Recent M.a. In Education Graduate, Wanting To Teach

[jacaleena]

I am writing in regards to prospective teaching opportunities in Thailand. I am from the U.S., and possess a CA teaching credential, an M.A. in Education (multiple subjects, i.e. primary level k-6), and a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology/Social Work.

I have worked as a teacher in various capactities (pre-school, traditional primary school, experiential outdoor education--primary thru highschool levels) for the last few years. I also taught English in Korea for a short time, however was discontent with the infrastructure of the Korean school I worked for, and was left with a bad taste for teaching English in general.

Thus, ideally I would like to teach in Thailand at an International School/University, and would consider teaching primary school (multiple subjects) or highschool through University (single subjects).

The main purpose of my inquiry is to get an idea of what I might expect to make monetarily, having considered my teaching background, degrees, etc.

I know that having teaching certificates from the States, as well as an M.A. in Education, should give me a little more honey than having a random B.A. (not to say that the random B.A. people are any less capable---I've met many who are more capable than people I know with similar certificates as myself---it's all papers anyway, right?)

I just want to finally be able to USE my M.A., and reap some rewards for having put myself through it.

So, enough with the rambling

HOW MUCH SHOULD I BE MAKING HERE AS A TEACHER WITH AN M.A. AND TEACHING CREDENTIAL?????????????

ANYONE? ANYONE?

I'd appreciate any info or insight

thanks so much

Jaclyn

p.s.--I've taught English, as I mentioned before, and my CA credential certifies that I am qualified to teach second language learners, however I do not possess a TEFL or TOEFL

ok

i'm done

thanks again :D

[britmaveric]

Sorry couldn't help myself, but you will most likely be teaching english and thats about it. The wages are shi*e. So if you are dreaming of huge amounts of dosh because of your credentials then might as well forget about it, better off teaching in Yankland.

[Ijustwannateach]

I think the pinned thread "Questions About Qualifications" pretty much comprehensively covers your question in the detail it deserves.

"Steven"

[Sporting Dog]

I think you could work at an international school and earn 100,000+ if you are an accredited teacher in the States.

<No links please.....KK>

and what he says above.....

Edited February 21, 2006 by kenkannif

[PeaceBlondie]

Agreeing with all of the above. Better to be recruited from abroad, than to just hit the ground running in Thailand and end up taking a 50K job.

[sylvafern]

Over 100,000 a month for a good int'l school plus benefits (flights, housing, etc) .. but you better apply now or you will miss out. Most of the good schools are already in the interviewing stage for jobs starting in Aug/Sept. Check out the TES website (jobs section) for current vacancies and a forum similar to this where you can find out about particular schools (mostly british curriculum tho').

[Lormaak]

I would have thought that any decent intl. school worth its salt (secondary level) would only hire subject teachers; i.e. you have to have an undergraduate degree in, and your teaching qual. must be relevent to, the subject(s) you are going to teach. After all, you can't teach education in schools.

Since the OP has a degree in Sociology and Social Work, this pretty much limits the work to primary and nursery levels. There are many intl. primary schools and kindergartens out there, and the pay is from about 70,000-80,000 upwards. There are also a few half-arsed intl. schools here who will employ the Khao San drunks from about 50,000+.

Recruits from abroad don't necessarily get more dosh. It also depends on the negotiation skills of the applicant. If you are what they are looking for...

Why not make some unsolicited approaches? I know a couple of guys this has worked for, expecially at expanding schools who have a new years intake every year.

If you think I have just stated the obvious, thank you for pointing it out.

[Ijustwannateach]

.... I don't think the KSR types survive long at the 50k+ level. They pretty much get weeded out around 30K. There are always exceptions, of course.

[kenkannif]

^ You'd be everso surprised mate

[otherstuff1957]

There's one thing in your post that set's off some little alarm bells in the back of my mind - and that's the fact that you didn't like teaching in Korea. While Thailand is certainly different from Korea, don't expect Thai schools, even "International Schools" to be run like western schools!

Did you know that you cannot give your students a failing grade? Even if a student has done nothing all semester and has learned nothing, you will be under great pressure from your administration to give him a passing grade. Also, don't expect the students to respect you. Of course this wouldn't be so bad if they were the same with the Thai teachers, but if a Thai teacher so much as casually glances into a classroom, the students will instantly sit at attention and start looking as though they were working, while most students regard time spent with their Farang teachers as "party time".

Don't expect accurate information from your administration. Even if you are given a detailed schedule for the semester or the school year, there will be last minute, unannounced changes. There will also be unexpected, retroactive changes in expectations of teacher's duties and in school policies toward the end of the year.

IMHO All of the qualifications in the world won't really prepare you to teach in Thailand. I've seen a number of "qualified" teachers get chewed up and spat out by the Thai School system. They just couldn't cope the lack of organization and with what they saw as unacceptably low educational standards.

Quite frankly, the best qualifications that you need to work in Thailand are a good sense of humor, a relaxed attitude towards the foibles of your Administration, an open mind and a little knowledge of Thai language and culture.

[jbowman1993]

Also, don't expect the students to respect you.

Oh I don't know. My students all straighten up and "Wai" me like crazy. But then, I was always taught that respect is not just given, it has to be earned.

[too true]

The advice most of you are giving is most disheartening to the poor OP. What international schools do you all work at where students don't respect teachers, administration lies, and farang teachers are seen as party time?

An elementary teacher doesn't need subject specific certification. A degree in anything, combined witha teaching certification is what you need to work in an international school - I'm sure the OP already knows that.

There's no comparison that can be made between hogwan teaching in Korea and international schools in Thailand, except perhaps for the ones that teachers on this thread seem to have encountered. I, too, spent time in Korea, and now work in an international school in Thailand. My general farang circle of friends also work at international schools. And all theses schools are run as proper schools, more or less the way schools are run at home. Administration is farang. Teachers are farang. Students do fail classes. Students respect the teachers. In fact, in my experience, it's the Thai classroom assistants who have the problems controlling the class. When kids aren't being hit for misbehaving, there's no reason to treat a farang teacher's class as party time. An accredited international school is by far the best deal teachers are going to get in Thailand, I think. And the foreign hire package is generally much better than the local hire, particularly in terms of benefits.

Basically, if a school's not accredited outside of Thailand, and you're a certified teacher, don't even give it a second glance.

There are some fantastic schools here and they pay big to get the best teachers.