Job Discussion Forums

[RollingStone]

As we know, credentialism is, like educationism, the process of acquiring accreditation designed to portray expertise and specificity within one`s skillset. `Portray`is the key word, as the process is self-referring (and of course to hopefully convince employers of advanced ability).

So, concerning the TESL industry, particularly the part that calls for expats from English-speaking countries - what real need is there for credentials?

Questions for those here who do have additional certs and degrees:

How are you using them? Do you find that you need them? Have you observed that employers highly prize them; value them if they are not too expensive to hire (that is, they love you as long as your wage is fairly similar to those without); prioritize other considerations (again, cost)?

Further or advanced formal education in a field indicates greater, and more specialized, expertize. In other words, a direction. In other words, one does not apply for the same positions as applicants with basic credentials. I think that is generally true across most industries. Is it the same with TESL?

[Glenski]

Many jobs here in Japan will call for some certification these days (the market is glutted, so employers need something to help weed people out). Not everyone uses them, of course, and probably in most entry level jobs, they are barely considered. A glance at openings on ohayosensei.com might be worth it.

University jobs and international school jobs are probably different in the respect that higher degrees/licenses/certification are usually required here.

If you want to make it better off in the long run of TEFL, most people will tell you to get certified and/or a higher/specialized degree.

My TESL cert helped me move from conversation school to HS, and my master's degree and cert helped me get into a uni job.

[RollingStone]

[denise]

I think that inside the classroom, the qualifications might not necessarily translate into better teaching. A good classroom environment is (in my opinion, at least) based largely on rapport. Sure, you can study and read and learn about how to act, or you can just do it naturally. Some jobs may be more like babysitting than teaching, and some may be purely conversational. You really don't need advanced training to do that--you just need to know how to sustain a conversation or keep the kiddies from climbing up the walls.

Where credentials can make a big difference is outside the classroom--planning and doing tasks besides teaching. I think that a more qualified teacher will have more success than a less qualified teacher doing these things:

1) evaluating/modifying materials
2) designing activities and lessons from scratch
3) designing GOOD tests (it's quite hard to make a good one, but all too easy to make a bad one)
4) marking and evaluating tests, including making judgment calls if test questions are deemed faulty or inappropriate
5) planning a syllabus for a class that doesn't have one--a syllabus should not simply be: week 1--chapter 1; week 2--chapter 2
6) giving valuable, useful feedback on oral and written work

I don't want to pat myself on the back too much, but I don't think that someone with minimal qualifications could do the project that I was assigned to do a few months back--writing an in-house coursebook following a task-based approach. Inside the classroom, sure, they could do the same work.

Maybe one reason that "good" programs--universities, etc.--ask for higher qualifications is that they expect their teachers to do more than teach. The job doesn't necessarily end when your class is over.

d

[naturegirl321]

I find that there are two reasons for credentials, from an employer-s perspective.
1. Necessary to get a visa
2. Shows that they-re serious about teaching. even if you have a BA in science, it shows committment. Also, you-re older. people with degrees are usually 21, so they-re more mature, than 18 year olds, hopefully.

[Justin Trullinger]

Got some credentials- TESOL Cert, teacher training qualification, Masters on the way.

I'm not sure exactly what your question is, as it seems to me you're rambling a bit.

Some of my thoughts-

I'm currently working as a trainer on an SIT TESOL certificate course, which is, in this part of the world, more respected, more pay, and more fun than regular EFL teaching. I wouldn't have this job without the credentials.

And, if I somehow got this job without the credentials, I wouldn't be able to do it. So yeah, I "use" the learning I acheived when doing my qualifications in my work.

I've met teacher trainers in less regulated circumstances who are actually counterproductive, as they train based on what is intuitive rather than true, their opinions rather than real reflection...so yeah, in this case they're necessary.

[RollingStone]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Why get a graduate degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages? Here are some of the reasons we can think of:

Become a better teacher.
Get the respect and recognition you deserve as a highly qualified professional.
Be able to work almost anywhere you want.
Make more money.
Have a stable job with benefits.
Get promoted.
Train other teachers.
Found your own school.

from
http://www.matesol.info/matesol.htm

The idea of credentialism (which is negative) is considered part of the learning organization concept (which is generally regarded as positive, or at least better than alternatives- but you have to ask yourself WHO considers it positive, and the answer is managers/ owners).

from The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1991)
Learning organization: a place where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expensive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning together.

One of the issues with the concept is that it means that employees are NEVER on the ball, they have to ALWAYS be striving to better their qualifications and abilities by keeping up with the state of the art developments which means constant change (but the only change that is permitted will be one that is in line with the organization's plans and outlook), and this issue means that it can be (and IS) used as a way for organizations to implicitly demand that employees continually pay for their own upgrading and training and the only pay-out the company makes is to not label you redundant or obsolete and then fire you. In this case, 'organization' is the ESL/EFL industry as a whole, but it's the same in many work areas.

There was a time when an undergraduate degree alone got you into most industries and now where I'm from (Toronto) it's an undergraduate plus a one-year post graduate certificate. In the JET returners conference, people were told that in order to have any kind of a real career at all these days, you have to have a master's degree.