lozbloke

Hi all!

Ive been a Further and Higher Education (based within FE Colleges) in the UK for the past few years, teaching Performing Arts / Musical Theatre from BTEC up to Foundation Degree. Ive also authored a Foundation Degree and BA (Hons) Musical Theatre for Staffordshire University.

I have a degree in Musical Theatre and a PTLLS qualification (Preparing to teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) and am also 3 modules away from completing my PGCE (Level 7 version), which is FE based.

Im now looking to work ideally in the US in their equivalent system to FE - which I think is a mixture between senior years at High School and Community College?

Has anyone made the change previously? What is the bets way to go about it.....Im literally starting form scratch!!

Many thanks in advance

ubernathan

An International School may be willing to sponsor a visa, for an in-demand subject. A regular US school won't want to know. (MrsMe is a qualified UK teacher with a doctorate, and getting relicensed here was a huge slog, finally resolving by finding a friendly local head teacher.)

lozbloke

Brill, so something like the British International Schools etc..

..would this be the same for community colleges too? I know they arent completely like an UK FE College, but seems like a close(ish) alternative?

yellowroom

You have to ask yourself, what would you bring to the school that would justify them spending the time and money sponsoring you for a visa, as opposed to employing someone who is already able to work in the US?

tom169

Check out Pulaski's ways to live and work in the USA on the wiki. I'm on my phone at the moment so can't quickly pull up a link.

Make sure there are no abstract means of you moving.

Otherwise moving in the educational sector will definitely be an uphill battle.

lozbloke

Awesome, Ill have a look over the weekend! Is it an uphill battle across all educational areas - aka schools, colleges and universities?

tom169

You'll have basically no chance if it's public school across all of the levels.

Twinkle0927

My ex-husband's cousin moved here to teach. It's a private school for girls in Georgia where she is. They have a policy of only employing female teachers and female physics teachers are hard to find apparently so they were happy to pay the necessary visa costs to bring one in from the U.K. You will have more luck with a private school as they don't have to justify to the taxpayer spending thousands on bringing in a teacher from overseas when the school district doesn't have enough money for books for each child as it is and there are probably qualified teachers in the area and beyond who are looking for work and can be hired at minimal cost to the taxpayer.

Can you imagine the outcry in the U.K. if an LEA was spending thousands bringing in teachers from overseas? There would be the same reaction here. Private schools - different story.

With any employment-based visa you always have to ask yourself the question of what you can bring to the table that an American with the same qualifications can't. And whether that extra that you bring is worth the cost of getting you in the door.

Bob

PGCE, might not mean anything over here, so you should check with the state that you would be interested in.

Where I am, most teachers have a masters and higher education often have higher minimum requirements.

It's going to be a uphill battle so good luck.