Goal of Teaching in school?

General discussion about learning languages
BJJ
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Goal of Teaching in school?

Postby BJJ » Sun Jun 04, 2017 1:11 am

Has anyone embarked on learning a language for the purpose of becoming a certified public or private school teacher? For example, in the distant future, I may want to change careers and become a teacher (pension and summers off!). I have an interest in two foreign languages (Spanish and/or French). Here in the southern U.S., I assume Spanish instruction is highly supported and increasingly offered in schools, due to the influx of Spanish speakers in the region. The concern is that the competition to teach may be greater, because many people are native Spanish speakers, and non-native speakers who took it in school and became certified teachers. French may not be as supported and available by the schools, but since French speakers are rare in this region, I may stand out and be sought after if I obtain the proper fluency and certification.
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Re: Goal of Teaching in school?

Postby Xenops » Sun Jun 04, 2017 10:10 pm

I'll have to remember which thread it was, but Carmody mentioned that he knew a French teacher that worked in retail because he couldn't find a job (or something like that).

I'm willing to bet that neither French or Spanish would land you a job as easily as a a more difficult and a national security language like Arabic, Russian, Mandarin or maybe Farsi. There has also been interest in the young Americans to learn Korean or Japanese (myself included).

Just because they're native speakers, doesn't mean that they can teach.
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FrannieB
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Re: Goal of Teaching in school?

Postby FrannieB » Sun Jun 04, 2017 10:25 pm

I guess it depends on the region you are in

In my state French or Spanish is going to get you a job pretty quick if you can prove fluency. I work and education and have done the hiring. To find people who are truly fluent in Spanish or French is hard if you reach a decent proficiency level you would be hired quickly in my state.

Spanish - many Spanish immersion schools and one of the most offered languages in middle school and high school
French - 2nd most offered language - every year I was an AP in a middle school - 4 years we were hiring for a French teacher and the pool was always small.
Chinese - in my state this is probably the third most offered language, however, I have only seen it taught by native speakers, and in immersion schools, it is usually teacher on a teaching exchange program.

So you need to figure out what is most needed in your region - My state has a high Hispanic population with very few Latino teachers and a limited pool of individuals who speak fluently.
When I would interview on the regular I would interview individuals who said they were fluent and then we would interview them and I who was not actively studying at the time could pick out very simple mistakes - basic mistakes that shouldn't happen if you are going to teach students.
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FrannieB
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Re: Goal of Teaching in school?

Postby FrannieB » Sun Jun 04, 2017 10:55 pm

Okay, I just looked at the state test you need to pass for Spanish the sample - I'm a B1 learner at best and I could pass it right now with minimal studying. Now, I could pass and would get a license saying I was able to teach Spanish but I would not call myself fluent or ready to teach anything beyond a junior high-level beginner class.

So check out requirements for the state you want to teach in.
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Re: Goal of Teaching in school?

Postby aokoye » Mon Jun 05, 2017 2:50 am

My suggestions are similar to the others that you've gotten. You really need to look at the trajectory of foreign language education in the area that you want to teach. Are you wanting to teach in a public school? If so you need to get a teaching licensure. Given that you have no experience teaching that will likely (or should) involve you going to grad school.

The native speaker thing will likely only be an issue if there's a native speaker whose qualifications are otherwise equally as good as yours. If I were looking at applications of say, German teachers who just got their licenses, one spoke it as an L1 and the other as an L2, both had equal amounts of teaching experience (which they likely got during their MEd program), and both had very sound knowledge on pedagogy and child development I'd probably chose the L1 speaker. All that is to say - if you really want to do this you need to really make yourself look good which will be good for both you and your future students. I should note that I also say this as someone who has a lot of frustration about native-speakerism.

(pension and summers off!).

I'm sure you know this, but these are not good reasons alone to want to become a teacher. Additionally pensions are dwindling and you're going to actually be doing a lot of work during the summer preparing for the next year. You're also going to take massive amounts of work home. You also have to be ready, willing, and able to work with children in truly harrowing conditions (this is part of what it's so important to do student teaching). What do you do when you have multiple children who get their only guaranteed meals at school, who are victims of various forms of abuse and/or neglect, who are acting like children because, well, they're children and their frontal lobes are nowhere near done developing. Kids who have mental health issues that are or aren't being treated, kids who really don't want to be there, kids who have learning disabilities, kids who are in and out of foster care. And then there's bullying...

I don't so much say this to scare you, but to make you aware of just some of the issues your potential students may be facing while in your classes. This is also on my mind because I had a conversation a few weekends ago with a good friend whose ex-girlfriend had a very short stent as a Japanese teacher. She didn't have a lot of student teaching experience but did get a job after she got her licensure (I'm pretty sure Japanese teachers are in very high demand here compared to other foreign language teachers). She had a few students her first year who were going through pretty horrific situations at home and she couldn't deal with it at all. From what I understand she essentially crashed and burned and now works at a pre-school and loves what she does. One of the main differences is that she got a lot of support from the school she currently works at. Additionally the issues that preschoolers are going to potentially be dealing with are fewer than that of elementary-high school aged children.

I also say this as someone who will very potentially be teaching EFL as a step towards doing work in language ed policy.
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BJJ
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Languages: Spanish (very beginner). Interested in learning French.

Re: Goal of Teaching in school?

Postby BJJ » Sat Jun 24, 2017 4:48 pm

Thanks for the responses. Lots of food for thought.
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