"Being a teacher does not come in shapes and sizes - does not define race and color. Being a teacher do serve as a guide and sage."
There are prejudices going around that schools ONLY and PREFER native speakers and there you go listing the names of countries they are accepting. It is a bitter fact that Philippines is not included despite an English speaking country. I can not blame them for that having hundreds of dialects spoken in the country some have carried over the local tone. But does it really matter? What if some are bilingual and multilingual? I bet they are more flexible and talented as they can switch one language to the other. Taking myself, for instance, I am more fluent in speaking English better than Filipino in fact because my mother tongue is Ilocano, a dialect widely spoken in the northern area of the country. I also can (so when we say "can" it means "ability" so should clarify it) understand my parents' dialects which are different from each other: Ibaloi and Kankanaey. HOWEVER, being multilingual does not affect my English accent at all. And currently, I just moved to South Korea and working on my Korean communication skills or they locally call it as "Hangul". You could probably guess where the struggle is.
Anyway, despite having the F6 visa it is according to the law and the embassy that people holding this particular visa can legally work in the land of the morning calm, being an English teacher comes great limitations for the only reason of not being a native teacher. But do non-native teachers really can not be good and qualified teacher per se? Definitely not. It is just that because of the law imposed to hire only natives made a knock-on effect to schools and academies more particularly to students and teachers. As a matter of fact, a lot of students who went out and studied in the Philippines can attest to the abilities of Filipino English teachers despite the stereotypical stance of having the Filipino accent.
The start of my journey starts hunting for a teaching job and hoping to find the perfect place where I can teach without limitations and deceptions. Why I said so? Some teachers had to hide under a mask just to present themselves as natives and I know it is against their will as well. This reason might come from the fact that schools advertise natives to attract students as customers. I already have sent 3 resumes: 1 to a direct school and some recruitment agencies. But I suggest not to resort to agencies as it might be risky. I have not received any confirmation yet as it was stated that they will match up my resume to prospective employers and contact me if ever. I do not really expect highly of this. LOL. I also sent tons of resumes to online teaching sites and to my surprise although they are stating they accept non-natives, do not believe them. But try sites where they really accept non-native. Do a lot of research but to be honest, I got declined from several sites already for unknown reason though having to go beyond the minimum requirements.
Good luck to all teachers especially non-natives and just keep trying. Just be fully be aware of scams and risky websites.
Remember my philosophy: "Being a teacher does not come in shapes and sizes - does not define race and color. Being a teacher do serve as a guide and sage." - FFLE
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