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Teaching License or MA TESOL?

 
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myownwoman



Joined: 26 Feb 2011
Posts: 25
Location: CA

PostPosted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 3:02 am    Post subject: Teaching License or MA TESOL? Reply with quote

Hello people. I am in a dilemma in terms of further education. I have a BA degree and am debating whether to get certified or get a MA TESOL. I want to teach both kids and adults.

I have looked at some schools in the US and have found great ones. I really want to get a MA TESOL from SIT as well as a Teaching Credential to teach K-6. I am from CA but I can get certified in another state.

Thoughts?
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DebMer



Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 232
Location: Southern California

PostPosted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you're going to teach kids in public schools, you'll have to get a credential for most states. This would be for teaching ESL or any other subject. If you want to teach adult ESL, I think the MA is the way to go. With the MA you wouldn't necessarily need the TESOL cert., as far as I know. Maybe somebody here knows more about that.
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tttompatz



Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines

PostPosted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:30 am    Post subject: Re: Teaching License or MA TESOL? Reply with quote

myownwoman wrote:
Hello people. I am in a dilemma in terms of further education. I have a BA degree and am debating whether to get certified or get a MA TESOL. I want to teach both kids and adults.

I have looked at some schools in the US and have found great ones. I really want to get a MA TESOL from SIT as well as a Teaching Credential to teach K-6. I am from CA but I can get certified in another state.

Thoughts?


Where on the planet do you want to go to?

Unless you want to work in internationally accredited schools (teacher certifications needed) the MATESOL may serve you better (depending on where on this globe you are looking at going to) but you won't make as much money.

.
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fladude



Joined: 02 Feb 2009
Posts: 432

PostPosted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It really depends.......... the MA might get you a college job. The teaching cert might get you a job at an international school. Life is kind of random and it is hard to predict success. A lot of it will depend on your own passions and desires. If you are more passionate about something, then you will likely do better at it than something which you are less passionate about. If you really want to teach at colleges overseas and believe that you have the "mojo" necessary to get those sort of jobs then by all means go for the MA.

That said most places have some sort of alternative teacher certification. You can probably do alternative teacher certification and get the teaching cert a lot cheaper than if you went back to school to get an MA. That would let you teach at better private schools around the world (most of which won't really be international). The pay and benefits are decent at most of those schools, except for the ones in Latin America (but wages are bad there for ESL too).

The downside to going this route though is that you won't be able to teach at colleges and the like (in most places). The upside is that better private schools will hire you (the MA in TESOL would help you there too, but those schools still would not hire you without a cert). So think before you leap.

I would not, under any circumstances, go back and get a brand new BA/BS degree in order to obtain teacher certification though. I know a few people who did that and for the most part it is a complete waste of time and money. Either be certified alternatively or find something else to do.

You talk a lot about teaching kids in your post though, and not so much about teaching at a college. In the real world, it is hard to do both (for money anyway). People get pigeonholed and usually end up in one or the other (although I know some elementary teachers who volunteer to teach adults... but you don't need an MA to teach for free). In general people who have the temperament to deal with little kids don't have the mindset needed to deal with teenagers or young adults, and the reverse is true as well.

Personally I went for the teaching cert and have ended up teaching high school kids. I could not imagine ever teaching little kids. I wouldn't want to and doubt I'd ever be hired to do that anyway. I would like to teach at colleges, but the road requires more education time than I'm willing to invest.
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