I got my US teaching license in Elementary Education while living & working in Korea this past year. I completed the TEACH-NOW (they have recently changed their name to Moreland University) online program, sent the required documents (all done online) to the US, and was granted a standard US teaching license for Elementary Education. The entire program is done online and Zoom is used for all class meetings. I started the program in June of 2020 and received my teaching license March 1st, 2021. It took roughly 9 months to complete. The total cost was $6,000 USD or around 6,000,000 Korean Won.I am American, but my cohort had teachers from the US, Canada, South Africa, England, Africa, and China.If anyone is interested in getting their teaching license or has any questions about the program/process/paperwork, I would be glad to try and answer them.
Would completing this license allow an EPIK teacher to apply for international schools here in Korea? I've seen a lot of places requiring 2 years of teaching experience in the teacher's home country before applying, or would the public school experience be taken into consideration?
Thing is, you'd need to be on a different visa class (E-2 is just for ESL). The two year experience thing is an actual visa requirement in most countries (5 years in some countries), and applies to other jobs as well (engineering, for example). There are some exceptions (Thailand and Kuwait don't have a minimum experience requirement), but I think Korea falls into the 2 year camp. Doubtful your ESL experience will count, but maybe your local immi office can tell you more? I'm doing my PGCE right now, so I'd be interested to find out. If you have any questions for people who are actual international school teachers/administrators, check out this free forum:https://internationalschoolsreview.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=c915311b83e7f89c5b9ab309f7ad0feb
I think what theman3285 said about visas is correct. Let me know if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming you have an E-2 visa right now? I have an F-6 visa, so our paths to teaching at an international school would be different. Outside of Korea, what I do know from my research and talking to teachers that are at international schools in different countries is this - many international schools would like their teachers to have 2 years experience teaching in their home country, but it is not ALWAYS a requirement. There are schools that will overlook the 2 year requirement if you have enough international experience, if you can fill a position they are having trouble finding other candidates for, etc. Every school is different and I always just apply to whatever I want, regardless of their requirements. You never know what will happen. Here's an example from my personal experience: I have 10 years experience teaching elementary in Korea, but none in my home country (USA). After I got my license and started looking for jobs, I interviewed with international schools in Dubai, Kenya, and China. All 3 schools offered me a position without having the 2 years experience teaching in my home country. Each school said they felt my international experience was more than sufficient. I declined the positions for 2 reasons though - Each country's covid protocols were different and it would've made moving and starting at a new school really difficult right off the bat & I got really lucky and found a great public school in Korea that offered me a position after applying. I wish I would've done this years ago. Having a proper teaching license has opened the door to so many opportunities that were just not available before. I have a bunch of desk-warming days this summer, so I figured I'd share my experience with others in case anyone is interested or thinking about doing something similar.
What if someone is on an F6 (marriage visa) with the Bachelor's + TESL+ Teaching certificate. Would that kind of applicant still need to obtain outside work experience before applying for an International school position in Korea? Or would the 3~ 5 years in the Korean public school be counted towards that experience?
I know that for Uni job applicants if they get their masters and are applying for Uni jobs without the 2 years of work experience at a Uni outside of Korea, their EPIK experience is counted as 2 years of EPIK teaching = 1 year of experience, so after 4 years of EPIK experience, they are able to substitute it for the requirements. And I'm hoping something like this could be an application to an international school.
Thank you for sharing your experience! Reading this has been helpful. I have only been in Korea for almost 3 years, but am in the process of changing over to an F6 (marriage) visa, so I am hoping to work at EPIK for a little while longer, and then switching over to a more long-term sustainable teaching option. I'm glad to hear that having the teaching license has opened up a wealth of opportunities for you. Do you have any recommendations for teacher programs? (The only reliable one and affordable one that I know of is the Moreland University's Program).
Congrats on getting married! You described it perfectly - "switching over to a more long-term sustainable teaching option". That's exactly the reason why I finally decided to start the program and get my license. Whatever happens in the future (in Korea and just in general), I know having a proper license will allow me to find a job teaching somewhere on this planet. Recommendations: The two programs I was looking into were Moreland and Teacher Ready. They're similar programs in that they both offer a similar end result (a US teaching license), but they each use different paths to get there. We can discuss the minor differences in the programs if you'd like, but here is the most important piece of information I can offer: After you complete either program (Moreland / Teacher Ready), you need to take an official exam called The Praxis Exam. With Moreland University, you can take the exam at a registered testing center in Korea. If you google Praxis exam locations and enter South Korea, you will find there are 4 in Seoul and 1 in Busan. With Teacher Ready, you CANNOT take the test in Korea. You have to fly to the USA and take the test there at a registered testing site. There is no way around it. For this reason alone, Moreland University is the better option. Can you imagine doing a 9 month online program and then having to fly to the USA just to take an exam? That would be hard enough as it is, but with covid and quarantine and all the other stuff going on, having to do that now would be a nightmare.If you're planning on trying to get your license while living abroad, Moreland is your best bet.
Most proper international schools with accreditation do not recognise EPIK/GEPIK/Hagwon/general public school as experience...even for ESL. They want you to be experienced in a formal education setting where you are in charge of the class in terms of planning, teaching, assessments, grading and reports.This is further exacerbated in Korea where there is intense competition for international school jobs...there just aren't that many accredited international schools in the country. Being on an F-6 is definitely an advantage, but it only means you'll be near the front of the queue if the school can't find a teacher with the right credentials and experience, and they don't have any other F-6 recommendations from their current staff members.The other option on an F-6 would be to do subject teaching at a private school (NOT hagwon) with partial accreditation. You won't have any visa issues, and some schools will recognise this as experience. These are the kinds of schools that hire E-2s to do proper teaching, but with EPIK pay...risky for E-2 holders, but no risk for F-6 holders. Just a lot more work for the same pay as public school teachers.Unis have this requirement due to government regulations. The more instructors they have that fit the criteria, the more government funding they can get. Some unis will overlook the experience part because they know they can make up for the lost money elsewhere.International schools generally don't have that kind of leeway, and in all honesty teachers there don't want there to be any leeway either. First, these schools charge tens of thousands of USD per year. The cheaper ones might charge around the 10k mark or slightly less. Parents paying these fees expect the best teachers available...and that usually means those with the right combination of verifiable pedagogical knowledge, subject knowledge and experience. Second, any idiot with enough money and time on their hands can set up an "international" school. This is where accreditation bodies come in. The best schools have a set of standards prepared by an accreditation body that they must meet...and these are reviewed in the form of visits and audits every few years. Criteria like staff qualification and experience are usually non-negotiable. Here are some examples for reference:https://www.cois.org/for-schools/membership-standardshttps://www.asicuk.com/documents/ASIC-Standards-for-Accreditation-International-Schools.pdfhttps://www.acswasc.org/wp-content/themes/acswasc/pdf/ACS-WASC-International-Initial-Visit-Procedures-2019.pdfhttps://www.cobis.org.uk/services/accreditation#fs-panel-7637https://www.aus.edu.kw/uploaded/images/Accreditation/Standards_and_Indicators_-_8th_Ed_(V8.2).pdfThird, teachers at these schools have every incentive to want to protect the "profession". They get paid extremely well for being highly educated, trained and experienced practitioners, and from what I'm starting to learn as someone new to the scene they will fight to the death to keep things that way. The moment any Joe Schmoe with a BA who thinks they can waltz into a classroom and "teach" is allowed to do so on any meaningful scale...the gravy train will be lost, and we will see the gradual deterioration of salary and benefits that the ESL has been experiencing this past decade.Just my two cents. So, with your F-6 you have an advantage in that you could get into one of the main international schools if they can't fill a vacancy...or you could do subject teaching at a full private school without any visa issues to get your experience points.
