Expat Community > Ecuador

Silverwater
Joined 2008
Posts: 1039

Advice for Prospective English Teachers

14 years ago

I´ve noticed that quite a few people are interested in teaching English here in Ecuador. I´ve been teaching here for about four years, at all levels from a fundacion school, a wealthy high school, English institute, and two universities. Many people planning to re-locate here want to teach English, and it really is a great job....IF you like teaching. There is nothing worse for teacher or student if the teacher doesnt love what they are doing. Some words of caution:
Pre-requisites: You must have a good level of English, including grammar, punctuation etc. Do you know what the past participle is? Do you know active, and passive voice, etc. Most schools that pay anything will test you on that before they hire you. Parents and students here are very big on grammar.
Do you have classroom experience? Most schools will have you give a classroom demo. How are your classroom management techniques? Are familiar with the different philosophies such as cooperative learning?
Do you have a visa? VERY important. There have been cases here where people have been promised jobs, they arrive on a tourist visa, and then are told they need to switch to another kind of visa before they get paid. And the problem is, that you cant switch from a tourist visa from inside the country. Unfortunately, many shady operators hire teachers like this. The teachers never get paid because they are not legally entitled to work, and the school knows that. They get two months or so free labor from a native English speaker, who ends up having to leave when their tourist visa expires in three months and they never get paid. If you are here on a tourist visa you cannot work legally, and you will have no legal recourse if they dont pay you.
I worked at a university, with six other Americans. Two of us had legal status. None of us were paid for close to a year. (most had quit after three months or so of non-payment) The two of us with legal status were paid a year later, after threatening to get a lawyer. The others were never paid. In one instance, the teacher was owed two thousand dollars and went home never having received a penny in salary.
Finally, remember your students. Dont teach them just because you want to travel and need some cash. Remember that they want to learn, in some cases so badly that they will make great sacrifices to be able to pay you. Many students dont make much money, and the little they do pay you, is a huge chunk of their income. They take English classes to have a better future. Its our responsibility as teachers to give them the tools to do that.

William Russell

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William Russell

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William Russell

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Expat Community > Ecuador

Advice for Prospective English Teachers

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