

Okay so they just told me to sign the contract saying ESOL teacher.
Do you think they would still require me to send the teaching credential? I'm going to prepare for that anyway.

@straycat2019

Typically an IS would need the credential before getting a visa, theres little need for it afterwords for this kind of IS.

You need a plan B.

If they were going to give you another contract for ESOL, theres no need to do all of of the work on their side, and no need for you to do the same, because visas take time, you have travel plans, and they need an IT as well and if they were going to simply change the contract to ESOL and move on, they would do that, it would take them a day, then they would apply for a new and different visa that they can get for you.

You have to look at it from their plan of action. They need an IT in the classroom to teach literature, it sounds like they arent sure about you, and they have to fill that classroom. My impression is that they are maybe going to try a little more, but they are either already looking or will be looking for a new IT very soon. It takes two weeks to get a visa, maybe an IS can get it rushed in a week. If they want someone there the last week of July they need to hire someone who is going to meet the TW MOE requirements which means they need to hire someone in the next couple of weeks, and thats not a lot of time to post a vacancy, interview and offer. They probably cant wait much longer to see if they can get you a visa, and they have no idea if you will be able to get the MA DOE credential in time, or even shortly after (they have no idea if you will pass the exams).
You dont really have 5 weeks, and the MA DOE credential probably complicated there problem, they didnt expect youd actually have a solution that might meet the requirements. They were going to give you notice your application for a visa was denied, then make a show of trying again, theyed hire someone else, and your contract would void itself. When ISs say you need a credential, and a month to get it, they dont really expect you to do it.
What they are planing is:
1) Seeing if they can take the extra materials you gave them, the year of work experience and the AP workshops and see if the MOE will issue you a visa.
2) Look for another IT.
3) If they dont find another IT change your contract to ESOL to get you a visa.
Theyre going to do the first two simultaneously. Youre their backup now, they need and want a literature IT, but they might not find one and youll be there if they dont find someone else. They know youll come to teach ESOL at an IS over a cram ES in SK, all they have to do is sell you a story that they went the extra distance at the end of the month to get you a visa because they really want you.
You need a Plan B

The MA Provisional credential is non-renewable but its valid for 5 years of "employment", employment specifically means working in a MA DS, youll never work in MA so you will never use any of that time, and thus it will essentially be a lifetime credential.

I imagine you will have to study more than a little, especially for literature.
Its a very, very tight timeline, its possible, but a number of factors are entirely outside your control. Something as simple as the testing center doesnt have two testing vacancies in the next couple weeks or even in July. You need everything to work out, and you dont have any margin of time for error. I think its possible, I dont think its very likely, especially if July 30 is the deadline, August 30 is reasonable, assuming you pass everything and the scheduling and timing works. I dont think theyre going to give you that time unless they cant find anyone.

@straycat

I hope things are working out for you. After reading the last few posts, I felt obliged to suggest another possible narrative here. This doesn't have anything to do with you pursuing more PD (by all means, do it; even if you don't need it now it'll help you long-term).

Maybe the school is legitimately trying to navigate unexpected hurdles with the Ministry.

I know it sounds radical. I'm as cynical as the next guy, and I've read tons of horror stories on forums like these, so I suspect shady dealings rather readily. Even though I'm relatively new to IE, even I've had some eye-roll inducing school deception moments. But it's possible this really is just a situation where the school is telling you the truth. That means they either screwed up when hiring you (e.g., perhaps they didn't fully understand your credentials or weren't aware of Ministry guidelines), someone at the Ministry is being unexpectedly stubborn, policy (or interpretation of policy) changed, etc.

I think it's (likely) a good thing that they're asking you to sign a modified contract. It suggests that they're serious about honoring their offer to you. Despite PsyGuy's theory of the case, there's no evidence that you're "their backup now" (admittedly, there's also no evidence that's NOT the case). And it's good that you're remaining flexible and willing to do whatever PD you can to satisfy whoever is putting up roadblocks.

That said, even if you believe them, protect yourself. Find as many levers of influence as you can. You don't have to pull them all, and you don't have to pull hard, but you have to be ready. The bottom line is that they made you an offer, and they have to do everything possible to honor that offer as long as you were forthcoming about your background (i.e. nothing was misrepresented). If the end result is that they gain Ministry approval by tweaking it to ESOL, that's on them. You can be OK with it, but I wouldn't budge on any of the terms with regard to package (compensation, etc.), and be hesitant to budge on any changes impacting your duties unless they're fair (i.e. switching some of your classes to something you're comfortable with = OK; jacking up your teaching load = not OK).