Americans Faced with Ongoing Pandemic-related Unemployment Turn to Teaching for Career Options

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz, Jan. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - As schools around the world continue to embrace virtual schooling, the demand for online tutors, certified teachers and qualified online ESL teachers continues to grow.

While online English teaching is by no means a new way for people to make additional income from home, it's one that's increasing in popularity.

Major news outlets like ABC continue to produce segments like pandemic career pivots that may help you and your bank account, seen earlier this week on Good Morning America, which showcase people's opportunity to take advantage of the unprecedented remote working situation to change their career paths.

As recent TEFL graduate Caitlyn Causey notes in the segment, her reason to pursue a Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification is that  "it's a great way to supplement my income right now." And her focus is one many people can relate to as we work through these difficult times, "I'm just trying to help my family," she tells the camera. 

But supplementary income is just one reason people are looking to pivot their careers to the education sector.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Teach Away, a mission-driven education company working to solve the global teacher shortage, has seen teacher training enrollments soar to 3x that of pre-pandemic, including in their online alternative pathway to a teaching license in the US.

Scott, a recent graduate of the Teacher Certification Program in Hawai'i, was already considering a career change before the onset of the pandemic. A former attorney, he decided to pursue a teacher's license because he had a desire to do meaningful work in education. He made that leap at the right time, working through the online coursework while the world was in lockdown. He's now ready to start his teaching practice next month in Hawai'i.

While education may have been one of the sectors most disrupted by the pandemic, it is also one that has the most opportunity, as the demand for great teachers who can and are willing to adapt to a remote learning environment continues to rise. Leanna Archambault, an associate professor at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University, is quoted in EdSurge as stating, "If you can focus on silver linings, I think colleges of teacher education are going to realize the importance of preparing teachers for remote settings. It's not an option; it's going to be an imperative."

Dave Frey, CEO of Teach Away, offers: "People turning to teaching as a career option during times of crisis is not uncommon. We saw a similar trend during the 2008 recession as well. Online teaching, particularly online English teaching, has been a steadily growing economy for years. In the wake of the pandemic and school closures that have driven education to adopt a virtual reality at an accelerated pace, it just makes sense that more and more people will take advantage of the chance to do meaningful work online."

In particular, this can be a great chance for new graduates entering the workforce at this challenging time to earn an income and garner valuable working experience by becoming an ESL teacher or online tutor.

Skooli.com, Teach Away's sister company, offers 1:1 online academic support from licensed teachers through a virtual tutoring platform. Since May of 2020, Skooli has seen unprecedented growth. Traffic increased nearly % with an influx of new clients who run from School Districts to major corporate firms looking to support employee parents juggling remote working and learning in one household with better 1:1 online learning.

As the U.S. enters a new era in leadership, the Teach Away and Skooli teams are optimistic, even excited, to see more and more people look to the education sector as a point of resilience and opportunity for a rewarding career.

About Teach Away
Founded in 2003, Teach Away has been on an epic journey to solve the global teacher shortage with amazing teachers.

From our beginnings as an international teacher recruitment startup to today, we've stayed true to our vision of a world where every student experiences the power of a great teacher.

Teach Away is currently a global leader in international teacher recruitment and certification. We are home to the largest online community of international educators worldwide.

We believe in one critical factor to student success–the power of a great teacher. And we believe that technology is important to solving the global teacher shortage and connecting students to great teachers.

TEACH AWAY Media Department
Sarah Plummer
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Teach Away

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