What does teaching experience in Thailand get you?

[BruceMangosteen]

A friend ask me the other day, yesterday actually!, if I could some how certify my teaching experience in Thailand which would therefore qualify me to teach in the U.S.A., or at the least, substitute. I was somewhat perplexed as I didn't know if 1. I could actually prove my experience..and 2. If it counted for anything in the real world?

Does anyone know?

If you don't have any credentials other than a valid college degree in an unrelated discipline combined with seven years of classroom experience in Thailand, do you get in the door in school in the U.S.A. in an area where perhaps there is a shortage of qualified teachers?

Put another way....Is your teaching experience in Thailand worth anything other than a "life experience"? which shows prospective employers you did something those seven years as opposed to being unemployed and on government subsidies?

We refer to employment back in the U.S.A. or Canada or England, not finding an English teaching job in Korea, China, Japan, or the Middle East.

Kind regards. The Bangkok Post printed a gloomy picture yesterday in the opinion section. It seems Thailand is still ranked very low in the English speaking department and the new ASCEAN agreements are going to hurt them in 2016...Don't know if this is true either because the Thai's always seem to put Thailand first, and who can blame them? It's their country, they are proud, and love it.

[Brit_Doggie]

The old adage this is Thailand springs to mind, I know of some who have enough credentials to teach here but not near enough to teach within homeland.

[BruceMangosteen]

The old adage this is Thailand springs to mind, I know of some who have enough credentials to teach here but not near enough to teach within homeland.

Thanks for your well thought out reply. I think we all know that however. But really...thanks....it reminds me of another "old adage"..."When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys."

As well also know, and know personally in my case, the Thai schools will hire people who don't speak English fluently, never mind "Native English Speaker", and people without actual University degrees. The TCT verification of said degrees has always been a joke, they may be correcting it, I honestly don't know if it's all talk and an idea or if in practice doing it?

But that's all fine and good. It wasn't my inquiry! I'm asking what the actual work experience, that of teaching in a Thai school, gets you as far as gaining experience which means something or does it mean nothing?

Thanks and again, kind regards.

[thesetat2013]

Although I can not answer your question with facts OK can answer it with another question which may help. Thailand is rated one of the worst in educational standards in both Thai and English testing. If you had a business that needed teachers would you hire someone without proper credentials and only with their practical experience from Thailand?

If someone were to come to me with only that I would laugh them out of the door.

[nottocus]

_{My teaching experience got me 8 levels up the master pay scale here in Hong Kong.}

[Colabamumbai]

It is worth what you get out of it.

As far as employment teaching in the West it is of little or no value to the authorities.

Most western countries require a degree and some require an additional 2 years of Teachers College.

[fang37]

Within Thailand, personal advisor to the Prime Minister? 55555

[kingstonkid]

Teaching in itself will get you very little.

That being said if you have a 120 hour TESOL certificate you can probably get a job teaching English. The experience you have would then be worth soemthing.

[NoshowJones]

Requests too appear at English camps, sometimes unpaid.

[squarethecircle]

I don't know but will say I did a teaching stint here some years back and got "life experience" but do not include it on my resume. I learned one thing: it taught me that I do not have the personality to control a room of 30 hormone-filled teenagers. It would give very practical experience but as far as scoring a similar job back home, don't know.

[SoiBiker]

To be frank, I'd have thought a number of years spent in Thailand would be, if anything, a disadvantage when applying for a teaching job back in the west.

[TuskegeeBen]

_{My teaching experience got me 8 levels up the master pay scale here in Hong Kong.}

The OP's question was directly related to Thai teaching experience sufficiency levels, for gettibg a teaching job in the U.S.A., not Hong Kong.

[gaijinsomchai]

Teaching experience could help you get a spot in the Teach for America program.

https://www.teachforamerica.org/

[50baht]

I would not put any work experiance in Thailand on resume. It will get you on THE LIST.

.

[Loaded]

I think most people become EFL teachers here because there was something missing in their lives back home. I had a good job and financial security but I was so f%$#ing bored. Here can be frustrating but at least I feel alive. By and large I enjoy life here and don't plan to return to my homeland. Teaching gives me the opportunity to have a life here.

[Slip]

I don't think the OP is comparing like with like. Unless you are a qualified teacher you can never expect to become a teacher in the west. What you may be able to do is get a job in the field where you are experienced- TEFL.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Slip

[samsensam]

i dont know about the usa but without a valid qualification in the uk you stand no chnace of getting anywhere near a classroom. in fact most quality language schools expect you to have a DELTA just to be a bog standard teacher.

[fang37]

As previously posted, TEFL will be your highest goal.

[bangmai]

You can get Substitute Certification in Arizona with a four year degree in any subject and a clean fingerprint report. Experience in Thailand might account for time gaps, and it also might make you a preferred candidate for a long term subbing job. About 100 USD per day...Sub certification can get you hired by some tutoring companies that will assign you to schools, and you will get 5 or 6 hours @18 usd per hour. That's a better alternative if you hate the babysitting aspect of it. Pay in Virginia is very similar...but cost of living can be outrageous.

This guy was an English teacher in Taiwan, then hired as a sub in Arizona, then full time....then.....http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/under-investigation-patagonia-teacher-resigns/article_ff680810-e220-11e4-8c8a-9f57d5dc0676.html

Edited November 10, 2015 by bangmai

[bwpage3]

The fact is you will NOT get a job teaching in the USA without a minimum of a four year degree. The experience in Thailand is pretty much worthless and considered a waste of time.

What people need to understand is the longer you stay in Thailand, the older you get. The rest of the civilized first world moves forward with education and technology, whereas Thailand moves backward. There are tons of college graduates in the USA each year for the schools to choose from that are 22 years old with a bachelors degree or more.

From my own experience, I lived in Thailand for 10+ years. I had an advanced education before I left, worked in the same field (engineering), yet when I decided to come back to the USA, where before I could get a job easily, many companies looked at my time in Thailand as nothing but wasting time. Only through contacts was I able to get back into the corporate door at a high level.

I have to admire the people that move to Thailand and tough it out to the end. I had the same intentions, however, after having a family my priorities shifted to their best chance which I felt was not in Thailand.

Our son attended Prem International in Chiang Mai, which at the time was well over 400,000 baht a year. Upon coming to the USA, he was way behind his class in English and Math.

For me it was a simple decision of wanting more for my family and having our son educated in the USA, where he will have a chance at making more than 15,000 baht a month when he graduates from Uni.

There are no easy answers however Thailand is not looked highly upon by any other nation in the world unless you count corruption, prostitution and human trafficking.

Seems employers always think the worst when they find out you were in Thailand for a long time.

[cgphuket]

In the USA you never set foot in the classroom without an education degree and license. Forget the fact the several studies show that students graduating college as teachers have the lowest admission scores and education majors have the easiest grades. You can be a genius in your field and have huge amounts of life experience to bring to students, but unless you have an education degree, the woman who couldn't get a job as a walmart greeter, but has a gimmee ed degree will get the job.

When I worked as a college counselor in the USA our tutoring department would occasionally hire people who who not qualified teachers but had taught in SE Asia for years. To tutor college students. After the 3rd tutor fresh from SE Asia that were socially retarded or liked to brag about the ladyboys they banged and drugs they did in Asia, we stopped considering people with 3rd world teaching experience.

[bangmai]

Come on...Thai food is hugely popular. Prem? not surprising..all style; no substance. Arizona started this school year short 1000 teachers...so they really don't have that many to select from...many left the state and or teaching after the last recession, which seemed to impact newer teachers the most.

[bangmai]

In the USA you never set foot in the classroom without an education degree and license. Forget the fact the several studies show that students graduating college as teachers have the lowest admission scores and education majors have the easiest grades. You can be a genius in your field and have huge amounts of life experience to bring to students, but unless you have an education degree, the woman who couldn't get a job as a walmart greeter, but has a gimmee ed degree will get the job.

When I worked as a college counselor in the USA our tutoring department would occasionally hire people who who not qualified teachers but had taught in SE Asia for years. To tutor college students. After the 3rd tutor fresh from SE Asia that were socially retarded or liked to brag about the ladyboys they banged and drugs they did in Asia, we stopped considering people with 3rd world teaching experience.

You can sub, and many States have a certification process for subbing. There are a lot more drugs in the US than Thailand or Cambodia. Were you a certified counselor, or did you work the phones for a student loan mill?

Can you count walking into a University classroom? I think about one or two of the 50+ teachers I had during my four years had education degrees.

Edited November 10, 2015 by bangmai

[ggt]

A picture of beer and a few laughs...the laughs will be free...you pay for the beer...cheers!

[DavisH]

If you have western teaching qualifications in the first place, and provided you worked in a registered k-12 school, then you could used the experience here to go higher up on their payscale (I know personally of one case). If you don't have a proper teaching degree, most school would not even look at you anyway. There are thousands of unemployed/under employed qualified teachers in Australia, for example. There are qualified to teach there but still cannot get a job. I know a few teachers who have gone back to teach esl though, on relatively low pay. Certainly not regular school, who are much more strict.

[Rhys]

In the USA, it varies state to state, school district to school district.

[Rhys]

The fact is you will NOT get a job teaching in the USA without a minimum of a four year degree. The experience in Thailand is pretty much worthless and considered a waste of time.

What people need to understand is the longer you stay in Thailand, the older you get. The rest of the civilized first world moves forward with education and technology, whereas Thailand moves backward. There are tons of college graduates in the USA each year for the schools to choose from that are 22 years old with a bachelors degree or more.

From my own experience, I lived in Thailand for 10+ years. I had an advanced education before I left, worked in the same field (engineering), yet when I decided to come back to the USA, where before I could get a job easily, many companies looked at my time in Thailand as nothing but wasting time. Only through contacts was I able to get back into the corporate door at a high level.

I have to admire the people that move to Thailand and tough it out to the end. I had the same intentions, however, after having a family my priorities shifted to their best chance which I felt was not in Thailand.

Our son attended Prem International in Chiang Mai, which at the time was well over 400,000 baht a year. Upon coming to the USA, he was way behind his class in English and Math.

For me it was a simple decision of wanting more for my family and having our son educated in the USA, where he will have a chance at making more than 15,000 baht a month when he graduates from Uni.

There are no easy answers however Thailand is not looked highly upon by any other nation in the world unless you count corruption, prostitution and human trafficking.

Seems employers always think the worst when they find out you were in Thailand for a long time.

There were other international bording schools in CM, choosing one of the most expensive and suspect international teachers, as you found out was not a wise choice.. regardless of all the bells and whistles they threw at you.. Yes, a nice campus in the hills.

Has you child caught up in his studies? So many other expats, who settle down here and have families end up returning home for the quality of education...

Edited November 10, 2015 by Rhys

[DogNo1]

In some states in the US, you can be hired to teach part-time at adult schools or community colleges if you have any four-degree and 2-3 years of experience teaching full-time overseas. You would need to present your four-year transcript and official letters from your school dean or principal saying good things about you and certifying your work experience. The USA will soon be flooded with immigrants again so this is an opportune time. Schools in certain locations will need to add teachers quickly. Scope out the locations and pounce. Good luck!

[Dustdevil]

I would suggest you take a step back and become more ambitious than just thinking about how you can parlay life experience and uncertified conversation-teaching and so on. It's essentially irrelevant. If you really like K-12 education, just go ahead and get a teaching credential in the country where you wish to teach. It's the minimum requirement. I think your teaching experience in Thailand is something you should mention in job interviews and put on your resume AFTER you get certified. At least it's some kind of experience, but it's not important now. Beyond that, I would also go for a master's degree, maybe before you started working. I got two master's for free with assistantships, but in Higher Education Admin and in EFL. I did those in brick-and-mortar universities and after that began a 29-year career overseas.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Dustdevil

[puukao]

there are enough problems with teachers having sex with students...you put Thailand on your resume and i'm sure they will think the risk has gone up 100x.....not saying it's true, but don't act like they don't think this...