Okay, that's what I thought regarding the teaching certificate, but I wanted to double check before starting the process. Thank you both for your responses.

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are in our late 20's and are trying to figure out the best way to transition into careers as international teachers. I've read through similar threads on this and other forums, but I was wondering if anyone could give us advice on our specific situation.

Background: We are both US Citizens and native English speakers. I have a B.S. in Mathematics and 4 years of overseas experience teaching ESL. My husband has a B.S. in Exercise Science and 3 years of teaching experience (also ESL). We have just accepted positions for this school year at a well-known private English Program (EP) school here in Thailand. I will be teaching upper-level mathematics, and my husband will be teaching science and computing for the school's GAC program.

Goal: To eventually work at an international school teaching high school math and science.

I realize that, as things stand, we are in no way qualified for international school positions. Since going back to the US to obtain our teaching certificates is financially unfeasible, we've started looking into alternative certification programs like Teacher Ready. This particular program supposedly allows one to receive a Florida state teaching certificate after the completion of an 8-10 month long online program, an in-person mentorship, and 3 state teaching exams.

Our new school has offered to set us up with mentors and we feel that we can complete the program and pass the exams in the allotted time. However, I have to question whether this certification will be of any use with our lack of home country teaching experience. For the same cost, we could both pursue MSc degrees in our subjects through the Open University.

So, some questions...

* Would 1-2 years of subject teaching experience (most likely at an EP school here in Thailand) PLUS the Florida state teaching certificates make us competitive candidates for 2nd tier international school positions?

* As someone with a B.S. in Math, would I be better off getting a MSc in Math instead of a teaching certificate?

* Is there anything else we can do over the next 2 years in order to increase our chances of finding decent international school positions?

Thanks in advance for your help!