Teach in Asia

Education in Asia as improved over the past five years with the Ministries of Education implementing new requirements to be able to teach in certain countries. Most improvements recommend teachers to search for higher qualifications in their chosen field to be able to offer a better experience for students. Some schools in Thailand require a degree and teaching certificates to become a teacher although some offer employment without. An ongoing project in Thailand, the Nonthaburi project offers positions without degrees. It’s interesting to find the project also offers work in bar jobs for foreigners without a degree.

The TEFL certificate isn’t necessary but gives new teachers an understanding of how to overcome learning problems with Asian students. Remember many Asian countries have a tonal sound to their speech and must be overcome with English phonics allowing the students to learn new sounds and phrases from the western English speaking countries. I was able to concentrate on teaching large classes at a government school after completing my TEFL course, thanks to the TEFL course I had taken a few weeks previous to the job placement. The TEFL course gave me motivation to teach in a business and school environment something I wasn’t motivated to do before taking the qualification. There are occasions when new teachers are natural at teaching and don’t require extra qualifications. Remember a teacher continues to learn from his/her experiences even if they have the BA in education. Most of my teaching skills come from teaching primary and business English. Teacher’s resource books offer great guidance on constructing a lesson plan and from these books I continue to collate new information for interesting, understandable lessons.

There are certain requirements to become a teacher in Thailand to enable the teacher to obtain a work permit. This is becoming more familiar in most Asian countries. The first step towards teaching is to apply for a Category B multiple re-entry permit which lasts for one year, this will allow the school or business enough time to process your work permit. The procedure normally takes around five weeks. A two month tourist visa in most cases covers enough time for a visa upgrade to a Category B multiple re-entry visa. The multiple re-entry visas allow the holder to leave the country and enter again for another two or three months depending on the visa requirements. It’s important to check from the country’s consulate website for changes to visas just encase you’re not aware of such changes effecting your travel or employment application.

If travelling by land in Thailand you’ll only obtain fifteen days instead of the original thirty days. If you fly into the country the thirty days still stands. These alterations to a visa can be damaging to your plans if you’re not updated with the information on time. The easiest way to avoid such changes to a visa is to apply for your sixty or ninety day tourist visa at a neighbouring country or your country of residence. The new visa requirement is sure to affect people without work permits. It’s either another way for the consulate to obtain extra revenue or to rid Thailand of the uneducated teachers. I’m surprised at this requirement which alternatively could have been handled better with authorities entering schools and asking for teachers work permits.

With your Category B multiple re-entry visa, your work permit and your certified documents in place you’ll now have to concentrate on taking a cultural awareness course. This course is applied for at the school you choose to work for by the school principal. The ministry of education implemented this law quite recently but it hasn’t stopped teachers from applying for employment, rather made them even more paranoid about the possibilities of becoming a teacher. When I was teaching in Thailand this course was available but wasn’t compulsory. It doesn’t bother me either as I know I’m already culturally aware of the need to respect others, speak their language and adapt to a culture. As mentioned on other posts, learning the language improves communication between other teachers and the countries citizens.

I’ve spent time reading other teaching websites and notice how none educated teachers in Thailand seem to get a better deal as they don’t have to concentrate on major improvements to their positions as teachers. Little is asked of them other than teaching basic grammar, phonics and conversation classes. The golden rule to remember in these cases is, if your students like you as a person and you have ‘jai yen’ a good heart or cool heart translated directly, your position is safe from the grasps of unemployment. I have maintained great communication with parents and students, something that has helped me concentrate on teaching throughout my teaching career.

Remember there are a million rules out there for working abroad, until you venture out and talk to people, read a countries visa requirements, learn from other expatriates employed overseas and make that all important move to your chosen destination you’ll never fully understand what it takes to become a successful candidate for employment. This is a small contradiction but there are some businesses that employ from overseas thus allowing the candidate to be interviewed over the phone as I was several months ago. This isn’t unusual for international schools as they require educated teachers in education to be considered for a position. I had several telephone interviews highlighting my previous experience as a teacher overseas.I’ve been teaching for almost six years and spent most of the last eight years abroad so it was easy for the director to make a decision. The contract looked great, the living conditions seemed perfect and the salary bettered most in education. Previous employment in Thailand meant been in the country and been available for interview the next day and apart from my last position in Thailand the salary offered wasn’t acceptable to live a decent life far from home.

The teaching circuit in Thailand tends to be dominated with the male teachers at hand, this is why a female foreign teacher can ask for a better salary and improved living conditions. It’s not unusual to see foreign female teachers there just outnumbered by the male. Kindergarten schools tend to hire female teachers, the reason why there are so many positions available in Thailand. Female teachers of science can also expect a better deal due to a shortage of science teachers in the country.