Notes from the General Manager by Diane Jacoutot
My 16 year old teenage son has been hanging around the house lately. He doesn’t go into school much, or have a job and he watches a lot of TV. He disappears for long stretches of time in his room and I have to admit that he sleeps quite late.
No, he’s not in training to be on the dole- he’s on official leave from school and studying for his GCSEs!
A GCSE is a subject specific test in the UK (stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education) that a student takes at 16 years old (or 12 if you have pushy parent and/or you are a genius). Most students take 5 to 12 of these tests in core subjects plus other subjects of interest. Those who want to go on to University go on to take a smaller number (usually 2 to 5) A levels in subjects that interest them further, usually done at 18. Teaching A levels requires both a deep subject knowledge as well as knowledge of what the exam board wants to see. You might know the subject inside and out but there is always a skill to knowing how to take a particular kind of test on it.
Because at Teachanywhere we recruit from many different countries, I thought I would give you a little fly-by on secondary educational systems in countries from which we recruit and how they generally mesh with the UK , IB and US systems – the systems most international schools use. It will be handy for you to be able to translate what you have taught to what international schools want to hear.
Country
|
National Curriculum?
|
Testing at 16ish
|
Testing at and result at 18
|
UK/England Wales and N Ireland
|
Yes
|
GCSE (Subject Specific)
|
A-levels (subject intense)
|
USA
|
No
|
No testing by government. High school diploma. Requirements vary by state. Can take externally moderated AP exams (subject intense)
| |
International Baccalaureate (IB)
|
Not applicable
|
Not applicable
|
IB Diploma (subject specific/intense)
|
Canada
|
No
|
High school diploma. Requirements vary by province.
| |
Ireland
|
Yes
|
Junior Certificate (subject specific)
|
Senior Certificate (subject intense)
|
Scotland
|
Yes
|
Intermediate exams (subject specific)
|
Highers and Advanced Highers (subject intense)
|
Australia
|
No, but they are talking about it
|
Senior Certificate of Secondary Education (varies by province)
| |
New Zealand
|
Yes
|
School Certificate
|
National Certificate of Educational Achievement
|
South Africa
|
Yes
|
Matriculation exams (subject specific)
|
National Senior Certificate (subject intense)
|
You can see how different all the countries are, and this is exactly why you should never use country specific acronyms on your CV and why it’s important to explain your system to interviewers who might not be from your country. How is a Head Teacher from Australia at a school in Kuwait going to know what is an NSC or the difference between Highers and Advanced Highers? (answer: they won’t). But hopefully this gives you an idea of what level of knowledge a school is looking for when they say they want someone who can teach IB Maths or English to GCSE.
Testing of course is a contentious issue – every educator has an opinion, and a different one at that. But remember that international schools are almost always focussed on academics – this is what parents are paying for and why many have entrance exams. Testing and results orientated culture is a fact of live in international schools.
Question: why is an examiner like an optician?
Answer: they both test pupils.
All the best,
Diane Jacoutot
Do you think only those who have a certificate to teach these courses are eligible. I am an online Physics teacher from India and have successfully coached GCSE, A, AS level home school students
ReplyDeleteHi there - Teachanywhere doesnt recruit from India - but I am sure there are certainly schools that would consider you and your wealth of experience
ReplyDeleteThe strongest brand in international education is IBO. Competing with that you have Cambridge International certificates, American expat qualification schemes and nationally certified schools teaching in English in non-English-speaking countries. All have their own very distinct plusses and minuses. For teachers I have to recommend flexibility and IBO familiarity. For families posted abroad I'd recommend looking at where your child is likely to be when she/he graduates from compulsory schooling, what long-terms plans you have for her/him from there (or even better, what hopes and dreams your child has), and what the acceptance requirements are for gaining acceptance into the sort of tertiary educational institutions necessary to get there from here. The IBO DP isn't a size that fits everyone, and don't let them tell you otherwise.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason this system is refusing to automatically sign my name onto the above. For more of my views on education, etc., see http://huisjenphilosophy.wordpress.com/
Deletehello are you not recruiting teachers from the Philippines?
ReplyDelete