Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cangel]

Just curious about those in Korea who are certified to teach English. Did you teach in your home country in a public school? Did you do a PGCE or maybe an education degree? As many of you are probably either working in a language school or possibly in a public school as an assistant, does this give you job satisfaction? Just curious...

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Otherside]

I think he means certified as being an "English Teacher" at a public school in your home country. I.e. Robin Williams in dead poets society.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Adobe]

I'm a certified teacher(B.Ed) in my home country. I have a TESOL certificate...am i satisfied in my three public schools? My satisfaction levels vary depending on the school. In some schools i'm used only as a human tape recorder.

In others I can plan my own lessons(however, the coteacher often manages to take a good idea/lesson and turn it into a mindless memorization excercise ).

On a scale of 1-10 it can be 0 some days and a 10 on others.

Adobe

[cangel]

Sorry for the ambiguity... By certified, based on US standards, means you have graduated with an education degree in a primary endorsement area and passed the requisite state tests. I have a MSEd but not in, at that time (2000), a primary endorsement area, TESOL. While I am qualified to teach at universities both stateside and abroad, I am not qualified to teach at a public school. However, a certified teacher in, say, math, who then gets an add-on endorsement in ESL, is fully qualified to teach ESL/ELL in public schools. Quite a conundrum.

[littlelisa]

I have a B.Ed in TESL, with a teaching certificate for both Elementary and Secondary schools in Quebec. I don't have full-time-for-a-whole-year-experience in Montreal, but I've taught full time for short periods of time (2 months at a time) during my studies as part of my stages, and taught part time at random other places like Chinese school, etc. It adds up to quite a bit.

Last year I went to Korea to teach EFL. My job was sometimes rewarding (mostly in the classroom) and sometimes frustrating (mostly in the office). My boss and coworkers had a funny idea of how they thought people learned languages, but actually, I had a lot of freedom in my classes. I came back to Montreal in mid-April (finished teaching end of Feb), and when I haven't been travelling, I've been teaching as a sub occasionally. More often, I've been teaching swing dancing. This is because I was already planning to go back to Korea (which I will be doing in Feb), and so wouldn't be here for a full year.

For me, I find that the most rewarding experiences are mostly based on how successful you are at getting your students motivated. For sure some kids I taught really wanted to learn and enjoyed class, and that made it worth it.

In Montreal I didn't find teaching very rewarding, though, because even though staff treats you as a professional, public school kids don't care (mostly) about learning English. This could have been more about where I taught than anything else, though.. who knows.

One of my most rewarding experiences teaching was in Cambodia while on vacation. I helped the monks teach kids English, and it would have been a lot of teachers' idea of a nightmare of a class. There were lots of kids, huge range in ages, in English ability, awful textbook, lessons made up on the spot (you get to see the text book 5 mins before class), etc. I loved it cause the kids were so into it. So for me, anytime that there are happy kids, I am happy and feeling rewarded too. I guess it sounds cheesy, but it works for me.

When I come back I will be teaching in a private school in Seoul, an English immersion school. I hope the kids are motivated!

So overall, yes, though there were ups and downs. I guess enough ups that I decided to go back to teaching EFL in Korea.

[OiGirl]

[cangel]

I, of course, am talking about the rule, not the exception to it.

[Cheonmunka]

NZ has us in varied roles as we sometimes need simply sephamore passes in subjects to get qualified to teach those at junior and sometimes senior levels of high school. In the case with ESL you don't necessarily have to have an English major. If you want to do ESL you should have a few years experience teaching with it, ie, what you get here in Korea - and you can qualify after observations during practicums with ESL as one of your major teaching subjects.

It's quite nifty really; it's an odd sort of subject that sits a little off to the side of the system. But, it's quite useful. There are still plenty of jobs available in NZ for it. ESL there is directed towards the international students. In every high school there is at least one class full of students from all around the World.

[Mr. Pink]

In my province to teach ESL, you don't necessary need more than a B.Ed, however, due to competition, you will realistically need either an MA in TOEFL or to get additional qualification courses in ESL. There are 3 of them in total. I think its like you take the first one, then have to wait 2yrs to take the next one, then you wait a bit more and the last one makes you a "specialist" which means you can be a head of an ESL department in a school.

[cangel]

The problem my high school is having, is finding a "qualified" English lit. teacher. So, when we think of what qualifies someone to teach, can past experience be sufficient? I think in certain situations, yes. I've been a teacher for almost a decade and have met plenty of certified teachers that I would rather not have in the classroom. Likewise, I have also taught at private language schools and find many young teachers preoccupied with boozing it up several nights a week and yet, are still in on time and quite capable in the classroom.

[Mr. Pink]

[VanIslander]

an undergrad degree in english literature plus a CELTA - that's what I'd be looking for in someone to teach english lit in an ESL environment

[cangel]

Agreed. Know any? LOL