@Laylah: Thank you for the comments. I think the shadowing is a good idea. I actually know a couple that either does teach or did teach (not sure if they retired yet) at the largest IS in this country, I will reach out to them to see whether and how they can arrange that. I do like kids. I do not have any or want any of my own (primarily for financial reasons). When I mentioned that the profession has social value, that's what I mean. Helping children learn is one of the most valuable things a person can do.

@Mencoh: I know that WGU does not allow the teacher certification paths to be pursued while outside of the US, because they cannot ensure the student teaching component. I believe the masters programs for already certified teachers does not have that restriction - but I'll verify. So, my thought process was to get some kind of license (UT or MA) then enroll in the WGU program. It does look like the website says nobody outside the US can apply, but lots of folks online saying they did it online anyways. I'll look into it further, but if it doesn't work I'll check out other programs.

I think LaylaH has the right idea about shadowing though. My mom retired in the early aughts and died in the late aughts so I can't even ask her about her out of date experience. A significant percent of my friends are teachers as well, but that's primarily domestic.

Another general question: Is there any subject that I might be certified to teach without a Praxis exam on the basis of my existing degrees? I have a business degree, an accounting degree, and a law degree (JD). US government/Social Studies, maybe? I think I would prefer to teach math, but if I'm employable as a social studies (or related) teacher, that might be good to know.

Falconeer, thank you. That's a really nice and encouraging message.

I wrote that first post before my morning coffee. I thought of some additional details to add.

Personal background: 38, married, no kids. Spouse currently does not work a paying job but that would have to change if I moved into teaching, as I'd expect a drastic reduction in salary. Spouse is not from from the US, but from an EU country. This is the primary reason I don't simply get a few years of experience in the US first.

Visa status: Should have a permanent visa in this country sometime mid year. I understand that means any job here would probably mean I get in as a local hire.

Goals: I want to do something that has some social value. I'm tired of my work and the specific stresses involved. I don't mean to imply that I'd expect education to be a stress free career. I'm just near my limit for the particular stress of "if you screw up one piece of paper millions of dollars disappear." My mother was a high school social studies teacher, I understand it's not a light and easy gig. I'm not especially concerned about money at least for a while. Enough to live on. I'm happy to downsize. I'd certainly expect low pay to be part of the process in the early days. I want to remain in the country where I'm living for now, potentially move to Europe in the future.

I suppose I could start moonlighting doing some ESL teaching (I have a cheapo weekend TESOL I've never used) to get some kind of teaching experience. I also expect that if I was to work as a local hire, I'd need to do some level of moonlighting as an accountant to make ends meat at least for a while. I think that it would be fine to spend a few years doing the transition.

Honestly, I'm a little bit lost. I know I want to change careers, I'm interested in teaching, and for family reasons I can't really leave this country at least for a little while. I'm hopeful there's a way to navigate these waters. I appreciate any insight from people knowledgeable about international teaching.

Hello all. I am an accountant and attorney from the United States, currently living in Latin America. For a while I've been considering a career change from accounting to teaching. I'd thought that would require returning to the US, which I haven't felt ready to do. However, I realized that there are several International Schools in my area, and I've started thinking about making the career change while staying abroad.

At first I was considering Teacher Ready or Teach-Now, but after reading several posts on this forum, it seems like my quickest path to a US license would be the Utah AEL or the MA provisional license. So that, I believe, would take care of that element of the change.

However, I'm still not sure quite how employable I'd be. My education isn't in a directly endorsable subject, so I'd have to use exams to get certified for any subjects (right now, I'm thinking middle grades mathematics). The other hurdle here is...I don't actually know how to teach. I know that I would like to teach, and I did spend about 20 years actually in school as a student, but I'd want to learn how to actually do the job of teaching.

My current line of thought is that after getting a provisional license in MA or UT (likely UT so I can take the exams here) I would pursue either an IB Certificate in Teaching and Learning, or an MA from WGU in middle grades math education. Or potentially both, if it would make a difference. Does anyone have any advice on which programs would 1) make me potentially better equipped to actually educate children and/or 2) give me a better chance of finding employment as an educator? It seems like either of these would be a better use of roughly $5k USD than Teacher Ready or Teach-Now, but I'm certainly open to ideas.

I appreciate any advice or insight. Thanks!