Damn, I posted a response to this message, but I see it didn't make it. I also see Fish's ad-hominem attack on the Rhenomeister got deleted.
What gives?
I was wondering what the relationship between "Get a TESOL master's instead of a TESOL cert" and "Rheno is a drunk/evil teacher" was. I'm still scratching my head over it.
You gave it up because you turned up drunk on the job every morning and employers would no longer tolerate your abuse to the little brats.
You must have missed it in my post. My bad, as I don't think I made it clear. I don't do the TESOL thing anymore. And I won't be doing it again until I get a master's degree in TESOL, you dig?
The purpose of my post was/is the same purpose as all my posts. I want to let those in the new in on the things that no one will tell them when they are first starting out, such as a master's degree in TESOL is "where it's at", especially in a country like South Korea.
If one has a mere bachelor's degree with a TESOL cert/diploma, he/she will be limited to jobs that either have low pay or have him teaching brat kids. This is true MOST of the time. Some of us do get lucky and land those cherry uni/college TESOL jobs without the master's.
After reading all the help-wanteds on daveseslcafe.com, I'd say most TESOL grunts have the same preferences as I. Most of the jobs advertised there are of the "teaching brats" variety, which is the reason those jobs ARE advertised there. Nobody with a non-education BS and a TESOL wants to teach brats. If newbies don't know this starting out, it won't take long for most to figure it out. Babysitting rich kids is a drag, as is getting paid chicken feed after dropping pretty pennies on a TESOL cert and a plane ticket to the TESOL cert/diploma program.
If you have a diploma in TESOL why are you in Asia and not the USA where TESOL instructing contexts are on the increase?
Why are you in Korea and not in Japan where the salaries and quality standards of employment are higher?
Why are you in South Korea and not the UAE?You appear to favour the UAE in your personal response,why are you not in the UAE?
I have to agree to disagree with you.A diploma in TESOL will get you a quality assured job anywhere in Oceania or South East Asia.On the condition the school has a crurriculum informed by the education system of the country in question.
I'm gonna have to disagree. I think the TESOL diploma, at least for me, was/is a waste of time. You see, I like to have "good" jobs in TESOL, meaning high pay and NO brats. No, I don't like being stuck with those hogwan jobs in South Korea or those jobs that pay chicken feed in Thailand. If I myself want to make sure I get what I want, I will have to get a master's in TESOL. A diploma will get you a job at a college or a uni in Thailand, and it may even get you a job at a college or uni in South Korea, but the odds are against you.
I see clearly now that if I MYSELF want to be happy in TESOL, I will have to follow the herd and aim for the colleges or unis in South Korea, the Middle East (yippee), or Europe. I will do like my brethren and avoid teaching at places like the 'wans in SK--jobs that are easy to get. Why are they easy to get? Because nobody wants them. Why does nobody want them? Because at those jobs, teachers are expected to teach brats. Nobody wants to teach brats, me included, which explains why 25 (or even more) jobs advertised on Dave's Korean job board is a hogwan job teaching brats, while 1 job is at a uni.
When and if I get a TESOL master's, I'll use my then-worthless TESOL cert/diploma as toilet paper and grab that job I actually WANT, the job that is hard-as-shit to get, at least for those who have only a TESOL cert or diploma.
Who wants to be stuck in Thailand teaching unappreciative students or in Korea teaching rich kids at the hogwans? I sure as hell don't. A master's in TESOL will make sure I don't.
Dear Fellow Language Instructors of the ESL world,
Do not be fooled in thinking that a certificate will render you elligible for a Language instructor role in any country you chose as your liking simply because,
A.The women are hot
B.The climate is alluring and welcoming
C.The money is good
E.I just speak and I make cash for looking white and sounding American.
Any idiot with money can buy a TESOL/ESL certificate from a con man,are you truly representing the world of professional Language instructors who know what they are doing prior to entering a class?
Lets be frank people.The quality of language teaching is being diminished by people who know nothing about,
A,Methods of teaching,I can think of 5 at the top of my head.
B,Grammar,should or shouldn't I use 1 of 4 of the approaches currently being adopted for given contexts.
C,Who,what,how,why.These questions should allways be asked prior to entering a class with a proposed lesson plan.
The principle of this argument is,with a fraudulent certificate or not you will not,
A.Be able to teach in Oceania
or
B.Singapore (in most circumstances) or
C.Hong Kong or
D.Malaysia and the neighboring islands.
Teaching in Australia or New Zealand with a certificate is out of the question,fake or not fake.
Listen up,certificates fake or not are only good in countries where education is unregulated ie,China,Korea and Taiwan.
So fellow Language instructors stop making a mockery of education and the process inherent in learning simply by pretending to be teachers.A Graduate Diploma will hold any qualified graduate of the Diploma in very good stead.Who ever thinks attaining a Diploma in TESOL is a waste of time is a waste of headspace.Any quality education will teach you quality learning.
Sincerely from a Registered Instructor of TESOL