Does the "specialist" job title fly with the labor dept?

[Phoebee]

I recently discovered that this is a thing.

My school wants to hire two more TOEIC teachers (presently I'm the only one), and we've been interviewing for the past 6-7 months without much luck. Several highly qualified applicants have showed up, but they would all be considered unqualified for a teacher's license due to lack of degree, degree from uni not on the magic list, or other similar technicality. A few degree-holding applicants were likable enough, but they didn't know squat about TOEIC. I'm not even sure why they applied. Maybe they thought they could get hired and then just wing it.

I put up a post in a several of the Thailand teaching groups on facebook, and so far two people contacted me who were interested. When I asked about their degree status, they told me they didn't need it because their current schools employ them as "specialists", and therefore didn't need TCT approval to get a work permit. I don't know them and haven't seen their work permits, so this is anecdotal at the moment.

This is the first time I've heard you can work at a school without being - at least officially on paper - a teacher. Apparently, teaching zero credit courses like TOEIC or any other elective subject that's not part of the MoE's required curricula means you're not really a teacher.

What do people think about this? Are these two people pulling fast one on me? Is there some official documentation that shows how to process a foreigner through the labor dept as a specialist, rather than a teacher? I'm a bit skeptical as too many schools would try to use this as an end-runaround the TCT's qualification requirement.

[oncearugge]

If a person claimed to be "Specialist" it would not be unreasonable to ask how they qualify as a "specialist" and why the "specialist" would be preferred to a fully qualified Teacher.

This is a response from a degree qualified non "specialist" !

[attrayant]

If a person claimed to be "Specialist" it would not be unreasonable to ask how they qualify as a "specialist"

Not unreasonable at all. That's why businesses do interviews instead of just hiring people based on their say-so or based on whatever documents they might have in their hands.

why the "specialist" would be preferred to a fully qualified Teacher.

As the OP said, most of the "qualified" applicants turned out to be unqualified due to their lack of knowledge about the specialized subject they would be expected to teach. So it turns out the holding a degree doesn't necessarily mean you're qualified for a job you're applying for. Go figure...

My degree is in electrical engineering, so I'm teaching physics and math. The TCT considers me unqualified to teach because I don't have an Ed degree, so I'm on waivers now. I started teaching a TOEIC prep course at a language school soon after arriving here a few years ago. At the time, I didn't consider myself qualified to teach it, but I learned about it and and after three years now consider myself reasonably knowledgeable and qualified to teach it. If I applied for the OP's job opening, I would probably consider myself a specialist. Whether or not I truly am a specialist would be the interviewer's decision, as there's no official certification process for TOEIC instruction. What's relevant to the OP is that this qualification doesn't come from my EE degree - does that make it valueless?

I fear this is going to turn into another degree versus non-degree thread. To answer the OP directly, I seem to remember this coming up in topics here, but using the term "consultant" instead of specialist. You might want to try searching with that term.

[oncearugge]

If a person claimed to be "Specialist" it would not be unreasonable to ask how they qualify as a "specialist"

Not unreasonable at all. That's why businesses do interviews instead of just hiring people based on their say-so or based on whatever documents they might have in their hands.

why the "specialist" would be preferred to a fully qualified Teacher.

As the OP said, most of the "qualified" applicants turned out to be unqualified due to their lack of knowledge about the specialized subject they would be expected to teach. So it turns out the holding a degree doesn't necessarily mean you're qualified for a job you're applying for. Go figure...

My degree is in electrical engineering, so I'm teaching physics and math. The TCT considers me unqualified to teach because I don't have an Ed degree, so I'm on waivers now. I started teaching a TOEIC prep course at a language school soon after arriving here a few years ago. At the time, I didn't consider myself qualified to teach it, but I learned about it and and after three years now consider myself reasonably knowledgeable and qualified to teach it. If I applied for the OP's job opening, I would probably consider myself a specialist. Whether or not I truly am a specialist would be the interviewer's decision, as there's no official certification process for TOEIC instruction. What's relevant to the OP is that this qualification doesn't come from my EE degree - does that make it valueless?

I fear this is going to turn into another degree versus non-degree thread. To answer the OP directly, I seem to remember this coming up in topics here, but using the term "consultant" instead of specialist. You might want to try searching with that term.

Most professionally qualified people "teach" it is part of being a professional. However, most do not claim to be Teachers.

For the true professional "specialist" employment with a University would be more appropriate than would be the "teaching" of children.

Just my opinion as a degree qualified sometime university lecturer !

[attrayant]

Most professionally qualified people "teach" it is part of being a professional. However, most do not claim to be Teachers.

I think that's exactly what the OP is asking - does removing the title of 'teacher' from an applicant's work permit application allow it to be approved without TCT involvement. I don't know the answer to that but I'm also skeptical as the OP is, that it would be abused by too many schools.

[oncearugge]

Most professionally qualified people "teach" it is part of being a professional. However, most do not claim to be Teachers.

I think that's exactly what the OP is asking - does removing the title of 'teacher' from an applicant's work permit application allow it to be approved without TCT involvement. I don't know the answer to that but I'm also skeptical as the OP is, that it would be abused by too many schools.

Agreed.

In the long term if Thailand and Thai schools wishes to attract and retain well qualified,experienced , professional Teachers there will be a need to visit the terms and conditions of employment. Thailand, in my opinion, is not competitive in comparison to some other SE Asian countries.

Note I make no comment about the current Thai education system !

[Maestro]

There are indeed work permits for specialists. I suspect, though, that the two foreigners mentioned who said they have a work permit as Specialist have a job title consisting of more than just the word "specialist", for example something like English Language Specialist. Have them email you a scanned or photographed copy of the relevant page.

[casualbiker]

The answer is yes. And a few years ago khurusapha actually provided schools with a letter.. Consultant, Specialist and Assistant teacher are all allowed. BUT the school can only have one of each and have 4 qualified teachers per " ".

[casualbiker]

I think this is the letter.. Not sure, it's been a time since I've seen it!