Job Discussion Forums

[LondonMan2]

I find it quite amusing that whenever anyone comes on to this board asking about their prospects as a non degree holder they are scorned and told to go back to their studies etc etc. Does anyone agree that some of the dumbest, obnoxious, and blandest individuals tend to be those who have a lot of academic qualifications. I can see how schools/institutes use it as a safeguard however I think they are all missing a trick when it comes to employing decent teachers.
The fact that somebody has a degree ( and I am talking about non teaching related degrees here) really makes no difference to how good a teacher they will be. I have employed people with masters degrees who cannot string a sentence together (isnt the internet a great place providing these people with ready made resources).
It also seems that in this line of work its more important to be in the right place at the right time just as any other job.
Anyway, thats my rant over. Anyone else agree.

[Gordon]

I disagree. I think obnoxiousness (probably not a word, but should be) has nothing to do with academia. There are many obnoxious people in all walks of life. Perhaps educated people think they have something to prove.

[cangringo]

I don't know, I worked with a university student before coming here that was just irritating as hell because she was constantly trying to prove her intellect. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have any street smarts or experience whatsoever and didn't know what she was talking about most of the time. If you asked her about physics, she could give you a great textbook answer...but...

I found a lot of just out of university grads are like that.

[denise]

I really don't see a relationship between paper qualifications and obnoxion (that's my word of choice to describe what Gordon calls obnoxiousness--I know mine's not a real word ). You can be a good teacher or a bad teacher, experienced or inexperienced, degreed or non-degreed, and obnoxious or not obnoxious, with no category having a direct bearing on the others.

But then, maybe I say that only because I have a degree yet don't consider myself to be obnoxious!

d

[sidjameson]

If you just want to tell somebody about your ailments you can go to your friend.
If you need the listener to give some constructive help based on their knowledge and experience you would usually be better of talking to a doctor.

If you just wanna practise a new language that you're learning any native speaker will do.
If you want actual help in learning that language then you would probably be better off talking to a teacher. Failing that at least somebody who has been through the education process and knows what aquiring new knowledge is all about.

If you want to debate these points endlessly with people who often don't really know what their talking about.......come to Daves

[fluffyhamster]

It's not so much a safeguard of teacher quality as a surefire way to satisfy Immigration (in Japan at least) that the teacher wasn't cutting school to jack cars or worse.

Only joking.

This isn't the first time this issue has been raised in one form or another, and on another thread somewhere, the argument went that native ESL teachers should be at least as well-educated as those locals capable of doing the same work (and most locals speaking fluent English would likely have a good education). Or something like that.

[Glenski]

[Deicide]

[TravellingAround]

[Deicide]

[shuize]

Personally, I'm rather proud of my obnoxiousness and would like to think I managed it all on my own without any help from that over-priced university I attended.

[Deicide]

[Justin Trullinger]

It's obviously possible to be a pain in the ass, regardless of your educational level.

But I've always figured that teachers should be people who value education. If you don't value your own, how can you value education for others?

Best,
Justin

[wildchild]

Justin said:

[Jizzo T. Clown]