Even though the U.S. is currently experiencing a serious teacher shortage at this time, that doesn’t imply it’s easy to obtain a job teaching in the usa. A part of that have to apply the stringent requirements established with the U.S. government, and part of that have to apply the peculiarities of the American classroom experience. Let’s take a look at those two factors in depth.
The U.S. State Department, which coordinates a favorite work visa program for foreign teachers going to America, lists seven different criteria that needs to be met before you teach in a U.S. school. First and even more importantly, you need a teaching certification or license in your home country and meet all qualifications for teaching for the reason that country. Secondly, you need to be working as a tutor during the job — so that you can’t “come out of retirement” to land a teaching gig in America. You have to in addition have a university degree that’s equivalent to a four-year bachelor’s degree in the usa, so you will need to have a minimum of no less than A couple of years of relevant teaching experience.
Those are only the government requirements, though. In addition there are their state, or local, requirements that you must meet. It may differ among all 50 states, as is also absolve to make minor tweaks to their teaching requirements to reflect their very own specific needs. So, you could meet every one of the qualifications to show in California – and not in Texas. It varies with a state-by-state basis.
You have to also demonstrate English language proficiency, that’s natural enough, considering the fact that you’ll be teaching to American students (even when most of them only speak English as a second language). Finally, you have to pass a background check to make sure you are “of good reputation and character.”
But it’s the American classroom experience that’s perhaps the most daunting. One big focus might be the “Common Core” plus a related concept — “teaching for the core.” Meaning your teaching style must accommodate specific curriculum components — you’re not absolve to teach a topic how you might prefer. Secondly, there’s an enormous focus now in American schools on “interdisciplinary” teaching. Because of this you aren’t anticipated to use concepts from the 3 major different fields within your J1 visa for teachers, to ensure a category is not “just” a math class or even a science class but in addition pulls in ideas from the discipline like “social studies.”
Finally, Americans convey a tremendous amount of focus on creativity, innovation and academic enrichment. This is like the experience abroad, where questions usually have very specific answers, and there’s a clear “right” and “wrong” in any response. The U.S. system places an extremely greater focus on a far more holistic classroom experience.
That being said, many foreign teachers – even when these are qualified both at home and have ample classroom teaching experience – often have to have a bit of aid in navigating the U.S. system. American schools are proud of “getting the correct fit,” knowning that requires foreign teaching candidates to present their background, skills and experiences in a way that is going to be most tasty to U.S. schools.
Fortunately that two locations where U.S. schools are receiving a real shortage – math and science – also are already two locations where foreign teachers might be most capable of help. This may grow to be a “win-win” situation, in which American schools have the ability to overcome their teacher shortage, while foreign teachers have the ability to leverage their skills and experiences in precisely those disciplines where these are most capable of help.
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