Certificates for teaching in ISS; ISS curricula

Roving Tim
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Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2019 5:31 am

Certificates for teaching in ISS; ISS curricula

Post by Roving Tim »

Hi everyone,
I think I should introduce myself first, since this is my first ever post. I am from the US originally, and have fourteen years of experience teaching ESL, mostly to adults but also some to teens. In university, I studied history, as well as German as a second language. I currently work online teaching ESL, and am exploring what it would take to teach in international schools.
One big question I have is what certificates are required to teach. It seems like there are several different currciula out there, the most popular ones being US K-12 curriculum, British, and IB. Are there big differences in pay between these different programs? Is one of them more popular than the others?
Also, I know that to get a job in an ISS, I need to have a Master's in Education, a US state teaching license, or possibly some other options. Which of these certificates is best to get to teach the different curricula I mentioned above? Do most schools have hard and fast requirements about which certificate you need, or is there some flexibility?
Thanks for any help you all can provide!
Tim
Roving Tim
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Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2019 5:31 am

Re: Certificates for teaching in ISS; ISS curricula

Post by Roving Tim »

Also- are online certifications from accredited organizations accepted?
sid
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Re: Certificates for teaching in ISS; ISS curricula

Post by sid »

Do you mean schools run by International Schools Services, or just any old international schools?
Typically, decent international schools will require teachers to have a valid teaching credential. As you’re apparently a US citizen, a state-issued teaching license is your go-to credential.
Masters degrees are helpful in addition, but since they aren’t accepted teaching credentials in the US, one on its own won’t be your best bet. Not that you couldn’t find a job with just a masters, but you’re unlikely to find a job at the better schools.
A US license would be a good path to American or IB schools. British is a different animal and would be easier on a different pathway, but unless you have UK options open to you, that’s a hard path.
Online is irrelevant in terms of a US teaching license. Since they’re issued by the government, not by schools, online isn’t a thing. Meet the state requirements, you get the license.
Online can matter in terms of masters. Some countries don’t yet recognize online degrees and won’t give a work visa for one. Most countries don’t care, but it does come up.
Roving Tim
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Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2019 5:31 am

Re: Certificates for teaching in ISS; ISS curricula

Post by Roving Tim »

Hi Sid, Thanks for the information, that is really helpful! I am really new to this, so I was not aware that there such a thing as ISS. It sounds like ISS schools are on the whole significantly better than non-ISS ones, is that right?
As for my situation, I am a US citizen, but am living abroad already, so getting a state certificate is possible, but definitely not convenient, as it means I have to go back to the US and live there for around a year, which I don't really want to do, but can do. Do I have any other options, for example somehow getting a state certificate while abroad, or getting some other certificate?
Thanks again for your attention and help!
Heliotrope
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Re: Certificates for teaching in ISS; ISS curricula

Post by Heliotrope »

What does the extra S stand for when you say 'an ISS'?
On this forum the abbreviation IS is used for international school.
ISS is an agency that helps schools to fill vacancies, and teachers to fill those vacancies. Search Associates is another one.

Yes, you usually need a teaching license, for decent schools at least.
You can get your certification online through Teacher Ready (https://www.teacherready.org/) or Teach Now (https://teach-now.edu/certification). Both have been discussed on this forum a lot. Use the Search function to find out more.
You can also do the Assessment Only route, also discussed here at length.

Good luck!
Roving Tim
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Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2019 5:31 am

Re: Certificates for teaching in ISS; ISS curricula

Post by Roving Tim »

Hi Heliotrope, Sorry for asking such basic questions, I am literally just getting started doing this, I didn't know what questions to ask. It's all new for me. Will use the search functions as you instructed!
Heliotrope
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Re: Certificates for teaching in ISS; ISS curricula

Post by Heliotrope »

No need to apologize @Roving Tim, we've all been there, and it's what the forum is for after all.
Let us know if you don't find the information you're looking for.
PsyGuy
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Response

Post by PsyGuy »

There is no certificate "required" to teach in IE. IE is self regulating at the institutional level, there isnt a centralized (or even decentralized) regulating authority. The vast majority of ISs are private/independent organizations who can hire who they want regardless of credentials and qualifications, if you can get a work visa, you can teach in IE. Thats different from what a typical dossier of an IT candidate is who is marketable to a particular tier of ISs. Many ISs are accredited by a western organization and qualified ITs are typically a requirement which typically mandate some form of professional educator credential, though lower third tier ISs can settle for less. In such cases qualifications such as a Masters in edu or another type of qualification such as a PGCEi are sufficient working qualifications for IE.

In the US a valid state issued certificate from a DOE or other regulating authority is a proper professional edu credential. In the UK QTS or full registration is the professional edu credential. In CAN a provincial teaching credential or registration with the provincial regulating authority is a professional teaching credential. In AUS state territory registration is the professional edu credential.

In the US the NC (National Curriculum) is the K12 curriculum that in IE often culminates with a local diploma as the SLL certificate typically with an option for AP (which actually manage and offers an international curriculum and diploma, though its not required for students to study AP).
In the UK (England) its the KS (Key Stage) NC thats comparable to the US K12 curriculum. The UK has two exit pathways at SLL the first is the IGCSE which is completed at age 16 and is the end of KS 5, but then usually expands to A* levels which is considered 6th form or KS (Key Stage) 6.
The IB curriculum is broken don into essentially 3 programs (theer is actually a fourth, but its far less common in IE). At the top you have the IB Diploma commonly referred to as the DP program. Its a two year SLL program that includes taking a selection of prescribed courses from the sphere across 6 domains and completing essay, TOK and CAS. Students that are successful (courses are externally moderated) results in students receiving the IB diploma. Below that is the 5 year upper and lower secondary program called MYP (Middle Years Program) its a far less prescribed program and incorporates a project as part of the full program, ISs that choose too offer the full program and participate in eAssessment can issue an IB MYP advancement certificate to students. Finally in primary is the PYP (Primary Years Program) the final year of PYP (year 5 or 6) students participate in exhibition. Otherwise its a thematic interdisciplinary curriculum of typical academic fields. ISs need not offer all three programs.

None of the curriculum inherently pay or compensate ITs more than others except that the second tier which generally compensates better than the third tier has a high concentration of IB ISs. You otherwise find NC ISs at both the top (first tier) and the bottom (third tier of ISs) Elite tier ISs tend to be NC ISs (British or American) but offer the IB DIP as an optional SLL program.

In addition to British ISs (BS) there are Euro ISs (Swiss/German) and French ISs (FS) and if you add them together to the BSs are about equal to the number of American (AS), there are also a handful of AUS and CAN ISs.

You do not need a Masters in edu to enter into IE. While its more common at later stages in an ITs career to have a Masters, there are plenty of entry and career class ITs without advance degrees. An advance degree can actually be a disadvantage early in an ITs career as salary sales are often based on step (years of experience) and band (academic degrees) having an advance degree very early makes you a more expensive hire without a complimenting degree of experience, and in IE among the three factors to an ITs resume experience is king.

License and credential are not synonymous with one another.

At SLL (SLL means School Leaving Level) the three main western curriculum in terms of core subject matter are highly congruent. There are differences mainly in pedagogy such as scope and sequence but if you can teach AP biology you can teach DIP or A* biology with little adjustment. Thee biggest curriculum variations tend to be in history and literature (BSs dont address American history aside from participation of world events including that mildly inconvenient colonial conflict. Britannia is good at building empire but not keeping it). If you were to look at a Japanese textbook that whole second world male anatomy measuring contest thing has some issues for an American trained historian.

Its really between getting a US or a UK credential, there isnt really an IB credential, there is its just not required to teach IB. In the IB the requirement for an IT/DT to meet the authorization requirements is to complete a subject and age level appropriate workshop. These are available F2F or online and are about 17 hours of participation. The available IB T&L (thats Teaching and Learning) certificates typically involve graduate level study as part of a Masters program. Outside of some founding classic world IB ISs they arent worth very much.
In the UK (when I write UK, I am really referring specifically to England, because Scotland and Northern Ireland have different systems for professional edu credentials, that are more difficult to accomplish), so in the UK QTS as mentioned above is the professional edu credential. There are a number of pathways (ITT or Initial Teacher Training) to get QTS, the three most common are
1) Academic pathway; Obtain a PGCE. This would require you to enroll in a one year Uni sponsored program (essentially half a Masters).
2) Skills pathway; SCD or School Direct. This is a program sponsored by DSs in the UK where you are essentially an apprentice and you learn the meds/peds/asst of edu while on the job.
3) Assessment pathway; AO, Assessment Only. this is a pathway that requires you to complete a portfolio demonstrating teaching competencies and includes observations of you in the classroom. At the conclusion of these pathways if successful you will be an NQT which is the preliminary form of QTS, to get the final form of QTS you would then have to work in a BS (including an IS BS, called a BSO, British School Overseas) through a process called induction.

In the US there are similar pathways (EPP or Educator Preparation Programs)
1) Academic pathway; this involves a period of academic study either at the undergraduate (a post bachelors program) or at the graduate (masters level) that culminates in a recommendation for a state teaching credential.
2) Skills pathway; these are alternative certification programs typically consisting one one year of which most of the program takes place as an intern in a DS/IS working as the TOR (Teacher of Record). Some of these programs such as Teach Now out of DC and Teach Ready (okay they are really called Teacher Ready, but the brain cell responsible for their name isnt going to change) out of Florida allow candidates to complete the programs OS (Over Seas). These programs are significantly less expensive than academic pathways and considerably more flexible and less resource intensive.
3) Assessment pathway; exam based pathways. Unlike the UK these pathways involve the applicant passing a series of exams to a credential. Currently the MA (Massachusetts) provisional (entry grade) credential is the common pathway.

Most marketable for a noob for an American IT candidate would be completing a UK program and getting a PGCE and QTS. Why you may be pondering, to reasons:
1) As a US educated individual applying to American ISs no one is going to think you dont know how the American edu system works.
2) While you can use a US credential to get full QTS as an OTT (Overseas Trained Teacher)as an American applicant to a BS they ill take one look at your resume and know youve never lived, studied, or worked in the UK and know nothing about the UK NC or anything about it, having QTS makes you legal, but youre not going to fool anyone that you know anything about British edu.
Even better would be to get th MA provisional credential by taking the to requires credentialing exams. Teach for three years, apply for the HI (Hawaii) standard (professional grade) credential. Using that apply for QTS as an OTT, THEN enroll in a PGCE course. Then either take the PRAXIS for ESOL and after two more years of teaching apply for the CA CLEAR credential or dont do the ESOL and after three years of teaching apply for the NJ standard credential.

ISs generally require or say they require an applicant to be credentialed by a western authority. There tends to be a preference for BSs to hire British ITs and ASs to hire American ITs but you see US ITs and BSs and UK iTs and ASs often enough.

What do you mean by "online certifications"? There are credentialing programs such as Teach Now and Teach Ready that provide their content delivery online and those programs result in fully valid professional credentials. There are organizations such as ACSI that issue edu certificates, but they arent credentials. On the UK side there is a something called a PGCEi which is an online program that results in a PGCE but typically doesnt provide QTS, this can be used as a working qualification in third tier ISs mush as a Masters can.
I concur with @Sid, Some countries don’t yet recognize online degrees and won’t give a work visa for one.

ISS (International Schools Service) is one of the to premium recruiting agencies in IE. The other being SA (Search Associates). Unlike SA, there are a handful of 20 ISs that are managed by ISS. I know of no one that would argue the position those 20 ISS managed ISs are better than any and all other global ISs.

Well getting a state credential isnt any less convenient than being in the US, you might have to travel further to take the credentialing exams but thats it. You wouldnt have to travel back to the US to complete an EPP/ITT program, both Teach No and Teach Ready would allow you to stay in the country youre in and complete their program is the skills base pathway is the way you anted to go.
Heliotrope
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Re: Response

Post by Heliotrope »

PsyGuy wrote:
> You otherwise find NC ISs at both the top (first tier) and the bottom (third tier of ISs)
> Elite tier ISs tend to be NC ISs (British or American) but offer the IB DIP as an optional SLL program.

Not true. For most tier 1 ISs, the IBDP is the main route for most students.
PsyGuy disagrees, but just because he thinks he's right doesn't make him right. Same goes for my opinion, so check for yourself.

I've compiled a list of what schools have been mentioned most on this forum and other places as being tier 1. You can find it on the paid forum. The list hasn't been compiled based on my own opinion about which schools are tier 1, I've merely scoured the forum and wrote down schools that were mentioned very often.

The list contains 66 schools in total that are mentioned a lot as being tier 1.
Of those 66:
- Only 5 offer no IB programs at all
- 61 offer 1 or more IB programs (IB-PYP, IB-MYP, IB-DP)
- 28 offer all three programs (IB-PYP, IB-MYP & IB-DP)
- 6 offer 2 out of 3 programs (IB-DP and either IB-MYP or IB-PYP
- 27 offers 1 IB-program (IB-DP, at 8 schools AP is also offered alongside IB-DP)

PsyGuy doesn't agree with the list, as he has his own (secret) list of tier 1 schools.
PsyGuy
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Discussion

Post by PsyGuy »

This isnt true the vast majority of 1st and elite tier ISs are NS ISs. The IBs DIP is offered as an optional SLL track in many of them, but this is at SLL and they are still predominately NC ISs.
The list offered by @Heliotrope is inaccurate.
Heliotrope
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Re: Discussion

Post by Heliotrope »

PsyGuy wrote:
> This isnt true the vast majority of 1st and elite tier ISs are NS ISs. The
> IBs DIP is offered as an optional SLL track in many of them, but this is at
> SLL and they are still predominately NC ISs.
> The list offered by @Heliotrope is inaccurate.

Nope, for most of the tier 1 schools, the DP is the main route for students.

Yes, my list is inaccurate, there are probably few schools that don't belong anymore, or missing a few that so. Quality of ISs isn't constant. The majority of the list is accurate, and so are the conclusions about the overwhelming majority of them offering IBDP as the main route for most students at the SLL.
But by all means, post your own personal tier 1 list on the paid forum PsyGuy, so we can compare.
PsyGuy
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Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@Heliotrope

No, the vast majority of 1st and elite tier ISs are NS ISs. The IBs DIP is offered as an optional SLL track in many of them, but this is at SLL and they are still predominately NC ISs.
Your list is inaccurate.
Heliotrope
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Re: Reply

Post by Heliotrope »

Well, we disagree.

People can check my list (well, not really 'my' list, but I compiled it), see if they agree withit, and then check the curriculums the schools offer, and finally decide for themselves.
PsyGuy
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Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@Heliotrope

We disagree.
My primary issue with your list is youve identified a significant portion of tier 2 ISs of which IB ISS comprise a high concentration of as tier 1 ISs, thus inflating the number of IB ISs.
The secondary issue is that of your 66 ISs only 28 of them are IB ISs as those 28 are the ones that are all IB, and thats not even half or a majority of ISs. Offering one IB program doesnt make an IS an IB IS because the IB or @Heliotrope claims it to be so. Those ISs are still NC iSs in curriculum and ethos.
Heliotrope
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Re: Reply

Post by Heliotrope »

Those schools are tier 2 ISs because you say so?
Or are they tier 1 because a lot of people say so?
I'd rather go with the crowd for this one, as these are people that have work at these and other schools.

About 85-90% of the schools on the list offer IBDP, which is what applies to SLL.
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