Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Troutslayer]

Hey guys,

I'm curious about a few experiences/opinions from those who are NOT Yanks.

In other countries (Canada, England, Ireland,etc) what does it take to get into graduate school/teachers college? Do you have to have a minimum GPA? Do you have to have already receved a Bachelors in something to do with education?

What exactly is "teachers college" for you guys? Can a college graduate simply say, " I want to teach" and not have to worry about not having enough points in his/her GPA?

In the states, one has to have a 3.0....even for alternative certification programs (along with special programs, such as Teach for America or Teaching Fellows) require a minimum GPA of 2.75....REGARDLESS of previous experience. That means, a person could have graduated nearly 10 years ago, made fairly good grades but had a one year of "party time" and is a 6/10 of a point lacking in the GPA factor.......................not excepted.

We don't have a "teachers college", from what I understand. You have to pretty much done something with your bachelors relating to education or start all over.

Considering the U.S. is hurting for teachers who really want to make a difference, it really is diffucult to get past the GPA factor....very discouraging.


How does it work for you guys in other countries?


slayer of trout

[andrewchon]

In Australia, anyone with Bachelor degree in relevant field can do a 12 month diploma course to be a teacher.
The relevant field is very specific.
Elementary school teachers: must have done 4 year child psychology.
HS Drama: Must have done 4 year drama.
HS Math: must be math major and so on...

Then you gotta pass some practice teaching and pass interview with MOE.
Only then you are a probationary teacher.
If you don't cut the mustard, you're gone. Never to be allowed in classroom again.

[tired of LA]

I know you said that you're not looking for experience/ opinions from Americans, but what you said about the certification process in America isn't completely true. It is different from state to state, so I can only speak for California.

To be a certified teacher, you do not have to have a bachelors degree related to teaching, although it would help. You can apply to a teacher credentialing program at a university, if they offer it, and get your credential that way, assuming your bachelors degree wasn't in education. The program I attended, did have a minimum GPA requirement of 2.75, but they had a petition procedure for people who didn't meet the GPA requirement. Once accepted, it takes about a year to two years to complete your credential. You have to take some teacher training classes, and then student teach. You also have to meet subject matter competency by either course work (where your degree matters) or by taking subject competency tests (where your degree doesn't matter). You do not have to start all over if your bacheors degree has nothing to do with education. Oh, and Teach for America is really competitive. They get lots of applicants every year.

[Troutslayer]

[youtuber]

[KoreanAmbition]

Canadian here...

Canada has teacher's college which is similar to the above post about the Australian system.

Last I heard teacher's college in Canada has a competition factor of about 1 in 10 applicants getting accepted. And then... once you complete teacher's college, the competition to actually get a full-time position is incredible.

Why? It's a no-brainer. After 8 years (I think) experience teaching in Canada you're earning about $85,000 per year.

[morrisonhotel]

[bassexpander]

[youtuber]

Yeah I don't buy the 1 in 10 argument either. It is not difficult to get into teacher's college in Canada. Hell, if I can do it then anybody can.

As far as getting a job, I wouldn't say that it is difficult to find in Canada. As long as you are willing to teach out in the rural schools or Indian reserves. It will also depend on your major. Math/science/CTS/French immersion will make you more employable than English or Social studies as a major.

But the supply of teachers in Canada outweighs demand by a longshot. The UofA graduates more than 1000 teachers every year. Ridiculous.

So basically, if you want to teach in a major city, you will have to sub for a few years first. And that will get tiring really quickly. Or you can teach your own class in the rural areas for a few years and try and make your way into the city.

But so what if they make $85K? Teaching in Canada is ROUGH. The only way they get teachers to teach is by offering up 85K and 2 months holidays. You cannot and should not expect that teaching in Korea will be anything remotely like teaching in Canada. 30% of new teachers quit within the first 5 years of teaching.

I suspect that teaching in Canada will eventually be like it is in the States since we are becoming more and more intertwined. And teaching in the States is a gong show. Really low pay down there.

[egrog1717]

[youtuber]

[Mr. Pink]

[youtuber]

[Mr. Pink]

I didn't really see much of the mouthing off. A couple instances of that. The Zoo I am referring to is:

- government rules that require students to stay in school until they are 18 or until they graduate. Thus you have 16/17 year olds who do not want to be in school and they make the teacher's feel the pain of that each and every day.
- kids coming to school on drugs. That always makes for an interesting class. Especially when the kids are high and spaced out, then their parents wonder why they fail your class.
- kids coming to school with all the baggage that their lives have: single parent families, abusive families, kids whose parents are on drugs or are prostitutes. Fun times for teachers to engage and reach these kids.
- administrators who don't have enough powers to deal with bad kids: kids can appeal any decision that an administrator makes. (While this is fair, the worse kids abuse this.)
- kids with attitudes who continually challenge the teacher's authority in the class. The worse offenders of this are rich kids who feel they can get away with anything because "daddy" always gets them out of trouble.
- administrators who take the side of parents and don't support their staff; this encourages teachers to cover their own butts and not look out for the best interests of the kids.


I'll add to the above, a general feeling among most Canadians that teachers are over paid and "have it too easy". IMO they should be paid a lot more as they are dealing with a lot more than just teaching, and there are the safety issues at stake in some schools.

Yup, I'll take Asia and when I feel like I need clean air and cheap health care, I'll head back to Canada and semi-retire.

[youtuber]