Hi everyone,
I am going to be starting a one year MAT program in Secondary English (not ESL) this summer. The I am wondering if anybody can give me their perspective on whether it is better to try and receive a paid internship from an international school or if I should just do the two years of experience in the US. I am interested in international teaching as a long-term career.
I am curious mostly about what would be best in terms of being comfortable with being a teacher and, therefore, becoming a competent teacher. Would the internship do this for me or would it just allow me to get my foot in the door with an international school?
Thanks in advanced.
Internship Abroad vs 2 Years Domestic Teaching
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wrldtrvlr123
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
- Location: Japan
Re: Internship Abroad vs 2 Years Domestic Teaching
My opinion (others might vary) is that you should get the two years experience in the US before venturing overseas. If your long term goal is to teach overseas then getting a foundation of full time K-12 classroom/teaching experience is going to serve you best (I was basically the same in that my wife was a teacher and I knew before I even went into teaching that we would be pursuing jobs overseas as soon as I had a couple years of experience under my belt). By staying closer to home you are more likely to find a more stable situation to start your new career and learn your craft rather than moving to a new country and going through all of those work growing pains while possibly also being stressed/going through culture shock outside of school. The quality of int'l schools, availability of resources, motivation/behavior of students, support of leadership also vary wildly at different int'l schools (even more so than at stateside schools and are harder to judge/gauge from afar).
The only plus that I see with an int'l school internship is that you could be making some contacts that might help you get an int'l teaching job at some point (but this is offset by the fact that many/most other schools would still not give this experience the same weight as actual full time paid teaching experience).
The only plus that I see with an int'l school internship is that you could be making some contacts that might help you get an int'l teaching job at some point (but this is offset by the fact that many/most other schools would still not give this experience the same weight as actual full time paid teaching experience).
Response
If you could get a paid internship at an IS that would be great. Unfortunately the number of actual internships in IE is very small. The number of ISs that do it is small, and the ones that do usually only have one whole school appointment, literature may align with the ISs plans and it may not. The recruiting fair for internships was SAs BOS fair. However if you can get one they tend to be very, very nice experiences, usually you get a lite load, plenty of release time for observation and studies. A full salary, and most if not all OSH benefits.
The disadvantages are that, ISs are generally poorly resourced and staffed for a ITs indoctrination, they arent the place for an IT to make their bones.
First, you dont get the best mentoring, you get time and you can do observations but your mentor if you get one is going to consider you a chore.
Second, your not going to get the full spectrum of experiences, youre not going to get the hard line behavior management experience you need, youre not going to get the definitive curriculum preparation and integration you see in public/maintained municipal DE, from core courses to special populations, youre going to get EPP/ITT 'lite'. Maybe its something you dont need, or never see yourself needing, and who can blame you, who wants to work in the trenches if they dont have too, but there is some reason to the suffering, if you can handle the worst or at least the bad you find in municipal DE, you can handle whatever IE throws at you (at least as far as the classroom experience is concerned).
Third, youre in a better position and scenario to make mistakes and be supported by your leadership in DE than you are in IE. DE is more forgiving and youll make a lot of mistakes those first 2 years.
The major forum contributors have a consensus (which is pretty big for us) that DTs are best prepared in DE before entering IE. The major mitigating factor for you to consider is going to be, you complete your EPP/ITT program but then you have to get a job in DE, and unless you know someone who can hire you and get you a job, there are a lot of literature DTs working in coffee shops who cant get a job in DE. If youre not JK Rowlings what makes your marketability superior to any other noob literature DT who wants a job and a classroom. You could end up waiting for that 2 years experience for a long time, in which case getting in at some IS anywhere even the bottom of the third tier, the sink ISs in a hardship region will build your resume as opposed to ageing and dating it waiting.
The disadvantages are that, ISs are generally poorly resourced and staffed for a ITs indoctrination, they arent the place for an IT to make their bones.
First, you dont get the best mentoring, you get time and you can do observations but your mentor if you get one is going to consider you a chore.
Second, your not going to get the full spectrum of experiences, youre not going to get the hard line behavior management experience you need, youre not going to get the definitive curriculum preparation and integration you see in public/maintained municipal DE, from core courses to special populations, youre going to get EPP/ITT 'lite'. Maybe its something you dont need, or never see yourself needing, and who can blame you, who wants to work in the trenches if they dont have too, but there is some reason to the suffering, if you can handle the worst or at least the bad you find in municipal DE, you can handle whatever IE throws at you (at least as far as the classroom experience is concerned).
Third, youre in a better position and scenario to make mistakes and be supported by your leadership in DE than you are in IE. DE is more forgiving and youll make a lot of mistakes those first 2 years.
The major forum contributors have a consensus (which is pretty big for us) that DTs are best prepared in DE before entering IE. The major mitigating factor for you to consider is going to be, you complete your EPP/ITT program but then you have to get a job in DE, and unless you know someone who can hire you and get you a job, there are a lot of literature DTs working in coffee shops who cant get a job in DE. If youre not JK Rowlings what makes your marketability superior to any other noob literature DT who wants a job and a classroom. You could end up waiting for that 2 years experience for a long time, in which case getting in at some IS anywhere even the bottom of the third tier, the sink ISs in a hardship region will build your resume as opposed to ageing and dating it waiting.
Re: Internship Abroad vs 2 Years Domestic Teaching
Thanks to both of you for the responses. They answered everything i wanted to know, plus more. I really appreciate it!
Re: Internship Abroad vs 2 Years Domestic Teaching
I started as a paid intern. Every intern I knew was able to land a job abroad after their year or two as an intern. I got a job through a contact at that school, many others went to a fair, and a few got a job through Skype. We were able to land solid jobs, a mix of tier 2 and 3 schools with locations all over the place. Many of us were getting our certification or masters while working as interns. We tended to fit into different categories; transitioning ESL teachers (a decent chunk of us), brand new teachers(smallest group), spouses interested in eventually getting their own classroom, and locals who had international experience in one way or another. I enjoyed my experience, although it can be frustrating at times working so closely with another teacher and the salary is less than half of a full time teacher.