# American certified teacher, possibility of work in Mexico?



## eltoro89 (Aug 29, 2015)

Hello,

I am a certified k-5 general curriculum, k-12 special education, and k-12 mathematics teacher in the US. I have a B.Ed in Special Education and an M.A in mathematics education. I studied abroad in Morelos for a year and I really loved it and have always wanted to go back. I worked under the table as an ESL instructor and wasn't certified in anything at that point. I left because the job wasn't static and being an illegal worker really didn't help.

Now, with multiple degrees and US teaching credentials under my belt, I thought it might be more possible to relocate to Mexico, get a proper job, with proper visa sponsorships. What are the steps that I need to take to work as a teacher in Mexico?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

eltoro89 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am a certified k-5 general curriculum, k-12 special education, and k-12 mathematics teacher in the US. I have a B.Ed in Special Education and an M.A in mathematics education. I studied abroad in Morelos for a year and I really loved it and have always wanted to go back. I worked under the table as an ESL instructor and wasn't certified in anything at that point. I left because the job wasn't static and being an illegal worker really didn't help.
> 
> Now, with multiple degrees and US teaching credentials under my belt, I thought it might be more possible to relocate to Mexico, get a proper job, with proper visa sponsorships. What are the steps that I need to take to work as a teacher in Mexico?


With all of this education under your belt, you should be able to get a job at a good private school in Mexico. Do you want to return to Morelos, or would you be willing to move to another part of the country (like the DF) where there are more schools and more employment opportunities? Because of some fairly recent changes in Mexican immigration policy, you need to find a job before applying for a residence visa that allows you to work legally, and you need to apply for the visa at a Mexican Consulate in your home country. I have a good Canadian friend here who has a company that works with schools in Mexico who are looking for qualified teachers, especially native speakers of English. Once you have made 5 posts, I'd be happy to send you his contact information via PM.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

That was Morelos (maybe Cuernavaca) ..... but I'm not familiar with any private schools there that teach English or in English


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

sparks said:


> That was Morelos (maybe Cuernavaca) ..... but I'm not familiar with any private schools there that teach English or in English


Thanks for that correction, sparks. I can't believe that there are no private schools in Cuernavaca that don't include English in their curriculum. But there are top-ranked private schools in the DF (and in other large Mexican cities) that have part of the curriculum taught in English, such as the American School Foundation.


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## eltoro89 (Aug 29, 2015)

Hi yeah, it was Morelos and it was Cuernavaca, but I'm open to relocate pretty much anywhere that offers a decent salary/standard of living. I'm not opposed to teaching ESL if need be, but I'm not certified in it and thus I'm not sure if there'd be any benefit to doing it. Morelos is pretty small and I don't recall there being any international schools in the vicinity. 

I speak Spanish pretty well and wouldn't mind teaching in it if I had to, but I'm assuming that'd put me more under the authority of the Mexican government and I'm not sure how well licensure in an American state would transfer over to the Mexican equivalent of domestic teacher training.

In any case, I'm almost certain the private schools would offer better benefits and more opportunities. I could also potentially take a few classes to have an ESL endorsement added to my existing Georgia credentials, but I'm not sure if that would hold any weight if I did have to resort to ESL opportunities. It'd probably be just look weak anyway considering the plethora of people who have CELTA certifications, which is probably more well known that just having an endorsement on my American license for ESL.

How difficult is it to procure employment in such a private establishment for purposes of visa sponsorship? I know when I taught in France as an English lecturer at a university, it was pretty hard to jump over the visa hurdles for the EU because of the labor market needs test and having to show that no suitable EU candidates could be found.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

eltoro89 said:


> Hi yeah, it was Morelos and it was Cuernavaca, but I'm open to relocate pretty much anywhere that offers a decent salary/standard of living. I'm not opposed to teaching ESL if need be, but I'm not certified in it and thus I'm not sure if there'd be any benefit to doing it. Morelos is pretty small and I don't recall there being any international schools in the vicinity.
> 
> I speak Spanish pretty well and wouldn't mind teaching in it if I had to, but I'm assuming that'd put me more under the authority of the Mexican government and I'm not sure how well licensure in an American state would transfer over to the Mexican equivalent of domestic teacher training.
> 
> ...


There would be almost no possibility of your getting a job in a public school here, and I doubt you would want to. Getting a job in a good private school is not that difficult if you have the right qualifications, according to what the friend I mentioned in my previous post has told me. But it's too late for this school year as classes have already started. Make three more posts and I'll send you my friend's contact information.


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## eltoro89 (Aug 29, 2015)

Isla Verde said:


> There would be almost no possibility of your getting a job in a public school here, and I doubt you would want to. Getting a job in a good private school is not that difficult if you have the right qualifications, according to what the friend I mentioned in my previous post has told me. But it's too late for this school year as classes have already started. Make three more posts and I'll send you my friend's contact information.


Yeah, I don't really want to work in the public school system. I'm sure it has its merits, but I would probably be eaten alive by both administration and students. By the way, I should be able to receive PMs now.

I know it's too late for this academic year, but I don't plan to make any hasty decisions. I want to have everything well thought out for the next academic year, that way I'm way more prepared should any potential jobs come along.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

eltoro89 said:


> Yeah, I don't really want to work in the public school system. I'm sure it has its merits, but I would probably be eaten alive by both administration and students. By the way, I should be able to receive PMs now.
> 
> I know it's too late for this academic year, but I don't plan to make any hasty decisions. I want to have everything well thought out for the next academic year, that way I'm way more prepared should any potential jobs come along.


To tell the truth, unfortunately, most Mexican public schools have very few merits to speak of.

Just sent you a PM. Good luck with your plans for your return to Mexico!


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

eltoro89 said:


> Yeah, I don't really want to work in the public school system. I'm sure it has its merits, but I would probably be eaten alive by both administration and students. By the way, I should be able to receive PMs now.
> 
> I know it's too late for this academic year, but I don't plan to make any hasty decisions. I want to have everything well thought out for the next academic year, that way I'm way more prepared should any potential jobs come along.


Public schools here have some of the lowest paid teachers, probably in the world considering all things. The teachers unions are bad to say the least. The only person getting a decent salary is the school directors, there is no sub directors, and school inspectors and top administartors in school board offices. There are school boards that are state run and then there are school boards that are federally run as they have both federal and state schools. Special Ed. is federal schools, as far as I know. SEP the secretary of public education is the top administrator of both and finance most schools and the state secretaries of public education run the state schools. There are mainly 2 types of teachers unions. The huge federal teachers union SNTE which is losing power it once had in dictating when, where, and how many hours per day a school can use one of their teachers and state teachers unions. The previous head of the SNTE embezzeled about 220 million USDs from it´s pension fund. She ran it for decades and is sitting in jail for the last couple of years awaiting trial.

Los excesos de Elba Esther Gordillo


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## ltharveyd (Aug 30, 2015)

My kids attend Westhill Institute, in Santa Fe, on the west side of Mexico City. The school is US and International program based private school. They are looking for teachers I think. You can find their website by just googling Westhill Institute.


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## miaux (Jul 16, 2014)

As mentioned, your best bet are private schools in big cities ( Guadalajara, DF, Monterrey, etc)... 

I can only speak of Monterrey, as it is where Im from. I studied in a bilingual school all my life and all my teachers were a mix of young Brits/ Americans and I know schools are always looking for native english speakers. And no, it will not be as complicated as in Europe, I believe is more relaxed here. 

Contact this schools and give them a try:

High Class Private Schools
- American School Foundation of Monterrey
- Euroamericano
- Instituto Irlandes
- Cecvac
- Instituto Brillamont

Medium Class Private Schools:
- Instituto Cambridge 
- Instituto Bilingue Stanford
- Instituto Anglo Americano
- The Hills Institute
- Latin American School of Monterrey
- Instituto Anglo Britanico

all the best!


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

sparks said:


> That was Morelos (maybe Cuernavaca) ..... but I'm not familiar with any private schools there that teach English or in English


There are several bilingual schools in Cuernavaca. I can't vouch for the quality of teaching, etc. but by Googling "escuela bilingüe Cuernavaca" or "colegio bilingüe Cuernavaca" you will find several links. 

This one looks quite good - at the primary level they have classes in Spanish and English, and at the secondary level they add in French, as well. 

I like their Philosophy/Mission/Vision statement. (Since the OP speaks Spanish, I hope it's OK if I don't translate it.)

_Filosofía, El Colegio Bilingüe Norteamericano pone en práctica los métodos y modelos pedagógicos acordes a formar personas capaces, intelectuales, criticas de la realidad, basadas en los valores de respeto, responsabilidad y solidaridad, competentes ante los retos actuales.

Misión, Somos un Colegio Bilingüe de educación básica, desarrollamos en nuestros educandos habilidades, conocimientos, actitudes y valores mediante una enseñanza activa, innovadora e integral, realizando una alianza de trabajo entre colegio, padres de familia y alumnos, fomentando una conciencia ética y global para que nuestros educandos logren conquistar las mejores oportunidades que se les presenten. 

Visión, Ser una institución vanguardista, formando alumnos competentes, críticos, humanistas, lideres en su campo, que incidan en la transformación social, logrando ciudadanos exitosos en los diferentes ámbitos en los que se desenvuelvan._

The link to their website is Colegio Bilingüe Norteamericano


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

Since we are on an "education" posting, I thought I would share a "joke" that I heard last night at my brother-in-laws birthday party. There were 4 public school teachers/directors there. You may have heard it, I had not. It was in Spanish, so I translated it.

Why is Elba still in prison?
Because the teachers are not good at constructing tunnels, just bridges ! Gary can probably explain, if you don't understand.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

coondawg said:


> Since we are on an "education" posting, I thought I would share a "joke" that I heard last night at my brother-in-laws birthday party. There were 4 public school teachers/directors there. You may have heard it, I had not. It was in Spanish, so I translated it.
> 
> Why is Elba still in prison?
> Because the teachers are not good at constructing tunnels, just bridges ! Gary can probably explain, if you don't understand.


I understand the bit about the tunnel (a reference to El Chapo's escape from prision) but not the bridge reference.


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

"puente" maybe, like…
"hay puente esta semana"

ie, when holiday day off gets moved to a Monday/Friday.


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

WintheWin said:


> "puente" maybe, like…
> "hay puente esta semana"
> 
> ie, when holiday day off gets moved to a Monday/Friday.


Or both.


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## cmg1227 (Jul 15, 2015)

As newer members with not a lot of posting history, I don't believe we're able to PM each other. But if we can figure out a way to get in touch, let me know if you'd be interested in Cancun, because I know there's a job opening in the school where I teach that needs to be filled ASAP.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

cmg1227 said:


> As newer members with not a lot of posting history, I don't believe we're able to PM each other. But if we can figure out a way to get in touch, let me know if you'd be interested in Cancun, because I know there's a job opening in the school where I teach that needs to be filled ASAP.


Once each of you have made 5 posts, you can use the PM function to get in touch. Just click on the username of the person you want to send a PM to, and the drop-down menu will tell you what to do.


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