Job Discussion Forums

Yemlin · Joined: 11 Oct 2006 Posts: 21

I've taught English in Japanese public schools for five years. I really like my job, but I would like to move up to university teaching in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Dubai, Latin America, or Europe.

I have a bachelor's in French and I just got a CELTA. I plan to get an MA in Applied Linguistics by coursework. It will be an external (a/k/a correspondence or distance) degree. Would the fact that it was done off-campus disqualify me from many university jobs in the areas listed above?

I'm going to post this message in relevant regional forums, too.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

It depends on the uni and the job. In Latin America at least, most unis would just be happy that the degree is from an accredited, legitimate university and won't care if it was done by distance.

Drizzt · Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 229 Location: Kyuushuu, Japan

Well, cross Taiwan off your list. I've heard that the Ministry of Education doesn't recognize online degrees. I am not sure about the other places though. Most do accept, you just need to do a bit of research for each place.

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

Taiwan would be the only place that does not recognize distance degrees. No big loss, IMO.

Where will you get your masters?

tedkarma · Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:55 am Post subject:

A vigorous discussion of distance degrees was just a few months back.

I have my reservations.

Try reading this thread:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=38667&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Chris_Crossley

The best thing to do under those circumstances would simply be not to reveal that any master's degree that you have done was by distance or online.

We grass-roots practitioners know full well that it ought not to matter how it was done, except that there are those in some countries, especially education ministries and the like, who are blinkered and prejudiced against any qualification being done online or by distance unless there was a face to face element to it like a residential school.

If you are concerned about people asking you whether or not there is any face to face element, alarm bells ought to start ringing, even if having, say, residential schools in a degree would be better than having none at all, but you just never know with some people, especially those who may have gone through the traditional full-time route 20- or 30-odd years ago and have never been in a classroom as a student since then (thus betraying the total lack of professional development on their part!).

In any case, any degree certificate or diploma you receive after the end of your study programme should not say HOW you studied, only WHAT you studied - and this is the norm. What matters is what you have gained from the degree programme. If prospective employers are going to start splitting hairs about face to face contact, then it would be better to apply somewhere else.

I would not start tearing my hairs out (whether literally or metaphorically) just because someone does not like the idea of an online degree - that is their problem, not ours; nevertheless, that someone would be just one person who is still living in the Dark Ages and has, along with their education system, failed to adapt to the realities of modern times, and those who fail to adapt invariably bite the proverbial dust sooner or later in their capacities as worthless dinosaurs, be they individuals or organizations or even both.