Job Discussion Forums

[Gianni_Giapponese]

I've done some lurking but I haven't found any info about teaching practicums. I'm currently completing a MTESOL course in Australia and I have to decide soon whether to do the practicum or not next semester. Otherwise, I would have to take a regular unit instead, so it seems to be a comparable work load.

I would like to eventually teach at a University in Japan. Now, I understand there is a long more to getting a uni job than just having an MA. Assuming you have the other requisites (publications, teaching experience in Japan, etc.) do they place any value on a the practicum? It is worthwhile to do one or not?

Any any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Gianni

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I think it depends on the context of the practicum. If you are actually in the university itself, teaching ESL students, then yeah, that SHOULD be very useful (except of course that what is done in university English language units in English speaking countries and what you see in university classrooms in Japan are very different things- there's a reason why so many Japanese students who arrive in North American schools end up testing into the lowest or second lowest level of ESL classes- many simply cannot use the language).

If the practicum is going to be at a little private language school, then that would still be useful, but you could run into difficulty with Japanese people not understanding that a little language school in an English speaking nation is entirely different than a paint-by-the-numbers eikaiwa in Japan.