ESL Jobs Forum

[canuckophile]

I think anyone with a B Ed PLUS experience is obviously way better prepared than most of the people with a BA in basketweaving/finance, etc. That said, experience is key, especially experience teaching non-native speakers overseas.

I've seen some ESL teachers from North America come schlepping to Korea with sacks full of TESL teaching material that works fine when you are teaching immigrant children/adults in an English-speaking host country. But- then they get here and realize that no matter what level they are teaching (including Teaching the Teachers), this North America-based instructional material is WAY over the heads of most students. You just gotta do the basics and be patient, not looking for normal benchmarks or expecting anything approaching the fluency we would expect for students studying in an English-speaking country..

Best experience I ever had for teaching was actually being a mom - meaning that I like and understand kids of all ages. It's helped me function better around students from kindies thru college here in Asia, where students tend to be socially fairly immature compared to their western counterparts, and often view the teacher as a surrogate parent. (My giant farewell card from my oh-so- sweet college students was addressed to "respectful (my name)"" with a large smiley-face next to it!.)

My 2nd most important experience was that I taught kindie immersion right away here in Korea.. I still use some of t he immersion techniques with college students. They love it, and clearly learn better.

Would I be a better teacher if I had some other training? I would hope so! Possibly/probably there are things that I would be able to use, and so I would give that a qualified "yes" . However, note that material must be useful, and most elementary educators I knew in North America said mostly their undergraduate education classes were NOT useful, except for in-class teaching experience.

I find a collegial attitude in teaching to be the key to success for many of us - i.e., we learn from other teachers, and all of us benefit. Plus I go to TESOL conferences with the same intent to learn and adapt practical experience to the classroom.

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[genkiness]

Certainly nothing can replace experiential knowledge. That being said, one has to start somewhere. I learned a great deal from the CELTA. It definitely honed my skills and gave me an edge in an increasingly competitive market. Of course I would prefer a masters, but it's catch 22. The masters program I want to study requires two years overseas experience. Overseas employment is easier to obtain with a reputable certification. This opinion is based strictly upon my experience trying to break into the ESL field as a profession after volunteering for several years.

[sallie]

No certs, but have a Master's of Arts in Adult Ed plus 4 years teaching EFL experience. I suppose eventually there will be jobs I can't apply for but I have yet to find such a one that economically affected me. Even some CELTA job posts paid less than what I currently get offered. I am interested in the CELTA though...I love learning any new ideas or pedagogy on this topic. But I do not (yet) see I must have the certs in order to be employed in this field.

[corbindoak]

[ANURAG SINHA ROY]

I plan on doing the American TESOL course from AMERICAN TESOL INSTITUTE kolkata. Can anyone please suggest if this will help in any way to secure a job abroad. I am very confused .Please help

http://www.americantesolinstitute.com/tesol-india-kolkata.shtml