Really that big of a difference between local and home-hires?

[Michela]

Short question: Is there *really* that big of a salary difference between local hires and teachers interviewed in their home country?

Long explanation;

I'm an American with a BA in psychology. I got tired of social work, decided to do the teaching/travelling thing. I've been taking non-certified crap ESL jobs for 2 years, decided that I like teaching but want to get better jobs, so I enrolled in a program to be certified to teach in my home state (New Mexico). In NM there are several alternative ways to become licensed, and the way I chose was to enroll in a community college program, pass some state tests, student teach for a semester, and I'll be certified (this takes about 2 years and is open to people who hold a BA). My program is mostly online, so I'm actually in Thailand right now.

It's a long story why, but my Plan A for my semester of student teaching fell through and now I need to come up with another plan ASAP. I can either try to find something at an international school here (in order to count for my certification it has to be at a school that is similar to an American school or at least equivalent), or I can go back to the States and do it there (I think. I hate how last minute it is but I know a lot of teachers so I bet I could get something).

After I become certified I'd like to teach at an international school, ideally in Bangkok. So the reason I'm asking if there's *really* that big of a difference between local hires and home-country hires, is because that could sway me in the direction of going home, even though it seems silly to leave Point A to go to Point B so I can return to Point A at a higher salary. Or would the salary difference not matter, since it would be my first real school position? Or would it not matter because it's too late to get a good job for next year anyway? (I've done social work in the states for several years. My only teaching experience is at private language institutes, not accredited schools).

Any confirmations of people's real life experience would be great!

or, alternately, if anyone has been licensed for at least 5 years and wants to let me student teach with them (my license will be K-8, I prefer grades K-4), I'd love to talk to them about being my supervising teacher...

(short explanation: despite my having been emailing her since August my adviser didn't turn in my paperwork for my Plan A until a few days ago, which is past the deadline. Worthless)

[LucidLucifer]

Local hires often lose benefits such as relocation allowance, flights and housing allowance. Together, that adds up to a sizable chunk of money.

[MrC4ke]

Depends on the school. I came from Indonesia to here, other teachers were already at IS in BKK. Perks were the same for all new hires.

[gp2002]

It also depends on the school.

The 'big' international schools (Harrow, ISB, Patana, Shrewsbury) plus some of the middle to small schools offer an expat package and a local package. As mentioned earlier, the relocation allowance, flights, housing will not be included. The salaries, depending on experience, are usually the same.

To give you an idea, go to Patana's website. They do a really good job of listing what is in both packages.

http://www.patana.ac.th/recruitment_benefit.asp

[nongsangcity]

In my local area of Sakhon Nakhon and out in the sticks foreign teachers teaching English are pulling 35000 bht a month they also get paid for holidays and another 2500 bht towards their rooms.....a good number of the teachers are cleaver people but their spoken English isn't too cleaver...I was introduced to a nice Chinese teacher not long ago and she was talking to me and I apologised to her as I don't have a very good command of the Thai language and I didn't understand what she was saying, only to be told by a Thai teacher friend of mine the Chinese girl carnt speak Thai and she was talking to me in English....fair play to her pulling 35000 bht a month...she carnt speak a word of Thai and I couldn't understand one word of her English I hope her Chinese is ok ?...I will leave it there.

[ChokDeeMak]

How easy is it to get licensed and take tests to get certified in the USA? I have been wondering this for a while now. I am really interested (hopefully I do not have to travel back to the states?)

[zeichen]

The issue with your plan is that most international schools especially those paying 100k+ won't hire you. You don't just need a license but need usually around 5 years home country experience. You have none. EFL teaching does not count towards experience when applying to be a subject teacher at International schools.

You might do better working in China at a low ranked International school and work your way up. Low ranked international schools don't usually pay much better than EFL jobs. 40-60k a month would be average to high for someone with your lack of qualifications. Not really worth the price of the degree.

[RtotheC]

So to help Michela get an idea, how much would go towards room cost if working at an international school? I understand 2500 was quoted in a previous post for teaching ESL, i would assume international school would pay more here for a housing allowance?

This site also might help you Michela - http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewforum.php?f=1

What is the name of the program from New Mexico you are planning to do? I'm looking at the Teacher Ready program from Florida which is mostly online. The in class teaching portions you can complete at international schools here. The three tests have to be taken in the states though because there are no available test centers. You might want to check it out because it only takes about 9 months and gives you an alternative teaching license in the state of Florida.

[caykay]

I'm in a similar situation and after teaching 3 years at crap ESL jobs, I returned to the us to get a masters degree and a teaching license. I'm not exactly sure if it will work well, but I'm attending an international school job fair in the us to get hired. The salaries they advertise are 1 to 1.5 million baht per year, plus benefits and flights. That is a far cry from my previous earnings of 45000 a month working 6-7 days a week. Anyway, I go to the fair in a month so I will drop a line and let you know what happens. I'm alwAys curious to see what a colleague is doing . .

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Scott]

Posts criticizing grammar and spelling have been deleted along with off-topic posts and replies to deleted posts.

[Michela]

ChokDeeMok, my program is pretty similar to what RtotheC described, except it's in my home state of New Mexico. Most of the classes are online with occasional observation or teaching components that I have been fulfilling in international schools, and I have to take a handful of state tests so I go home every year. Every state does their certification process a little differently, so I only know about certification in New Mexico.

I researched online and it looked to me that job prospects are not sufficiently better for a MA that it would merit spending the money to earn one, whereas this certification program is actually very cheap. It is definitely not as good, but there is nothing to prevent you from going above and beyond the minimum requirements.

I did it in the wrong order.I started teaching/traveling first to dip my toe in, see if I liked teaching before committing to going back to school. Now I know I like teaching but I also like travelling and don't want to spend much time back home, even though it would help me career-wise.

Thank you everyone for your comments, and caykay please do let me know how the fair goes.

[NeverSure]

How easy is it to get licensed and take tests to get certified in the USA? I have been wondering this for a while now. I am really interested (hopefully I do not have to travel back to the states?)

I don't know how you do it from abroad, and each state has its own requirements. There are some accredited on-line schools where you could do the classwork part.

Usually it boils down to two things, after you have a bachelor's. You take about 1 extra year of college to study teaching, and then you do about 1 year of student teaching under supervision. Then you get your teaching credentials.

It's very similar in effort to getting a masters, and IMHO should be a master's, but instead it is a teaching certification. Most state require a master's but give a grace period. There is more money with the master's, too. That takes about one more year and many teachers take two or three years to complete it.

It is easiest to do it all through one school. Choose a uni that offers it, perhaps an on-line one, and complete their courses. Then get them to approve your student teaching desires, and when finished they would issue the credential and it would be valid. You'll just need to start asking about your unique ideas.

PS I have never understood teachers who have gone to all of that effort, and who can teach in the US for good money and benefits, and then get a fat retirement check in addition to social security, and a 401k making a career of teaching in Thailand. I have known teachers to take a 2 year sabbatical and teach in Thailand, but that doesn't break the chain of gaining benefits from the US. I also know some who come to Thailand every year during the US summer break for 2+ months.

I know a retired US high school teacher who's state teacher's pension is US$5k per month. He built up a $300k 401k half paid for by the school, and gets $2,500 per month in social security. His home is paid for, he retired at 60, and can do whatever he wants within reason.

[Michela]

Neversure, everyone is different of course, but it might depend a lot on their stage in life.

My mother and half of my family have taught in the US for 25+ years apiece, and of course they are happy(ish) there. At the risk of getting terribly off topic, for myself I felt like I didn't want to do social work any more and the recession was sufficiently deep that experienced teachers were having difficulty finding jobs, I couldn't afford to go back to school nor did I feel that I'd be competitive in that depressed market even if I had. And I had always wanted to travel. So the factors that influenced my decision would not influence someone older and more established, because the older generation and younger are in very different places in the US. And personal preference-wise, the only thing I miss about the States is my family; otherwise I find it an unpleasant place to live. But that's based on my subjective priorities, I suppose. Other people might not agree.