Teaching English in Mexico - Your Four Options

As a foreign English teacher in Mexico, you really only have four different teaching options open to you. However, first you will need to ask yourself some serious questions about your abilities to speak Spanish, and answer them with the up-most honesty. Do you speak Spanish? What level is your Spanish? Could you explain an English class in Spanish? etc.

Options

1. If you do not speak Spanish, your only option is to work in one of the many Franchised English Schools, such as Harmon Hall, Quick Learning, Individual English, or Interlingua. They teach 100% in English, and offer their students no explication in Spanish. Working conditions are excellent, and teachers are usually either American or Canadian. Students get given an Internationally recognized English certificate at the end of their course. Pay is usually very low, although these schools do tend to pay at the end of each day.

2. If you speak Spanish, then your options begin to widen a little. You may find work in one of the many Private Schools, where students pay for their studies. The level of education is high, as good teachers are attracted to the schools by the offer of better pay. Contracts are usually for one year, after which may be renewed for a further period of time. You may be offered a house to live in as part of your contract, or your rent paid for which could be worth up to several thousand pesos a month. Also the benefit of medical insurance is usually included.

3. Government Schools and Universities are another option. Although these schools and universities are usually reserved for the lower grade Mexican English teachers. An excellent level of Spanish is required, as most of the teachers explain the English to their students in Spanish. However, the teachers level of English is usually very low, and it is normal for students when they finish school, still not to speak any English at all. It is usually very difficult to find work here if you are not Mexican, although not impossible.

4. Working from Home is your last option. Your Spanish level will need to be about 85% good, as you will be expected to explain your English classes in Spanish. You get paid either by the hour at the end of each class, or in advance having charged for a block of classes beforehand. Mexicans are not very punctual, so be prepared for your students to either turn-up late for classes, or not to turn-up at all. It is common for students to cancel five minutes before classes are due to begin.

Note: To teach English in Mexico you have to be residing in the country legally. If you are in Mexico on a tourist visa, then you are not permitted to work. However, this is usually seldom respected by foreigners!

Philip Albert Edmonds-Hunt is from the County of Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. He has travelled most of Europe, and he has lived in Spain on more than one occasion. Philip has also travelled much of the USA and now lives and works as a Freelance Writer and English Teacher in Mexico. He is the owner of "The Oxford Quill," a small but reliable business offering a range of services such as, "Professional Article Writing, Proofreading, and Website Design." If you would like to read more about teaching English in Mexico, check out: https://sites.google.com/site/theoxfordquill/teaching-english-from-home-in-mexico

Classroom Teaching - Horizontal Management

Bureaucracy, hierarchical bullying, leaders and lowly followers, and any other form of governing at the expense and exploitation of the governed... these are hurtful and criminal systems for the benefit of the few and the misery of the many. There are better ways of living and working together. I have proposed and exercised a much simpler, balanced, harmonious, and successful guideline for a good teacher and willing students to truly work and learn together.

Leadership and responsibility are shared equally, as long as all members of a group first understand how it works and second, are eager to enjoy its productivity and share joy of learning and working together.

Much of the old "system" must necessarily be dispensed with: the pressures of fear, punishment, totalitarian authority, ugly competition, and a resulting lack of learning, joy, and boundless lack of productivity. Replacing these "traditional" habits of non-learning with fresh new attitudes of caring for one another's qualities and abilities, sharing and helping, and developing a sense of confidence and trust in one's own integrity and that of your fellows... and seeing and experiencing the infinite benefits... this is what we were all able to accomplish together.

Each individual is given the experience of planning and carrying out an agenda drawn up by each and every member of the group, with the teacher's guidance and experience as a resource of good use. First, the agenda of varied skills is drawn up and agreed upon, each one contributing to and approving of our outline of what we want to learn. Thus... we have a plan, a syllabus, from which to draw our daily activities of curriculum and learning.

Next, we determine what kind of leadership or management qualities are necessary, in order to accomplish real learning skills together. The literal qualities: subject preparation; understanding group dynamics; and making the best possible use of our time together. Also... collecting our work material together, for daily use. The abstract qualities: variety of different ways; caring for the productivity of each member of the group; having a well-earned pride in the advancement of each individual; concern for individual and group behavior and harmony; enjoying the vast variety of skills and experience that can be achieved; transferring the learning skills and subject content beyond the classroom, as life lessons.

What specific duties must each of us experience, in order to make this daily venture a success? To love who we are and what we are engaged in. Yes! This is the best of living, in and out of the classroom. Loving our work... and working to love our lives.

We rotate leadership and management duties, once our agenda is available from which to draw for our daily lessons. Two students at a time... work cooperatively as co-teachers; they must both prepare ahead of time so that they can be relied upon to keep things moving smoothly. At the same time, the students want this pair to succeed: if the student teachers do well, so will the rest of the class. They help each other to succeed... as a group effort.

We also rotate other classroom management duties, i.e... the passing and collecting of materials; posting the daily agenda on the board; welcoming one's fellows upon arrival and contributing to immediately getting down to business; acting as host to any and all visitors, and taking care of interruptions quickly and efficiently; taking attendance (to be checked by the teacher); moving around and giving aid wherever necessary; keeping a simple journal/log of our day's accomplishments, to be eventually used by the next pair of student teachers in making their plans, keeping transition as smooth as possible.

We must also encourage and prepared for flexibility and spontaneity in how we make valuable use of our time together. Issues come up... that require immediate attention. In addition, we want to periodically evaluate how we are all doing. What are our strengths? Where might we improve? This is necessarily an ongoing process. Be as genuinely upbeat and encouraging as possible. Once again... this learning experience transfers to each person's own life situation. Think of how this can and does benefit future and current family and community life. It works! The best critics and supporters... are the students themselves.

It is a beautiful experience, also from my point of view as both a teacher and student. Much affection is openly encouraged. Students are eager to come to class. Boredom and the need to cheat fade from existence. Memorable moments are experienced. Students invited others to visit: parents, staff members, community mentors, siblings, and also visitor/participants from our "special class" which, in turn, invited our students to come to their room and share with them also. Their teacher was thrilled to participate. A not-so-foreign exchange.

Perhaps our only problem: just not enough time to do everything we were eager to accomplish. Hence... it became the individual's option to continue to develop his/her own objectives beyond our limited class time. Many "projects" were done outside, and then the results were shared with the group. Fantastic variety! One senior lad had initiated his own business by purchasing one porta-potty to be rented for farmworkers in the field (having no other such facility); he earned enough, eventually, to invest in another one, continuing to maintain them very well. An accomplishment for himself... and others. A young woman in a junior class crocheted warm and attractive baby blankets to be first given and later sold as lovely and useful items; I still use mine, many years later.

Life skills were a constant, including curriculum lessons and developing a lifelong joy and appreciation for learning, and living as good a life as possible, plus having an immediate and extended positive impact on others. Horizontal management... a blessing to all... and a horizon without limit or boundaries.