Long Term Planning

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justlooking
Posts: 118
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:02 am

Long Term Planning

Post by justlooking »

I've been teaching in a high school classroom for 20+ years- 4 different countries, 6 different schools. I'd like to transition into either counseling (social and/or university admissions) or the library. I have U.S. teaching certification, a masters degree in literature and, as I said, 20 years of experience including IB and AP.

I still love the students and my subject. I just feel like I can't do another 10 years of marking and planning.

What would be the best way for me to get credentialed as either a counselor or librarian? I don't plan to go back to the U.S., so whatever is accepted readily in international schools would be best. Ideally most of the work would be online so I can do it from my current location. Would appreciate any guidance or suggestions. Thanks in advance.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

Which one would you prefer because library is much easier to get credentialed in.

For librarian you want to apply to Mississippi (MS) for the 5 year reciprocity license (Professional Grade) then you complete the PRAXIS Library/Media exam, and apply for the endorsement. You can then transfer the MS credential to NJ for a Standard credential, NJ credentials have lifetime validity and no PD requirements.

All of the counselor routes would be a lot more work and more complexity, but since you dont really care as long as you get out of the classroom, none of them are as efficient to obtain as librarian.
shadowjack
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Re: Long Term Planning

Post by shadowjack »

You could do Bambi Bett's CTC - runs courses in Miami and London over summers. One year I calculated I could have done all my counselling courses and received my counselling accreditation in one summer, but busting my butt to do it.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@SJ

The LW could, but it wouldnt be worth anything, not from a regulatory position. The CTC certificate is just a piece of paper some private organization is printing after completing some list of requirements. It doesnt license the holder in any jurisdiction, nor does it have any more authority than ISR or anyone else printing a piece of paper that says "School Counselor". It wouldnt allow the LW to serve in the position of school counselor at any regulated DS in the US/UK/AUS/CAN.

The only reason this would work, is that counselors in IE arent really counselors. They arent recognized legally as mental health professionals by the appropriate medical practice code, or the education practice code. ISs for the most part have far less regulation to comply with than public/maintained DSs. They dont have to employee credentialed ITs, leadership or for that matter counselors. All a counselor is, is an employee assigned to a certain category of tasking and duties. They may have qualifications, credentials, and licenses that make them marketable and attractive employees, but the counselor at an IS could be really be anyone regardless of their resume.
Many counselors believe mistakenly that their credential from their HOR is somehow a global license to practice, it is not.
iblibrarian
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Re: Long Term Planning

Post by iblibrarian »

Many states do offer credentials to be a school librarian without a Masters degree, but you would be competing with many librarians who have masters from an ALA accredited school, which is the industry standard. The job field for librarians is very hard right now--where my husband can have over 200 jobs to apply for, we're restricted to the 20 or so schools who need librarians, and only 5 that I would consider acceptable to work at. Becoming a school counselor also usually requires a Masters degree in school counseling/guidance, but the jobs are much more plentiful and they're very difficult to fill, so you would have more leverage.
Here's an article about the scarcity of librarian jobs (although it is based in the U.S., some of these people who got their MLIS would consider international schools. That's how I got here): http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/anno ... -to-learn/
Also, if you're looking at IB Schools, you'll need training on how the librarian fits in with the IB program--they're really a critical component of project-based learning.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@iblibrarian

Many states do not offer librarian credentials without a masters degree, its a definite minority.
The ALA MLS (Masters Library Science) is the US standard, its not the industry standard. There are many librarians working in IE that do not have ALA accredited degrees, and while the LW is in the US and I presume to be American, they are not limited solely to US programs and credentials.
In IE the job market for librarians is around its historical average.
Yes the LW would need some PD but its not difficult to obtain nor would they need to absorb the expense of obtaining it before appointment, its one workshop "the role of the librarian".
iblibrarian
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Re: Long Term Planning

Post by iblibrarian »

@PsyGuy Fair enough; my answers were too US-centric. But whenever I've been looking for IS positions, the choices for library jobs have been very slim, especially in comparison to what I see available to my husband, or counseling/guidance positions (not that I'm qualified for those, just sometimes I regret becoming qualified for a librarian role when I see multiple jobs for a career that was my second choice. Just trying to pass on my experience in the field; it feels really disheartening when you wait and wait for a job to come up, and only a few choices are available). :( Perhaps I've been looking in the wrong places.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@iblibrarian

Thats a red herring, its not that there are 200 counselor vacancies that a degree and credential that focuses almost exclusively on mental health need to be filled. Its that there are vacancies for a counselor who can do all that plus admin and more importantly the Uni/Career counseling aspect AND that has that ephemeral quality of connections and relationships that will be perceived as an "in" for that ISs students. Counselor programs dont provide much if any of the Uni/Career counseling training, even the more progressive programs have only a course in it as part of the degree program. Even then those programs are focused on domestic admissions and enrollment management, they dont prepare a counselor for the far more vast options available in IE. They wont prepare a US IT for the UK admissions system or CAN or AUS.

Librarian numbers have always been small, 1 maybe 2 per IS, and librarian is seen as a promotion out of the classroom, most of them hang onto those vacancies for a long time. However, I dont see counselor vacancies at 200/yr that would be about a fourth of the SA database, each of them needing a counselor. The other issue you have is as you stated you would only find about 20% of the vacancies "acceptable" thats your definition, not anyone elses.

Nothing is keeping the LW from doing both. The bar to entry for librarian is so low, its about 2 days work. A day for the CRB and the application and a day for the exam, done.
justlooking
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Re: Long Term Planning

Post by justlooking »

Thanks for your replies. I'm taking all of the above into consideration. I'm not desperate to get out of the classroom- just looking for a new challenge. And looking at options other than the ones I identified here too.

BTW, I have lots of IB experience including coordinating the Personal Project and Extended Essay, so I don't think the role of the librarian in IB learning will be a big stretch. Thanks again for your advice.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@justlooking

I think you will be fine with the role of librarian in IB. For that matter, you sound like an ideal candidate and POC for faculty and staff for a new IB IS in leadership and for students in a junior leadership role like counselor.
Lastname_Z
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Re: Long Term Planning

Post by Lastname_Z »

This is just my limited experience, but I've noticed that a lot of librarians at ISs are people that studied to be librarians, not teachers who want out of the classroom. It seems that there's more movement from teachers to counselling (and sometimes back to teaching) rather than teaching to library.
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