Job Discussion Forums

sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

I think that posters have been harsh on the OP. I don't have an MA but if it is anything like the undergrad degrees then I wonder if the replies have given a true picture.

I did my degree in the UK. When I compared the level of work I had to do to some of my friends who were doing more or less the same degree but at other institutions then the difference was mind blowing. In some uni's in the UK you can graduate without literally studying whereas in others it is 3 long hard years.

Why wouldn't it be the same at the Masters level?

I have met teachers with a Masters in TESOL that have said that in all honesty having the degree didn't make any difference to their class. If the OP believes this then why not go for the easiest MA he can find?

As for telling him he might as well buy one! If you guys can't see the difference between playing a smart game within the rules and cheating.........

The_Hanged_Man · Joined: 10 Oct 2004 Posts: 224 Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

I personally just have an issue with educators who don't believe in the value of eduation. I know this sometimes is an honest reality but when teachers say that degrees/certifications don't make any difference I wince.

Yes, I know people who are fully certified with a Master's who are completely worthless in the classroom and people who have no formal qualifications at all who are awesome. However, as I moved up from english conversation schools, to public school teaching in the US, to proper international both the qualifications and the quality of teaching have been in an upward trend.

I think good teachers always are looking for ways to improve, and the most straightforward way to do that is through degree and training programs. Also, since they take their job seriously they are more likely to apply what they learned in those programs as well. With bad teachers however (ones who don't care and are only there for the pay and benefits), I agree that training probably won't make any difference. They will just carry on doing the absolute minimum it takes to muddle through it.

These programs don't make you a better teacher, they just enable you to be better. It is still up to you put forth the effort and make the difference a reality.

saint57 · Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:07 am Post subject:

In the past, Toronto teachers got paid extra if they had a master's degree. Today that's no longer the case. I wonder why?

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

'Eduation' has no value for me!

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

In California, there is intense competition among ESL teachers with MA degrees. A cheap, quick, and dirty MA will probably not be looked upon with much favor -- unless you teach at a cheap, quick, and dirty language mill. Why should instructors who have received reputable and respected MA degrees award a raise to somebody who gets a degree of lesser quality? The raise is not automatic with an MA; your degree will indeed be scrutinized.