I would like to retrain or gain QTS

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Elysium82
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:30 am

I would like to retrain or gain QTS

Post by Elysium82 »

Hey guys,

POSTING AGAIN. MY FIRST POST HAS A SERIOUS MISTAKE IN THE TITLE.

I hold a British BA (English/Spanish) and a PGCEi.

I can't possibly teach at public schools with a PGCEi. International schools won't hire me either (simply because I did languages and nativisim is going strong now with the pandemic on).

I am not planning to go back to training centres.
So, I have 2 options:

1, I can do a course and retrain as an IT teacher. I am ditching this idea (I don't really have the money to go back to school, pay the tuition fees..etc.)
Getintoteaching should have been an option, but due to Brexit and gov cuts.....that just won't happen.

2, I find a salaried (primary or secondary) teacher training provider somewhere.

Now, has anyone done anything similar in an English-speaking country? I know that I can't do this in England. I have also tried to apply in Canada, but they are making it impossible. Their problem is that my PGCEi didn't have a practicum side. Now they are expecting me to enrol on a Canadian course that costs 8k CAD (I don't really have that money....but I assume I can get it somehow once things go back to normal).
So, I would probably do it, but they are asking for things that I can't provide (experience from a Canadian public school....which is hard to get if I can only get a tourist visa and that won't allow me to volunteer).
Heliotrope
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am

Re: I would like to retrain or gain QTS

Post by Heliotrope »

Teach Now will get you certified for international schools, and is one of the cheapest option (iTeach is cheaper I think, don't know much about it though). Teach Now is a remote program, and you need to find a school where you can do 3 months of practicum.
Elysium82
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:30 am

Re: I would like to retrain or gain QTS

Post by Elysium82 »

Heliotrope wrote:
> Teach Now will get you certified for international schools, and is one of
> the cheapest option (iTeach is cheaper I think, don't know much about it
> though). Teach Now is a remote program, and you need to find a school where
> you can do 3 months of practicum.

TeachNow is not an option. It basically has the same value as a PGCEi, but the PGCEi didn't lead to QTS. I'd be redoing something (partially) that I have already done. Plus TeachNow doesn't guarantee the license. Another thing is that they talk in riddle....the moment you ask them about the licensing part (then again...it is not guaranteed).

I have never heard of iTeach. I'll check them out. Thanks.
Heliotrope
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am

Re: I would like to retrain or gain QTS

Post by Heliotrope »

Elysium82 wrote:
> TeachNow is not an option. It basically has the same value as a PGCEi, but the PGCEi
> didn't lead to QTS. I'd be redoing something (partially) that I have already done.
> Plus TeachNow doesn't guarantee the license. Another thing is that they talk in
> riddle....the moment you ask them about the licensing part (then again...it is not
> guaranteed).
>
> I have never heard of iTeach. I'll check them out. Thanks.


I haven't heard of Teach Now not leading to a license. If you do the work and pass the tests I think the license is a certainty.
And it's an official license, so it definitely has more value than a PGCEi which isn't that.
Haven't done it myself, but it's been mentioned on this forum often as a proper way to get certified from abroad.
Elysium82
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:30 am

Re: I would like to retrain or gain QTS

Post by Elysium82 »

Heliotrope wrote:
> Elysium82 wrote:
> > TeachNow is not an option. It basically has the same value as a PGCEi, but the
> PGCEi
> > didn't lead to QTS. I'd be redoing something (partially) that I have already
> done.
> > Plus TeachNow doesn't guarantee the license. Another thing is that they talk in
> > riddle....the moment you ask them about the licensing part (then again...it is
> not
> > guaranteed).
> >
> > I have never heard of iTeach. I'll check them out. Thanks.
>
>
> I haven't heard of Teach Now not leading to a license. If you do the work and pass
> the tests I think the license is a certainty.
> And it's an official license, so it definitely has more value than a PGCEi which
> isn't that.
> Haven't done it myself, but it's been mentioned on this forum often as a proper way
> to get certified from abroad.

The certificate is what you earn if you do the TeachNow course and the rest is up to you. You apply to the Board of Educators (they recommend the DC one) and you either get the teaching license or you don't. At least that was the information I was given back when I was shopping for a postgraduate course.
Heliotrope
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am

Re: I would like to retrain or gain QTS

Post by Heliotrope »

Elysium82 wrote:
> The certificate is what you earn if you do the TeachNow course and the rest is up to
> you. You apply to the Board of Educators (they recommend the DC one) and you either
> get the teaching license or you don't. At least that was the information I was given
> back when I was shopping for a postgraduate course.

From what I've heard you will get the DC license after successfully completing the Teach Now program. If there's that step of applying for it yourself after completing Teach Now that wouldn't change anything –it's just a bit of paperwork– as I have never heard of anyone completing the Teach Now program without ending up with the DC license. It still means Teach Now will lead to a recognized teaching license that will make you eligible to work at an IS, which is better than a PGCEi.
There are a number of schools & countries that will accept a PGCEi as a valid teaching license, but also many that won't.

Btw, I'm not saying there haven't been any cases of the DC Board of Educators denying anyone a license on the basis that the Teach Now program wasn't good enough, but I've never heard that it happened.
Also, I assume Teach Now wouldn't be in business much longer if there wasn't a guarantee of a DC license after completion of the TN program.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

CAN has very traditional academic pathways into teaching. CAN doesnt have any issue finding qualified DTs, and youre going to find it very difficult to complete CANs requirements as a foreigner.

You could do Teach Now, it will cost about USD$6K and you will need an IS to do your 12 weeks/3 months field experience at. You could also do Teach Ready out of FL it will cost about the same but the field experience is only 5 days which may be easier to find if you dont already have an IS appointment. You could also do the MA provisional (entry grade) credential route. It would require you to do a couple tests, which due to COVID, you can currently do some of them online from where you are. There is no ITT/EPP program for the MA Provisional credential.

Completing Teach Now will qualify you for a DC Standard (professional grade) credential. Its not guaranteed in the sense that you have to pass the licensing exams and complete the program, if you do those things you will be recommended for the DC credential. So no its not guaranteed that if you pay the coin youll get the credential, because you have to do the work. The DC credential by itself has strong utility and marketability in IE.
The Teach Now training by itself is worth less than a PGCEi, the PGCEi is an academic qualification, with credits attached to it, the Teach Now program is not, and few if any Unis would give you any credits for its program.
Teach Now is DC approved ITT/EPP provider. The most common way candidates dont obtain the credential after completing Teach Now is their inability to pass the required professional (PRAXIS) exams.
Elysium82
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:30 am

Re: Response

Post by Elysium82 »

PsyGuy wrote:
> CAN has very traditional academic pathways into teaching. CAN doesnt have
> any issue finding qualified DTs, and youre going to find it very difficult
> to complete CANs requirements as a foreigner.
>
> You could do Teach Now, it will cost about USD$6K and you will need an IS
> to do your 12 weeks/3 months field experience at. You could also do Teach
> Ready out of FL it will cost about the same but the field experience is
> only 5 days which may be easier to find if you dont already have an IS
> appointment. You could also do the MA provisional (entry grade) credential
> route. It would require you to do a couple tests, which due to COVID, you
> can currently do some of them online from where you are. There is no
> ITT/EPP program for the MA Provisional credential.
>
> Completing Teach Now will qualify you for a DC Standard (professional
> grade) credential. Its not guaranteed in the sense that you have to pass
> the licensing exams and complete the program, if you do those things you
> will be recommended for the DC credential. So no its not guaranteed that if
> you pay the coin youll get the credential, because you have to do the work.
> The DC credential by itself has strong utility and marketability in IE.
> The Teach Now training by itself is worth less than a PGCEi, the PGCEi is
> an academic qualification, with credits attached to it, the Teach Now
> program is not, and few if any Unis would give you any credits for its
> program.
> Teach Now is DC approved ITT/EPP provider. The most common way candidates
> dont obtain the credential after completing Teach Now is their inability to
> pass the required professional (PRAXIS) exams.

Hey.Thank you for the information.

None of the routes can be taken by someone like me. I hold an EU passport and I am based in Europe. All the above-mentioned licenses are for those who are planning to teach in the USA or based there. US boards won't help anyone who is just simply trying to "use" them.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@Elysium82

Yes they can. A number of non US, foreign ITs have used Teach Now and to a lessor extent the MA Provisional credential to get valid professional teaching credentials.
No, they are not going to hold your hand or offer you guarantees, or do the work for you, and they arent going to bend over backwards to help someone "use them", but these pathways do work.
Smokegreynblues
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 9:50 pm

Re: Reply

Post by Smokegreynblues »

PsyGuy wrote:
> @Elysium82
>
> Yes they can. A number of non US, foreign ITs have used Teach Now and to a
> lessor extent the MA Provisional credential to get valid professional
> teaching credentials.
> No, they are not going to hold your hand or offer you guarantees, or do the
> work for you, and they arent going to bend over backwards to help someone
> "use them", but these pathways do work.

@psyguy

Do you think, once the pandemic is over MA going to change its online Pearson testing and move back to in-state/offline testing?
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@Smokegreynblues

Yes, almost certain.
whatkatiedid
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2019 7:38 am

Re: I would like to retrain or gain QTS

Post by whatkatiedid »

My opinion

TeachNow and PGCEi sure, you'll get a job somewhere but forget one of the decent T1/T2 schools.

PGCE + QTS and a few years under your belt in a state school is the route in.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Discussion

Post by PsyGuy »

@whatkatiedid

Thats absolute bunk. There are ITs teaching in tier 1&2 ISs who went through skills route pathways such as TeachNow or have a PGCEi. There are fewer of them and it often takes longer and its more challenging but it happens.
Heliotrope
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am

Re: Discussion

Post by Heliotrope »

PsyGuy wrote:
> @whatkatiedid
>
> Thats absolute bunk. There are ITs teaching in tier 1&2 ISs who went
> through skills route pathways such as TeachNow or have a PGCEi. There are
> fewer of them and it often takes longer and its more challenging but it
> happens.

Can confirm what @PsyGuy says.
For most schools certification is just a box they need to tick before they get to the stuff on your CV that they do find interesting. How you got certified is not very important. I'm sure there's a handful of recruiters that will have a strong opinion about this, but I'm quite certain the overwhelming majority will simply not care.
I'm at a tier 1 and there's at least one teacher here who went that route (might be more, but I'm not in habit of asking my colleagues how/where they got certified).
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