Job Discussion Forums

[PianoMan2]

Hey guys,

I'm currently in Korea teaching public high school. I'm looking into doing a MATESOL distance program from UTAS in Australia http://www.educ.utas.edu.au/Tesol/courses.html

What I especially like about the program is the Graduate Certificate awarded after the first year, then I can move on to the full MA TESOL coursework. The reason I want to get the MATESOL is simply so I can teach at the University level, and I'd like to teach in the Mid East at some point.

1. Is the MATESOL distance program acceptable in the Mid East? I know TEFL/CELTA certs need to be done in person.

2. My friend is also doing this same program from UTAS. He has been working on it for the last 3 years while simultaneously teaching ESL at Universities in Korea and in Canada. I'd love to be able to teach Uni while studying my MATESOL. Is this possible in the Mid East?

3. Any other advice you could give about qualifications for teaching Universities in the Mid East would be helpful. Here are my existing qualifications:
BA Music from an American University
TEFL 4 week/120 hour/in person cert from a language school in Prague
3 years ESL teaching experience (2 years public high school in Korea, 1 year teaching kids at a hagwan)
Work experience in software development, music and film industries

[veiledsentiments]

Your best possibility would be in Oman with the various recruiters for the Ministry of Higher Education or Ministry of Manpower. These jobs are for small universities in villages around the country. It is a pretty quiet life out there, so there is plenty of time to work on your MA while adding experience to your CV. The pay is not stellar (in Gulf terms), but most people save a bit of money too. One direct hire would be University of Nizwa.

The university employers in the Gulf are looking for experience with Academic English. In particular they like experience teaching reading and writing which are the Arabic speakers' weak areas. (unlike Asian students, they will talk your arm off )

VS

[Rochdale Ros]

[veiledsentiments]

It depends on the country. Saudi tends to not like online/distance degrees. Oman accepts them. The UAE depends on the Ministry your employer is under. The Ministry of Higher Education accepts them, but the Ministry of Education does not.

Make sure that the college/university is accredited. (and... no... there is no convenient list to know which institutions are accepted)

VS

[huh?]

As far as I know, distance/on-line degrees are not accepted in Kuwait.