Middle East/Asia options

PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

Its true that in many regions a Masters degree or degree is sufficient for registration as a professional educator. The issue is that many ISs the vast bulk of them are either American, British or IBO ISs, and the small minority of other ISs are European, Canadian, Australian, all of them have accreditation requirements that would require a a professionally credentialed IT, meaning QTS a state license or the equivalent.

Yes, you can find an appointment in hardship locations without a professional teaching credential, but its going to be a lower tier IS, and your comp and benefits are going to be lower, but yes you can get a visa and teach. Lots of ETs who started in ESOL have moved from EAP to EP ISs.

The other issue is that IE has a very high concentration of Caucasian ITs. For many ISs they define an English speaker as coming from a few regions mainly the UK, US, AUS, CAN, and your English needs to sound natural and organic. Lots of Asian regions have a high number of Filipinos and they are often treated as inferior staff members and often get LH benefits and lower comp, and these are native English speakers. Your teaching field is also very saturated, there are a lot of social studies ITs who have broader credentials int he range of social studies topics. Though history is the most common, there are a lot of history ITs.

It would be very, very, very unusual to complete a PGCE without receiving QTS (as an NQT), while a PGCEi doesnt award QTS, a PGCE would have to be enrolled in a program where they requested NOT to receive QTS (which isnt hard to do) or would be ineligible for QTS which likely is going to be an issue getting admitted to the program since it would likely be a barring offense that would make you ineligible.
The difference is that there are two versions of QTS. The first is when you complete your PGCE and are considered a NQT. The second is the QTS you receive after having completed your induction year after receiving your NQT. When an IS states they want QTS they mean youve completed your induction year.

I wouldnt recommend the Sunderland iPGCE, not at this stage. I would suggest you look into a school direct placement as getting QTS. You will be in a classroom straight away and will find out very quickly if this type and level of education instruction is for you.
Asv
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:29 am

Re: Middle East/Asia options

Post by Asv »

Thanks for the replies. I understand that being a good teacher is not the same thing with being an expert in the subject. As I said, I would consider getting teacher training, and QTS, if I decide I want to do it seriously. I am currently looking into different options, and teaching is one of them. One of the main reasons I am not convinced it is the best choice is the preference for native speakers in most schools. As for history being a saturated field, it seems that this is only a disadvantage for secondary school teaching.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

@Asv

Its even a bigger disadvantage in primary. Most ISs use self contained classroom organization relying on HRTs who teach at least the core curriculum (science, math, literature, social studies) with some differentiation between fine arts, PE, etc.. There are some ISs that use departmentalized organization in upper primary, in those cases ITs often co-teach complimenting subjects (math/science and social studies/literature). You arent going to find many if any primary ISs that have/need a history IT for grades 1-6.
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