Korean Job Discussion Forums

cubanlord · Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Location: In Japan!

Which one do you feel is most important? Which one do you feel is better? Someone with, say, a PH.D. in Linguistics but can't manage a classroom worth a hoot, or, someone with only a B.A. or M.A/S. that can get their children to listen and learn? Which one really means more?

Considering everything else equal (in terms of both of them understanding how to teach the lesson), what do you think?

I've met a few people with their M.A.'s and Ph.D.'s and yet they lack any type of ability to teach. They know a lot, are book smart, but, when it comes to actually teaching what they know, well, they have NO CLUE how to do so. They may be able to explain things that'll fly over your head, but, cannot dumb it down enough to where their EFL/ESL stduents can understand. More importantly, they lack the necessary skills to manage a classroom.

So, which do you think is more important?

Note, I did not add the "both" option as it is an easy scapegoat. I want you to take a stance and argue it.

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

An MA or PHd can not make a teacher. They can make a lecturer, or a researcher, but not a teacher. They almost always do make a teacher a better teacher though.

crusher_of_heads · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 8:06 am Post subject:

They are not exclusive-and even someone with a Masters from the University of Toronto can learn to manage a classroom.

English_Ocean · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 9:28 pm Post subject: Re: Education vs. Effectiveness

cubanlord · Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Location: In Japan!

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

I don't think it's an either/or proposition. Teaching is a talent, somewhat akin to an art. You can do it, or you can't. No one is totally devoid of anything at all to teach, but since we are talking about language teachers, it would be a disaster to have a teacher with a lot of natural talent....for teaching basket weaving and/or architectural design but not a whit of knowledge about English. Obviously, the ideal is to have an enormous amount of education/knowledge and the skill to teach it. The opposite extreme is to have a talent to teach and not know squat about a subject to teach--it does the students no good.

Since students learn in many different ways, I guess the 'best' situation in the situation presented is to have a Ph.D. who can't teach her way out of a paper bag. At least some students would learn something, in spite of the incompetence of the teacher. That seems preferable to having a teacher in the room, chock full of skill and not a clue what to teach.