So many questions...

Discussion about courses, qualifications etc

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Lmilton
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Posts: 1
Joined: 16 Jan 2016, 23:43
Status: Teacher

So many questions...

Unread post by Lmilton »

Hi everyone! I'm a high school teacher in Australia and have been for 13 years, I have a full-time permanent position, but I'm looking to do something new with my life (typical of a teacher about to go back to work to start a new year!). I've been looking at some TEFL jobs and am curious to know more about the conditions and the actual lessons that would be taught, eg. do we as the teachers create all lessons, lesson plans, units of work, resources, etc? Also, having a double bachelor degree (B.Arts/B.Ed), would I need a TEFL certificate? Some of the pay indications are very high and better than what I get paid now, and for way less hours than I currently work - is that accurate?! If so, why is the pay so good? Are conditions tough? There are a lot of jobs on global-teachers.org that just sound amazing - Helsinki, Positano, Copenhagen, Brussels, etc - they seem too good to be true...are they? Sorry for all the questions, but please feel free to answer any of them!! -Lana
Briona
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Posts: 199
Joined: 29 Jul 2009, 20:33
Status: Teacher

Re: So many questions...

Unread post by Briona »

Hi Lana,
Lmilton wrote:I've been looking at some TEFL jobs ... There are a lot of jobs on global-teachers.org that just sound amazing...
I'm fairly sure that the vacancies you're looking at are for jobs in international schools, that is, primary/secondary schools which teach the British or American national curriculum. The Middle East aside, TEFL jobs simply don't pay anywhere near that amount. Wages here in Europe are little more than subsistence level.
Lmilton wrote:...and am curious to know more about the conditions and the actual lessons that would be taught, eg. do we as the teachers create all lessons, lesson plans, units of work, resources, etc?
When it comes to TEFL, the exact responsibilities will depend on the school you work for. However, you can expect to be handed a coursebook and accompanying teacher's book and told to create lessons and source supplementary material. You may have to cover a certain number of units each term, but how you get through the material will usually be left up to you.

Resources vary from school to school. I've worked for some extremely well-equipped schools and I've worked for schools where I've ended up spending a large chunk of my wages buying things to use in class.

Oh, and the less said about conditions, the better. Think low pay, unsociable hours, split-shifts, unpaid cancellations, no summer pay and very little summer work... Need I say more?
Lmilton wrote:There are a lot of jobs on global-teachers.org that just sound amazing - Helsinki, Positano, Copenhagen, Brussels, etc - they seem too good to be true...are they?
Unless you have a passport from an EU member state, either through birth, marriage or ancestry, you will struggle to find legal work anywhere in Europe. That's because EU hiring law means that employers can't just hire a non-EU citizen - they first have to prove that there were no suitably-qualified EU citizens who could do the job. For more on finding work in Europe, you might want to check out my advice guide: http://toiberiaandbeyond.blogspot.com.e ... urope.html.

Since you are a qualified high school teacher, I'd recommend looking for high school jobs abroad. I've included some links in my advice post that you might find useful.

Hope that helps, and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Briona
Experience teaching in Vietnam, Portugal, Poland, Spain, the UK, and Qatar
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