Even though the U.S. is experiencing an intense teacher shortage at this time, that doesn’t signify it’s all to easy to get yourself a job teaching in america. Part of that has to apply the stringent requirements established with the U.S. government, and portion of that has to apply the peculiarities from the American classroom experience. Let’s examine both of these factors in greater detail.
The U.S. State Department, which coordinates a favorite work visa program for foreign teachers visiting America, lists seven different criteria that must be met simply uses teach with a U.S. school. First and even more importantly, you need a teaching certification or license at home country and meet all qualifications for teaching for the reason that country. Secondly, you’ve got to be working as a school teacher during the time of the job — so that you can’t “come from retirement” to land a teaching gig in the us. You have to also have a university degree that’s equal to a four-year bachelor’s degree in america, and you must have a minimum of at the least A couple of years of relevant teaching experience.
Those are merely the government requirements, though. In addition there are the state, or local, requirements you need to meet. These may differ of all 50 states, since they are liberal to make minor tweaks with their teaching requirements to mirror their particular specific needs. So, you might meet all the qualifications to train in California – and not in Texas. It varies on a state-by-state basis.
You have to also demonstrate English language proficiency, that is natural enough, given that you’ll be teaching to American students (even when most of them only speak English being a second language). Finally, you have to pass experience check to ensure that you are “of good reputation and character.”
But it’s the American classroom experience that’s possibly the most daunting. One big focus now’s the “Common Core” and a related concept — “teaching on the core.” That means your teaching style must conform to specific curriculum components — you’re not liberal to teach a subject how you might prefer. Secondly, there’s a tremendous focus now in American schools on “interdisciplinary” teaching. Which means you are not supposed to use concepts from the 3 different fields inside your J1 visa for teachers, to ensure a category is not really “just” a math class or perhaps a science class and also pulls in ideas from your discipline like “social studies.”
Finally, Americans place a considerable amount of increased exposure of creativity, innovation and educational enrichment. This is very different from the knowledge abroad, where questions often have very specific answers, and there is a clear “right” and “wrong” in almost any response. The U.S. system places a significantly greater increased exposure of an even more holistic classroom experience.
That being said, many foreign teachers – even when they are qualified at home and have many classroom teaching experience – often have to have a amount of help in navigating the U.S. system. American schools pride themselves on “getting the correct fit,” understanding that requires foreign teaching candidates presenting their background, skills and experiences in a way that will probably be most engaging to U.S. schools.
The good thing is that two locations where U.S. schools are receiving a real shortage – math and science – also are two locations where foreign teachers might be most capable to help. This may come to be a “win-win” situation, in which American schools can easily overcome their teacher shortage, while foreign teachers can easily leverage their skills and experiences in just those disciplines where they are most capable to help.
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