Topic: How do you diversify out of TEFL?

[Andy]

Some say TEFL's a dead end game. How do you diversify out of TEFL deadendsville while still keepin' a TEFL career? What do you all think?

[wangsuda]

Let's assume, for a moment, that TEFL (as it relates to Thailand) is basically teaching conversation. With this in mind, those who want to diversify and still remain in education can:
1. Improve their education in order to teach specific subjects that they enjoy. This applies to people who have no university degree, or a two-or-three year degree.
2. Obtain a proper teaching credential, such as an American (state issued) credential or a PGCE. The great thing about these is that they are recognized pretty much world-wide, thus opening up your employment prospects.
3. If you already have both of the above, get an MEd and go into management or educational development. in the US, a BA (subject specific), a credential, and an MEd allows you to apply for positions such as vice-principal, principal, etc.

There's a start! 

[bomha]

Thanks to Wangsuda, for being professional as always.  Good advice.

You can diversify by working your way up the food chain, from just teaching the present simple and progressive tenses year after year to the same level of illiterates.  Try to get a position teaching intermediates, English literature, writing, older classes, maybe into rajabat and university, to English majors.    Become certified as a teacher of IELTS, TOEIC, SAT, TOEFL, etc.  Become an instructor in a TEFL programme.  If you dare to teach private lessons, find a niche like another nationality, international students, math or science, etc.

A potential employer can always find poorly qualified candidates for basic entry level jobs.  However, they cannot find people who taught IELTS to Japanese who were math majors.

[wangsuda]

If we look at education as a whole, then education can be broken down into three parts:
1. Business
2. Management
3. Process

For those who enjoy being in the educational field but don't like teaching, then business is for you. Business includes educational materials development and sales, and program development and sales. There's big money to be made in this (as Lou and Marlene Cantor can testify, and they never set foot in a classroom. They are psychologists). The most lucrative part of the educational business is textbook development and sales. I made a pretty penny in Korea selling a writing textbook I wrote. Additionally, teacher training courses can make good money (I do this too, for whoever is interested. Sorry for the shameless plug)

For those who have taught for a while and want to try something new, then management is for you. This is where the MEds come in handy. Schools and educational organizations all over the world are looking for qualified manager-types. Be warned that management is not for everyone. I tried it for a year and went back to teaching. I learned it was not for me.

The process of education is for those who like being in the trenches. The teachers, assistant teachers, teacher trainees, teacher aids, etc. These are the people who daily interact with the students. IMNSHO, they have the hardest job and are the least paid. Those involved in the process do it for the love of the job. Me? I love the process! Nothing more rewarding than seeing that light bulb go off above a student's head.

Are people limited to just one nitch? No. There is nothing wrong with doing a bit of diversifying to keep you from being bored. So, if you are bored with just being a TEFL conversation teacher, try one of the other nitches. With that said, the higher you move on the food chain, the more people watch you. So be ready to turn out quality material.

[Andy]

I got a buddy who parlayed his tefl teaching experience into a job with McGraw-Hill Mexico peddling TEFL books, good pay, pension plan and a company car.

I got another buddy who was teaching English for LG Mexico execs at some podunk institute and soon found himself hired on as a marketing liason for LG Mexico.

Move up the value chaina nd you make more money, TEFL is only as dead end as you make it. 

[MELEE]

I work with a publisher, commenting on manuscripts of textbooks in progress. They email me a draft of a unit and I make comments with a teacher's eye. This activity seems too hard for this level, X should come before Y, I think the students would think this was babyish, This is plan stupid, that sort of thing. It pays very nicely and doesn't really take a lot of time if you are familiar with the level and age group the text is aimed at.

A lot of people have asked me how I got into this. It was a matter of two things, 1) knowing the right people, or building good professional relationships with your coworkers and teachers from other schools who later move on and up in the industry, and 2) being in the right place at the right time, or bumbing into these people again at professional conferences.