Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jkelly80]

Hi just wondering if anyone had any information regarding the relative merits/marketability of a MA Tes(o)l/Applied Ling vs. a Masters of Education, specifically for an American. I'm sure this has been discussed before, so if there's other forums or websites I can be pointed towards, that'd be great. Thanks all!

[tob55]

I think either would give you good leverage in finding employment, but in the end, you will get what you get...I had an M.Ed. coming here 4 years ago, and the recruiter saw it in his infinite wisdom to ship me off to a hagwon even after I had signed a public school contract. I was too naive to catch what he had done until about a month later when it was too late to actually back out and get a different job. When I questioned the recruiter they simply made some excuse and quickly got off the phone...

Since that time I have wised up considerably and never take what I am told by recruiters as being the truth until I see it for myself...

[jkelly80]

[tob55]

I personally would go with the M.Ed. since it will actually give you the credential background to get a state teaching license much easier. the MA TESOL will help you with English, and that is good, but if you have another area you actually want to teach other than English the M.Ed. would be the way to go...That is my opinion and advice...I am sure others will have different advice...

[zappadelta]

[jkelly80]

[tob55]

Unless your credits were in an education track you will be required to take additional courses in educational theory and practice before you would qualify for a teaching license. This is why your best option would be to go for the M.Ed. which would be in that track. Some Universities offer programs similar to what you mentioned, but you must make sure the end result will be conducive to what your goals are...

[spyro25]

i got a similar type of question

ed.d or phd

there is a good course offered by exeter uni with a TESOL focus for the ed.d. i realise that the ed.d has a wider focus and can be said to be more practical than the ph.d which has a narrow, research based focus, but my question is which is right for Korea? I'm pretty sure most koreans only know about ph.ds, and are not sure about the ed.d. assuming i wanted to work in korea permanently, would taking the ed.d hinder my chances of becoming a professor in korean universities? is ph.d the only way to go here?

[tob55]

Having worked with a number of professional colleagues when I was in the USA, several of my personal friends who had both Ed.D. and Ph.D. felt the PhD was much more prestigeous and carried more recognition than the Ed.D.

My university mentor and close friend said it was a matter of perception, but all in all the recognition of the PhD would carry you farther than the Ed.D.

I used this as my guide and chose the PhD program when I decided on my terminal degree program...I think you are right in your presumption concerning the Ed.D. here in Korea...They would tend to look at it with less importance than if you actually had a PhD...

There are programs out there that offer both Ed.D/Ph.D. designations, but I have seen them very rarely...

[justagirl]

I looked at the same thing before I came back to the States and here's what I found.

MATesol: qualifies you to teach ESL, but not in a public school. This program is for you to become qualified in teaching college courses. It DOES NOT include teaching credentials, so it may make it difficult for you to find a job after you're done. This is the program I was considering before I found out how much more I'd have to do to teach ESL in an American school.

M.Ed.: qualifies you to teach in any academic institute, because it includes courses for certification and licensing. However, after looking at M.Ed's and asking questions to institutes, M.Ed courses seem to be more "talk about" than "do." A lot of people headed into administration get their M.Ed.

You can always get an M.Ed and then an endorsement in ESL/TESOL. This would make you more marketable, in my opinion. Good school are interested in educators with ESL endorsements.

The route I went was a 1-year (full time) MAT in Oregon. Again, it's like an M.Ed, but the emphasis is more on teaching, while an M.Ed can focus more on administrating. You'll have to check out the courses listed for each degree to see the difference.

I personally loved the 1-year program. Most Master's degrees are at least 2 years, because they're part time. Mine was full time, from 8-4 everyday. It was rough at times, but I wanted to focus on what I was learning rather than work all day, be tired, and go to school in the evenings. My program was built around a philosophy of hands-on learning, and that we learn by doing, not by listening (kinda like kids....hmmm....). Our classes weren't just sitting and listening to a prof, but creating things we'd use in our future classrooms, doing science experiments, evaluating student writing, creating lesson plans and teaching them, looking at different philosophys of education and seeing what our personal philosophy is, etc.

I'd also like to mention that Oregon has the most widely accepted credentials in the U.S. If you get your license there, it will transfer to 42 other states because of the quality/rigor/high standards of their teacher education programs. You would be considered "highly qualified" (a requirement to get a teaching job in the States, now) after graduating from an Oregon program.

I hope this helps--I spent months figuring all of this out on my own, and I truly believe the 1-year, full time MAT is the way to go, especially if you're like me an have an undergrad in something besides education. Most states want you to go back and take MORE undergrad courses in education before they let you in their M.Ed program!

[littlelisa]

[littlelisa]

Also, if you want to teach in public schools, you should be fine, but with a masters, you might be considered overqualified by some. For university teaching, you probably need a PhD.

If you wanted to teach in the province of Quebec, by any chance, you could probably teach at a CEGEP with a masters.

Of course, probably a lot depends on the area/the particular school. I suggest doing some research by talking to some people who have a job you'd be interested in and ask what qualifications they needed to get their job.

[jkelly80]

[chinook]

[justagirl]

My husband did the program at Cocordia, I did mine at Pacific University (in Forest Grove). Of the 2, mine was definitely the better program. Concordia seems to take anyone and they didn't require as much from my husband as mine did. We both felt like we got a good education, but that mine was better. Cost wise, Pacific was about 22K, and Concordia was 27K, I think, but Concordia had married student housing for $450/month and that saved us.

As far as cost goes, it doesn't get much cheaper in the US, even though these are all private schools. The bigger, public schools like OU, etc, have higher requirements for getting into their programs (silly, but they required me to have college math courses, which I tested out of, so I'd have to take them before I could apply for their MAT program).

I'd suggest looking at Pacific, for sure. It's a beautiful campus, a nice, smaller town about 25 miles from Portand, and the profs were great. It's a cohort program, which means you go through all the classes in a specific sequence with the same group of people. I think that's a great way to do it--much better than random classes that can fit in your schedule with different people in each class. I could tell you a lot about their program and I would strongly recommend it, too! It was a fantastic year and I feel like I earned my degree, accomplished a lot, and am very well prepared to teach. I thought that after 4 years of teaching in Korea I knew a lot, but....it's nothing compared to what I learned in grad school. Teaching in Korea was a good experience, but this was training. Totally different things!

We also looked at George Fox (only chooses people they can fit into their mold), and Willamette (in Salem), but they didn't meet our needs. There is one other school in NE Portland that looked like it had a fantastic program as well, but we were too late in applying, I think it was University of Portland.

I think if I were to recommend a program, Pacific would be my first, and U of P my second.

* I don't know if Oregon teaching licenses transfer to Canada. I haven't heard about this, so I would contact the Department of Education in the province you're looking at in Canada to find out. *