Search found 8 matches

by aleconner
Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:09 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Requesting criticism on my plan to become qualified/competitive.
Replies: 29
Views: 25320

Re: Requesting criticism on my plan to become qualified/competitive.

Modernist, you've expressed many of the same concerns I have about the viability of teaching abroad without home country experience. I am nearing the end of a master's program in History and have a Provisional credential from Massachusetts, but no stateside teaching experience. I would rather start out at a third tier school in a fun city in China or Brazil than go through a four-year credentialing program in my local public school district resulting in a provisional credential that then requires plenty of hoop-jumping to make permanent.

Only time will tell whether international education as a field grows enough to support the ambitions of those without extensive teaching experience back home. Psyguy has mentioned relatively unpromoted domestic schools with international programs as a potential way in.

If there's anything positive that the COVID situation has done for me, it has been to give me a new mental flexibility. Now that so many people have worked from home, there is a strong possibility that working from home in a cheaper country, particularly in Latin America will become a reality for the adventurous. Working for a U.S. company while living in Mexico City might just beat living in a second-tier Chinese city teaching at a third-tier school.
by aleconner
Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:44 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Rio and EARJ
Replies: 13
Views: 20659

Re: Rio and EARJ

@heliotrope:
Is accommodation or an accommodation stipend provided by the school? I know that schools in Asia generally do, but I don't know whether schools in Latin America do as well.
by aleconner
Wed Sep 18, 2019 1:29 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Viability of parochial school teaching experience
Replies: 11
Views: 15489

Re: Viability of parochial school teaching experience

@PsyGuy:

I appreciate your confirmation regarding the value of parochial experience. I'll look into ACSI certification after I obtain my Massachusetts credential next summer. I don't think I can manage being a full-time grad student and teaching full-time, so I plan to look for a part-time teaching gig for the next school year or to just do one year of teaching in California once I have my master's degree and credential.

As for expanding my range of social sciences/humanities, I'm looking at taking the MTEL exam for high school English in addition to History.
by aleconner
Sat Sep 07, 2019 6:07 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Viability of parochial school teaching experience
Replies: 11
Views: 15489

Re: Viability of parochial school teaching experience

@eion_padraig:

In that case, I'll obtain a credential for teaching English in addition to the one for History. Are you in China? I'm keen on East Asia or Latin America.

@jbiersteker:

Thanks for the tip. May I ask how you became involved with Model UN?
by aleconner
Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:35 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Viability of parochial school teaching experience
Replies: 11
Views: 15489

Re: Viability of parochial school teaching experience

@eion_padraig:

Thank you for those tips. I have made note of Cal West and will look into charter schools in my area as well. Getting credentialed in multiple areas is a good idea. Geography and English would be the most accessible for me. I don't have a background in economics, business or psychology, unfortunately. Is Political Science much in demand?

@sid
Yes, I plan to start teaching only when I have the Massachusetts credential. I'll be sure to work at a legitimate parochial school or charter school.
by aleconner
Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:58 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Viability of parochial school teaching experience
Replies: 11
Views: 15489

Viability of parochial school teaching experience

I am curious if anyone knows whether parochial school teaching experience generally is considered valid by international schools. I am in my first year of a master's program in History at a university in California. I will obtain my Massachusetts teaching credential next summer. I would like to start teaching locally next year so that I have two years of experience by the time of my anticipated move abroad in 2022. I considered teaching in my city's public school district, but I was told that a California credential is mandatory, unless I enroll in a four-year intern teaching program. I would rather not spend that long working on a credential.

It occurred to me that local teaching experience at a parochial school might be the answer. Do recruiters look down on such experience? Has anyone here successfully used parochial experience to land a job in IE?

I appreciate any information or insights you may have.
by aleconner
Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:32 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Career changers, if you could do it again...
Replies: 9
Views: 12445

Re: Career changers, if you could do it again...

Thank you Psyguy and Thames Pirate. I'll get started on obtaining the MA credential.
by aleconner
Sun Jul 14, 2019 2:11 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Career changers, if you could do it again...
Replies: 9
Views: 12445

Re: MA provisional credential

PsyGuy wrote:
> Massachusetts (MA) offers a provisional credential that requires a 2 exams
> and an application. The provisional credential is valid for 5 years of
> employment, but if you never work in MA it will effectively be a lifetime
> credential.

PsyGuy, I recently read the Massachusetts Department of Education's credentialing information page (http://www.doe.mass.edu/licensure/acade ... types.html). It states that beginning July 1, 2019, an educator who holds one or more provisional licenses may be employed under said license(s) for no more than five years in total. Do you expect this to change this credential's lifetime effectiveness for the purpose of IE? I wonder whether MA provisional credentials from this point forward will have a period of validity marked on them.