sans

What ever you decide to do in the end i would like to wish you well with....only you can decide at the end of the day the right thing for you and your family. Good Luck

ManBearPig

Oh no - now I feel slightly guilty for pushing the negative aspects so much. You sound like you are making your own decision for sound reasons though. I suppose you already have, but perhaps one more thorough investigation into the real possibilities might be worth a try before you abandon the idea all together? You never know how it might work out. My wife has looked into it here, and our experience has been the one I described, but it may work out differently for you.

Sounds like you have good sense and understand the reality though so I'm sure you will do what's best. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

joelsa

Sorry, you couldn't pay me tripple that to work in a UK high school

Steve_P

Average teacher salaries by province, most information likely out of date.

http://resource.educationcanada.com/salaries.html

In Edmonton a teacher with six years or more university and ten years experience would be earning $79,783 per year as of September 2007.

Alberta Teachers Association collective agreements.

Julie_p

Good luck with your decision xx

Tom Masters

Also, Damien have you checked what classroom teachers earn in Canada? It seems as though the transfer of qualifications and experience is a grey area. Even with 10+ years experience and the relevant degree it looks as though my wife would likely earn less than $60k CDN. So even if she was able to secure a teaching job, we would still consider moving back to the UK where she could earn a better salary.[/QUOTE]

FYI from what I have experienced working as a teacher in London, experience as a teacher in UK is counted for salary purposes. Teachers here with 10 years of experience earn $84k a year in our public school board. It is possible to break into teaching here but pride goes out the window and it takes a while to get a full time job. I wouldn't count on having a reliable salary for a couple of years until you've paid your dues as a supply teacher first (which is the way they seem to look at it over here!).

Chris

ManBearPig

[QUOTE=
In Edmonton a teacher with six years or more university and ten years experience would be earning $79,783 per year as of September 2007.
[/QUOTE]

No i'm not out of date I saw the same numbers for Ontario.

It's the six or more years of 'University' that's the grey area. In the UK a bachelor's degree followed by a 1 year PGCE is enough to be a fully qualified subject teacher on a full pay scale. This can be only 4 or 5 years of University. So it seems like you need at least a Masters in your subject to be entitled to 80k in Canada. Also I'm not sure if 10+ years teaching in the UK is counted in full.

I'm no expert on this stuff by the way it's just the information I have obtained from various sources so far and I could be very wrong...

damianpieroni

don't believe what you might have read or have heard anecdotedly. The vast majority of kids in the vast majority of schools in England are a delight to teach. Inner city schools can have real problems, but I'm sure that's true of most countries

damianpieroni

Manbear, don't worry, I won't be basing my decision on your advice alone. I've looked in to it in depth and everything I've researched seems to point toward me having to "struggle" for a couple years at least, and then if/when I secured a full time job,(not necessarily in a place I want to settle), I'm not sure I would be better off,( financially, quality of life) there than I am here...which was the main point of going in the first place. My equity is likely to be eaten away here with falling house prices, whilst they continue to rise there of course. Things looked much more promising 18 months ago in this respect, where property wise I could have been in a position to get a good sized detached house in Southern Alberta. All things considered...what I'd gain, (great outdoors, slower pace of life, less crime/yob culture) can still be found here in the right places, and what I'd miss, (family, friends, Manchester United,ha! country pubs, everything historical, proximety to Europe etc)...the risks seem to outweigh the benefits. Good luck to you whatever happens your end, and if you do come back I'll buy you a pint!

Atlantic Xpat

I suspect that would be one of those things that varies from Province to Province. Certainly here in NL, Mrs AX's 5 years teaching experience in UK counts for naught in 'seniority' terms (and getting a permanent teaching position is all about seniority not ability here) but did count in terms of moving up the pay scale. Although not as much as getting her second degree in Special Education.

Out of curiosity, can anyone tell me what a primary/elementary school teacher makes in the UK these days? When we left UK in 04 it was around GBP21k IIRC.

Steve_P

I doubt that in any province the five years experience anywhere would have any bearing whatsoever on seniority.

It would only affect the salary scale.

At the University of Calgary an Education Degree is now a two year degree after program. Meaning you must first have a degree in something else first before you can enter the faculty of education.

So even though a person may not have a Masters Degree they will most likely have six years of university education, putting them in that higher salary category right off the bat.

Joseph

Well done for making an intelligent decision and looking into it. For my part I have found getting a good job really hard. Degrees and good experience are the norm here, lots of very competetive candidates.

In Ottawa I have a sister-in-law and mother-in-law in teaching and they had to both volunteer a couple of years, they had good contacts and one of them is still on contract. I know a couple of out of work teachers, I know one is working in a kitchen, he just can't get a job.

England is a great place and still home for many of us. Dobby

ManBearPig

Seems we are of similar minds Damien. You are right, things have changed for brits moving to Canada in the last few years.

Best of luck