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cari83
Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Posts: 13
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 Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 4:32 pm Post subject: Teaching jobs I could get with online MA TESOL |
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Before I thought that the online MA TESOL was really looked down upon by employers. But I've heard that that might not be the case anymore.
I know that certain countries in the Middle East only hire people with campus MA TESOLs. But as a single woman, I'm not sure I would even want to live in those countries. Also I just read here that Oman and the UAE do hire people with online MAs. Getting an MA TESOL online would be less expensive and a lot more convenient.
What types of teaching jobs in which countries are available to holders of online MA TESOL degrees? It's a broad question but I would like to know before I invest money and time.
Would universities in China and Japan hire someone with an online MA? What about universities in Europe or Russia? Would I be any more likely to get hired at a language school in western Europe, or would my US citizenship still make that impossible? It would probably still be impossible.  Also, could I teach ESL at community colleges in the US? Is there any chance of being hired at a 4-year university in the US? |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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| cari83 wrote: |
I know that certain countries in the Middle East only hire people with campus MA TESOLs. But as a single woman, I'm not sure I would even want to live in those countries. Also I just read here that Oman and the UAE do hire people with online MAs. Getting an MA TESOL online would be less expensive and a lot more convenient.
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Would I be any more likely to get hired at a language school in western Europe, or would my US citizenship still make that impossible? It would probably still be impossible. Also, could I teach ESL at community colleges in the US? Is there any chance of being hired at a 4-year university in the US? |
The ME's requirement of an on-campus degree is per the governments of Qatar, KSA, Kuwait, and Bahrain for foreigners applying for an employment/work visa. Oman presently accepts online degrees, and for the UAE, you'd need several years of post-MA teaching experience at minimum. That said, be aware that TEFL opportunities in the Emirates are decreasing; the government has already started phasing out the foundation year programs at its three public universities, which were major employers of EFL teachers.
Western Europe (EU countries) is a no-go if all you carry is a US passport. Online degrees are fine for US university and community college intensive English programs as long as you also meet the TEFL training and experience requirements. For an idea of US higher ed positions, take a look at TESOL.org's career page. |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 5:26 pm Post subject: Re: Teaching jobs I could get with online MA TESOL |
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| cari83 wrote: |
| Also, could I teach ESL at community colleges in the US? Is there any chance of being hired at a 4-year university in the US? |
As long as your degree is from an accredited, recognized university, preferably a not-for-profit one that is primarily a brick-and-mortar institution rather than primarily an online-only institution, your degree will not limit your opportunities at US colleges and universities. What might be more of a limitation is lack of substantial post-MA experience in relevant (i.e., tertiary education) contexts (in the US or abroad). Once you have that, you'll be more competitive for full-time positions in the US.
By the way, I have known many single women who lived in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and/or Qatar, and have absolutely loved it (moreso with the latter two, where there are few to no restrictions on women). |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| What about universities in Europe or Russia? Would I be any more likely to get hired at a language school in western Europe, or would my US citizenship still make that impossible? It would probably still be impossible. |
Unfortunately, an MA won't overcome your lack of an EU passport. Doesn't matter if it's a university or private language school. |
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cari83
Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:24 am Post subject: |
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rtm - As for living in Saudi Arabia, my father lived there for a year and he advised me not to work there. But I'm sure many single women have had good experiences there; I don't doubt that.
I'm deciding between an MA in TESOL online and an MA in Elementary Education online. I found decent programs for both, and international school teachers have given me the same advice you guys have regarding the MA TESOL online - that an MA in Elementary Education online is accepted by employers. Being an international school teacher would allow me to work in more countries. (Not Western Europe as it's very, very competitive for those jobs, I know.)
The MA in Elementary Education does not include certification though, so I would have to complete an alternative certification program. And it's risky to do an MA in education first, before being certified. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 11:36 am Post subject: |
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| cari83 wrote: |
| International school teachers have given me the same advice you guys have regarding the MA TESOL online - that an MA in Elementary Education online is accepted by employers. Being an international school teacher would allow me to work in more countries. |
Be very aware that government regulations for expat employment can and do change. An online MA in Elementary Ed and online alternative teaching license may or may not be as widely accepted by the time you complete your academic and cert programs 4+ years from now. |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:04 am Post subject: |
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| cari83 wrote: |
I'm deciding between an MA in TESOL online and an MA in Elementary Education online. I found decent programs for both, and international school teachers have given me the same advice you guys have regarding the MA TESOL online - that an MA in Elementary Education online is accepted by employers. Being an international school teacher would allow me to work in more countries. (Not Western Europe as it's very, very competitive for those jobs, I know.)
The MA in Elementary Education does not include certification though, so I would have to complete an alternative certification program. And it's risky to do an MA in education first, before being certified. |
Initial teaching qualifications are designed to train individuals to teach a specific subject (or subjects) to a specific target audience. The target audience of a degree in TESOL is almost always adults- these degrees really focus on teaching EAL (English as an Additional Language) at the tertiary level. Obviously a degree in elementary education is for teaching (really quite) young learners and to teach them a variety of subjects (as well as socialization skills).
The advantage of getting an off-campus MA in TESOL is that you can work in a non-English environment, teaching full-time while you do it. It works really well in that context, but you usually need at least a couple of years of experience actually teaching English language before you can be accepted. Especially things that you learn in sociolinguistics and intercultural communications are immediately obvious in that situation. An on-campus degree in an English-speaking country (assuming that you have a practicum) has the advantage of face to face communication with profs and other students and the practicum gives you an idea of what it's like teaching to students who don't share a language other than English- something you often don't get if all of your teaching is in a non-English speaking country.
Universities in Japan DO hire people with off-campus degrees in TESOL, so long as they are actual universities (not diploma mills). I've met several people working at universities in Japan with degrees from Anaheim University, which is an online only school (leaving it with US 'accreditation issues' which Americans freak out about but seems really only relevant to people in America- and possibly Canada). However, looking at who is involved with teaching at Anaheim shows an awful lot of bigwigs in language teaching. All of the teachers I've met there know what they are talking about.
But getting a job at a Japanese university (as a direct hire, not through a dispatch agency) usually requires more than just an MA in TESOL- you need publications and usually at least intermediate level Japanese. Many people who work at junior and senior high schools in Japan have MAs in TESOL (an MA or a home state teacher's license is often required to work directly at private jr/sr highs- and it's often requested by schools that use higher paying dispatch agencies). You could get an MA TESOL and work at the elementary level in a school in Japan, though international schools do prefer teacher licenses **and several years of teaching experience in the state of the license** . |
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cari83
Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:02 pm Post subject: |
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nomad soul - That's good advice, thank you. I think there are a lot of other international school teachers with online degrees so I'm not sure it would be that risky. But it's something to think about.
GambateBingBangBOOM - Thanks for explaining that. I thought about an MA TESOL so that I would have the option of teaching children or adults. But I'm not sure an international school would be interested in an MA TESOL and undergrad French degree, with no degree specifically in education. Since my interest is mainly in teaching children, I guess I should pursue the elementary education route and add TESOL K-12 certification. |
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Xie Lin
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
Posts: 731
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Neither degree is the best for ALL positions. You need to decide what your goal is and then choose the degree program that will do the most to help you get there. If, as you say, you are most interested in teaching children, than an education degree plus certification will open up the most opportunities at the best pay. But that isn't the best path if you want to teach adults. In your OP you asked about teaching at colleges and universities--an MA TESOL will take you much further.
Take note of rtm's advice about choosing a recognized, primarily bricks and mortar institution for an on-line degree. Avoid for-profit and primarily on-line schools. You can compete for openings with the first, but not the second. The university I work for considers the reputation of the degree granting institution as well as the specific degree program when evaluating qualifications. It is not simply a question of on-line vs. on site.
As for the trend in accepting on-line degrees,
| Quote: |
Be very aware that government regulations for expat employment can and do change. An online MA in Elementary Ed and online alternative teaching license may or may not be as widely accepted by the time you complete your academic and cert programs 4+ years from now. |
While anything is possible, the current trend is in the opposite direction.
On-line qualifications are becoming more acceptable to more employers each year, and much more slowly to governmental agencies regulating visa laws. The main reason for this trend to reverse itself would be a surge in the supply of qualified teachers. Still, there are a very few countries which may not consider on-line degrees valid for the foreseeable future.
Note that there are now a number of on-site programs in the US (in areas of teacher shortages) that combine teacher certification with an M.Ed.at a low cost.
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:36 am Post subject: |
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| Xie Lin wrote: |
| On-line qualifications are becoming more acceptable to more employers each year, and much more slowly to governmental agencies regulating visa laws. The main reason for this trend to reverse itself would be a surge in the supply of qualified teachers. Still, there are a very few countries which may not consider on-line degrees valid for the foreseeable future. |
Visa (and labor) regs that don't allow for online degrees and licenses don't make the distinction between occupations; the laws are applicable to all job applicants in every industry. Hopefully that won't be a situation the OP faces when deciding where she wants to teach years from now.
| and Xie Lin wrote: |
| Note that there are now a number of on-site programs in the US (in areas of teacher shortages) that combine teacher certification with an M.Ed.at a low cost. |
On-site teacher MA/licensure programs are an option the OP should seriously consider. It will give her that crucial US public school teaching experience that the better American-curriculum international schools overseas want to see. Otherwise, her online MA and online alternative teaching license (and likely a teaching practicum in a foreign school outside the US), won't put her near the top of list if she's targeting primo schools abroad. The exception would be if she focused on teaching one of the highly-desired STEM subjects rather than ESOL. |
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Xie Lin
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
Posts: 731
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| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| nomad soul wrote: |
| Xie Lin wrote: |
| On-line qualifications are becoming more acceptable to more employers each year, and much more slowly to governmental agencies regulating visa laws. The main reason for this trend to reverse itself would be a surge in the supply of qualified teachers. Still, there are a very few countries which may not consider on-line degrees valid for the foreseeable future. |
Visa (and labor) regs that don't allow for online degrees and licenses don't make the distinction between occupations; the laws are applicable to all job applicants in every industry. Hopefully that won't be a situation the OP faces when deciding where she wants to teach years from now. |
Yes, thanks, good catch. I did conflate the "no online courses" requirement of a diminishing number of countries with visa regs specific to teaching in some others. It is the latter which have sometimes been affected by supply and demand. The larger point remains, however, as far as the OP's interests are concerned: the trend since around 2007 is towards on-line work gaining greater acceptance with each passing year. In fact, as far as I know, there are only three remaining hold-outs today--Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar. I will be very surprised if they, too, haven't gotten on board before another decade passes.
Nonetheless, I am a great fan of the on-site combined M.Ed/teacher licensure program near me, which has been one of he models for similar programs in other cities.
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cari83
Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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Xie Lin and Nomad Soul - Thank you! I'm thinking maybe I should pursue a Master's in Elementary Education, and consider on-site programs, which as you said would open up more opportunities.
I'm just not seeing a lot of low cost programs. I would almost certainly need to get a Grad PLUS loan to move back to America and I'm not sure if I'll be eligible. Technically I should be but, it's not certain.
I'm also extremely confused right now by all of the different types of teaching licenses in each state. It seems that in some states, even after a Master's program with certification and student teaching, you earn for example, a Certificate of Advanced Eligibility (New Jersey) or a Resident Educator License (Ohio). These require additional teacher preparation and mentoring, or a certain number of years of successful teaching in that state, before getting a more permanent license. In Florida and Illinois graduates of Master's programs with certification earn a professional license, which is what I would like. All of the programs I'm seeing in those states are very expensive though. If I want to teach in international schools right after graduating, I won't be able to complete additional programs or accumulate the necessary years in that state to get the more permanent license. It's amazing how many different rules for licensing each state has. I'm going to keep researching this. Thanks for your advice. |
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