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Haleznz · Joined: 04 Jan 2011 Posts: 11

I have a Diploma in TESOL (with Business) and have taught English in Thailand. I now work in adult education and plan on heading overseas again in 5 years time, by which time I will have completed my Diploma in Business Administration, 5 years of asessing/moderating/training, and 5 years teaching ESL to new immigrants part-time.

But still no degree.

I would like to live in several different countries over several years and teach Business English to adults, with Japan a part of that.

My question is, should I also complete a degree part-time, either a Bachelor of Education (Adult Education or TESOL) or a Bachelor of Business (Communication), over the next 5 years (I am used to working and studying), or is this an overkill for what I want to do?

P.S. At this point I am a 30 year old native New Zealand female, living back in NZ.

TIA.

Cool Teacher · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:36 am Post subject:

Degrees are wanted to make you eligible for a visa.

If you have no degree then usually you will not be eligible for a visa.

BUT, if you have 3 years or more teaching experience and can prove it then you may qualify for an instructor visa.

There is the possibility of working holiday visas where you don't need a degere but your age could put you right onthe borderline. I don't know about New Zealanders but you might be eligible when you are thrity or you might be eligible upto thirty. Can't really rememer Sad

Basicly a degree will give you more options and make the visa prcoessing much easier but it is not required in all circumstances.

Good luck! Very Happy

seklarwia · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:55 am Post subject:

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Depending on how you word things, that diploma may be seen as a degree. Was it a 2-year, 3-year, or 4-year diploma? If it was 3 or 4, I'd say don't call it a diploma but a degree (unless that's the word on the parchment).

If you will have another diploma in 5 years, how much education will you have accumulated? As Cool Teacher wrote, 3 years of FT work experience can substitute for a degree for one visa requirement (a combination of work experience and education may also).

I think you may be all right in terms of satisfying requirements for a work visa. Who can say what the market will be like in 5 years, though? That is, it's already tight and it's impossible to predict what the needs will be in 2016. Whether you get a degree in Education may simply depend on who you expect to teach here and for how long. Do you have any idea of this yet?

As far as I can guess, you will be qualified to teach only as an ALT, an eikaiwa instructor, or (maybe) in a business English setting.

Haleznz · Joined: 04 Jan 2011 Posts: 11

Haleznz · Joined: 04 Jan 2011 Posts: 11

Haleznz · Joined: 04 Jan 2011 Posts: 11

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

Education would be more advantageous than business. Unless you do business and THEN do a masters in TESOL or Applied Linguistics (assuming you want to do this for a career).

You could also do mass communications (journalism or PR or Advertising [if available]) or English (lit, publishing and editing and creative writing and non-fiction writing) and then a masters in TESOL. Then you would have the communications background, an English-y background (more so with the English degree, obviously) and the TESOL linguistics background.

But that assumes you've decided you want to be an ESOL teacher for your career.

An MBA doesn't require a business undergrad, in case you went the education (or English) route and wanted to do the business thing later.

Haleznz · Joined: 04 Jan 2011 Posts: 11