# Teaching



## Humbleb (Jun 23, 2015)

Hi everyone, 

I wonder if you could give me some advice.

I have been living and working here in Madrid for 5 years now, and have worked in a public primary school and a colegio 'concertado' for the past two years.

However, now I am considering doing a masters degree in order to be a fully qualified teacher. I initially thought about doing a PGCE in the UK, getting some experience there for a few years and then returning to Spain to work in a British School here, in the hope that teachers would be paid a higher salary than those who work in the Spanish system. Unfortunately, from what I am reading now though, the salaries are not any different to what I am being paid now! Does anyone know whether any of them pay the same salary as a teacher in the UK?

The other option I have is to do the masters degree here over 2 years and work in a Spanish school where I know I will definitely be paid more, but it will be stuck at the 1600€ mark forever.

If anyone could give me any information about this I would be very grateful!


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

My advice depends on what you want out of life. Do you love teaching to the point where there's nothing you'd rather do? Do you aim to get job satisfaction or make money? Do you want to live in any specific place(s) or would you work anywhere?

My questions are based on my feeling that you are doing the masters to improve earning potential. True?


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## Humbleb (Jun 23, 2015)

Horlics said:


> My advice depends on what you want out of life. Do you love teaching to the point where there's nothing you'd rather do? Do you aim to get job satisfaction or make money? Do you want to live in any specific place(s) or would you work anywhere?
> 
> My questions are based on my feeling that you are doing the masters to improve earning potential. True?



Thanks for the reply!

I mean, I like teaching but I am starting a family right now (expecting quite imminently our first child) and we seem to struggle on our salaries. We have a regular lifestyle and get by, but we'd like to be better off and be able to travel a bit more, hence the reevaluation of options for the future. We are currently in Madrid and would live in the UK for a while if we had to, but ultimately would like to end up in Barcelona, jobs dependent. Regarding doing other work, I would certainly consider other options if it meant a higher salary, but teaching would fit better with childcare and holidays, so it would depend upon the types of hours I'd be expected to work.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Humbleb said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I wonder if you could give me some advice.
> 
> ...


Teachers in Spain private or state system earn less than in the UK in the vast majority of schools (and I just added in the vast majority of schools to cover my back!)
But if you live in Spain should you compare your salary to someone in the UK? If you've lived here for 5 years and are thinking of carrying on perhaps comparisons aren't that useful.
I've lived here for nearly 30 years so imo there's little point in finding out what I'd earn in the UK. I do have quite a few American friends though who've been here as long as I have and will quite often speak in the interminable conditional "If I were in the States I'd be earning..." But the thing is you're here, not there and you don't


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## Humbleb (Jun 23, 2015)

Yes we live here, and I am aware that in general teachers do earn less. However, I wasn't sure whether teachers employed from the UK and with British QTS were offered higher salaries. If this were the case I would do a PGCE in the UK and then come back in order to obtain a better salary. If not, it is not worth me doing so and I may as well do the masters over here.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Humbleb said:


> Yes we live here, and I am aware that in general teachers do earn less. However, I wasn't sure whether teachers employed from the UK and with British QTS were offered higher salaries. If this were the case I would do a PGCE in the UK and then come back in order to obtain a better salary. If not, it is not worth me doing so and I may as well do the masters over here.


That's a bit clearer now, at least to me
Only, I don't quite understand what qualifications you have now. You're teaching, but you don't have a BEd or PGCE?


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## Humbleb (Jun 23, 2015)

Well I worked for three years as a teaching assistant and since then have been working pretty much as an unqualified teacher. I have a degree and TEFL etc but don't have the masters qualification which is why I have come to decide to actually do it and am deciding on the best route.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Humbleb said:


> Well I worked for three years as a teaching assistant and since then have been working pretty much as an unqualified teacher. I have a degree and TEFL etc but don't have the masters qualification which is why I have come to decide to actually do it and am deciding on the best route.


Ahh, well then I imagine you would get paid more and would open up your possibilities for teaching in different private schools because there are quite a few who would not employ you without a BEd or PGCE.
Have you looked at the TES to see what salaries they are offering for posts in Spain?


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Humbleb said:


> Thanks for the reply!
> 
> I mean, I like teaching but I am starting a family right now (expecting quite imminently our first child) and we seem to struggle on our salaries. We have a regular lifestyle and get by, but we'd like to be better off and be able to travel a bit more, hence the reevaluation of options for the future. We are currently in Madrid and would live in the UK for a while if we had to, but ultimately would like to end up in Barcelona, jobs dependent. Regarding doing other work, I would certainly consider other options if it meant a higher salary, but teaching would fit better with childcare and holidays, so it would depend upon the types of hours I'd be expected to work.


Pesky can help you much more than I can because she knows teaching.

All I can say is that if future earning potential and travel options are major factors (which appears to be the case), get to the UK and get some experience, get the necessary qualifications, including a degree, and then do a few years in the Middle East. They pay well and provide all accommodation, private schools for your kids, and many other benefits. You even get to hire a personal slave for a few hundred quid a month, an amount you won't even notice. What's not to like.... well, the heat, the sand in the air, many of the expats, and the religious loonies.

In the Mid East they like qualified experienced British teachers whose native language is English. And if you're white they really like you.


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

This is even more off-topic, but in the US, PhD and sometimes MA programs are funded so you can get through the whole process debt-free. I don't know how transferable that would be in Spain though since the educational systems are so different.


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## Humbleb (Jun 23, 2015)

Horlics said:


> Pesky can help you much more than I can because she knows teaching.
> 
> All I can say is that if future earning potential and travel options are major factors (which appears to be the case), get to the UK and get some experience, get the necessary qualifications, including a degree, and then do a few years in the Middle East. They pay well and provide all accommodation, private schools for your kids, and many other benefits. You even get to hire a personal slave for a few hundred quid a month, an amount you won't even notice. What's not to like.... well, the heat, the sand in the air, many of the expats, and the religious loonies.
> 
> In the Mid East they like qualified experienced British teachers whose native language is English. And if you're white they really like you.


Thanks! I am thinking the UK will be the best option for a while to get qualified and have experience there plus it is something to fall back on if we want to live there again in the future. However, although the middle east does sound great financially, I'm not sure how much I like the lifestyle. I've been a couple of times and have friends there but not so sure, but it's something to consider maybe...


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## Humbleb (Jun 23, 2015)

más chueco que la fayuca said:


> This is even more off-topic, but in the US, PhD and sometimes MA programs are funded so you can get through the whole process debt-free. I don't know how transferable that would be in Spain though since the educational systems are so different.


I just called about that actually, but having lived outside the UK for a while they say they don't know if I would be entitled to anything. That's something I'll have to look at too! I don't think the qualifications are transferable in terms of working within the Spanish system as I'd need the magisterio or whatever, but I could work in a British school over here.


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