Job Discussion Forums

[marblez]

What is your opinion, on the premise that all other qualifications (such as personality) are equal?

I have left out "no education whatsoever" because I do not think anyone here would recommend that!

[spiral78]

Education.

[struelle]

I'd definitely say Education, but bear in mind that this can and will be an involved committment. Education is great for how to teach in general, but a more specific degree like linguistics is what you need for the actual content of what you're teaching. Failing that, you can take up the 1-month intensive TEFL courses such as CELTA.

The route I'm taking seems to be the reverse, that is I started off with specific experience in TEFL and now I'm moving into the more general realm of education.

Steve

[Gordon]

I think it depends where you want to teach and who. Universities? Language schools? Do you want to be a teacher trainer?
What do you want to do and then we can help you better.

[GreenDestiny]

Me: Bachelor of Arts Degree
Major: Humanities
Minor: Philosophy

CTESOL (9 Grad credits)
Advanced CTESOL (3 Grad credits)

Now that I've decided to make teaching a career (MA TESOL is my plan), a degree in Education may have been the ticket. Nonetheless, I'm happy with my education.

GreenDestiny

[denise]

If you go for an MA (TESOL/Applied Linguistics/Education), then you can probably do your BA in just about anything. My BA was in Peace and Conflict Studies. (And, with a TEFL certificate, I had no problem whatsoever getting my first teaching job before I went back for my MA.)

d

[GreenDestiny]

[denise]

I went to the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. A great school with a great reputation (SIT's west coast counterpart/competitor), but hoooooo boy, pricey!

d

[marblez]

I'm thinking of getting a BEd but it would take me an extra $10,000 (my school doesn't offer it, so I'd have to commute and get a car), that's why I asked.

[Sheep-Goats]

[vre]

I would say for many jobs a degree in any field and a certificate in TEFL is enough. Some of my friends have maths degrees and a cert and have had no problems getting jobs at all! The cert in these cases seems more valuable to the employer, but nevertheless the degree is often a legal requirement of the country.

Then there are the jobs that pay more but require a bachelors + cert + MA or DELTA. This enables you to apply for preparatory programme jobs in universities and high paying jobs in the middle east etc. ...


But international schools around the world and some particular countries require QTS (qualified teacher status) or a PGCE (postgrad cert in Ed) - meaning if you are legal to teach for the state you are from then you can teach for these places. I say this because international schools give really good money compared to other TEFL jobs and they have recruitment fairs regularly around the world. So if you get that, you have a wider choice of opportunities and guaranteed high paying jobs.

[Gordon]

To add to what vre just said,
I think one of the best perks about teaching in an int'l school would be the reduced or free tuition for your own children. That may not seem to be a big deal until you look at what many of the int'l schools charge: $10-12,000 US/year in Japan.

[vre]

yes, and they seem to get really good holidays (often western holidays, which is great if you work in a muslim country! as well as the national holidays of that country) and they get paid for all of them!

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

For TESL (as in, in English speaking countries) I like the method used in Ontario of a year in Linguistics with specialized teacher training courses to teach ESL to adults. The fact that there are so few jobs makes it seem like a waste of money, of course.

And then in interviews when I get told that, in the interviewers opinion, men who want to teach ESL "only want an exotic wife" the chances of actually making a living in Canada doing it seem to dwindle further. (Retail here I come!!!! Woo-woo! Kill me now!)

Here in Japan, if you have an undergraduate degree, can say you speak with an American accent (which just means having an American passport because most Japanese people cannot actually tell the difference between even British and American Englishes) and you have blond hair especially if you also have blue eyes, that will outweigh all other considerations for most jobs (outside of universities and international schools).

[Twisting in the Wind]

My major is Philosophy with a minor in Religious Studies.

IMO it doesn't matter so much what you major in as that you get a very broad education in the humanities. For ESL/EFL you need to be well-versed in a variety of subjects, esp. when /if you are teaching the upper levels, where the ss are sharper and will ask you a variety of questions about culture, geography, history, etc. It also helps for the beginning levels that you've had an education that teaches you how to THINK CRITICALLY so you can skim grammar books and texts and get out of them the pertinent points without laboring excessively long. I have long said that I believe, based on my experience and observing other teachers for a long time, that anyone can do this job, given that they 1) are hs grads 2)have an above avg. ability in English and grammar.

But to be a GREAT teacher, I don't think that can be taught. I think you either are one or not. The qualities of a great ESL/EFL teacher are the same as those that go into making a great used car salesman or televangelist--the ability to sell something (English) , be enthusiastic, cause someone (your ss) to buy what you are selling.

Neither do I believe it's absolutely essential to have an MATESOL. But, as you advance in this profession, and you see those around you having Masters degrees and you're the only one without, it kind of becomes a matter of survival or why is so-and-so the only one in the school without an MA? You may find it useful later on, not only for what you can learn from the course, but even if you think you have all the ESL/EFL knowledge in the world--it will make you equal with your peers.