Hi,
I only have substitute teaching experience in Hong Kong. I have a Bachelor in Finance from Uni-of-Oregon. I want to work for an international school in Shenzhen.
Currently, I am living in the US, and I am working full-time in an unrelated field.
I am deciding whether to get a Teach-Now certificate or pursuit an M.Edu from Southern Oregon University. I have to choose either one because I have limited resources and time.
When it comes to teaching in China, does have a US teacher license matter?
Which one is more useful? A US teacher license or M.Edu?
Teaching International Schools in China
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
At most decent schools, the license matters. The schools require it because it (ideally) demonstrates a level of proficiency and capacity professionally-speaking. It's also often needed in order to get a visa to work in a country. You'll be far more marketable in the long run with the teaching certificate.
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
Consider doing an M.A.T. instead of an M.Ed. The M.A.T. is for people without a teaching degree. MAT is usually taken for career changers or people who recently graduated with a degree in a specific content area (i.e. history, English, etc.) and want to become teachers. The M.Ed is usually for people who are already teachers.
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
I cannot attend in-person classes. Many M.A.T. programs include in-person classes. Some M.Ed can be earned totally online. I have multiple citizenships, so I can work in China without a visa. I want to know is getting a US teacher license useful? I want to save time. Should I skip Teach-now, and pursuit my M.Edu?
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
i think getting the teaching license is your best bet
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
Why is getting a US teacher license is the best bet?
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
Bears123,
so there are a few things I will itemize for you.
1. If you go to teach in China under your Chinese passport, you will be considered a local hire. No money if you plan on retiring back in the USA. You also become a pawn for the Chinese government if they want to use you that way, because of your dual citizenship.
2. If you plan to be a Chinese passport teacher in China with just a MEd and NO certification, the good schools won't hire you. You are not certified. Many governents now require proof of certification for positions at international schools.
3. A teacher license has expiry and you need to keep it current. While this seems unfair, it also protects you from not being certified, which is a condition of employment at reputable schools.
4. An M. Ed is just a piece of paper. No actual teaching practice is required. A teaching certificate requires teaching in the classroom. Schools will NOT hire you with an MEd and NO teaching experience. Well, one or two might, but you would NOT want to teach at them!
Do TeachNow.
so there are a few things I will itemize for you.
1. If you go to teach in China under your Chinese passport, you will be considered a local hire. No money if you plan on retiring back in the USA. You also become a pawn for the Chinese government if they want to use you that way, because of your dual citizenship.
2. If you plan to be a Chinese passport teacher in China with just a MEd and NO certification, the good schools won't hire you. You are not certified. Many governents now require proof of certification for positions at international schools.
3. A teacher license has expiry and you need to keep it current. While this seems unfair, it also protects you from not being certified, which is a condition of employment at reputable schools.
4. An M. Ed is just a piece of paper. No actual teaching practice is required. A teaching certificate requires teaching in the classroom. Schools will NOT hire you with an MEd and NO teaching experience. Well, one or two might, but you would NOT want to teach at them!
Do TeachNow.
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
I'm going to add another thing which will make things difficult for you - if you're going to do this on your Chinese passport, you will find that the best international schools won't hire you. First, it will make their life too difficult, and secondly, the local parents will react badly to their kids being taught by a Chinese teacher for something other than Mandarin (sorry, but it's true.)
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
@expatscot
I know what you mean. It is difficult for Asians to teach at International schools, regardless of whatever passport one has. I am not looking for the best international schools, and I plan to teach Math. Secondly, I don't have a Chinese passport. I have Hong Kong and US passports.
So what is the best way for me to present myself to ISs?
I know what you mean. It is difficult for Asians to teach at International schools, regardless of whatever passport one has. I am not looking for the best international schools, and I plan to teach Math. Secondly, I don't have a Chinese passport. I have Hong Kong and US passports.
So what is the best way for me to present myself to ISs?
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
TeachNow. US Passport.
Re: Teaching International Schools in China
Why not try a bilingual boarding school. The money is excellent and the ones that I have worked at had Chinese teachers.
In fact, I was at a school in Sichuan and the Head of Math was Chinese and the most highly regarded teacher in the department; also in science there were Chinese teachers in physics, chemistry and biology.
In fact, I was at a school in Sichuan and the Head of Math was Chinese and the most highly regarded teacher in the department; also in science there were Chinese teachers in physics, chemistry and biology.
Response
It depends what you mean by useful. A professional edu credential is much more marketable when looking for jobs, many ISs and more so in the top tiers than the third tier want, prefer, or need a professional edu credential. Without it your little more than an ESOL ET or some nobody off the street who says they want to teach. A professional edu credential is how the profession admits and identifies members of the edu (KS/K12) profession. There are however many ISs especially in the third tier who will accept a Masters in edu as a working credential and in some countries a degree is the working credential, but its not in the USA or the 4 western NES countries, all of which have a specific pathway towards professional edu recognition.
The other side of that is a masters in edu (any Masters in most cases) will get you a higher salary in IE, as many ISs have a bachelors salary band and an advanced salary band at a minimum. So you will have a greater degree of difficulty getting a position with just a Masters but you will be more likely to get more coin with the masters than with a credential alone.
I disagree with @mamva within your context you wont need a visa to work in China and you stated you only are interested in teaching in Shenzhen.
I disagree with @scooter93, dont do an MAT, an advance degree should do more than getting you into a classroom, when their are far easier and cheaper ways of getting into a classroom. If your going to do a Masters do it in an area that does something more for you like leadership, counseling, library, or technology. Also at USD$16.5K is pricey, not as pricey as others but theres no credential offered for it so its just a Masters. You could do th online M.Sc in Ed.Ld at Portsmouth for half that or the M.Res for a third of that or you could do UPe for USD$2600.
In regards to @SJ:
1) Whether you go into China (Shenzhen) using your US or your HK passport youre going to very likely be considered a LH. You cant tell anyone to ignore your other passport.
2) Its also as likely that even mediocre ISs wont hire you or on see you as anything more than Chinese. Having a western credential is going to change that more than a Chinese IT with a Masters degree, because there are lots of Chinese people with masters degrees, it dosnt mean very much. You are going to want to differentiate yourself having a western credential.
3) Not really, a number of credentials are either lifetime or are effectively lifetime credentials. CA, NJ, MA, QTS.
4) Not true either, there are Masters that do require field experience, especially when those masters are part of a credentialing program, but there are Masters (and others such as PGCEi) without credentialing that require field experience as part of the program. Likewise there are credentialing programs (such as the MA provisional credential) that are assessment base that require no field experience at all.
I agree with @expatscot that youre going to have a hard time being Asian (really anyone other than white/Caucasian) unless youre going to teach mandarin, even with teaching maths. You just dont fit the look that ISs are looking for.
If you insist on doing a skills pathway I would recommend Teach Ready over Teach Now. The field work requirement is much shorter, and you wont need an appointment to complete the placement. You will also have a much easier time applying for QTS.
However, I dont see hy you cant do both. The UPe program costs $2600 and can be completed in a year. This gets you an M.Ed and also meets the IB PD requirements. You can then do a the MA provisional credential which would require you to do a handful of tests (depending on what grade levels of maths you wanted to do). All together both programs would cost you about USD$3K, half the cost of Teach Now or Teach Ready.
The other side of that is a masters in edu (any Masters in most cases) will get you a higher salary in IE, as many ISs have a bachelors salary band and an advanced salary band at a minimum. So you will have a greater degree of difficulty getting a position with just a Masters but you will be more likely to get more coin with the masters than with a credential alone.
I disagree with @mamva within your context you wont need a visa to work in China and you stated you only are interested in teaching in Shenzhen.
I disagree with @scooter93, dont do an MAT, an advance degree should do more than getting you into a classroom, when their are far easier and cheaper ways of getting into a classroom. If your going to do a Masters do it in an area that does something more for you like leadership, counseling, library, or technology. Also at USD$16.5K is pricey, not as pricey as others but theres no credential offered for it so its just a Masters. You could do th online M.Sc in Ed.Ld at Portsmouth for half that or the M.Res for a third of that or you could do UPe for USD$2600.
In regards to @SJ:
1) Whether you go into China (Shenzhen) using your US or your HK passport youre going to very likely be considered a LH. You cant tell anyone to ignore your other passport.
2) Its also as likely that even mediocre ISs wont hire you or on see you as anything more than Chinese. Having a western credential is going to change that more than a Chinese IT with a Masters degree, because there are lots of Chinese people with masters degrees, it dosnt mean very much. You are going to want to differentiate yourself having a western credential.
3) Not really, a number of credentials are either lifetime or are effectively lifetime credentials. CA, NJ, MA, QTS.
4) Not true either, there are Masters that do require field experience, especially when those masters are part of a credentialing program, but there are Masters (and others such as PGCEi) without credentialing that require field experience as part of the program. Likewise there are credentialing programs (such as the MA provisional credential) that are assessment base that require no field experience at all.
I agree with @expatscot that youre going to have a hard time being Asian (really anyone other than white/Caucasian) unless youre going to teach mandarin, even with teaching maths. You just dont fit the look that ISs are looking for.
If you insist on doing a skills pathway I would recommend Teach Ready over Teach Now. The field work requirement is much shorter, and you wont need an appointment to complete the placement. You will also have a much easier time applying for QTS.
However, I dont see hy you cant do both. The UPe program costs $2600 and can be completed in a year. This gets you an M.Ed and also meets the IB PD requirements. You can then do a the MA provisional credential which would require you to do a handful of tests (depending on what grade levels of maths you wanted to do). All together both programs would cost you about USD$3K, half the cost of Teach Now or Teach Ready.