Job Discussion Forums

[Justin Trullinger]

There are a lot of choices to make if considering a graduate degree, so I'm not even sure this should come down to a question of distance vs on-site.

MA in TESOL? Applied linguistics? Linguistics? English language? Literature? Another language? MBA? Education? On-site? Distance learning?

And all of these may be good options...for some jobs and for some people.

The thing is, an MA is a financial investment, a lot of your time, and a hell of a lot of work. You shouldn't invest these things lightly. When you decide which one to do, you should be thinking about where you want to go with it. And you should do very thorough research about whether the degrees which you're considering will be useful for where you want to go, and what you want to do. Simple really. On-site, online, or on the back of an envelope, you need to find out, before you invest your time and money, if your degree will be seen as valuable by the "deciders" who will matter on your chosen path.

I don't have the faintest idea what kind of degrees are accepted in Saudi. And I couldn't care less, cause I have no desire to go there. But if I did want to go there, I'd be in contact with the nearest consulate, before I did my degree, to see if the one I was considering would hold up to their scrutiny. I'd also contact universities, language schools, etc, and see if the qualification I was considering met their requirements.

Grad school is a big decision. The more information you have, the better a decision you can make. Simple.


Best regards,
Justin

[tedkarma]

[Gordon]

I don't want to start an argument either Ted, that is not my intent. However, since Taiwan and perhaps Saudi are the only countries that do not accept distance degrees then that is not exactly a great loss. Can't say I've ever wanted to work in either place, some might though.

I think we have beaten this dead horse enough by now.

[tedkarma]

[karinb]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post. I have no intention of doing an online degree, but not b/c I don't think that they can be on par with a regular degree. I figure that since I'm still young and not tied down w/ major responsibilities and work, I can delve completely into graduate school, ie. attending full time and on campus. I realize that going straight from undergrad (BA in sociology & international relations) into a completely different field (teaching English) is a bit of a leap, but I guess I would perfer to go straight for the "better jobs." I'm not completely in the dark on what teaching involves, I began volunteering as a teaching assistant for an ESL classroom when I was in 8th grade, this led to my first paying job as a "cultural assistant" where I helped organize day trips for teenage esl students during a summer school session. I have continued volunteering as a conversation partner & teaching assistant all through college. Anyways, my point is that I feel that I enjoy working with international & esl students well enough that I am willing to invest the time and money into grad school. The reason, I ask this question is b/c I have pretty much 0 experience abroad, so it is especially important for me to know that my degree will be worth something back home, in case working overseas does not agree w/ me.

[wildchild]

It would seem that TESOL curriculum is fairly standardized across Universities; there might not be that much difference between them, so one may not need to worry about prestige. Something to worry about, however, may be the quality of one's thesis; if it's brillant, then who cares where one studied

If one needs the prestige, then forget TESOL and go to UCLA, USC or Stanford

[Gordon]

[tedkarma]

[Gordon]

Wow Ted, I'm glad you know so much about my researching skills.

You are the one that said other Middle East countries don't accept distance degrees. Which countries would that be then?

[tedkarma]

The absence of a negative does not prove a positive. That's bad science and bad math.

That's been my point all the way through this.

We already discussed Saudi - and we don't need to discuss one country after another after another - point by point by point.

I won't play the game, sorry.

When, and if, you are able to get yourself hired with a distance degree in the Middle-East - or anywhere else - I will be happy for you and support you in your success.

I support the idea of distance and online education. I am an educator - my first Master's degree is in Education. I believe in education delivered in any form.

'Nuf said.

[JZer]

[Gordon]

[Gordon]

I've just found out from a very reliable source in Saudi who is involved in recruiting for a large university there, that distance masters are accepted in Saudi Arabia as a general rule. There is no blanket refusal of them.

So Ted, either times have changed since you were there, or you ran into a very uncooperative person/uni in HR.

[sweetup]

It almost seems there could be a new forum for mater's degree discussions. My first post was back in April regarding the topic of higher degrees and the replies were incredibly helpful. I think the replies here are informative as well. I notice that there have been a few such questions posted by newbies in the last couple of months. It's an important and relevant topic and I thank all of those seasoned vets who reply. The differing views and the debates offer insight into issues many newbies may not otherwise recognize. Thanks again and keep up the disourse.

[JZer]