Back in 2011, I was turned down for a job as an English teacher because I was a non-native speaker. Not because of my qualifications or experience, which according to the recruiter were even beyond what they’d expect from a candidate. My story is unfortunately similar to those of numerous other ‘non-native speakers’, but also those ‘native speakers’ who because of their skin colour, name or accent do not fit the perceived image of a ‘native speaker’ of many recruiters and students.
And this discrimination in recruitment is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are ‘native’ and ‘non-native speakers’ who have had to pretend they were from London to please the school director and clients. There are ‘native speakers’ who are told they can only teach speaking or pronunciation. There are ‘non-native speakers’ who are told they can only teach low levels.
That's why the aim of TEFL Equity is to promote equal employment opportunities for 'native' and non-native speaker teachers in ELT.