English Teaching

I know a lot of posters on this board teach English or work in international schools to facilitate moving from country to country. While I have many career options (and can always serve drinks if these fail!) I am interested in teaching, although not in a typical western high school scenario. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree, and am currently starting a Masters of Children's Literature. These are both from reputable research and teaching universities in Australia, not some little upstairs, shop-front 'teaching' institution. If I wanted to teach overseas, what other qualifications would best supplement what I have listed above? Does anyone have any helpful suggestions on how I can most fully exploit the Masters of Children's Literature in a global context? I am only 20, so my experience in the 'real world of work' is limited to working in restaurants.

Edited by: jayepony

Where do you want to teach? What age? Level? Your question is vague. With your BA, you could probably teach EFL in many countries at the language school level.

For international schools, you need to be certified to teach in the school system in Australia first before a reputable int'l school will hire you to teach.

Find out if your uni offers a TESOL/TESL/TEFL endorsement or check out Macquarie and see what they've got.

There is a great Esl site called [dave sperling esl] ,there are a lots of jobs on there and there is another one called joy jobs that is a pay site.

In most countries there are the very good international schools operated by people from their own country and then there are Schools with countires names that are run by nationals of the country the school is in[if that makes since]I worked at an American style school owned by Egyptians with no American kids and not really American style but it had the name.

I would suggest you broaden your options with either a Grad Dip in Education or Librarianship.
Many Unis in Australia offer 1 year TESOL certificates for graduates, too.

If you wantto get out there and teach then you would geta well paying job in Korea without any further qualifications, and would have plenty of time to do any further study. You might get a uni gig in Korea but your age would probably count against you.

So you are 20yrs old and have a BA and are starting a masters??? Plus have hospitality experience as well?? Are you some sort of child protege or what??? What reputable Australian unis are you referring to?? I'm having trouble suspending my sense of disbelief here...

#5, I also finished my four-year BA when I was twenty, and had been working since I was fifteen at that point in time. In my last year of university I took a full DOUBLE courseload, getting the same number of credits as one would normally get in two years. On top of that, I have a December birthday. It's not that hard, especially in programs like English (my undergrad).

To the OP, I would recommend getting a teaching qualification. I don't know what that involves where you're from, but in my part of Canada it is a two-year post-degree program, leading to a second Bachelors degree (Bachelor of Education). Here, you complete the program, get your degree and then apply to the provincial government for a teaching license. They review your first and second degrees and criminal record, and determine whether or not you are eligible to teach in the province. You are then issued a three-year interim certificate. If, over the course of those three years, you teach THE PROVINCIAL CURRICULUM for the equivalent of 400 days, you then get an authority (such as a school principal) to write to the government and request permanent certification. Once you have permanent certification, your paperwork is pretty much done forever but you have to continue paying a small fee annually to maintain your status as a licensed teacher. If you get an interim certificate and then head straight overseas, any work you do will not count towards your 400 days and you will have to keep renewing your interim certification every three years until you do meet the provincial curriculum requirements. Thus, the best thing for teachers here to do is get their first degree, get their B.Ed, get interim certification, teach for two years (= 400 days), apply for permanent certification and then head overseas at that point in time. With this kind of certificate you can teach K-12 locally, at an international school or (if you feel like slumming it) at any private, for-profit language school.

i also finished my degree (B.Ed) when i was 20. nothing else to add, just saying

#5 - My BA is from the University of Wollongong, and I am starting my Masters in February at Macquarie University. I started the BA, which is a 3 year program in Australia at the age of 17, as soon as I finished high school. There is also a time frame commonly referred to as the 'WEEKEND', and there are also 'EVENINGS', during which I have worked in restaurants to generate an income, since no one pays me to go study. Seemed more polite than begging my parents to pay for every last little thing.

ok I retire corrected, guess I was just a late bloomer...

OP, I was teaching in a school recently where there was a student teacher completing the postgrad teaching qual that others have referred to. He started it around Feb this year and in October had completed the course. Coupled with his 3 year BA this allows him to teach in Australia. It is also enough to teach in England/Wales and in Scotland. If you are specifically interested in TESOL there are courses aimed at ppl who already have a recognised teaching degree which you could complete in the summer after the one year PGDE, and that would widen your options. You can also do TESOL courses such as CELTA or a Cert IV within (I think!) one semester, if you wanted to do that before committing yourself to a full teaching course.

The other alternative is a Cert IV in Training and Assessment that might give you some other options when coupled with your Masters?

The Librarianship is a good suggestion - there seem to be a few jobs around now that couple Information Services with Adult Learning (such as online access centres etc) and your Masters would put you ahead of the crowd.

Other options might include courses in community development or community education? Given your Masters and interest in childrens' lit, perhaps you might be interested in specific areas of development, rather than general teaching or ESL teaching? Saying that it is probably still a good idea for you to gain practical experience. Many postgrad teaching courses want to see evidence of prior experience in a teaching context, or at least working with children, before accepting ppl onto the course. This also helps in terms of ESL jobs.

I also finished my BA/BEd at 20.