Korean Job Discussion Forums

fusionbarnone · Joined: 31 May 2004

Have any of you thought about applying to the "Teach for America" program once your stint in Korea is over? There's a big recruitment drive at the moment.

Seems like the ideal opportunity to become a registered teacher at new teacher pay scales if you are serious about becoming a recognized teacher/state employee.

Some long-time teachers I've talked to are afraid of this program claiming it will undermine their benefits and quality of education generally. Personally, I think, tough.

Thought I'd bring this up since practically all of you are qualified(US citizens/Permanent Residents only).

linton · Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Location: Seoul

Hi,

I applied for the Teach for America program. I had a 3.0 GPA and two great letters of recommendation. Plus, I was registered with the Center for Students with Disabilities. Also, I told the people with the program that I wanted to teach special ed to help other students like myself.

I did not even get to the interview step. Later, I met a person who had a 3.6 GPA and he, too, did not get an interview. Also, a friend in Korea who had a 3.9 GPA had an interview and got an offer from them but turned it down after she was told that most people who got into that program had a 3.8 or higher.

My point is this: The idea of Teach for America is good, but their standards are so high that many people use it only as a step ladder for a different career later on.

cvmurrieta · Joined: 02 Mar 2009 Location: Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

Well, then this rules me out since my cumulative GPA is 3.29

I personally find working overseas to be more enjoyable than back in the US anyway.

But there are similar programs offered by the cities of Nashville and Phoenix that may not require such a high GPA.

linton · Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Location: Seoul

I enrolled with an online school when I first came to Korea; my goal was a Master's in Special Education. I am now finished with all but my student teaching. I have found a school district that plans to hire me as a full time sub. By doing this, I can do my student teaching and get paid at the same time and, when my student teaching is finished, I will get hired as a normal teacher.

Look around for what is best for yuo and I am sure you can find something you like.

Good Luck

Nierlisse · Joined: 11 Oct 2008 Location: South Korea

I worked in the career office of my university. It is actually very difficult to get into this program; the number of applicants they get is much larger than the number of teachers they actually need/can handle.

I never really understood this; the same thing happened to me in university. I applied to the college of education and was rejected, along with many others. (Same for those who apply to nursing school, and others) I always thought it was foolish to turn away all those people who want to be teachers/nurses/whatever. I understand they want the "best of the best" but honestly, don't most teachers quit before they've done 5 years of teaching? And the number of nurses needed now and in the future (at least in the US) is staggering. I just thought they should let everyone who wants to be a teacher/nurse/whatever to at least TRY.

Who knows? I could have been a legitimate teacher by now! Wink

nicam · Joined: 14 Jun 2008

I heard it is nearly impossible to get in as well, but I did sublet to a girl who got in once. She had like a 4.0 GPA from Columbia with a Math major and Ed minor. She also had 2 guinae pigs, one that she neglected and verbally abused on a regular basis and one that she called "Princess" and spoiled to death. My permanent roomate was NOT happy about rooming with this Teach-for-America worthy person.

Individual states usually have much more reasonable fellowship programs. I'm thinking about Cali's.

Rory_Calhoun27 · Joined: 14 Feb 2009

heh... I had a friend with an interest in that... we went to some recruitment drive they had.... I thought it was a bit "over the top..." they dont mind shoving the need down your throat, but when I heard the numbers there was like a 10:1 ratio of applicants to acceptance, I forgot about it....

my friend got an interview... planned like heck for it, too. then got a rejection a few weeks later, and then an impersonal email newsletter seeking him to apply again!

To have so little regard for rejecting him the first time, he got PO'ed and sent a complaint to the head..... got an apology letter back. To which he sent a copy of a story about a teacher in the DC region who was being sued by some kid's family, and how TFA basically disowned him. He has a bit of a mean streak, I suppose....

near as I can figure, being in Korea is a much better deal, at least short term. You do get some benefits re: student loans, and the teacher's license, but from what I saw in the vids they showed and the rubber-stamped enthusiasm of the recruiters, they want you to feel like they are doing you a favor by having you teach in potentially horid conditions....

on the plus side, I do think they offer positions in Las Vegas! at least you know where you'll be spending that paycheck... Wink

Rory_Calhoun27 · Joined: 14 Feb 2009

heh... I had a friend with an interest in that... we went to some recruitment drive they had.... I thought it was a bit "over the top..." they dont mind shoving the need down your throat, but when I heard the numbers there was like a 10:1 ratio of applicants to acceptance, I forgot about it....

my friend got an interview... planned like heck for it, too. then got a rejection a few weeks later, and then an impersonal email newsletter seeking him to apply again!

To have so little regard for rejecting him the first time, he got PO'ed and sent a complaint to the head..... got an apology letter back. To which he sent a copy of a story about a teacher in the DC region who was being sued by some kid's family, and how TFA basically disowned him. He has a bit of a mean streak, I suppose....

near as I can figure, being in Korea is a much better deal, at least short term. You do get some benefits re: student loans, and the teacher's license, but from what I saw in the vids they showed and the rubber-stamped enthusiasm of the recruiters, they want you to feel like they are doing you a favor by having you teach in potentially horid conditions....

on the plus side, I do think they offer positions in Las Vegas! at least you know where you'll be spending that paycheck... Wink

Robot_Teacher · Joined: 18 Feb 2009 Location: Robotting Around the World

I understand Teach for America teachers move on to high positions in high places after serving their time. Getting in is almost impossible for most people just as getting into Harvard or Oxford is. Times are more competitive today with more out of work so the regular fellowship programs are going to start upping the annie too.

Rory_Calhoun27 · Joined: 14 Feb 2009

maybe.... and sorry for the double post.... not much goin' on today! clicked reload Embarassed

it does have a cache-value to it... no doubt... my friend was bummed, and hes the "alex p. keaton" type. if anyone knows Family Ties... Rolling Eyes

Zyzyfer · Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:25 pm Post subject:

TFA is ridiculous. I applied back in 2003 or 2004 for it. I figured with my personal childhood background, they'd be thinking "Wow, this person had a pretty rough life growing up and managed to turn that around, so he'd make a great candidate!" Even focused the essay on a couple of teachers that went out of their way to put me on the right track in high school. Not even an interview. Haven't bothered with it since.

Rory_Calhoun27 · Joined: 14 Feb 2009

tough break.... but watching all the syrup they drip on things, I got the sense they wanted a bunch of hyper-preppie Liberals who feel guilty for their affluent demographics..... which begs the question, why my friend got cut, as well......

now if GEPIK, EPIK, and SMOE, (as well as a few other acronyms) were smart, they'd target those rejects, with posters of some sad-looking kids, and make them think HOW LUCKY they are for teaching in Korea for a year..... or longer.

yep, It's all about the advertising...

nicam · Joined: 14 Jun 2008

Ha, Rory_Calhoun 27, your friend had the balls to do what many teaching fellowship rejects only wish they had the balls to do.

I applied for some elite California charter school fellowship once, got selected for the interview, and was subjected to 2 full days of the 3rd degree, sample teaching demonstrations, speeches, etc., in lovely Inglewood, CA (a location they must have chosen by asking themselves what would be the MOST inconvenient location to get to from all sides of town during L.A. rush hour traffic). Had to take off of work to do it (which consisted of lying to my company), plan for months in advance, buy a new suit, gather more paperwork than necessary for a Korean E-2, and sure enough, 2 months later I got the rejection form letter in the mail. Think it was about 2 sentences in total. Really disheartening. I had made friends with some of the other rejects there since we spent so much time together, and we talked about writing letters of complaint, but we all chickened out in the end. Kudos to your friend.

These programs are so vague about what they are looking for in teachers, and I wouldn't be surprised if they know before the process who's going to make it and who isn't.

I can't say Korea is better than teaching for 2x the money in beautiful Venice, CA, but I guess them's the ropes. I am seeing a lot of ads for other places though, like Austin, TX, and Phoenix. And my friend is doing a fellowship in Vegas and said all you really need is a pulse to get hired. Not hard to believe Vegas is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

The high-needs public schools in urban areas aren't so competitive but I think they are not so desirable either. Think Michelle Pfieffer in "Dangerous Minds." In that case, I think smaller cities are safer bets. A friend of mine is in one of San Francisco's rougher areas through Teach California and loves it, but I don't know anyone that would touch L.A. with a 20' pistol.

Rory_Calhoun27 · Joined: 14 Feb 2009

well, my friend, "Fast Eddie," was PO'ed- not so much by not making the cut, but after the hard sell they gave at the fair, the brief group interview they got, and then the form letter cutting him, THEN the form email.... yeah, I can see getting pissed.

the worst at the info. fair about it- they just showed a ape of a CNN report on the group. Am I supposed to be impressed Wolf Blitzer took the time to read your group on cable?

Now, if it was Campbell Brown... maybe we'd give them the benefit of the doubt.... Cool

socratesocks · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Location: Gwangju, Met City

The TFA philosophy is dangerously flawed. They take kids from Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth who have 3.9 GPAs and have never experienced an iota of adversity in their life and feel a vague sense of maybe wanting to help people less fortunate (they've heard rumors that these people exist) and throw them infront of a classroom of ravenous 12 year olds in North Philly. Then they reject every applicant from a reasonable school without an ivy bricked building, like me and several other friends of mine with Honors degrees from Temple University who actually know what to do when they're on a street where most of the houses are boarded up. My GPA was only 3.42 granted but my friends' were 3.7 and 3.8. My argument that I was a perfect candidate because of my experience with precisely the type of people who I was going to teach (I work at the West Philadelphia welfare office), and my strong academic background fell on deaf ears.

Here's hoping the criteria they accept people based on actually works in the schools. Perhaps Dartmouth boy's experience as president of his high school's NHS and head of his Phi Kappa Psi fraternity expernience translates into his ability to control a group of 12 year olds from the Bronx's most notorious projects. You never know.