Hello everyone! My husband and I have a question regarding types of teaching certifications. We are currently enrolled in Teach Now in order to become certified teachers. We both have a Master's in Education with a certificate in English Language Learners. Additionally, we both teach elementary school in an international school in Bangkok. I teach first and second grade IL (ESL), and he teaches 3rd grade English and 6th grade IL.
We need to decide which type of certification to pursue within the next few months. We were both considering English as a Second Language (ESL), however, we have heard that the chances of gaining employment at a top tier international school grow exponentially if the certification is in mathematics or one of the sciences. Our experience (approximately 5 years) lies in teaching ESL, however, we are both adept at math and science and are confident that we could pass the exams with a bit of review.
Our goal at this point is to expand our career opportunities as much as possible. Any input on this conundrum would be much appreciated. Thanks! :)
Types of Teaching Certifications
Re: Types of Teaching Certifications
Here is my pick in the order of demand, employability and personal observations: math and science, math and english, and science and english.
If you can get one of these dual certifications and some experience, you can aim at middle school positions in top schools (NIST, UWCSEA, ASIJ etc.) who often expect teachers at these levels to be able to work in cross-curricular teams.
If you can get one of these dual certifications and some experience, you can aim at middle school positions in top schools (NIST, UWCSEA, ASIJ etc.) who often expect teachers at these levels to be able to work in cross-curricular teams.
Re: Types of Teaching Certifications
Being certified to teach math and being able to teach it are two different things. Most non math specialists get found out by the brighter students even in middle school.
Re: Types of Teaching Certifications
If you have the will, even newbies can achieve content mastery in a couple of years with help from Khan Academy, YouTube and some creative pedagogy. Middle school math and science is not BC Calculus.
Re: Types of Teaching Certifications
fine dude wrote:
> If you have the will, even newbies can achieve content mastery in a couple
> of years with help from Khan Academy, YouTube and some creative pedagogy.
> Middle school math and science is not BC Calculus.
Said the non math or science specialist.
What happens when the Korean student who studies in cram school two grades above his level asks a question?
> If you have the will, even newbies can achieve content mastery in a couple
> of years with help from Khan Academy, YouTube and some creative pedagogy.
> Middle school math and science is not BC Calculus.
Said the non math or science specialist.
What happens when the Korean student who studies in cram school two grades above his level asks a question?
Re: Types of Teaching Certifications
@pgrass
You are pointing finger at the wrong guy. FYI, I have taught 'em all and mentored at 5 established schools in three different continents, which some might view as elite. Teaching is not all about one smart Korean kid. It's about 20 others. If you know your content pedagogy, you'd certainly know how to deal with it. If you know your basics and willing to do the hard work, middle school math and science is not rocket science. Elon Musk built rockets reading books. An above-average teacher with decent aptitude can get better with training and experience.
You are pointing finger at the wrong guy. FYI, I have taught 'em all and mentored at 5 established schools in three different continents, which some might view as elite. Teaching is not all about one smart Korean kid. It's about 20 others. If you know your content pedagogy, you'd certainly know how to deal with it. If you know your basics and willing to do the hard work, middle school math and science is not rocket science. Elon Musk built rockets reading books. An above-average teacher with decent aptitude can get better with training and experience.
Response
That information is grossly inaccurate, your not going to find an elite tier IS thats going to be impressed with a maths/science cert without any experience in school leaving level and no academic background. Upper tier ISs dont have an issue finding qualified and experienced ITs. You want to be the big fish/shark in whatever pond you are in. The rule is offers matter, everything else is polite talk. Those Maths/Science certifications with your resumes will get you to the bottom of a smaller pile than say primary, but candidates at the bottom dont get hired. You want to build up and play to your strengths If ESOL is your strength and you have primary experience than growing that is going to give you the best options. A field like SPED, Reading, Library, Technology Education, in addition to primary and ESOL are going to give you the most marketable resumes.
SPED is one of the fastest pathways to an upper tier IS.
English Literature is a very saturated market, cross curriculum positions in (lower) secondary are often maths/science and literature/social studies. Other less common vacancies are Literature/Theater, Science (Maths)/ICT, and Social Studies with a specific specialization such as Psychology.
I generally agree with @pgrass, its usually only the large ISs which are often upper tier ISs that will have less issues with a lower secondary IT, because their departments are so large. At small and medium size ISs (which are typically lower tier) the expectation is that a secondary IT can teach any and all courses and grade levels in their subject area. Those upper tier ISs though rarely have to make compromises, they can be selective, and your resumes in maths/science would be a lot of white space.
Lower secondary isnt rocket science and even upper secondary isnt rocket science (even when the topic is rocket science), there is nothing above 1st year University level, with the exception of Maths and in those cases its due to very few universities offering calculus as a Y1 course (its usually Y2).
Many recruiters are aware that examination schemes in various states are widely dispersed on the content of their items. You could miss all the calculus items on such maths exams and if doing very well on the rest of the exam, still pass and be certified to teach calculus. The same is true with science, a lot of life/biology ITs can do the biology and general science principals and do well enough on the conceptual items in chemistry and physics but have no maths ability to do even simple spectrometry, and they still can still do well enough to pass the science licensing exam. Those certifications are usually supported by either previous experience or an academic background.
SPED is one of the fastest pathways to an upper tier IS.
English Literature is a very saturated market, cross curriculum positions in (lower) secondary are often maths/science and literature/social studies. Other less common vacancies are Literature/Theater, Science (Maths)/ICT, and Social Studies with a specific specialization such as Psychology.
I generally agree with @pgrass, its usually only the large ISs which are often upper tier ISs that will have less issues with a lower secondary IT, because their departments are so large. At small and medium size ISs (which are typically lower tier) the expectation is that a secondary IT can teach any and all courses and grade levels in their subject area. Those upper tier ISs though rarely have to make compromises, they can be selective, and your resumes in maths/science would be a lot of white space.
Lower secondary isnt rocket science and even upper secondary isnt rocket science (even when the topic is rocket science), there is nothing above 1st year University level, with the exception of Maths and in those cases its due to very few universities offering calculus as a Y1 course (its usually Y2).
Many recruiters are aware that examination schemes in various states are widely dispersed on the content of their items. You could miss all the calculus items on such maths exams and if doing very well on the rest of the exam, still pass and be certified to teach calculus. The same is true with science, a lot of life/biology ITs can do the biology and general science principals and do well enough on the conceptual items in chemistry and physics but have no maths ability to do even simple spectrometry, and they still can still do well enough to pass the science licensing exam. Those certifications are usually supported by either previous experience or an academic background.
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shadowjack
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Re: Types of Teaching Certifications
To put it another way, RachalAnne, if you do the math/science certifications, then go to a low level international school, suck it up and get the experience, or go back home and get the experience. There are schools that will hire you with certification but no experience teaching in that area, but they are not necessarily schools that you would want to teach at.
The flip side is find a decent school to teach ESL at, get your cert, and then when the MS math teacher or science teacher leaves or enrollment increases, ask to take on some of those classes.
shad
The flip side is find a decent school to teach ESL at, get your cert, and then when the MS math teacher or science teacher leaves or enrollment increases, ask to take on some of those classes.
shad