Ed Degree But No Tefl

[KhunSpoon]

Okay, so I've been pondering this for a while now. How necessary is a TEFL for teachers with experience? I've got around 5 years of solid English teaching experience, but I was never certified in any form of TEFL. I have a BA in English Education, and have teacher certification in the US. All of those five years were spent teaching both regular classroom English (reading and composition) and ELL in the US. Having moved to Bangkok recently, I was considering grabbing a job at a language school while I laid my roots, but was wondering if there was any necessity for TEFL certification for teachers with experience. To me, it feels like it would be a waste of money to pay 1600+ USD to get a piece of paper that tells me I'm certified in something in which I am already competent, but I know it also looks better when applying for jobs. Does anyone have any experience or advice in this issue?

At a Glance:

* Certified to teach in the US

* BA in English Education (essentially a dual degree from my college: English & Education)

* No official TEFL Certification, but already have experience in the US

[PeaceBlondie]

I think you do not need TEFL cert

[Pitbullman1]

Dear OP,

You have sufficient qualifications to teach at the MOMENT but this being Thailand you never know from one day to the next what else they need from you. I was told that I had to do a Thai culture course which I did so. It wasn't a great advantage to me but merely another piece of paper to add to my profile, and another way of making money(not for me) but for the Thai government!

So you go ahead find a lovely Language school, get more experience in teaching Thais and enjoy yourself.

Good Luck.

Edited November 5, 2009 by Pitbullman1

[loquent]

Dear OP,

You have sufficient qualifications to teach at the MOMENT but this being Thailand you never know from one day to the next what else they need from you. I was told that I had to do a Thai culture course which I did so. It wasn't a great advantage to me but merely another piece of paper to add to my profile, and another way of making money(not for me) but for the Thai government!

So you go ahead find a lovely Language school, get more experience in teaching Thais and enjoy yourself.

Good Luck.

The degree qualification, if genuine, is sufficient to get you a job teaching. You can avoid the lang. schools and would be wise to do so. They pay little and want blood, bone and marrow. Much better to approach unis. direct and see what is offered. It can be a lengthy wait but up country they are more realistic and rather flattered if an educated, qualified, native speaker is available locally. Also, the experience would be very rewarding.

Also, you can apply direct to some schools and again see what turns up. You can advertise private conversational English and provided that you are clean cut, tattoo free, without bizarre hairstyle and simply professional then again ..... something may turn up.

The TEFL thing is secondary to a degree no matter how you cut it. If you happen to have aletter of authenticity even better. Referees, contactable by phone to an Institution should convinve any doubters of your worth.

Good Luck.

[Scott]

Your qualifications makes you pretty much good to go. It's a little difficult to get a teaching job at this time of the year, but you've got the credentials that a lot of schools want.

Whether or not you take work at a language school is up to you and I wouldn't unless I really needed the money. Some are better than others.

I will be very surprised if you don't get a job rather easily.

Best of luck.

[Scott]

My understanding is that if you have a teacher's license from your home country, you are eligible for one in Thailand without further training. I am not positive of this, but I do that some years back, teacher's were supposed to be 'grandfathered' in who had taught before 2003 (?). At the same time, those who came later, but had a teacher's license (and I presume the other qualification of B.Ed or it's equivalent) were given a license.

Can anyone confirm or correct this?

[Firelily]

Scott, in my home country, we don't have teaching licences - if you have a degree, then you can work as a teacher without any further procedure.

Last time Thai staff checked for me (June), I was refused a licence here in Thailand because my degree says "M.A. in TEFL" - they said it is not a B.Ed. or M.Ed. I have no idea if I have a temporary licence (towards the work permit) or how the whole thing got eventually sorted out. I've sort of given up trying to understand what's going on.

[Loaded]

Scott, in my home country, we don't have teaching licences - if you have a degree, then you can work as a teacher without any further procedure.

Last time Thai staff checked for me (June), I was refused a licence here in Thailand because my degree says "M.A. in TEFL" - they said it is not a B.Ed. or M.Ed. I have no idea if I have a temporary licence (towards the work permit) or how the whole thing got eventually sorted out. I've sort of given up trying to understand what's going on.

It sounds like your school obtained a waiver from the TCT for you. These are easy to obtain and just require a request from you school director to the TCT.

[Scott]

I will have to check with our Admin person who takes care of these matters. There were a few teachers, myself included, who had worked at the school pre-2003 (?). We, along with later teachers who were had their degree in education and a teacher's license from their home country were to get a permanent Thai teacher's license. Some of that regulation wasn't fully implemented. I will try and check today.

For all our newer teachers, they are getting the waiver, which is 'automatic' and very fast.

Everyone needs to remember that how the regulations are implemented in one place and how they are implemented elsewhere can vary greatly.

[Scott]

OK. I checked. I have a 5 year teacher's license as do a number of teachers. All the newer teachers at my school have gotten a waiver, which is good for two years.

Employees with a B.Ed and a teacher's license from their home country get a T.L. in Thailand (no waiver). The only thing you have to take is the Thai Culture and Training class (the one that's a couple of days long).

Firefly, what the school has gotten for you is a waiver as Loaded said. It is generally good for 2 years.

[languageexpress]

Last time Thai staff checked for me (June), I was refused a licence here in Thailand because my degree says "M.A. in TEFL" - they said it is not a B.Ed. or M.Ed.

Tough break. The drone that made that decision is truly clueless!

[Scott]

The rule that they now use for issuing the TL is that you need to have a B.Ed and a Teacher's License from your home country. I believe they will extend a license to people with a certain number of credit hours in the education field provided they have a Bachelor's. This one would be a bit 'iffy' because I don't know if the Teachers' Council is going to be able to discern which credits are related to education. Transcripts from different countries are a little hard to understand.

You should, however, be able to get a waiver.