Site Search:
 
Speak Korean Now!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

certified TESOL teachers: was it worth it?

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Job-related Discussion Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
thunderpaws



Joined: 12 Oct 2011
Location: Handan, Hebei, China
PostPosted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 8:40 pm    Post subject: certified TESOL teachers: was it worth it? Reply with quote
Hey there gang,

I'm in the process of applying for teaching positions in South Korea. I have a BA in English, but I would like to take a SIT TESOL course to better prepare me for teaching ESL. I'm hoping those of you who have esl certs (in particular SIT TESOL) would be willing to tell me if you feel your cert course was worth it.

Do you feel you use the stuff you learned? If you found it to be useful, what in particular do you think the cert course helped you with that you might otherwise have been in the dark about? Do you think it was money well spent?

Thanks bunches!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
english puppet



Joined: 04 Nov 2011
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:48 am    Post subject: Re: certified TESOL teachers: was it worth it? Reply with quote
thunderpaws wrote:
Hey there gang,

I'm in the process of applying for teaching positions in South Korea. I have a BA in English, but I would like to take a SIT TESOL course to better prepare me for teaching ESL. I'm hoping those of you who have esl certs (in particular SIT TESOL) would be willing to tell me if you feel your cert course was worth it.

Do you feel you use the stuff you learned? If you found it to be useful, what in particular do you think the cert course helped you with that you might otherwise have been in the dark about? Do you think it was money well spent?

Thanks bunches!


Of course SIT is offered in different locations so there may be some small variations in Instructors. The course is checked for quality at the end of the course by an outside evaluator etc.. It's 130 hours and your classroom work is supervised unlike some other courses.

It's a great course and I'd highly recommend it. It's less recognized than Celta but I don't think you could say it's less well regarded.

If I had to say one thing negative about SIT tied to Korea it's that you will have some great ideas and approaches and the Korean education system will not be terribly interested in any of it......sad but consistently true in my experience here.

Good luck and feel free to pm if you like.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 4:00 am    Post subject: Re: certified TESOL teachers: was it worth it? Reply with quote
thunderpaws wrote:
Hey there gang,

I'm in the process of applying for teaching positions in South Korea. I have a BA in English, but I would like to take a SIT TESOL course to better prepare me for teaching ESL. I'm hoping those of you who have esl certs (in particular SIT TESOL) would be willing to tell me if you feel your cert course was worth it.

Do you feel you use the stuff you learned? If you found it to be useful, what in particular do you think the cert course helped you with that you might otherwise have been in the dark about? Do you think it was money well spent?

Thanks bunches!


"worth it" is a relative term.

If:
a) you are NOT going to be teaching elsewhere or
b) you only plan to do this for a year or two
c) you will only be teaching kids (k-6)

THEN No, it will not be "worth it". You will NOT recover your costs as compared to finding a generic EFL job and not having it. What you learn will largely be useless in a k-6 classroom.

If:
a) you are going to do it for longer than a year or two,
b) you may want to go to other countries or
c) you just want it so you know what you are doing when you get dropped into a class
d) will actually be teaching adult learners

THEN yes, it will be worth it.

.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
english puppet



Joined: 04 Nov 2011
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 4:08 am    Post subject: Re: certified TESOL teachers: was it worth it? Reply with quote
ttompatz wrote:
thunderpaws wrote:
Hey there gang,

I'm in the process of applying for teaching positions in South Korea. I have a BA in English, but I would like to take a SIT TESOL course to better prepare me for teaching ESL. I'm hoping those of you who have esl certs (in particular SIT TESOL) would be willing to tell me if you feel your cert course was worth it.

Do you feel you use the stuff you learned? If you found it to be useful, what in particular do you think the cert course helped you with that you might otherwise have been in the dark about? Do you think it was money well spent?

Thanks bunches!


"worth it" is a relative term.

If:
a) you are NOT going to be teaching elsewhere or
b) you only plan to do this for a year or two
c) you will only be teaching kids (k-6)

THEN No, it will not be "worth it". You will NOT recover your costs as compared to finding a generic EFL job and not having it. What you learn will largely be useless in a k-6 classroom.

If:
a) you are going to do it for longer than a year or two,
b) you may want to go to other countries or
c) you just want it so you know what you are doing when you get dropped into a class
d) will actually be teaching adult learners

THEN yes, it will be worth it.

.


Especially good point about teaching adult learners or other kinds of schools where you might teach mixes of people. Really the market in SK seems so geared to kiddies (nothing wrong with that but...) and there seems to be a preference for teaching right out of textbooks or on auto-pilot on some level you might not really find it directly applicable here in SK.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
thunderpaws



Joined: 12 Oct 2011
Location: Handan, Hebei, China
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:12 am    Post subject: Re: certified TESOL teachers: was it worth it? Reply with quote
english puppet wrote:
thunderpaws wrote:
Hey there gang,

I'm in the process of applying for teaching positions in South Korea. I have a BA in English, but I would like to take a SIT TESOL course to better prepare me for teaching ESL. I'm hoping those of you who have esl certs (in particular SIT TESOL) would be willing to tell me if you feel your cert course was worth it.

Do you feel you use the stuff you learned? If you found it to be useful, what in particular do you think the cert course helped you with that you might otherwise have been in the dark about? Do you think it was money well spent?

Thanks bunches!


Of course SIT is offered in different locations so there may be some small variations in Instructors. The course is checked for quality at the end of the course by an outside evaluator etc.. It's 130 hours and your classroom work is supervised unlike some other courses.

It's a great course and I'd highly recommend it. It's less recognized than Celta but I don't think you could say it's less well regarded.

If I had to say one thing negative about SIT tied to Korea it's that you will have some great ideas and approaches and the Korean education system will not be terribly interested in any of it......sad but consistently true in my experience here.

Good luck and feel free to pm if you like.



I don't yet have enough Dave's ESL street cred to PM you...

Thanks for responding! Where did you take your course? Can you tell me how you think it HAS helped you in the classroom at all?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Swampfox10mm



Joined: 24 Mar 2011
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
In terms of teaching at a university, it doesn't meant more money.

We receive no compensation for any TESOL certificate, be it an online cheapie, a Trinity, or a CELTA.

If I were working at a public school, I could get an extra 100,000 per month. Depending on the cost of the certificate, and how long I worked at that level, it could pay for itself.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
plchron



Joined: 26 Feb 2011
Location: Korea
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 5:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
ttompatz is correct, I would like to add that for public school positions they will bump you up to the next pay grade with any type of certification. if "SIT" is expensive, then you can do an online one for less money and recoup your costs in the first 4 months. Then you have 8 months of extra pay, so it is like an investment.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
thunderpaws



Joined: 12 Oct 2011
Location: Handan, Hebei, China
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:17 pm    Post subject: dig it, but... Reply with quote
Hey,

Thanks all for the replies! I really appreciate the feedback.

I know the ins and outs of the pay issues, though. What I wrote this post for was this question:
--do YOU (if you took a certification course) feel it was worth it to YOU?

English puppet got the gist of my intention. ttompatz, did you take a cert? Did you feel, for you, it was very useful in the classroom?

Thanks!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 11:04 pm    Post subject: Re: dig it, but... Reply with quote
thunderpaws wrote:
Hey,

Thanks all for the replies! I really appreciate the feedback.

I know the ins and outs of the pay issues, though. What I wrote this post for was this question:
--do YOU (if you took a certification course) feel it was worth it to YOU?

English puppet got the gist of my intention. ttompatz, did you take a cert? Did you feel, for you, it was very useful in the classroom?

Thanks!


I actually have a CELTA and then I "went out and got" a real certification (degree) in TESOL and not just a 30-day cert TESOL. I do however teach in a TESOL certification program occasionally.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, IF you are doing the (specifically) SIT TESOL cert (the same people who bring you the Peace Corps) it will certainly be beneficial if you are working with adults or OLDER students.

Other than the mechanics of lesson planning it is virtually useless when you are working with young learners (k-6). Young learners are not just small versions of older learners and the methodologies for teaching ARE different. If you want to add a YL module (CELTA or other provider since I don't think SIT has a YL module) to it then, for professional development, it is a good start.

If you are looking for a financial return to justify the costs (both out of pocket costs and opportunity costs) it won't happen (at least not in Asia).
If you are looking for continued professional development then yes, it is worth it even if it doesn't relate directly to your present employment circumstances.

As I said above, "Worth it," is a purely subjective evaluation.

.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
english puppet



Joined: 04 Nov 2011
PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
ttompatz's post is very on the money. The SIT program is connected to the UN and it's broad in nature.

One small example is we spent an hour or so getting an introduction to the "silent way" of teaching English (you can Youtube it). Maybe it's not your thing or doesn't interest you but it really expands your horizons on different teaching approaches out there - it opens up your thinking process and awareness which I think ultimately is what a good education is about.

A concrete example in the classroom - maybe too simplistic on some level but here goes:

As opposed to drilling, and drilling and having the bulk of your class be about techno-media type things can I set students up to actively and interactively use the language. Can I get them to ask each other questions instead of it being teacher centered? Can I give them real choices about what they 're saying instead of weird textbook ideas.

When I ask students "how are you?" I want to hear them trying new stuff (instead of just "fine"). Tell me your sick, tired, hungry, ok, bad etc...even better when I can get students asking each other those types of things and I can step back and evaluate, encourage other etc....When they say something different and varied they are really starting to tell you something meaningful not just regurgitating a stale dialogue.

But ttpatz is correct - it won't add to your wallet in Korea and in my experience thinking along these lines here is akin to saying you're into black magic or something. I should say this though - when I first contacted my recruiter here in SK and I mentioned I had a SIT cert and he commented on how good a cert it was - I went immediately into a public school position. So it may, in certain circumstances open a door you didn't think it could - nothing you can plan on but still better than nuthin'.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any other specifics.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Job-related Discussion Forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe
TEFL Courses, TESOL Course, English Teaching Jobs - TEFL International