Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Julius]

Is there anyone who has an australian teaching qualification (such as the Dip. Ed)- and how competitive have you found this to be internationally?
I have heard that International schools prefer the british PGCE...

[bundangbabo]

I wouldn't mind spending a year in Australia but for me the PGCE is actually cheaper (being a home student) so I wouldn't mind knowing the anwser to this also...

[soviet_man]

I looked into it before - this is what I think:

The deal was - assuming you already have some sort of non-B.Ed. Bachelor degree, you can do a 1 year full time "Grad Dip Ed" at any Australian university and be qualified to teach there as a Registered Teacher, although there are typically lengthy field practicum(s) involved.

I think it would be a good choice if you wanted to specialize in something very very specific (eg. teach only high-school music or drama or a foreign language etc) but if you just want to be a run-of-the-mill elementary/English school teacher it doesn't look worth taking a year off - financially or career wise. A 1st year teacher in Australia is on about US $33,000 per year before tax - so nothing special there.

As for how Grad Dip Ed's from Australia compare internationally, I'd say they can't possibly be a bad thing - but at the same time putting your life on hold for 1 year is a hell of a lot to sacrifice, unless you had actual ties to Australia and wanted to do it there long-term.

[Julius]

[soviet_man]

Grad Dip Ed is obviously an Australian-specific course - meaning you could definitely teach in Australia or NZ public schools upon completion.

What it counts for in terms of "International Schools" depends on what country the school is in - eg. in some countries a 1 month CELTA course might be more useful than a 1 year Grad Dip Ed.

My understanding with the Grad Dip Ed is that it is mainly for those who already have some sort of non-teaching undergrad degree like a BA, who then want to get "Board of Teacher Registration" by doing this course. It could be for any subject area, elementary/high school etc.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

I've been curious about this as I did the Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Secondary) in NZ last year.

The diploma concentrates on how to teach for assessment and with that how to breakdown content for classes eg differentiation, literacy strategies, classroom management, pedagogy et al. I did 15 weeks of teaching in local schools on 3 five-week blocks. In NZ I'm provisionally registered to teach-full reg. takes 2 years and teaching in the UK would see me fully qualified after 1 year.

I had a look at the website for Seoul International School and they say they use a US curriculum adjusted for an international school make-up.

A few questions I'd have would be:

-How actually international is the school make-up (lots of Korean students with central American passports??)
-What is the assessment students are working towards?

I'd imagine schools have a particular wish-list when it comes to applicants:
-Probably US trained and able to teach for SAT (or for UK International Baccaloreate?)
-Married or otherwise settled in Korea.

No doubt the pay is much better than ESL and you can teach an actual subject which would be the attraction for me personally.

[Cheonmunka]