Jenny Johnson is academic director at Cactus Language Training, head of TEFL at CactusTEFL, and was also head of TEFL teacher training at International House, Barcelona. Author of Teaching English in Spain, a Guidebook for TEFLers
TEFL salaries are not great, though they are enough to live on for the single and the frugal: I do however know a lot of people who have made TEFL their career, but usually by staying in one place (most schools do not have the policy of moving teachers on every two years). The reasons why pay is not better are based around market forces and the professional standing of the TEFL industry. Market forces: language schools have to compete for students and this is usually on price, therefore staff salaries have to be kept low. Professional standing: unlike 'real' education, teaching English has still not gained respect as a serious profession, so cannot command high fees and salaries like lawyers IT professionals and so on. Yes, progressing almost always means moving out of the classroom. Ironic, isn't it.
You don't need a degree to do a TEFL course: You need a university entrance-level academic qualification, such as A levels. The work regulations in the country where you want to work is the deciding factor and there are many countries even in the east where you don't need a degree. The best way to make TEFL teaching a career is to get a good course qualification. Cambridge CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL or an equivalent length (120 hours plus) course with at least six hours observed and assessed feedback. With such a qualification under your belt, the world is your oyster. These courses are initially to teach adults, but as there are so few teaching young learners courses, employers don't expect you to have a specific young learners course. If you want to add an extension course specialising in young learners later, for your own good, you can.
A CELTA or Cert TESOL is a big investment for someone who isn't sure TEFL is for them. Why not start off with a taster day to see if you like the idea? Or/and try an online or short course as a taster. After that you should know whether it is for you or not. You can always go for the real thing (CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL) later.
TEFL teaching primes you for work where presentation skills and dealing with groups of people is important: When you return, you will have experience of teaching so you could move over to teaching ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) to immigrants and refugees, for example, in further education or community colleges. If you don't want to teach, TEFL teaching prepares you for work in training, publishing, theatre and a host of other areas where presentation skills and dealing with groups of people is important.
Michelle Maxom, author of Teaching English as a Foreign Language For Dummies. After a one-month intensive course in 1997, she began teaching part-time in London, then taught in Italy
Countries where English is the first language often have stricter criteria for teachers: I would suggest that you invest in an internationally-recognised TEFL qualification. Countries where English is the first language often have stricter criteria for teachers so find out what TESOL/TEFL employers require. Perhaps consider saving up for a DELTA or Trinity diploma in TESOL in another year or two. This opens many doors, including management.
Distance learning has its place depending on where in the world you want to teach: CELTA is known everywhere but there are lots of teachers out there who have no certificate at all. They also find work. So find out about the market of the country you want to work in. You could take a chance and go untrained. You could stay in the middle ground by choosing an accredited distance course. Lastly you could invest in CELTA and get ahead of some of the competition. To some extent, what you invest reflects what you want to get out of it.
Randi Berild, director of TEFL Training LLP — a TEFL course provider
Research exchange and teaching programmes: The Jet Programme (Japan exchange and teaching programme) is known to be very good. There are other programmes, too, such as Interac. The South Korean government also runs two interesting projects; EPIK and TALK These three all include training, but the Korean ones will pay you better if you have a 100 hour plus TEFL qualification.
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