Thanks for the info. Just wondering:

1. How exactly does NJ check for citizenship? Simply curious.
2. About HI renewal: I did read that the renewal was either a school leader signing off (as you mention) or a rather long process involving lots of documentation. In terms of having the school leader just signing off that the school meets the standards for renewal: is it that simple? They sign and HI never bothers checking? I'm not even sure how I would ask my principal or HOS to sign this... Is this "normal"?

3. I actually did not do Teach Now. I did not train as a teacher in the US, nor in EU. I did a NACES evaluation of my home degree which came out to meet the requirements for HI license as it states that it allows me to teach in my home country. That's how I got the HI license. Not sure if that would allow me to get QTS since I did actually do the teacher training in the same place where I actually did my student-teaching. I guess we'll see.

4. Just out of pure curiosity, what is the "deceptive subterfuge" you seem to find viable?

A few years ago I got myself a Standard license from Hawaii. I would ideally like to "park" this somewhere that does not require so many hoops to jump through when renewing. As a non-US citizen, what are my options? Most discussions on parking licenses seem a few years old, so I am not sure if the information there is still current.

Is NJ Standard only given to US citizens? Would it make any difference if I actually have a social security number from having previously worked in the US?

I am intrigued by the CA Clear credential, but am I right in thinking it's incredibly hard to meet al the requirements?

Any other options?

Also, I think I should be able to apply to QTS, but the forms to apply based on recognition seem to imply that I did my teacher training in the US, which is not the case. Any advice in how to properly fill in the initial form which asks for the information on my teaching credential is appreciated (I imagine I would fill in that it was a credential from the HTSB, but have no idea if for teacher training I would include the dates from when I did it in my home country, even if these were ages before the date in which the HI credential was issued)...

I've often thought about buying a house somewhere in southern Europe. But where? Spain is appealing, but I have heard it might be a problem with keeping an empty house as people might "invade it" and it becomes a legal hassle?

To those of you who own property somewhere other than in your home country:
1. Where do you own?
2. How did you buy it? Was it a location you really liked? Or did you "adventurously" bought a place somewhere you had only visited a couple of times?
3. How do you keep it? Do you pay a company to make sure things are Ok?

Would love to hear some experiences!

I did mine through resume.io . I liked the results, and it was very easy. The free version does not allow to download it, but gives you a link where you can view it, so you can always"print it" as a PDF for free.

Without naming names, what exactly did this school do?

An experienced, qualified teacher with a 3 day IB recognized workshop is worth more than an unqualified teacher with the IB T&L certificate.

If you are a qualified teacher with some IB experience, it's not worth getting the certificate over a regular workshop, unless you are doing it as a part of a Master's degree IMHO. Once you are qualified and have some IB experience, there is no extra benefit from that certificate over having done the 3 day Category 1 training...

If you are an unqualified teacher, I don't think either of those would make much difference. If you are qualified and have no IB experience, maybe the certificate might give you a slight edge, but probably it would be insignificant.. an experienced IB teacher with a workshop would still get the job over an inexperienced teacher with the certificate. Again, just IMHO.

Sounds like a plan. The one thing I would say, is that since you are already in the country, most schools will treat you like a local hire and will not give you an expat salary. If you are on a local contract as a teacher, you will most likely get about 1/3 of the salary you would get as an expat... Also, in Latin America, local salaries vary a great deal between different schools. The highest paying schools in most LA countries are usually in the capital, so Bogota would be your best bet to get a decent salary.

Another suggestion would be to not wait until August to start looking for a job at a school there (if that is what you are after); sometimes good schools look for people in the middle of the academic year due to different circumstances, and if you are available, it might give you a chance to get into a good school. Do keep in mind that not all IB schools are the same; there are some rather dodgy IB schools in LA, so do your homework in terms of which ones have a good reputation.

Opinions may vary. In my view, teaching at a top "bilingual" school in Colombia with an IB curriculum will be seen as more valuable than that teaching at a public school in your home country (to an international school, that is). This is simply because you can say you taught at an international school in Colombia, particularly if the school is IB, IGCSE, etc... You would not dub it as a "bilingual school", but simply as an international school in Colombia with mostly local students. I would think the same for schools that offer the curriculum and diploma of another country (many Latin American countries have an official American school, a British School, a German School and a French Lycee)...

In short: f your aim is to continue working in international schools, a top international school in Colombia will look better on your CV than working for some regular public school in the US (or whatever your home country is).

What school do you work at in Colombia? I have a close friend who worked there for many years and can find out where your school is on the spectrum of bilingual schools down there if you'd like.

There are many definitions for what an international school is. If a bilingual school is IB and many classes are taught in English, you can spin it as an international school; it has an international curriculum, foreign teachers and English as a medium of instruction... Many of these even use recruiters such as Search Associates. It would be debatable, but not definitely wrong, to dub a school like that as an international school... International schools come in many flavors; having an international curriculum with local students is one of them.

In Latin America, the use if bilingual is often preferred by schools and parents over "international" simply because of the context; that doesn't mean some cannot be considered as a type of international school.

I completely agree that SA don't really have your back, and that they are not useful other than because of their database. Having said that, you previously posted: "I have a BA and a PGCEi from England and no one cares"; I am not sure if you have already asked here for a general view of you and your possibilities, but having a BA ad a PGCEi is not "highly qualified" by any means. The PGCEi is not an actual teaching license (does not get you QTS), which means that if all you have is that, it basically equates to being considered unqualified by many schools (and some countries immigration systems).

Independently of this, I would say that non-Native English teachers are (generally) not really taken into account by many schools. It varies, of course, but the reality is that in many countries, parents are paying for the "correct" look/passport/accent... It's a sad reality, but it is a reality...

alexout wrote:
> Spain. No doubt about it. I've already bought property there so when the
> time comes, I'll be ready. In the meantime, it's where I go for school
> holidays.
> The weather (Med coast), the food, the cost of living, the people, the
> culture and history - it checks all the boxes and then some. I've lived
> there before and speak the language fluently so I have a pretty good idea
> of what I'll be getting into.
> Italy checks the boxes as well, but after living there two years I found it
> to be too dysfunctional in too many aspects. So Spain it is!

Where in Spain did you buy property? I'm curious. I have considered that, but simply don't know where. I would like s place that is not in the middle of nowhere, where there are things to do, but cannot afford anything in the big cities like Madrid or Malaga. Then there are many empty towns close to Malaga, but that would mean having to drive everywhere, and I do want to live somewhere where you dint need to take s car and go somewhere else simply to have dinner...

WES has a tool to check "degree equivalency". It will give you an idea of how they would view your current degree.
https://applications.wes.org/degree-equivalency-tool/

Whatever you do, please do share the outcome. It'd be interesting to see how this works out.

Which country is your degree from? If it's EU and it follows the Bologna convention, try WES instead of SpanTran. They're better at understanding that a 3 year EU Bachelor is equivalent to a 4 year one in the US.

Rafaelchick1 wrote:
> @NatashaM or anyone with knowledge of the Hawaii application.
>
> Did you have to submit proof of a current license? I also have an
> out-of-country credential. It was NACES evaluated and I am thinking of
> applying to Hawaii. My degree is from within 5 years and I have 3 years of
> experience at a WASC accredited school abroad. I'm just wondering in
> addition to the evaluation, transcripts, and verification of work
> experience, if you also have to have a current license. Mine recently
> lapsed. Thanks!

Can I ask what NACES evaluator did you use and what was your result? Thanks!