Job Discussion Forums

Sudz · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 438

Hi there.

I've been accepted (almost) into an MA TESOL program (in 2011) through Nottingham university. Not 100 percent committed to it yet, but I currently have my heart set on it. If you're wondering HOW I was accepted, it was through my teaching experience (around 6 years) and my TESOL certificate.

Just wondering if I'd be able to obtain work (preferably university) without a BA? My experience is mostly K-9, though I've taught some IELTS classes as well (I have an IELTS training certificate through the British Council).

Thanks

helenita · Joined: 24 Feb 2009 Posts: 3

I was just wondering how that's possible! Smile

When I applied (and got the job), I was aksed to submit both BA and MA certificates, transcripts etc.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I have had colleagues in KSA who had done an MA without doing a BA. They all reported propblems in getting jobs, but made it to the Promised Land, the Shangri-La of KSA, where the streets are paved with gol;d.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I also have a friend with no BA, but an MA, who worked successfully in Saudi for a few years. I think it's do-able, or at least in the past it was.

However, you might want to clarify the K-9 thing. In some circles, it's an acronym for CANINE, and implies that you've been working with dogs Shocked

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

In Scotland some students complete their first degree and are awarded an M.A. as their first degree. I met one such individual teaching at a University in Korea, during my stay there. He did not possess a B.A. It did not stop him from getting plenty of job offers in Korea, including University jobs, although he had started out on the 'hogwan' (cram school) route. He had a splendid track record everywhere he went in Korea, and was very personable.

The Scot also was unique in possessing a very high level of Korean language skill, having self studied and then done the Saturday courses at the Korean Language Institute in Kangham. All the more remarkable as he was in his early twenties. His teaching philosophy at University, included a system in which, no matter how large the class, he focused on every student and quizzed them in class to make them speak. The students appreciated this method, as it was counter intuitive to them in the way they had previously been taught (lecture mode) by their previous instructors. They were initially shocked, but won over in the end. They were not just passive recipients of a lecture. They were made to be active.

Ghost

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

First degrees in the Humanities at the ancient Scottish Universities are MA not BA
Ghost has picked up the wrong end of the argument. We are talking about people who jhave done a GRADUATE MA in TESLology withouit fiorst doing a BA