Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nick2124]

Hey there,

I'm 28, hold a bachelor's degree in psychology. I've completed a 60 hour face-to-face TESOL course and I have one year of experience working as an IELTS teacher in China and my most recent position was in Seoul.

I'm thinking of working abroad in other countries such as China and possibly even my home country (Australia) or even Europe as I do have British parents.

Please excuse the cliche but "I really do enjoy teaching" - preferably late teens and early adults.

I'm looking at doing a Master of TESOL to further my career. but perhaps I should consider another course ?

Any suggestions ?

[edwardcatflap]

No easy answer to this one. It depends whether you want to make it a career or not. In brief, I'd say if you want any kind of job in Europe you'll need the CELTA or other face to face equiv and in the long term if you want to work at universities you'll need the MA. As you know, you don't need either to work in China or Korea

[nick2124]

Thanks for the reply.

Well, funny enough, a few Chinese recruiters have told me 60 hours isn't enough and I need 120 hr TESOL...

And I do plan on making it a career. The master's is something I can do online but will take 2 years.

Thanks for the info about CELTA... I had a feeling it would be useful for the EU market.

[PRagic]

For what it's worth, the exceptionally competitive teachers I know here have an MA in TESOL or AL (some have both), a CELTA and a DELTA. Some have additional buzz and whistle certs.

One guy concentrated his TESOL grad work on the tech side and is pretty interested in what he does.

If you want to teach ESL, the MA should suffice. If you want to teach teachers in a departmental position, the Ph.D. is the way to go. Not too many tenure track jobs in TESOL, but they do crop up.

Also, one of my best friends who happens to work in educational consulting (he does education management and program assessment) has said that there's a pretty lucrative line of work in ESL consulting, especially in multi-ethnic states (US example), but that you have to have the Ph.D. and some in the trenches experience to break into the consulting work.

[SeoulNate]

Really depends on what you want to do with it.

Most of my friends (including myself) who went that route worked towards an MA TESOL or AL with the goal being teacher training / something beyond freshman English classes. In addition to that degree, most have teacher certs, at least a few publications / conference presentations, and some other form of certification.

However, if you are looking at doing the same thing back home eventually, as Pragic noted, you will need a PHD.

If you just want to teach freshman english in Korea and China, an MA in any English related field should do.

[PRagic]

Just as clarification, I said that to teach teachers in a department (e.g. English Language Education) generally requires the PhD.

Teaching ESL here or at 2 or 4 year colleges and universities back in N. America usually requires the MA.

Two friends, one American and one Canadian, both with their MAs and both with CELTA/DELTA certs transitioned to ESL program manager slots at schools in their respective countries after having worked in Korea for 8-10 years or so. They had families and wanted their kids educated 'back home'.

[nick2124]

Interesting posts guys.

Thanks a lot for sharing.