Starting Teaching

[PST]

What are the basic steps to be able to start Teaching in Thailand?, I have no degree.

 

Ive lived here for 10 years, married with kids, work from home. British Nationality.

 

What course etc would I need to first do, then what would be the next steps.

 

Joe.

Edited May 27, 2019 by PST

[Peterw42]

The basic steps are you need a teaching license to be a teacher and you need a university qualification to get the license.

If you have the qualification and license, someone has to employ you as a teacher, a school or your own company, that gets you the WP.

[PST]

Thanks, so your saying that everyone who teaches in Thailand has a university Qualification?

 

Joe.

[Peterw42]

30 minutes ago, PST said:

Thanks, so your saying that everyone who teaches in Thailand has a university Qualification?

 

Joe.

As a proper teacher in a proper school, yes.

You can get a job in the mom and pop language school/child minding place on the corner but thats not a school and you are not an official teacher.

[PST]

So taking a TEFL/TESOL course of which many are advertised and passing it on its own would not suffice without a degree?. I see many courses advertised that say you don't need a degree to take.

[Just Weird]

2 hours ago, PST said:

Thanks, so your saying that everyone who teaches in Thailand has a university Qualification?

 

Joe.

He is saying that a degree is supposed to be necessary to keep those who shouldn't be teaching away from our children who have the right to be taught by qualified people.

[Peterw42]

35 minutes ago, PST said:

So taking a TEFL/TESOL course of which many are advertised and passing it on its own would not suffice without a degree?. I see many courses advertised that say you don't need a degree to take.

You could look at a TEFL etc as an add-on if your degree isn't a teaching degree, usually not as required if your degree is a teaching degree.

A bachelor degree and a TEFL or a teaching degree.

A TEFL isn't a stand alone qualification.

More information here

 

https://eslauthority.com/teach/thailand/

 

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by Peterw42

[RJRS1301]

Surely each teacher has to have the best possible qualifications to begin teaching children

 

What do think you are going to teach?? Possibly English, without real qualifications in the English language, so conversational English is all you would do with a TESOL

[PatOngo]

2 hours ago, PST said:

What are the basic steps to be able to start Teaching in Thailand?

Marching and flag waving.

[PST]

18 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

He is saying that a degree is supposed to be necessary to keep those who shouldn't be teaching away from our children who have the right to be taught by qualified people.

I have kids, and didn't ask for your opinion.

 

Thanks for your input anyway

[sanemax]

57 minutes ago, PST said:

So taking a TEFL/TESOL course of which many are advertised and passing it on its own would not suffice without a degree?. I see many courses advertised that say you don't need a degree to take.

You can take the course without a degree , but you will need a degree to get a job teaching

[Hackney35]

Some way off advice from TV armchair experts in this thread.

Of course you can teach in thailand. You are British National which is basically enough.

I taught at a well known private girls school in Bang Rak and over half of the foreign teachers did not have degrees (mostly South Africans who aren’t even native speakers really as Afrikaans is their native tongue)

The only problem with not having a degree is you can’t get a work permit. Most of these teachers were therefore doing part time degrees in education from a Bangkok university to allow them an education visa.

You will need to get TEFL first.

I’d recommend text and talk academy in Lad Prao for TEFL. I enjoyed the course there and felt it prepared me well for my first day in the classroom. 

Text and Talk will get you job offers before the course has even finished as they are a job agency / work with other agencies too. 

[Puchaiyank]

Ive lived here for 10 years, married with kids, work from home. British Nationality...

 

There was a time... just having been raised in an English speaking country was qualification enough...

 

Google Thai Uni requirements qualifications for a teaching English position...

 

Read some of the stories here on TVF of disapointments....

[baansgr]

3 hours ago, Just Weird said:

He is saying that a degree is supposed to be necessary to keep those who shouldn't be teaching away from our children who have the right to be taught by qualified people.

Sadly, many so called "qualified" people are terrible teachers, just because they have an ology in some crappy useless degree that would about get them employment in nothing more than a call center, are teaching, yet there is vast untapped resources in older expats that have common sense and world knowledge, couple that with a teaching course you will have a far better teacher than the backpacker on a trip round the world. Im not saying all younger teachers arnt fit, many are and my kids before received excellent teaching from younger Westerners.

[Peterw42]

39 minutes ago, Hackney35 said:

Some way off advice from TV armchair experts in this thread.

Of course you can teach in thailand. You are British National which is basically enough.

I taught at a well known private girls school in Bang Rak and over half of the foreign teachers did not have degrees (mostly South Africans who aren’t even native speakers really as Afrikaans is their native tongue)

The only problem with not having a degree is you can’t get a work permit. Most of these teachers were therefore doing part time degrees in education from a Bangkok university to allow them an education visa.

You will need to get TEFL first.

I’d recommend text and talk academy in Lad Prao for TEFL. I enjoyed the course there and felt it prepared me well for my first day in the classroom. 

Text and Talk will get you job offers before the course has even finished as they are a job agency / work with other agencies too. 

What a ridiculous comment, being a British national somehow qualifies you to teach in Thailand.

And of course we can all be doctors as well without a degree, a license and Work permit.

 

Of course you can teach in thailand but without a degree, a license and a work permit its illegal. 

[The Cobra]

Personally, I never understood how a piece of paper (degree) attained 30+ years ago in a subject that you never practiced since, is any real recommendation of anything, other than a reasonable education.

 

I am a native English speaker, I have never taught in Thailand, but I have taught in China. I went and got a TEFL in the UK, got a teaching post and the rest I learned "on the job". I never have and never would attempt to teach grammar. I only ever taught conversational English and mostly to companies/employees as it was better paid.

 

I do know, and have been offered several opportunities to Teach if I wish in Thailand, although, the pay as I understand it, is somewhat lower with less formal paperwork.

My understanding, is that the degree and teachers licence etc is required for state schools not private operated schools and is therefore NOT illegal. That's my understanding of the situation.

 

I dont teach here and have no intention of Teaching again, it served my purpose at the time as I wondered SE Asia.

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by The Cobra

[Hackney35]

29 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

What a ridiculous comment, being a British national somehow qualifies you to teach in Thailand.

And of course we can all be doctors as well without a degree, a license and Work permit.

 

Of course you can teach in thailand but without a degree, a license and a work permit its illegal. 

Ridiculous it may be to a self righteous fareng but this is the facts of teaching in the banana republic that is Thailand.

if you are under 40, presentable in appearance and from Britain, America or Australia/NZ you can walk into a ‘decent’ school to teach conversation English. 

Comparing the necessary skills to medicine is ridiculous as we both know the ability required to teach conversation to a class of 40 children is considerably less than that of anything remotely medical (nursing included!)

[Hackney35]

42 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Sadly, many so called "qualified" people are terrible teachers, just because they have an ology in some crappy useless degree that would about get them employment in nothing more than a call center, are teaching, yet there is vast untapped resources in older expats that have common sense and world knowledge, couple that with a teaching course you will have a far better teacher than the backpacker on a trip round the world. Im not saying all younger teachers arnt fit, many are and my kids before received excellent teaching from younger Westerners.

Completely agree with this comment. Sadly most Thai schools are massively ageist and would rather a handsome young man who is probably a terrible teacher than an older guy who could be a much better teacher. 

Most schools just want token white face to please the parents (same argument applies to Filipinos who are often very good teachers but don’t look the part)

[Peterw42]

24 minutes ago, The Cobra said:

Personally, I never understood how a piece of paper (degree) attained 30+ years ago in a subject that you never practiced since, is any real recommendation of anything, other than a reasonable education.

 

I am a native English speaker, I have never taught in Thailand, but I have taught in China. I went and got a TEFL, got a teaching post and the rest I learned "on the job". I never have and never would attempt to teach grammar. I only ever taught conversational English and mostly to companies/employees as it was better paid.

 

I do  know, and have been offered several opportunities to Teach if I wish in Thailand, although, the pay as I understand it, is somewhat lower with less formal paperwork.

My understanding, is that the degree and teachers licence etc is required for state schools not private operated schools and is therefore NOT illegal. That's my understanding of the situation.

 

I dont teach here and have no intention of Teaching again, it served my purpose at the time as I wandered SE Asia.

 

You cant get a work permit without all the qualifications. Even if a private school gives you a job with no qualifications, you are still illegal without a work permit

 

Public or private are bound by the same rules, they both come under the ministry of education, teach the Thai syllabus etc. They are both what is called a formal school.

Edited May 27, 2019 by Peterw42

[Scott]

Inflammatory, bickering post and replies removed.  

 

[magicroundabout]

Hi Joe,  

Have you thought about teaching online?  Some of the companies don't require a degree.

It's fairly straightforward and good flexibility. 

 

 

 

 

[DavisH]

On 5/27/2019 at 2:41 PM, PST said:

So taking a TEFL/TESOL course of which many are advertised and passing it on its own would not suffice without a degree?. I see many courses advertised that say you don't need a degree to take.

Any school under the MOE will require you to at least have a degree (in anything) to get a provisional teachers licence. You would then need to do an education course to get the full licence. It's better to just get a degree in education to begin with. Without a degree, you would be limited to language schools and their ilk. I guess you can get a WP under them, but I don't know how that works, as I work for a regular school. The TEFL certificate is desirable if you are going to teach english, but it does not replace the degree requirement. 

[DavisH]

On 5/27/2019 at 7:09 PM, Hackney35 said:

Completely agree with this comment. Sadly most Thai schools are massively ageist and would rather a handsome young man who is probably a terrible teacher than an older guy who could be a much better teacher. 

Most schools just want token white face to please the parents (same argument applies to Filipinos who are often very good teachers but don’t look the part)

It depends on the school - many of us are 50+ and we hired a qualified teacher who was 65 last year. He has since retired. Another teacher is over 70 now. These are native speaking teachers.

Anyone can hire a white backpacker for 30K and generally they are generally crap teachers here for a fun gap year. It's just a way to fund their holiday.

Many schools just hire qualified non-native speakers as they have been burned too many times by gap year teachers 

 

 

[Isaanbiker]

On 6/2/2019 at 8:59 AM, DavisH said:

Any school under the MOE will require you to at least have a degree (in anything) to get a provisional teachers licence. You would then need to do an education course to get the full licence. It's better to just get a degree in education to begin with. Without a degree, you would be limited to language schools and their ilk. I guess you can get a WP under them, but I don't know how that works, as I work for a regular school. The TEFL certificate is desirable if you are going to teach english, but it does not replace the degree requirement. 

More and more schools and agencies in various provinces hire foreigners as trainers or teacher assistants.

 

The waiver letter ( provisional TL) isn't needed, and issuing a work permit without a degree doesn't seem to be a problem.  

 

Op, get in touch with an agency, find a suitable position, and once you're "in" there'll be other opportunities, depending on the province, the Immigration, and the labor department.

 

[OumarhindaOunsingha]

OP, take a degree in English from some low-ranked uni, there. You could finish it in 1 year. Level is really not high. Just find the money for it. When you have the degree, you can teach legally.

[Slip]

There has been so much nonsense spoken in this thread (along with some good sense and factually correct information from some posters), that I might as well add my tuppence worth.  To the op if you are still around-

If you want to work under the OBEC system (basically all government and private 'proper' schools as most people would consider them) you need a degree in education, a professional teacher post-grad qualification, or just a degree (but then you will have to study further before being granted your full licence.)  Universities, private (tutor style) schools, international schools (including some very shady ones that really don't count and actually do employ completely unqualified westerners) and the like do not require these qualifications necessarily 

There is no legal requirement whatsoever to hold a TEFL qualification, though some companies or schools may want them, and they may be very useful for a potential teacher with no experience. 

 

Most agency teachers are being robbed blind. Agencies are not generally in a position to provide jobs that can attract a work permit.  That's just the way it is.  Many people in Thailand work illegally.  Perhaps they don't realise or perhaps they know how to game the system.  If you wanted to do that I guess you wouldn't be here asking the questions you are.

 

No one-year "degree" would be accepted by Kurusepha or the Dept of Education by the way.

[OumarhindaOunsingha]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 9:41 AM, PST said:

So taking a TEFL/TESOL course of which many are advertised and passing it on its own would not suffice without a degree?. I see many courses advertised that say you don't need a degree to take.

You just need a degree in English from a Thai university. The rated time of the degree will be 4 years, but the level is so low, there is no fail policy, and you are fluent in English, so, provided you have the money (maybe 250,000 baht at some Rajabat xyz university?), you can do the whole degree in a year (that is: one year). Then you will be able to teach legally in Thailand. I do not know you, but I think this will be the best solution for you. Good luck!

Edited June 19, 2019 by OumarhindaOunsingha

[Chrisdoc]

Lots of people teach English online to Chinese kids. I think a TEFL is needed.

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