"While I think standards are crucial, we need to be wary of the 'closed shop' syndrome."
I cannot brag about any of my qualifications. Most of what I know has been from plowing through books by people like Professor Nunan. I have also extensively explored journals and academic papers on the Internet, have written authors and experts with my questions as well as made a heck of a lot of mistakes in the classroom. I have tried to honestly face my shortcomings and learn from them and I think I have to some extent.
My current interest is in action research led teaching. This would be a teacher who uses action research on a regular basis to test broad theories, Krashen's CI or Truscott's error correction, as well as to study his students so as to know the students better than they know themselves.
Additionally I've set up an online training program to teach ESPs in Electronic Manufacturing and Logistics. On behalf of Cambridge University Press I've traveled across China to give talks to Chinese English teachers to promote the communicative approach of Jack Richard's New Interchange. I've developed what I think is a very effective system of "speaking homework" and what is proving to be a popular method of "movie homework".
But I have to face the fact that these years of experience and study may not look as good or add up to a guy who has an MA and one year of experience. So I'm glad I can still find work.
Showing posts with label qualifications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label qualifications. Show all posts
21 February 2007
Is it worth it for a China-bound teacher to get an MA?
A teacher commented: "Re Market forces - they should play a part, give the tremendous shortage of qualified teachers (not just language teachers) worldwide, but do not seem to have led to an increase in pay and conditions."
A backpacker just getting off the plane from his last stop in Thailand, if he has some people skills, may be able to land a job at a university for 4000 Rmb/month. (About US$550.) A teacher with a certificate, applying at the same university, would probably get 4500/month. If the teacher had an MA he may get 5000/month and with a PhD would probably get 5500/month.
There would not be a big difference in their job descriptions. The teacher with the PhD would not be a consultant to the school designing courses or advising the school on coursebooks and curriculum. It is likely that he would be facing large classrooms of students and correcting stacks of papers.
I figured once that it could take several years to pay off an MA based on the small amount of extra pay an MA would bring. So I think one problem is the lack of appreciation for highly skilled teachers. Consequently, it could be career suicide for a highly qualified teacher to work in China unless he wished to do it for the experience.
Another problem is teachers who studied an MA just for the paper and the higher salary it should bring. We had one list member who acquired an MA and wrote on this list constantly about the low rates of pay for teachers with higher qualifications. However, he never got involved with discussions on teaching problems, student motivation, methodologies, etc. In the mind of many teachers the paper should equal pay.
Because the professional environment for foreign teachers is not refined here in China, I've considered it a field for roughnecks. The teachers here are sort of like pioneers. More refined teachers who are very serious about their academic careers are still in their home countries or in foreign countries that promise higher pay and academic prestige and security.
Many people forget how fast China has developed, that it has quadrupled its university enrollment in about ten years or something. But as China gets on top of the situation, improves the professional environment, higher academic qualifications will be required and more career teachers will move to China. The roughnecks will have to upgrade their skills or move on to the next challenging field that no one else wants to go to.
A backpacker just getting off the plane from his last stop in Thailand, if he has some people skills, may be able to land a job at a university for 4000 Rmb/month. (About US$550.) A teacher with a certificate, applying at the same university, would probably get 4500/month. If the teacher had an MA he may get 5000/month and with a PhD would probably get 5500/month.
There would not be a big difference in their job descriptions. The teacher with the PhD would not be a consultant to the school designing courses or advising the school on coursebooks and curriculum. It is likely that he would be facing large classrooms of students and correcting stacks of papers.
I figured once that it could take several years to pay off an MA based on the small amount of extra pay an MA would bring. So I think one problem is the lack of appreciation for highly skilled teachers. Consequently, it could be career suicide for a highly qualified teacher to work in China unless he wished to do it for the experience.
Another problem is teachers who studied an MA just for the paper and the higher salary it should bring. We had one list member who acquired an MA and wrote on this list constantly about the low rates of pay for teachers with higher qualifications. However, he never got involved with discussions on teaching problems, student motivation, methodologies, etc. In the mind of many teachers the paper should equal pay.
Because the professional environment for foreign teachers is not refined here in China, I've considered it a field for roughnecks. The teachers here are sort of like pioneers. More refined teachers who are very serious about their academic careers are still in their home countries or in foreign countries that promise higher pay and academic prestige and security.
Many people forget how fast China has developed, that it has quadrupled its university enrollment in about ten years or something. But as China gets on top of the situation, improves the professional environment, higher academic qualifications will be required and more career teachers will move to China. The roughnecks will have to upgrade their skills or move on to the next challenging field that no one else wants to go to.
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