This audit is part of a larger project: 'Investigating NEST schemes around the world: supporting NEST/LET collaborative practices'. It provides an overview of government sponsored schemes which attract native English speaker teachers (NESTs) to work in state education. It is intended for English language teachers who are interested in working in different countries and in different education systems. It will also be of interest to those who research these schemes and the experiences of teachers on them.
Introduction to the audit by Fiona Copland
The project produced three outputs:
- a research report outlining the major findings: 'Investigating NEST schemes around the world: supporting NEST/LET collaborative practices'
- a set of training materials to support local English teachers (LETs) and native English speaker teachers (NESTs) in working collaboratively: 'Materials: Developing collaborative practice between LETs and NESTs'
- and this audit.
Of course, as the report acknowledges, the term ‘NEST’ is not without its problems and neither is the notion of employing NESTs to work alongside LETs. The schemes described here have all been established by countries which either lack English language teachers or who value having an international workforce. For the most part, teachers on the schemes are well-supported through mechanisms such as induction and regular meetings. However, a listing in the audit does not mean that a scheme is without problems: our advice would be to contact the scheme with specific questions and to ask to speak to current and previous participants on the scheme to get an insider’s view.
The audit is divided into two parts. In the first, you will find an overview of the different schemes giving essential information, such as length of contract, salary and outlay. This document will help you to compare one scheme with another. In the second section, schemes are explored in more detail, providing information on a range of areas such as induction and selection process.
A number of the schemes are clear about the qualifications a participant needs in order to take part, and these requirements are provided where they are known. English language skills, for example, must be very strong, but it is not always a requirement that a participant uses English as a first language. Many schemes now recognise that expert users of English provide an excellent language learning model to students and so are happy to recruit them. Again, it is best to check directly with the scheme if you are concerned about eligibility.
The audit is free to download below as a pdf file.
We hope that you find the audit useful and would like to hear about how you use it and what you think about it. Please log in to add your comments below, or get in touch with your feedback.
The authors:
Fiona Copland
Sue Garton
Steve Mann
Monika Davis
Downloads
Global NEST schemes – an audit426.23 KB