Job Discussion Forums

[Alex Shulgin]

[CROGO]

Thank you Alex, but I still don't understand this part.

An English teacher can make a lot of money per hour compared to a typical Pole. So is the legal minimum base salary based on an hourly rate, (which most English teachers should exceed), or hours worked per week or month, (which would be less than a typical working Pole since most employment is only part-time)?

Or are you saying just to look at whether or not ZUS is deducted from the pay each month?

[guangho]

The saga continues.

I just got a reply that as long as there are no schedule conflicts, they will be okay with outside/freelance work.

[Lancer]

[guangho]

Hey guys:

I just wanted to post a quick update on the program.

The classes were good and worthwhile. However, the only realistic way to do this program is to secure employment elsewhere and pay the tuition. I know it sounds great to do a free masters, but it's honestly not worth the stress.

The guys in charge are respectively a) a nice enough guy with neither the power nor the desire to lead effectively and b) a man who is under the mistaken impression that we are stupid and forgetful, thus not recognizing and remembering the lies he had told us. Part of the problem is that we are hosted by a small school in a small town which simply does not have the pull to place a bunch of foreigners at schools in Poland.

Therefore, keep the need for securing employment in mind and pay your own way. If you do this, you will be fine and a Masters is golden. Plus, the tuition is very low (US $1250 a semester) so it's a deal. Just don't believe that they can get jobs for you because a) they couldn't even if they wanted to and b) they don't want to.

[bardolf]

I am Canadian, B.Ed (Secondary, English major, French minor), with a permanent (lifetime) certificate to teach in Canada earned from teaching experience.

I am going to Korea soon to do a year there; meanwhile I am considering applying to the Framingham program in Poland for the year after, that is, starting in September 2007 (if accepted). By that time I will have saved a fair bit of money from Korea; would I be able to work PART-TIME in Poland and attend the M.A. program? The plan would be to pay all the tuition myself.

[Tiger Beer]

I know I'm jumping in here on the Poland forum.

But looks like Framingham has classes all over the place -
http://www.framingham.edu/dgce/iep/sites.htm

Must be around 15 different cities/countries around the world to take this program. I'm curious, are they interchangeable? Can you take one at one time in Seoul, another at another time in Santo Domingo, etc.?

I'm quite interested in this program. Most importantly, could you easily get the better-paying ESL jobs back in the U.S. with it in the end?

[tompetrie]

I plan on going out to Poland and securing a job for this upcoming Spring semester and starting the Master's in September, 07'. My main concern is that there will be a conflict regarding when the semester starts and when my ESL teaching will start. I don't want to sign a 1 year contract with a school, only to find out that I cannot attend the Master's program in the fall because of a scheduling conflict.....

[Ernst]

I hope this answers your questions.

I am in the program currently.

Non-licensure is quite simple. Even after taking your BA in Ed from any university, you are not qualified to teach in any state until you take that state's exam, and receive that state's Teaching Certificate. A few states recognize each other's certifications, but they are the exception, not the rule. So non-cert means that you still have to take the teaching cert exam for your particular state. However, most intl. schools don't care so much about the cert if you have a MA in Ed anyway.

The program is legit. Degree is fully accredited. You get an MA in Ed in 2 yrs. for a bit over 6 grand all told. To someone who has been paying off their BA for a decade, now, this is a gift from heaven.

Every 6 months or so, you go to class for 2 weeks at a time, 8 hrs a day, with pre-course assignments and lots of late hours studying. It's gruelling.

They (the guys in charge) arrange for you to have interviews with a variety of different schools, who are looking for teachers. You can accept or reject the offers, just as they can accept or reject you, so

1. come with an up-to-date resume and gameface on, and

2. Do your math when they make you an offer. The program deducts from your wages each month, so you need to account for that.

If you wish, it might be easier to be a commuter, pay for each session yourself, and then your only hassle is arranging time off from your job to come to Poland for your courses.

Hope that was helpful -- let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

Ernst

[jabberjaw]

These guys are advertising in the International Jobs section of this Web site. They've posted a link to their Web site. www.mastersinpoland.com.

[JZer]

[jabberjaw]

Quote:
Are you saying that they've got students running the program? Why would Framingham allow that? Why not bring over the administrative people from Massachusetts?

JZer wrote:

[JZer]

[JZer]

[jabberjaw]