Quote:
Originally Posted by teacherfinder
Mugwump,
I have worked with and/or hired several people with degrees that, later on, were proven to be fake. I think it's pretty easy to find out if a degree is fake or not. IME most schools/agencies don't want to invest the few dollars/baht it would cost to verify and it bites them on the ass down the road.
Last month I had a guy apply with me who had a "Masters of Ed" from Harvard. I just called up Harvard, told then who I was and they told me what they needed from me, to verify. When I asked the applicant to sign a release from, to send to Harvard, he disappeared.
Personally, I don't think it really matters if someone has a college degree or not, if they are just teaching conversation. I do think a degree is a good thing to have in an EP teacher though. I think it demonstrates the ability to set a goal and reach it and to work in an organized, methodical fashion.
My two cents.
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I agree, but I would add that a 4-year degree is(usually) an indication that the person has taken the following:
- Public Speaking
- English Composition I/II
- Lit, Humanities, Art, History, Ethics, Diversity, etc
These are definitely an advantage for English teachers and college exposes you to more language/higher vocabulary than no college at all. Combine that with a Native-level command of English, and you have one very qualified person. Throw in some post-grad-level teacher training and voila!
In the EPs, you have(in theory) specialized teachers with much greater knowledge in a subject. Here the benefit of a subject specific degree is obvious. Ideally, the EP English teacher would be the equivalent of a western English teacher... BA in English, native-level-speaker, etc. Same goes for the French teacher(native-level-French), Math teacher, etc.
The reality, as we all know, is the teachers in the EPs are, in some cases, degreed in a field other than their subject, not degreed at all, not trained to teach, have poor English, etc. I guess you get what you pay for and EPs pay the least... They really shot themselves in the foot by excluding the semi-retired expats, non-caucasians, and people with equivalent certificates and/or experience. Now that people are fed up with the regs, leaving and more schools are wanting to have EPs, I can't possibly see how they will attract teachers unless they increase salaries dramatically. My school actually raised the salary 25% for 2008 which was enough to fill the positions, but they lost 4 teachers who went elsewhere for way more money. My last school lost myself, 3 other teachers, they can't keep anybody for more than 1 semester, and they pay 45,000Baht!!! I just laugh when I see jobs that pay 20,000Baht and can only imagine the types of teachers they attract.
