The International Schools Review Forum

Hey everyone. Right now I am trying to decide whether to get my certification in ESL or K-6 gen. ed. To be honest, I'd prefer to be teaching K-6, but I worry that the job market may make my life very difficult. I have two years of ESL experience under my belt, so continuing on to the ESL cert. makes some sense. I think I will enjoy teaching either way, I just want to do whatever is needed to make sure I can land a job.

I am 27 and willing to move just about anywhere to gain experience, so I suppose that's a significant advantage.

Andy,

The best answer is get both certifications. If you have to chose between them, I would give a slight advantage to ESL particularly if you can get K-12 certification. Many schools will fill elementary vacancies as part of a couple or with local-hires. ESL teachers can potentially fall into this category as well.

At the end of the day neither ESL or elementary are high need positions for international schools because there the supply of ESL and elementary teachers is so high.

Having said that, great teachers will always be in demand whether they are ESL, elementary, math, SPED or whatever. I would advise you pick the area you are most passionate about, do you want to work with ESL students or elementary students?