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krats1976
Joined: 14 May 2003
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 Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 9:02 am Post subject: |
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| isitts wrote: |
Only $1,000 a year?! Not $10,000? |
Sadly, no. Now, in all fairness, I have to qualify this by saying that I am currently teaching in Texas where teachers have no collective bargaining rights. I was back in Alaska for a semester last year and things were better, but even there, salaries have not kept up with cost of living and healthcare premiums are rising significantly.
| isitts wrote: |
This is ridiculous. There�s so much I�d like to write about regarding health care in America, but I�d have to type words that can�t be used on this forum.
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Agreed.
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Exactly the reason I don�t want to get one. If an employer pays for it, either directly or else offers a salary that justifies it, fine. Otherwise, they can go [�] themselves.
Also, it�s a simple-minded solution to think that higher credentials mean more opportunities. Higher credentials mean moving up into a smaller part of the pyramid, which means more competition for fewer jobs. It�s physically impossible for all of us to be at the top.
Why do those jobs pay more in the first place? It�s because not many people have the credentials. If everyone has the credentials, then there�s less value to those credentials. When everyone and their uncle have a Masters degree, what good will they be? Will we then be required to have a PhD to have an edge getting a job that doesn�t even require a Bachelors degree? |
There isn't enough discussion going on about this, but the reality is: as more and more people go to college, a BA no longer has the clout it used to. My generation's MA is my parents generation's BA. |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon
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| Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 12:23 pm Post subject: |
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| krats1976 wrote: |
There isn't enough discussion going on about this, but the reality is: as more and more people go to college, a BA no longer has the clout it used to. My generation's MA is my parents generation's BA. |
Not even. Our generation's MA is the previous generation's High School diploma with good connections.
It's not just because too many people are going to university, either. It's because a lot of the safety nets that protected the previous generation as well as the general economic prosperity of their time insulated them against being canned, or forced to stay at entry level and so on. They made unions and spend years upon years establishing themselves in such a way that nothing could take that union apart.
Then the Boomers, once fully entrenched and near retirement, did everything they could to protect themselves including pulling the rug out for people under 35 currently in the workforce. Our over education is only half of it. Our Boomer teachers, Boomer guidance counsellors and Boomer parents pushed everyone into going into university.
When I was in High School there was a chart with smiley faces on it. Getting a High School diploma recieved a frown, Community College was a blank expression, a Bachelor's Degree was met with a smile and an MA or higher was met with a huge grin.
Now that chart could be turned upside down... |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 6:23 am Post subject: |
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| myenglishisno wrote: |
It's funny, on the one hand you have people on these forums that continually say "English teaching is for losers", "teachers in our home countries have it 100x better in every way" and "living in Korea for any amount of time makes you a loser and everyone back home is doing better than you."
On the other hand, when I actually talk to people who are teaching or doing any kind of work back home, it just makes me even more glad that I decided to stay over here.
What's the truth in all of this? |
Well, it probably depends on who you talk to. Some people perceive teaching English overseas as a joke. I think what it is depends on what you put into it. (Though, there are severe limitations teaching a language isolated from its culture.)
Also, when you have an idea in your head, an idea that was put there by your society, that you should be doing something particular with your life (like finding a meaningful career), then it's easy to feel like anything else you're doing is a waste of your time. I, personally, feel it's a waste of time standing on a conveyer belt just because that's what you were told to do. There's no amount of self-discovery in that.
For now, it appears that we're better off here. But I have one friend who thinks being out this way is merely running to the back end of the sinking Titanic. I'm not quite sure I agree with him. Just because one country suffers financially, doesn't mean the rest will. But even if he right, it still buys me more time while I think of what to do next.
| myenglishisno wrote: |
| I think the OP's situation is a sure indication of something. |
If this becomes a trend, it's a little disconcerting. But I kind of think krats' decision to come here will end up being the exception, not the rule. I really think that most teachers, most people, back in our home countries will not see teaching overseas as a viable option. But we'll see.
If a significant portion of the country (let's say the US, unless other English speaking countries also have poor benefits for their teachers) were to leave to go teach overseas, the education system back home would fall apart more. Ha, ha! It would kind of be like an Atlas Shrugged scenario, only it wouldn't be the capitalist giants picking up and leaving, it would be the educators. And we could laugh from afar asking, "What will you do without us?"
*ahem* Sorry. Maybe a little delusional to think so highly of ourselves. But I do think it's distressing that the US has such a low opinion of education, in spite of its lip service. Or that they make a mockery of it by suggesting it be privatized.
| myenglishisno wrote: |
When I was in High School there was a chart with smiley faces on it. Getting a High School diploma recieved a frown, Community College was a blank expression, a Bachelor's Degree was met with a smile and an MA or higher was met with a huge grin.
Now that chart could be turned upside down... |
The chart already was turned upside down. Read Fast Food Nation. Most of the people who made it big in the financial world didn't have more than a high school diploma. But those were people who thought outside the box, not those who followed the guidelines of their MBA classes.
For the rest of us, turning that chart upside down means moving to the bottom. It means no more middle class.
And people like Robert Kiyosaki criticize the education system for not teaching about finances. But they are, after all, teachers, not businesspeople (and anyone working in a hagwon can appreciate that difference in mentality).
The very idea that profit-motive is where our aspirations should lie is a large part of what's caused our current situation. With food costs. With health care premiums. Even with us deciding to teach English overseas when we might have otherwise stayed in our home countries with our friends, families, and communities. |
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cert43
Joined: 17 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 10:48 am Post subject: |
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Who cares? You know these convos are really getting old..  |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon
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| Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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| cert43 wrote: |
| Who cares? You know these convos are really getting old.. |
90% of Dave's is inane crap. This is actually important for a lot of us. If you want to discuss bra sizes, go to a different forum. |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon
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| Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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| cert43 wrote: |
| Who cares? You know these convos are really getting old.. |
90% of Dave's is inane crap. This is actually important for a lot of us. If you want to discuss bra sizes, go to a different forum. |
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cert43
Joined: 17 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 10:00 am Post subject: |
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Are u asking my bra size? 34 D for now  |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Don't know how I came to this conversation seven days late, but that's awesome! I have always loved going back to that city. |
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creeper1
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Here is a quote from tes - UK teaching forum
No point in doing teacher training at the moment. There is a backlog of NQT's who have not completed induction. No jobs available for far too many teachers, including maths teachers. It is a myth that there is a shortage of numeracy teachers.
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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| creeper1 wrote: |
Here is a quote from tes - UK teaching forum
No point in doing teacher training at the moment. There is a backlog of NQT's who have not completed induction. No jobs available for far too many teachers, including maths teachers. It is a myth that there is a shortage of numeracy teachers.
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Not the case in the States. There is a shortage of math, ESL, and science teachers. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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| cert43 wrote: |
| Are u asking my bra size? 34 D for now |
As interesting as that is, that's not what he's saying. He's saying there are plenty of other "convos" on these forums if this one isn't interesting to you.
Personally, I didn't mind your comment. But I sometimes think a lack of interest helps perpetuate these problems.
Maybe it doesn't matter. And maybe there is nothing we can do about it.
But anyway... |
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No_hite_pls
Joined: 05 Mar 2007
Location: Don't hate me because I'm right
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| They made unions and spend years upon years establishing themselves in such a way that nothing could take that union apart. |
They did not make the unions their grandparents did. They just benefited from them. Unions are not the problem unless you want to work longer hours for less pay. The unions are almost gone anyway in America, and soon will be gone in Canada too. The private sector jobs with the exception of the service industry are being shipped overseas for cheap labor. Large Corporations are making larger profits than ever on the cheap labor and not even paying taxes anymore. |
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cert43
Joined: 17 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 9:44 am Post subject: |
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ok. thanks.Do you know him personally? Never seen his name on these forums before.
Why was he even metioning bras if he didn't wanna know? |
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