Conditions

Given the global nature of TEFL and variety of teaching contexts, it’s just not possible to present some universal set of conditions you should expect everywhere.
Most teachers probably would draw similar conclusions about similar scenarios, but they are connected to the answer to “what helps you do the job effectively in that context” – and what is average in that place – rather than a literal checklist.

To get a feel for what conditions you might face, visit onestopenglish.com’s teacher diaries, or teacher letters. These are not necessarily representative of the country they come from, but they are real “diaries” and letters.

Teachers also come from a variety of backgrounds, and what may be appropriate conditions for someone with an MA and five years experience may be inappropriate for a new teacher with a BA and teaching certificate, and vice versa.

Here are some things to look out for though:

Salary
This varies wildly depending on where you are – and not just the absolute amount, but how much you make relative to the average wage in that country and the cost of living. While those extras zero’s at the end might make your eyes grow wide, keep your wits about you and know that a) salary is probably not the most important condition and b) it’s pretty unlikely to find something very far off average…so if you do, beware!

For a handy cost-of-living tool, see Tefl.com’s city cost guide; for my own advice on contracts generally, see The 411 On TEFL Job Contracts.

Teachers’ room
Generally speaking and especially if you are a new teacher, what is the first thing you should look for in a teachers’ room? Alex Case said it best here in How To Scope Out A Teachers’ Room: that there is one! Next, of course, consider how the stuff in there will help you do the job. Look through the books appropriate for the groups you’ll be teaching – do they contain what look like fun and engaging activities? Are there actual resource books which are different from coursebooks?

Also keep in mind that the teachers’ room is not only a place to locate resources and plan your lessons, but to interact with other teachers. In a full teachers’ room, you might have to fight for elbow space, but if you need an activity you can ask around and get several suggestions. Computers, decent-speed Internet and a working printer are pretty integral to doing anything nowadays. And in my view, a selection of decent resource books is a necessity too. There are resources online, but I’d be concerned that a school telling you about online resources available may be shirking its responsibility to provide books. I guess I could be a Luddite (really), but after more than three years of teaching, when given a choice, I still go for a resource book first.

The teachers room may not be what comes to mind when you think of “conditions” but it plays a large role in your working life.

Schedule
Your timetable is the other the dark horse, because, like the teachers’ room, it’s a lot more important than most people think. It may sound selfish and un-academic to be concerned with when you teach, but if you’ve only ever taught Monday through Friday, eight to four, your opinion might change after a year of 7:30 starts with two breaks of two hours each in the day, and a 7pm finish. Are you a day or night person?

Most teachers I know find that working regular schedules and teaching more or less in blocks is ideal. It is frequently in the interest of schools to have teachers available whenever they need them; in many cases because of business learners, schools do not need teachers in blocks, but rather early in the morning and in the period after the work day ends. Be aware of this contrast and the importance of having the hours the school can tell you to teach specified in your contract. Find out more about split shifts here.

Teaching off site is more and more common. It can add variety to your schedule and get you outdoors, as an international school teacher who worked in a basement once pointed out to me. It is also just a reality of teaching. Imagine, for example, commuting half an hour each way to teach a one-hour class at 8am twice a week. This is not so terrible, but followed by a three hour break, a class of two hours, another hour break, and then a class in another location, it can come to feel like a lot of time where you’re not working and not getting paid, but can’t be doing anything else either.

Number of hours falls under the heading of schedule too. Again, it is hard to generalize and it varies with the context, but in language schools in Europe, 20-25 contact hours is a full-time schedule because of the level of preparation usually expected. It seems to be the norm to teach up to 30 contact hours a week in some countries. That seems like a lot to me, but if the context is such that the prep is less, then … so it goes.

Housing
Housing is often part of a full time contract. It’s a nice benefit, but it’s like any other benefit – part of the package – and not necessarily worth swooning over for its own sake.

The pros of “housing included”: having a probably-decent place to live, having the deposit paid or contract negotiated by the school. This is important because you may not be able to rent on your own without local credit or knowing someone, or, as a foreigner who can basically pick up and go at any moment, you may have to shell out a big deposit at the get-go if you do it alone.

The cons of “housing included”: if something goes wrong with your job, the place you live is connected to that. Sure, even when you find your own place, your ability to pay your rent depends on your job, but not quite as directly. And while it is probably near impossible for a first year teacher to secure housing on their own, at least if you find it yourself the first time, you will have gone through the process and have some idea what to do if something goes wrong with the job and you need another place to live.

The details will probably vary by location and by school. Is it a single place or shared? Who is the roommate and what are the realistic options if things go awry? How big or small? What’s there already and what would you have to buy? Do you pay utilities and if so, which ones, what for and how much? Is there an owner or landlord who comes and goes? Find out what to ask about housing at an interview, according to me.

I did hear through the grapevine of some former colleagues – a couple – who were given a furnished apartment but told not to use some of the antique furniture. Then a CELTA trainee was placed in their living room, to share with them for a month. In my first job, I was about to have to share with a couple with a small child. They were fine people, but my contract said one roommate, not a family, and when I spoke up the school mostly took care of it. I ended up paying a little more out of pocket for a single apartment.

Other useful posts from the TEFL Logue:

Classes
The last main condition is the one that makes up the essence of teaching: your classes.

Adults or kids? Which levels? With a book, test, without? Are people in the class really at the level? Sometimes it is a practical reality that students are grouped to make a group large enough to justify the expense of teaching it (or to maximize profit, depending on both the school and how you look at it), but frankly it makes your life unpleasant to have to accommodate a range of levels in a mixed ability group. I know it happens in ESL classes in the US, but somehow the scenario is just different for language schools. I suppose it is because when a student pays money to be in the wrong level class, that student, the other students and the teacher get the short end of the stick and the school gets the short-term benefit of the fees.

What paperwork or tasks are there outside teaching? Do you share classes or teach them alone? If you are a new teacher, do you have to teach advanced or beginner classes right away? Does what the school does promote realistic expectations from them?

Other conditions or benefits
Academic support, such as a director of studies: does one work there, and is it his/her job to help you out?
Holiday time: how much, when, and despite the name, you do need to ask: is it paid or unpaid?
Seminars, workshops and training opportunities: are there any, and if so, how often?
Can you take some local language lessons free of charge or at a discount?
Are your flights covered?

If you’re still craving details of conditions in particular countries, you aren’t totally out of luck: Have a look at ESL Base’s advice by country, and if you’re looking at a contract from a school in Korea, the Korea Jobs Forum at Dave’s ESL Cafe has a thread where you can post your contract for a review and read through what others have advised.