Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iggyb]

I've been wondering about all the MA degrees I've been seeing people at Dave's talk about --- about how there are so many of them in Korea these days...

...Where are they getting them?

Through online programs? Or the old fashioned way - through a university in their home country?

If there are really a bunch of them in Korea, I'd have to think it would be the first.

But, then again, programs like the one I just finished in the US seem to be sprouting up all over the place. They say it is to fill the teacher gap some states have. I'm not so sure...

My program also asked us what we thought about the program going online since they were having to compete against other programs that offered that...

--- My main question about any onliners is -- what kind of student-teaching do they do?

I wonder how my program would even manage that online...

...we spent a lot of time in the schools student-teaching while taking courses. They also had us both long term stints in both high school and middle school since the degree makes us certified in 6-12 (secondary) education...

[tired of LA]

[bassexpander]

If it means anything to you, our university hires people on more than just if they have an MA or not. I have a BA. We hired some more people recently that just have a BA. Some have MA's.

Bottom-line -- an MA can be a big help, but you have to be able to teach on top of having it. Our school certainly isn't near the top in Seoul, but we are in Seoul. The Korean prof's expect new hires to do a demo lesson in front of the staff. There have been exceptions due to time constraints, but in most cases, you have to prove teaching ability, as well.

The thing you have to remember too is that some *ahem* Australian universties which I won't name are becoming known as "degree mills" for MA's. Our administration certainly knows about them.

Don't just go out there and find any old distance MA program.

[iggyb]

That's part of my questioning on all the MAs in Korea.

Here in the States, nobody has much respect for online degrees. I think that is changing somewhat due to the fact so many mainstream universities are starting to offer them + how much regular classes have shifted to using the Internet as a primary means to conduct class business.

But online degrees are still frowned upon. When we talked about the school moving their program online, one professor who was against it pointed out that when they do evaluations of applications for graduate study, if the BA or BS degree was earned online, they automatically set it aside...

On the other hand, with all these new MA-Teaching programs popping up so quickly, it won't be long before people don't really respect it when it seems like you can't throw a rock without clunking one on the head...

And like I said on another thread, the courses necessary to get a TESOL certificate added to your regular teaching certificate has largely been a joke. They started cranking them out in the mid-1990s as the immigrant community grew quickly in areas other than big cities or the West.

[bassexpander]

[iggyb]

I was a student - the professor was an early 40s female...

I think things are moving in the direction you are talking about, but I don't think we're as close as you're stating.

I am very sure this professor wasn't speaking an isolated minority view point.

I certainly haven't seen an indication of a fundamental shift in what people in general think of online degrees.

Your qualification about "a reputable, accredited institution" makes a difference, but those institutions are competing for public attention with all those places that send out spam to your email address every two or three days or do late-night TV ads.

I also say that the stipulation about states accepting such degrees to meet requirements doesn't impress me either --- for the reason I stated before concerning the TESOL course work demanded to get that add-on in my state ---

--- that summer-long program of study I did as an undergrad was nothing more than jumping through a few hoops to get a piece of paper the schools would nonetheless accepted --- and those classes were not online...

Pure bullshit? --- Not hardly.

Changing? Yes, as more mainstream universities move toward technology.

But I highly doubt online degrees are thought of today much the same as a standard college program...

If you walk in and say, "I've got an online MA from Duke University" - fine.

But you get much lower than that, and I don't see the people giving it much credit.

[iggyb]

I guess I could have offered this qualification before to give a better idea of where I'm coming from on this issue:

I've been around a lot of colleges as a student, both as an undergrad and grad student, and I believe your education is what you make of it.

Maybe at the top tier schools they force students to care more by making things competitive. A few friends of mine who graduated from Georgia Tech said the school deliberate tries to weed out freshman and seniors. I've heard or read similar thoughts about other well-known schools.

But beyond that, the real value of the degree is how much you put into it.

Some people just get by at good schools and get little more than a diploma, and some people go to schools that are not well thought of in the state but work hard and learn more than other students in the state on average.

I think the same is probably true with online degrees...

....but I was talking before about the perception of such programs...

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Chambertin]

Here's the breakdown.

In the 60's a high school education was pretty well standard and a college degree was special. That being said you got a bump up from the Degree you had.

In the 80's everyone and their sister sent their kids to college, and many schools began to change to prepare for the next wave of education.

Now, a college degree is the new high school degree. Sure some people don�t have them but lets face it its odd to find someone who doesn�t. MA is the new college degree. It takes extra time, and more importantly money.

Online should be great, but it will always be an online degree.
A good family friend graduated from U of M flint back before the whole abandonment of Buick City. Simply because of the downfall of flint that degree now holds half the worth of the exact same degree, and requirements, stamped in Ann Arbor.

Get a masters if you can, or get a skill based BA. Education is too easy to get these days, skill is hard to come by.

Like anything else in life, nothing has any value but the one given by the purchaser. That fantastic education aint worth a dime if it isn't respected by those who hire you.

[Kikomom]

Here's the one the Nightly News was touting a week or so ago:
http://www.wgu.edu/

[Khenan]

For the record, I have an M.Ed. from a brick-and-mortar in the states. I'm also certified, although I have a feeling it will lapse before I return. In any case, I've found that potential employers quite like seeing this on my resume.

[iggyb]

I'm still interested in getting some idea of percentages concerning the pool of MAs in Korea - if the pool is really as large as it seems by what some are saying: Are a lot of them online degrees? Or regular degrees?

Also, if they are online, are the TESOL/TEFL degrees?

Anyway, in terms of the value of education and types of education, I've always believed experience carries more weight. If I see you have four years experience teaching ESL, I'll place you somewhat above a person who just finished a 4 year degree in TESOL.......whether that is right on my part or not...

[AgentM]

[iggyb]

A rough guestimate is fine.

If there are as many MAs in the ESL industry in Korea as it seems to me from a few mentions I've read at Dave's recently ---

--- I would imagine other TESOLers in Korea would be running into them frequently enough to give a person a rough idea.

---- I'm going back to Korea this year for the first time since 2002.

I also taught ESL in Korea from roughly 1996-2000.

During that time, as I recall, I only met 1 person who had a MA degree and that was in TESOL - from a fairly well-known school for it in the US - and he was teaching straight university classes.

Also somewhat off topic, in 2000 you didn't have much of an issue with fake degrees.

The people you met in the industry were primarily BA or BS degree holders with no prior teaching experience.

[ytuque]