How much are you worth? « EFL thoughts and reflections.
There’s a great discussion on Phil Wade’s blog on the issues in the profession relating to qualifications and earnings.
If it doesn’t really get us anywhere, what’s the point in doing DELTAs and MAs? And when some bugger without any prior teaching experience and qualifications can just waltz in and demand the same salary as those who’ve forked out up to a grand for their CELTA? Is the CELTA really worth anything?
Throw your tuppence worth into the debate!
teflgeek 
Monday 30 January 2012 at 13:00
You are worth what the market will bear… discerning employers know the difference between those TEFL courses such as the Celta that have meaningful teaching practice and those that don’t, and even at lowly summer schools they recruit accordingly, studiously avoiding the online or 2 day TEFLS that abound.
That said, I find that some Unis do tend to overvalue MAs in their EAP courses compared to teaching practice, and do pay more for those quals when they do not truly reflect their owners’ abilities at the chalkface. The poor MA types often don’t get invited back to the Uni the next year, but do apply and get employed elsewhere. Rinse and repeat…
When you have a role as amorphous and hard to define as teaching (in terms of measuring the efficacy of the teacher it will always be thus. Have a read of ‘Freakonomics’ by Dubner and Levitt re. cheating and teachers pay… enlightening.
D
Monday 30 January 2012 at 15:30
You’re right of course – we’re wrong to think of private language school teaching as an educational paradigm, it is first and foremost a business consideration and businesses work in markets, including obviously the labour market. At the end of the day, there’s always someone willing to do your job for less that you are – your employers just makes a cost/benefit decision to decide whether to keep you or let you go and let the other person have a go!
I’ll put freakonomics on my reading list!
David