Job Discussion Forums

tokyo_ · Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 8

... some background info on me.

-i'm a 35 y.o. australian male.
-i'm working as a FT ALT (assistant language teacher) in tokyo elementary and juniour high schools.
-i have almost 8 yrs ESL teaching experience. 9 months in a korean cram school, 5 yrs in one of the big 3 japanese conversation schools, a yr in a private conversation school back in australia n the last yr as an ALT.
-i have a BCA(creative arts, commonly referred to as fine arts) and a grad dip in law.(all from an australian university).
-i do not have any TESOL qualifications.

my intermediate goal is to obtain a teaching position in a university, or anywhere that will give me greater financial support. of course, i would also like to maintain the lower contact teaching hours and lengthy holidays that i currently enjoy as an ALT. i'm also open to which country i work in, though i'm looking closely at japan or HK.

my longer term objective is to move into the area of training (possibly consulting). this doesn't have to be restricted to the TESOL field, although most of my working experience has been accumulated there. it may be nice to marry the two.

this yr i will be undertaking a masters by distance (from an australian university). i would like to invite feedback on the course i am currently looking at.

the course is a masters in professional education and training (MPET). there is a specialist strand in TESOL offered with this masters. i'm considering this course bcos it may straddle 2 goals. it will give me a foot in the door to the training n consulting world, but i'm also hoping it may give me some credibility in the TESOL field.

http://www.deakin.edu.au/courses/search/course.php?customer_cd=D&service_item=E796&version_number=1&year_offered=2005

i welcome any comments or feedback on the course. i'm particularly interested to know how it would be viewed by potential TESOL employers in asia.

thankyou in advance for any feedback.

tokyo.

Brooks · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara

you should post this on the Japan board.

it would be easier for you to get a job at a high school than at a university.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

I looked into Deakins about 2 years ago and also was accepted into their MPET program. However, I did not continue because I felt that no one knew what a MPET is. I had never heard of it before and I think employers hadn't either. Deakins could not tell me other unis that offer a MPET degree. I felt that I shouldn't have to explain myself or my degree every time I apply for a job. The program did look good, but I guess I couldn't be sold on the name.

There are many other distance tesol/applied linguistics programs from Oz:
Macquarie
USQ
UNE
UTS
Tasmania

tokyo_ · Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 8

brooks> thanku kindly. i took ur advice n posted on the japan board. after completing a masters what else would i need, to be considered for a uni position in japan (in ur opinion)?

gordon> great point. i think this was floating around my sub-conscious n niggling me. it clarified when i read ur post.

i had actually looked into all the other aus uni options u mentioned... n i have followed a lot of ur own posts here. i was considering the MPET(TESOL) bcos of my interest in moving towards training in the future. ideally i would like to solidify n validate my esl experience b4 jumping into sth completely different. if the masters was recognised n accepted as a legitimate qual in the TESOL field it would seem to serve a dual purpose for me...

after reading ur post i consulted a friend in the training n consulting field. it seems that it wont matter too greatly what i do my masters in. therefore, perhaps it would be wiser to pursue sth more commonly known n trusted in the TESOL industry.

once again thanku for the feedback.

tokyo

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

You have a valid point regarding the MPET, but then you would be anrrowing down your employment field then right?

Tokyo, one more bit of friendly advice. Very Happy

When posting, you may want to leave out all the abbreviations. It is tough to read your long posts and a forum is a little different format than text messaging. Just something to think about as you may notice that no one else here regularly does this. The odd abbreviation is fine, but not everyone knows all the netspeak that is out there.

zaneth · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:51 pm Post subject:

I'd like to second that bit of friendly advice. Really difficult to read.

tokyo_ · Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 8

zaneth and gordon> point taken. thankyou for the advice.

gordon> could you please clarify your point about being too narrowed? were you referring to choosing some form of TESOL qualification?

tokyo

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

What I meant to say that if you study something like applied linguistics (which I am currently doing) then this does encompass a lot of fields. This could be TESOL, language translation, curriculum development and even teacher training. With an MPET, you will always have to explain to employers what it means. They may or may not believe you or you may never even get a chance to talk to them at the interview stage.

tokyo_ · Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 8

gordon> ok. i understand thankyou. therefore, applied linguistics would give me more options than say a MATESOL... and certainly more options than the MPET.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

guty · Joined: 10 Apr 2003 Posts: 365 Location: on holiday

Is that pronounced Muppet? Some people just dont think ahead do they?

zaneth · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 2:42 pm Post subject:

I have the possibility to do graduate school here where I'm teaching. It would actually be as a linguist in a computer lab: artificial intelligence. I'm thinking that it will be rather portable.

tokyo_ · Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 8

guty> well, i was thinking more along the lines of "my pet" Wink