The Arab Classroom - what's it like?

[1phish2phish]

Can anyone tell me what it's like to teach in North Africa, Middle East?

Seems like TEFL even CELTA a minimum.

Everything goes thru agents?

But how is it like and different from teaching Mathayom here? Kids? Adults?

Most jobs adults, maybe attached to a corporation. What's the daily classroom routine? Books? Interaction, roleplay, paintwork etc. Grammar questions.

Could my wife live in the compound with me? Age cut off, limit?

What really helps or hurts your possibilities for landing a job?

I'm not looking for leads, just curious. We are happy here.

Thank you

[Lannig]

Post retracted - could be construed as trolling. Apologies.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Lannig

[angsta]

Seems like TEFL even CELTA a minimum. - yes

Everything goes thru agents? - almost always but there are some direct hire positions. You need an agent for your visa which is becoming an increasinly painful process.

But how is it like and different from teaching Mathayom here? Kids? Adults? It's all adults unless you're a 'real' teacher and work at an International School.

Most jobs adults, maybe attached to a corporation. What's the daily classroom routine? Books? Interaction, roleplay, paintwork etc. Grammar questions. Differs from place to place. Generally student motivation is an issue. Paintwork? Usual array of books, Headway etc.

Could my wife live in the compound with me? Age cut off, limit? Depends if you're in a compound and who you are working for. The decent jobs for sure, the shi4ty ones not so much. I've heard 57 but I know there is some flexibility.

What really helps or hurts your possibilities for landing a job? Experience living in the area and being a revert really helps.The challenge is the boredom of living in Saudi, not the actual teaching itself.

[hansnl]

Utterly uninteresting!

[Suradit69]

I worked at the university and Higher Colleges of Tech in the UAE. Pay package back then was quite good, including very nice (at least where I was) 3 bedroom villa, annual round trip air fare to your home country which you could use however you liked, interest free loan for a car, medical insurance, very nice allowance for home furnishings which you could use however you liked, etc. Classrooms had Smart Boards and students all had their own laptops. Students were quite pleasant and polite, but few were motivated. I didn't teach English, but English was (theoretically) the teaching medium. HR handled visas, etc. Master's degree a minimum. Airfare, medical insurance, visas for your wife and children all covered. School fee allowance for the children.

Pretty sure the compensation package has become less liberal now as the governments have had to tighten their budgets.

From what I could tell, anything at the secondary level or lower was pretty crappy in all regards, whether government or private and probably has only become worse. I think age limit was 55, but at least at the tertiary level it was expanded to 65. I think in Saudi they usually prefer married couples, both of whom are qualified to teach ... not sure about that.

There were some exceptions at the more prestigious international schools such as the American International School in Abu Dhabi where compensation and working conditions were quite good, but those places had very competitive hiring requirements.

Edited May 22, 2016 by Suradit69

[lostinisaan]

The Arab Classroom - what's it like?

A good question.

[thaiduncankk]

Best teaching the adult females, they're all eyes.

[BugJackBaron]

The real question is can you hack living in all that sand and almost no booze?

I know two friends who did it and they both agreed that the novelty wears off really fast.

They were there for the money only.

[gandalf12]

Why is this post on a forum about Thailand?

[Deserted]

The work is usually hard, the life boring, the colleagues often dreadful and the holidays long enough to retain your sanity...but only just.

[Teacher1]

Hello

Iam Native Arabic Teacher for English Speakers,Iam from jordan and live in bangkok.

i would like to answer your question in my way:

the arabic countries classrooms is normal,its the sociaties are different.

you can bring your wife with you to any arabic countries,just for example in saudia arabia,your wife cant walk without cover her hair regardless she is your wife or tourist or worker.

if you need any clearification i will appreciate answer you ,send me email to *email edited out*.

Best Regards

Edited May 29, 2016 by Scott
Email edited out

[Scott]

A post with an email address and name has been edited. Please don't post emails or personal information on the open forum. Use the PM function.