Job Discussion Forums

[DaveW125]

I've just accepted my first job at an international school and have been looking at masters programs, specifically in International Education, to help improve my knowledge and ability.

I have 3 different courses in mind however one is an MA, one is a MS and one is a MEd all in International Education. Does anyone know what the difference in these qualifications is and would they all be held in the same regard by employers around the world?

thanks in advance

[Chris_Crossley]

It is up to each individual university or college to decide what the degree is going to be called, yet a taught master's degree should be treated as exactly that: a taught master's degree, no matter whether it is called an MA, an MS (or MSc in the UK, NZ, Ireland, Australia and Canada) or an MEd.

Hence, it ought to be quite enough to say to any potential employer that one has a master's (degree) in whatever subject it is.

Some universities may even allow you to choose the degree title of some postgraduate degree programmes, although by no means all.

For example, students can register for the master's degree in education of the Open University (UK) and not necessarily have to choose the title, whether an MEd or an MA in Education, some of which are "badged" (e.g., an MA or MEd in Applied Linguistics) until the moment that they are offered the degree at the end of their studies.

It does not matter which optional modules you do (there is only the one compulsory module), the choice of title is basically yours.

For the record, I happen to have both of the above!

[robertokun]

I believe the MEd will be most highly regarded. Especially if you want to get into administration, this is the master's that most teachers take in the States--albeit with the corresponding modules or classes that lead to that track. I don't have one myself, so I can't give a definitive answer. Maybe more people with one will chip in their two cents.

[Molson]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

People do masters degrees in educational leadership in order to get into administration in North America and English speaking nations (especially, though not exclusively at the k-12 level- they do them to become a principal). So those will usually be M.Ed, simply because they are offered through Faculties of Education (although in Australia, some masters degrees are simply labelled M+ discipline, like MTESOL for Masters of TESOL).

to the OP,
Your issue will be that although EFL instructors are international teachers, it isn't exactly the same as what you're doing because we generally are teaching in local schools- the education designed by and for the local people (for example the Japanese education system in Japan). So those of us with masters degrees specific to our work area have masters degrees specific to language teaching (M.Ed or MA or M or maybe even M.Sc in TESOL or Applied Linguistics or SLE [Second Language Education] or something like that).

Generally, in the Applied Linguistics/ TESOL world, it's all about where the program is housed. It's called an M.Ed if it's in the Faculty of Education. It's called an MA if it's in the Faculty of Arts and Science. It may be called an M.Sc as well... but I don't think anybody has ever really figured out why other than it may sound more impressive- especially in the US which still has a mild tendency to call things 'science' even when they aren't (a throwback to the 1950s when 'the scientific method' meant 'intellectually challenging', I suppose as opposed to the 'airy-fairy' method that was 'arts'). So what you do is look at the courses offered and the requirements and go with the one closest to what you want to do. Always look at what the research interests of the profs are.

[DaveW125]

[Molson]

[Chancellor]