A teacher’s career trajectory 7/25

Two things at the outset.

1. My dad recovered from bankruptcy, became a “dry-drunk” in 1952 and continued working hard until his retirement… never looking back. What a role-model!

2. “But I took the road less-traveled by, and that made all the difference” (Robert Frost)

At 30 yrs of age Linda and I left for work in Peru as Literacy Specialists among the Quechua indigenous dialect area of Conchucos Valley and worked there for 16 yrs. It was very gratifying to train govt. school teachers, community leaders and catechists, not only to read in Quechua but also to teach others to do so; then we left in 2002.

Within 3 years of leaving Peru we had separated from SIL International. So at 52 yrs of age I was unemployed in an otherwise arid job market. Luckily I was able to get my ESL credential and begin teaching Canada’s immigrants (“Temporary Foreign Workers” or TFWs), then 5 years later I was contracted to teach ESL at the University of Calgary where I worked for 5 years.

At the same time I had “side-jobs” as a baker for COBS bread as well as an IELTS Examiner, both online grading essays, and with SAIT and Global Village until 2018 when we then sold our 100 yr. old house in Calgary’s Hillhurst community and moved to Mexico.

The first 4 months in Nuevo Vallarta I subbed for a teacher on maternity leave at Harkness Academy as I knocked on doors of local companies (restaurants and hotels), offering my services to contract as an ESL instructor. Of the 70 companies I approached three of them were interested but wanted me to work 45 hrs/week for what amounted to about $7 USD/hr. Even in Mexico it’s hard to maintain a lifestyle on such meagre pay!

So I returned to teaching ESL online. One company had PLENTY of students to fill my schedule each week, so I was content to teach while working at home (for only about $14 USD/hr)! They provided all lesson plans and allowed for teacher flexibility in augmenting the curriculum. 

However with the onset of the recession and then COVID the student hours dwindled so much that I had to “fish” for 2-hour teaching spots with this same group, beginning at 6 am in order to teach through till 10 pm. This became untenable, so I sought out an online IELTS/TOEFL preparation group. They assigned me students (individuals or groups of up to 6 per classroom). I had no problem with the structure nor the rigor, but I DID have to provide very detailed lesson planning. With the help of my wife I was able to put these together, but the CEO continued to ask me to rewrite them. As a result I was doing approx. 5 hours of teacher prep. for every 1-2 hours in class, but I was only paid, of course, for the in-class time, which together amounted to about $8/hr USD of stressful labor. I had no choice but to resign. This “resignation” also spilled over into my retirement in Feb. 2024.

I must say I am so thankful for my years of service to each of these groups because I was able to serve and encourage individuals and make a difference in their lives (this, I've discovered is the proviso with all teachers working under "less desireable" working conditions). I’m reminded of the Spanish term, “mejicanada” which essentially means “slapping something together with the tools you have on hand.” Even though I have 2 Masters and am professionally trained, in some ways that’s what I see was happening in the groups I worked with. We did what we could and left the results to each individual to apply … or… NOT to apply. Even in Peru the teachers, community leaders, and individual students had each to decide what to do and how far to go with their own training.

Their destiny in in their own hands!