Unqualified, experienced teachers can now have the opportunity to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Wisconsin State Licensure by following an assessment-based route through Educators Abroad (EA). These routes enable graduate teachers to continue working in their current posts while being supported by experienced tutors, usually, former inspectors, advisors, university tutors, headteachers or other senior teachers, to prepare for a short assessment period with one of our partner universities.
During the preparation period, a supervisor will visit the school to observe teaching and to work with the teacher and the mentor to help ensure that the teacher can demonstrate that they meet the appropriate standards during the assessment stage. For instance, Angi Welch working in The Sultan’s School in Oman is working with her mentor Laura Griffin and class teacher Charlotte Warne and is well on the way to achieving QTS, collecting evidence that she meets the QTS standards as she teaches her class. Laura recognises that she is also as well benefiting from working with EA on this programme because mentoring tends to help teachers to reflect on their practice. The school benefits as well because being engaged in training and mentoring helps it to think constructively about professional development. As Laura is demonstrating that she meets the EA mentoring criteria, she will receive an EA mentor certificate. For Angi to acquire QTS, the final stage of the process involves a short assessment phase with our partner, the University of Reading, which she will enter with the confidence gained from have a full portfolio of evidence.
These routes to qualification are an ideal complement to academic courses, such as the iPGCE, which cannot offer QTS or licensure. Those teachers who have followed an iPGCE course are often able to incorporate the knowledge and skills they have gained to compete the preparation period in a shorter time period. Teachers should be employed in a recognised international school following a curriculum similar to an English or US school which is taught in English. These routes to qualification are available to both primary and secondary school teachers.
To date, EA has a 100% success rate with teachers from around the world.
