Job Discussion Forums

[Zola6666]

Kubercat wrote:
For the Foundation Year program, we simply need, good, cooperative, inventive, resourceful, dedicated people.

And those are far thinner on the ground than ten-a-penny MAs or PhDs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
NO! I just had to teach a mid-level group writing. It took me all semester to teach them one-paragraph = one idea, three examples and lots of details. And I am an experienced writing teacher. "...good, cooperative, inventive, resourceful, dedicated people" are not always capable of teaching writing, even teaching one-paragraph writing. And the same for other topics. Without professional training, "good, cooperative, inventive, resourceful, dedicated people" are simply that. It doesn't make them good teachers.

And before people's eyebrows go up and their mouths open - MANY people with Masters and PhDs also cannot teach writing, from my many experiences, which include teaching writing at colleges and universities in the States.

And next year, the Foundation teachers are going to be required to teach the Year One and Year Two programs too (first year and sophmore years) - which are centered on writing essays of 800+ words. No more simply, "Foundation Course, Foundation teachers."

Yes, qualifications do matter. At language schools, with smaller groups and lesser expectations, people with Bachelors are fine. At college level, with (hopefully) professional expectations, a person with a Bachelors and a good heart just isn't enough.

What qualifications do you want from your doctor? Your children's teachers? Your car mechanic?

If a person doesn't at least have the basic qualifications.... well, life becomes worse than the Russian Roulette it is already.

[kuberkat]

Zola6666, I take your point. To teach successfully does, in many cases, require not only dedication, but also training and experience. I, too, have taught the Foundation Year writing course twice now and I am intimately familiar with the rather hair-raising experience.

My first question to you is this: Does more training make a person so much more capable of teaching the course? What about experience? Are those the yardsticks that make a person more capable of initiating a student into the art of writing?

Second question: Since I arrived in Oman, recruiters have been struggling to meet the need for English teachers, and as far as I know that is without rejecting any applications, even from unsuitable applicants. The demand is enormous, and even when accepting BAs, it continues. Where will we, realistically, find legions of teachers armed with academic scrolls to teach in Oman's colleges?

Perhaps I should also explain the intention behind my post. By no means do I deny the value of training or experience. But my observation of my colleagues at this MOHE college has left me somewhat jaded. While I have many admirable colleagues with all levels of qualifications, there are several MAs and PhDs who turn the atmosphere in the whole department sour with their outright refusal to cooperate, neverending complaints and malicious gossip. I firmly believe that such qualities do not befit an academic environment. These people are not assets to our staff, but burdens. Whatever knowledge they may have is not benefiting the department, and often not even the students.

Academic qualifications and experience can go a long way towards improving standards. Practical experience has shown me, though, that it is not worth as much as a strong, upright and pleasant character.

[007]

[veiledsentiments]

[eha]

"And some strange problem with the tides washes them up on the shores of the Gulf in large numbers."

It's gotta be global worming--- they're being eliminated from the rest of the globe!
Yes, VS, you're right about the recruitment process in the Gulf. The recruiters are invariably inexperienced and often naive and superficial in their assessment of both qualifications and qualities.
And if recruitment is in the hands of private companies--- well, what can you expect?

But this still doesn't excuse the sheer lack of professionalism on the part of many of the products of modern mass 'education'. Many people seem to think that all that's required is to turn up in class on time with lessons prepared; teach the class; fulfil contractual obligations, etc. It doesn't seem to occur to them that, in order to be called a 'professional' , or even 'educated', a certain level of maturity and emotional intelligence used to be a prerequisite. Not any more, apparently; anything goes, especially in the expat scene, where accountability doesn't seem to mean the same thing that it does at home.

[007]

[Tazmin]

It would seem that most of us agree that having an MA or a Phd does not make you a wonderful teacher.
I have little information on what qualifications most of my colleagues have and quite frankly it does not bother me too much - i have bigger things in life to worry about (students, exams, assignments etc) than my colleagues certificates. Where i work people with MAs teach less hours than other teachers - why, as they are so called better qualified than other teachers. This year some teachers taught foundation as well as first year students - there were no set teachers for each level. Some teachers actually refused to teach first year students as they felt they could not handle the work - and yes, some of those people are the wonderful MA and Phd holders. One class of foundation students actually ended up with 6 different teachers as not one teacher could handle the level of dedication required. With some of the first year assignment marking we found that many teachers (MA holders) either made wrong grammar and spelling corrections or none at all!
I have a real problem when peole spout out the line that having an MA 'shows deication and commitment to learning' - HOW? Many people actually finish their Bachelors in their 20s, then go back to study for an MA 20 years later - PLEASE explain HOW that shows dedication and commitment to learning? And how does that make you a better teacher than people who have been working in the system for years?

[veiledsentiments]

Most of your comments are all to do with individuals... and nothing to do with what piece of paper they do or don't have. When people get their advanced degrees is also individual. Many have changed careers... many had families and the tuition for an MA wasn't available... many went into ESL never thinking that they would make a career of it, but they wanted to travel or experience another culture. So, you think that they are somehow bad professionals because they didn't do it when they were in their 20's? I think that you will find that the vast majority in the TEFL field, maybe 90%, will have many years between getting their BA and getting their MA. It has more to do with their economic situation than their professionalism or lack thereof.

The problem is that people come on here and make assumptions/statements about other teachers based on the ones they are teaching with... much too tiny a sample. After 15 years of teaching all over the Gulf, what I found is that one finds all kinds in this field and it is problematic to generalize about it.

VS

[Archangel]

Dear Veiledsentiments,

I was not being a racist in my last posting about the HOD being Tunisian. I take strong exception to your comment. I wouldn't care a fig if he or she was Mongolian. What I do care about is the level of competence displayed in the job, that is all. The fact that he is Tunisian is beside the point. I can only speak for myself.

[bje]

[Archangel]

So when someone asks me: "What nationality is he?" what do I say then?

And when others ask me what nationality I am, what do I say?

[Zola6666]

Here in the Gulf, since I've been here off and on for 20 years, it's common social etiquette to mention someone's nationality because, sooner or later in a conversation, that question will be asked. It is NOT, IMHO, discrimination. It's just a matter of fact.

Yes, it does seem to feed into generalities, but if you kept up with modern psychology, some psychologists are saying that yes, there is some truth - not 100% - in generalities, contrary to the social etiquette of the USA's Politically Correct mentality. Hey, many men around the world are interested in cars while many women are interested in fashion and hair styles. Not ALL for both examples, but in general.

Most often a Head of a Department will be an Arabic-speaker with a PhD. Leadership qualities are not required. Nor management qualities. Nor being liked or disliked by colleagues. Nor even ability to teach.

Oman suffers from what many educational institutes around the world suffer: poor management. I heard of one HOD, an Egyptian, who often manages to sleep in his office. He and I once got into a huge fight about the non-native speaker tendency to place full-stops (periods) and commas in the middle of a , space like that . His response? "It's just for the students. It's not for the Ministry." That error drives me nuts, but hey, he's the one with the PhD! He's the Arabic speaker.

[Stephen Jones]

[veiledsentiments]

[veiledsentiments]