Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rokricky]

I'm thinking of going to Aus to study a Master's in Education and Linguistics by coursework. This would be done entirely on Campus. Does anyone know what the degree is worth in Canada? How would I go about finding out?

[ajgeddes]

From what I have been told, and this is by a friend doing a M.Ed in Australia right now, his Master's will basically be equal to a B.Ed from Canada. This could depend upon university and there could be many factors, but that is what he told me.

[Tiger Beer]

I'm going to guess Canada is similar to the United States.

Recently, I had some email correspondence to a university in the United States about what kind of MA they respected/accepted for ESL teachers.

I asked about a distance program through Australia. They pretty much immediately told me that their university (UNLV) and staff think very lowly of any kind of distance degree whatsoever. I had the impression it would be better than nothing, but most employers would quickly take a 'brick-and-mortor' degree anyday over any distance degree.

I didn't have this same email correspondence with a community college, so who knows there. Some CC I saw would accept BA's in TESOL, so if you had a distance MA, I'd imagine it could be totally possible there.

[Shimokitazawa]

WARNING:

Be very careful with Australian Master degrees. They're handing them out like candy down there (specifically Monash, University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Griffiths, University of New South Wales, etc.).

Very little work is required for a coursework, online / distance, Master degree in Australia. They are basically degree mills catering to the Asian market.

If you do do one, make sure you try to do a thesis component and make sure you do some of it on campus and NOT through distance / on line

Beware.

[Shimokitazawa]

[Proustian]

Not much of what you have said is currently true.

The Master of Applied Linguistics at Monash is a 6 unit degree (12 points value each) running over 3 semesters.

Comparing it with a community college in Canada (of 8 units) is misleading and simplistic because it doesn't take into account the work or hours involved in studying the units. You can't just say one is 6 units and the other is 8 so the 8 unit course is more rigorous.
For your statement to be true we would have to believe the units are equal when they likely are not.

Monash Uni is ranked 47 in the world - only 3 Canadian Uni's are higher - so you can keep your lowly ranked diploma course and impress your future boss with your wasted extra year of study while applications from good Universities steal your position

[WadRUG'naDoo]

You could be a pamphlet distributor for Outback Steakhouse.

[northway]

[Corinthians]

I�d be a little wary about using a foreign degree to find employment in Canada. I�m from Canada originally and have found that employers there are very picky when it comes to their requirements. Canadian employers seem to stress Canadian experience and Canadian education. Not saying that Canadian education is superior to something you�ll find in OZ, but this is what the employers want up there. For example, one of my friends here moved to Toronto from the US after marrying his Canadian wife. He has a Masters from a good school in the US and a lot of work experience here. It took him a long time to find temp work in Toronto and he�s now looking for another job since his temp gig expired. His biggest complaint is that potential employers don�t like his lack of Canadian background.

Besides, if you choose to go down to OZ, you might never want to leave. It�s a great country and many people I know who moved there to further their education never left.

[D.D.]

I did a five year course in Aus and the deal was a weekend exam in canada after I graduated would transfer my degree to get licensed in canada. While I was studying the test requirements kept getting worse until it became three weekends spaced over 18 months at 2000 canadian per weekend.

Turned out to be a blessing as I chose to live in asia and enjoy it more than canada.

If you expect to score a teaching job in canada with an aussie degree i would think twice as it is possible but the degree from aus is a negative not a positive on your resume.

[Shimokitazawa]

I would echo the above comments. I contacted the University of Toronto about transferring some of my credits and the people that I communicated with in the OISE program were not confident that they would recognize my Australian credits.

Do your research and use caution, because often these degrees will not be recognized or received well in any number of countries - and not just Canada or the U.S. The U.A.E. and a few other countries in Asia such as Taiwan, for example, refuse to recognize these Australian online / distance degrees.

If Korea falls in line with how these other countries perceive distance / online M.A. degrees, anyone who is doing one will be shit outta luck after spending all that time and money on their course.