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Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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blotsm
Joined: 21 Oct 2009
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:02 pm Post subject: University Teaching Position - Advice Please |
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My brother is finishing his MA degree in Education (undergrad in Literature). He is 26-- attractive, smart, from the US, and white.
What do you think his chances would be in securing a good position at a university? I was scanning the job postings and saw that the requirements usually state a needed amount of prior experience. He has, of course, done a practicum in the public school system during his MA program. Are these schools lenient on their specifications?
Any insight would be helpful. Thanks! |
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Konglishman

Joined: 14 Sep 2007 Location: Nanjing
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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Frankly, an international school job sounds like it would be a better fit for him. Then, he could teach writing and literature to students who are either fluent or mostly fluent in English. |
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dunc180
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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Is it possible to get a an international school job without any experience, besides a practicum? |
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zpeanut

Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Location: Pohang, Korea
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject: Re: University Teaching Position - Advice Please |
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blotsm wrote: |
He is 26-- attractive, smart, from the US, and white.
What do you think his chances would be in securing a good position at a university? |
Makes Korean universities sound like desperate and dateless candidates.
I don't think any of those aspects will necessarily get him a job in university, especially without previous teaching experience. There are plenty of experienced teachers with MAs in Korea.
Most students, especially Korean students, really value their time in the classroom and can tell when they've got a teacher who seems a bit 'fresh'.
Plus, teaching adults is a whole different kettle of fish to what I assume your brother has experience in; high school kids.
Try a public school. Public schools would be a good, stable beginning. |
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Konglishman

Joined: 14 Sep 2007 Location: Nanjing
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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dunc180 wrote: |
Is it possible to get a an international school job without any experience, besides a practicum? |
Yes, but with one caveat. The international school will likely be less well known, have smaller salaries for the teachers, etc. But even international schools with bad reputations, are far better to work at compared to hagwons and public schools especially when you consider the wider array of teaching options that this opens up for you. Also, after you have worked for a lower tier international school for a couple of years, it will become easier to get a job at more respectable international school.
Last edited by Konglishman on Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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linky123
Joined: 12 Feb 2009
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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With those credential, he shouldn't have any problem getting a job at a university. But it wouldn't be one of the good ones. He should be able to land a job at a lower tier universities in the regional area. He could gain experience for a year or two and then he could get a job at one of the top universities. |
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air76
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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Korean universities go ga-ga over Master's Degrees....the only foreign professor at our school who has a Master's is by far and away the worst teacher, both in his ability to teach English and in that the students hate his classes. Having a Master's degree is just as important as having experience to many of these schools, which is asinine when more often than not the degree isn't even related to teaching. That being said, securing a uni job without a face-to-face interview will be difficult to impossible. If you have uni experience and a Master's then you could maybe get by on a phone interview, but without experience I think that he's out of luck, especially since he's still a little young for university jobs as well. Don't get me wrong, plenty of 26 year olds and younger work at universities here, but a lot of schools prefer teachers over 30.
But...if he came and worked at a high school for a year then he'd be a shoe-in for a university the next year...just make sure that he signs a contract that ends either at the end of August or the end of February. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 6:58 am Post subject: |
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A large part of the MA thing is so that you have earned a higher degree than the students you are teaching will have earned in the near future. |
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air76
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:14 am Post subject: |
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bassexpander wrote: |
A large part of the MA thing is so that you have earned a higher degree than the students you are teaching will have earned in the near future. |
Yes, I understand this logic. However, I had plenty of professors at university who only held bachelor degrees. While this may not be the norm in most fields of study, it certainly made sense in the School of Business that professors could be qualified based on their real-world experience and not necessarily due to their academic endeavors. A similar parallel could be drawn to ESL teaching.
The bottom line, though, is what are the universities really looking for? Titles to put on their brochures (which is certainly a worthwhile consideration) or English professors who can actually improve the English proficiency level of their student body.
I am not saying that having a Master's Degree is not a meaningful qualification, simply that it is by no means paramount to being an excellent and effective ESL teacher, which is what 95% or more of all English professors in Korea really are. Very few of us are teaching English with regards to literature or the language at a very high academic level, we are teaching the language with the aim (hopefully) of helping our students be able to communicate better in English at the end of our course.
Personally I think that teaching experience, personality, and ESL specific training such as a CELTA is far more pertinent to making a good English teacher than a Master's Degree, even if it's in TESOL or Education. I have friends who did their Master's in TESOL and they agree that most of what they learned was theory based and not nearly as useful to them as was their time spent in the classroom gaining experience.
I guess that all I am saying is that the universities that require a Master's Degree, in any field, no matter what, are probably disqualifying some pretty good teachers from their hiring process and that other schools that hire one candidate with a Master's and less experience over another candidate with a CELTA and more experience is possibly cutting off their nose to spite their face.
I could really care less...I have a good uni job that I like despite being Master's-less, and plan on teaching one more year and then never doing it again in my life. Not because of Korea, just because it is time to move on and do something else. I was just saying that the OPs brother will have a pretty easy time getting into a uni once he gets his feet wet in Korea, if you have a Master's and even an inkling of experience you will find loads of unis wanting to sign you up. |
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