Is Teaching English abroad a full-time career?

Having just read an article on the "tefl blog", I feel I must respond!

Teaching English-a long-term career? With all due respect to Lara Treacy , I have to take issue with your article. You present a very rosy picture, if only it were true! You have 19 years experience, well, I have just started my 40th year (yes, forty), as a teacher, first, of Spanish/French in UK State Schools (fully qualified with a degree and PGCE), and then, largely, in cities all over Spain, where I currently reside. (CELTA Certificate in Madrid, 1994).

Most of your comments have positive features, yes, true, but, to be honest, you hardly touch upon the financial "rewards" of Teaching English abroad. I have no idea of your background, or where you started out, in my case, from 1980-1993 I had climbed the dizzy heights from a normal teacher of Modern Foreign Languages, Head of Year, Head of Pastoral Care, and had started applying for posts of Deputy Headships in large Secondary Schools all over the UK. (Certainly, I agree with you about the need for flexibility in terms of being able to move from city to city or country. Not so easy when you have a working wife and two kids at school, as I did at the time). Anyway, at the end of 1993, facing teacher burnout and a divorce, I decided to make the permanent move back to my beloved Spain, which I had visited many times and spent the Academic Year there 1976-1977. By this time I was a Senior Teacher with a very high salary. Sadly, I made the mistake of assuming the salaries in Spain for teachers would be similar to what I'd been earning n the UK, so I was very excited about the move. Was I right? Wrong!! Very wrong. In fact, to bring us up to date from January 1994-January 2020, I can say salaries for teachers in private academies have not risen at all. Nada, nothing, zilch. With no annual increment, very little extra for positions of responsibility such as DOS, and, almost always, nothing extra for years of experience or qualifications. To give people an idea, think of around 1000 euros as the average, some of the better academies might offer more, up to 1400 if you are lucky, many offer less. On top of this add the fact that a contract is usually for 9 months-the academic year in Spain, so for the 3 summer months, you either have to return to the UK to work in a summer school (these are well-paid but extremely hard work!) or somehow try and make ends meet until September/October. Your comments about travelling around in your free time, visiting other countries, again, yes, fantastic experiences which I loved doing, but with what resources? I came over to Spain in 1994 with next to nothing, my shared house with my ex-wife had been signed over to her (solicitor's very poor advice!), and, as mentioned, the equivalent salary I'd been earning in the UK has never materialized, even to this day. Maybe I should add I have been a Cambridge Examiner since 2009, I speak at Conferences now and again, for the first time this week I am looking at online teaching, which I have always disliked. One other point: Now aged 63, my experience counts for nothing. In fact, together with my age, it works against me!!. Unbelievable, but true, I have even been told it by Directors of Academies when I was in my early 40s!! Most academies don't want experienced teachers, they prefer young kids straight out of University with no experience, no language knowledge, no classroom experience. But for owners they feel it's better for them, they can pay the minimum and, after 9 months, send them on their way. In summary, despite your enthusiasm and positive outlook, let me say that, despite my comments, I still love my job, as you say, to meet people with different backgrounds, culture, language, gastronomy, is wonderful. But, all-in-all I would argue (as would most authors of TEFL) that it is NOT a long-term career prospect. Great to have on your CV yes, great to go back to, yes, but to expect to live on it as a full-time vocational career? I have to say again it is definitely not the case, not even as a DOS, or trying to keep your head above water running your own academy. Believe me, I've tried them all! Ah, and for anyone out there who wishes to doubt me, please take a look a the daily job alerts on " tefl.com", which features new postings worldwide (Most of my posts I found there). I defy anyone to find a post which offers a good salary with good conditions, good opportunities for promotion, even the chance to return a second or third year in the same academy! As I said at the beginning, Lara, in theory, I share just about all the positive sentiments you express, but, sadly, in practice I cannot identify with them, and, with my 40 years experience, dedication and professionalism, I feel I have the right to say so. Thanks for reading. Kind regards and good luck to you. Paul