Like some other Forumosans, I am a certified teacher (praise Jesus!) in the employ of Her Majesty Tsai Ying-wen’s government, duly sanctified and objectified in equal measure.
Recently one of my esteemed colleagues pronounced, from his exalted height, that those working in public schools without a credential were “fake teachers.” He went on to include cram school (buxiban) teachers in this statement as well.
I dunno, kind of pissed me off. I worked a private kindergarten in Taiwan for three years before going back to the States to attend a teaching program, and I still think that what I learned during those three years far outweighed anything I learned in graduate school. I think teaching is about doing. Vomiting forth educational theory? Not so much.
But what do you think, fellow Formosans? Do you think my colleague was right?
Yes and no. It depends on what kind of teacher you were and what kind of program of teaching the school had. In most of my 15 years, my students learned, therefore I had taught.
in one word, yes. fake teachers.
Over the years ive encountered many crappy licensed teachers, and wonderful non licensed ones. The amount of crappy fake teachers is higher.
i wouldnt let an unlicensed electrician fix my house, i wouldnt let an unlicensed mechanic fix my car, why would i let an unlicensed teacher take care of my kids?
the entry barriers for this profession in Taiwan are extremely low, in some cases the only requirement is “be white”, as a result the quality of teachers is more miss than hit…
It depends on the individual (and to a lesser extent on the school). I’ve known cram school teachers who are better educators than some uni professors. That said, qualifications and experience do help people become better teachers in most cases. I’m certainly a much better instructor than I was a decade ago, even if some of the adjustments I made towards better practice were difficult at the time.
But where does your colleague even work? If he wants to look down on cram school teachers, he better hope he’s a distinguished professor teaching in packed lecture halls at NTU… otherwise there’s always someone higher on the food-chain who can look down on him too.
He might be placed high enough in a certain county that he can be relatively sure of his position. I’m really not sure. As far as my gig goes, I’ve seen guys who thought they were untouchable get a hurt put on them by the MOE.
Most foreigners don’t know how to look up their states requirements based off age level. They have never made a REAL lesson plan. Playing with a balloon and signing ABCs and making kids remember some random BS isn’t teaching.
Getting a diploma mill type degree online and certificate with your photography degree doesn’t make you a teacher either. I lol @ people that think they’re so much better because they have a fake degree. They couldn’t even tell you anything about child development.
Taiwan teaches you classroom management and that’s about it.
that’s the funny part. If he is talking about people working in public schools without the “credentials” then why is he even in Taiwan? Oh and cram schools teachers can earn more than public school teachers and work LESS hours.
You could ask your colleague why, if (his/her/zim/zer)'s teaching degree is such an untouchable piece of paper, the kids from their classes need to go to buxiban after said untouchable education style. There’s a hierarchy in teaching, as you know. I recently worked out the hourly pay at the Jr. High I’m teaching at and them “losers” at buxibans have that vaunted normal school gig beat.
At the cram schools I’ve taught at, the kids were raging, screaming monsters. “Classroom management” is moot when you’re not allowed to implement it properly.
At least university students are well-behaved and respectful. And the pay is better. The downside is that there’s a load of prep work and grading.
Is the uni pay better? Whenever I agree to teach in cram schools I get a higher hourly rate. That could be because it’s only a couple of hours, perhaps.
My cram school chums generally earn more a month than I do.
Seems like people are comparing day cares with schools and arrogance with skill. I am generally not in agreement with those types. Many a great cram school teacher. Many a lousy professor. Stats certainly lean heavier on one end, but not enough to call the teachers of an entire industry a fake. Perhaps more fake worthy are the masters, teachers and other such ego boosting titles people give themselves when selling DIY classes? But even they arent fake.
Perhaps your friend isnt fluent in English? Fake and shitty are defined quite differently
I don’t care if cram school teachers have licenses. Neither do the parents. If you’re talking about day care, which is what cram schools are, it’s a matter of having an adult in the room to entertain the kids and make sure they don’t set things on fire. There is no need for a teaching license to be a cram school teacher. That’s why a white face is the only thing you need to get in the door.
I have a massive issue with people teaching in public schools who do not have licenses. It’s worse x1000 when it’s people who did not even attend normal schools in their home countries. Taiwan’s Education system is not far off from the one room school house, mindlessly memorize this shit and spit it back out on the test garbage of the 1800s North America. People who did not learn how to be teachers before coming here pick up really bad habits. I see foreign teachers who have been teaching here for decades have children memorize long texts and repeat them back (from memory) and then write them down and call that “learning English”. Sure, this kid can tell me in perfect grammar how to repair a car, but why? In that case, at least they’re hopefully having fun with the sticky ball and the dancing monkey!
If you are teaching stickyball English to a bunch of burnt out kids then you need lots of energy, patience and creativity. The best teachers I’ve seen in this sector have no teaching qualifications, they are just fun people to be around and the kids want to learn English to talk with them.
If you are teaching English in a uni maybe you’ll have a CELTA or TESOL, and will have done some background training into grammar structures. I don’t really see that you need a qualification in education. You need to understand how English is constructed and how academic work should be structured. If you are a native speaker and you’ve done a degree in something you should be fine.
If you go to uni to study education this will give you a background into the ways children learn (kinaesthetic, visual, auditory) and other aspects of educational theory (the hidden curriculum, pastoral care, disability rights etc). A core component of an education degree will be the teaching practices. If you study primary education you’ll be teaching a broad variety of subjects, and secondary you’ll be a specialist in one, maybe two, subjects. The practice is where you really do the most learning.
If you are working in a school in Taiwan the likelihood is you’ll be teaching English. So you don’t really need a teacher certification. Be punctual, have fun with the kids, job done.
I’m a certified teacher, and I have a CELTA. Neither were of much use when I taught English in Taiwan. Not being a massively disorganised, dishevelled pompous arsehole was usually enough to separate the good teachers from the bad.
