Job Discussion Forums

[Tamara]

I know I've asked similar questions before, but this one (I think) has a different twist.

I'm currently teaching ESL in NC, USA at a community college. Eventually, I'd like to teach overseas. We're paying down bills before we start looking seriously for positions.

In the meantime, I'd like to get a master's, even though I could probably find work with just my BA in English Ed., 3 years teaching HS, and 3 years teaching ESL at the cc.

I'm strongly considering the MA ESOL at SIT, Brattleboro, VT. They say it's one of the oldes TESOL programs around. http://www.sit.edu/graduate/smat/index.html

That program is far away and expensive. If we're trying to pay down debt before we go, does it make sene to incure more student loans?

A closer and cheaper option is Wake Forrest University.
http://www.wfu.edu/education/gradtea/programs.html
Most accepted applications are granted fellowships with stipends, so there's not out of pocket expense. However, the closest I can get to TESOL here is M.Ed. with a concentration in English. Does that meet the needs/preferences of overseas employers?

Another program is at UNC-Greensboro.
http://www.uncg.edu/cui/esltlt.html
It's a M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in ESL. "The program is aligned with the North Carolina Advanced Competency Standards and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards." So does that make it useless for teaching abroad?

If you don't mind, please look at the links and give me some feedback about which programs would suffice for my overall goal of teaching overseas. If the cheaper and closer programs will work, why not? However, I like the idea of what SIT has to offer. It just seems so expensive, it might put me off another 10 years while I pay down those loans.

BTW, how much debt is it possible to have when starting to live overseas. Keep in mind that I'm married and have a 2 year old. Not much, I'm guessing.

Thanks again for helping me see the pros and cons of a situation I'm only just beginning to look into.

Tamara

[Gordon]

Tamara,
Have you considered distance masters programs? There are many around the world and are equivalent to on-campus degrees in 95% of the world. Australia and the UK seem to have the best choices available and the costs are much lower than SIT. I have looked at SIT in the past, the best IMO, but too expensive.

I am currently doing a distance masters now, work f/t and also have a 2 year-old. Tough, you bet, but I am glad I started it.

[Tamara]

I have considered it, but have always assumed they weren't acknowledged b/c of the lack of practical application. On the other hand, I have real life experience teaching teens and adults which would be visible on my resume. Hmmm....

[Ki]

The distance MAs are a good idea. I'm doing one now, well I should be doing it instead of typing here. Anyway there are a couple of countries like Taiwan where a distance degree is not recognised. But, the only reason you need an MA in Taiwan is to teach at a University where you would make less money than teaching in a kindergarten or cram school. Go figure.

You seem more than qualified to teach almost anywhere with what you already have.
Ki.

[Chris_Crossley]

I myself want to undertake an online master's degree in education from the fall of 2005. However, whether or not online graduate degrees in general will be recognised outside of the country of issue is an entirely different matter. This is the subject of one of the threads in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) forum called "Distance degrees aren't recognised".

I myself teach in China and have been teaching for nearly three years. Master's degrees are, as far as I am aware, not a "pre-requisite" for teaching at any kind of institution as an "ordinary" teacher in China, because a bachelor's degree in any major, even without a TESL qualification and/or experience, will usually suffice. (I teach at a government primary school.)

My plan is to take the master's degree and then, with about 6-7 years' TESL experience under my belt, look for a job perhaps in another country - even back in my own (the UK) - where I would actually benefit from the degree.

[naturegirl321]

Australian univeristy distance master's have good reputations.