I’ve been hoping to eventually get out teaching at the buxiban level. I was curious if this was a good way of doing so. I think it is quite expensive, around 45k every 5-weeks, and a bit of a time commitment, 23 months in total. I want to make the next step into the college level, and I’m curious if this really is the best means of doing so.
Any advice would be much appreciated,
45,000 every 5 weeks? You mean NT dollars?
I’m just wondering if the University of Pheonix is approved by the MOE. In the past, if your MA degree was online, distance, or summer program, it would not be approved by the MOE for a teaching certificate here. So I think this is a good question: has anyone here received an MA from an online program and received an MOE teaching certificate here? I’m curious too. It would be good advice for many people who want to continue their education while working. Has the ministry of education relaxed its rules?
I went to their English website and posted a question on their inquiry board. Have to see what they say…
a friend did a UoP online degree, and just returned to canada after not having any success getting it recognized. AFAIK, the rules remain the same, no matter what the distance/online program.
[color=green]jason, there are other options for getting an MA and moving on to further teaching opportunities. People who have done online and distance learning degrees can still teach in a lot of countries; I think my friend who teaches in the UAE did that route. But if you want to stay in Taiwan, you still have a few choices. You could do an MA degree here. There are plenty of programs here in Taiwan that you could choose. Check out the MOE’s website for programs. The MOE can’t refuse you if you have a degree from one of their own schools. You could also take some time off and do the traditional MA somewhere where they only require 1 year in residence. You could finish a British MA/TEFL in 12 months. There are some Australian programs that only require 2 semesters in residence. I think there are lots of options, so keep looking and never give up on continuing your education. [/color]
Hello, I have an MA in Education: Adult Education/E-learning from University of Phoenix Online program, 04. I’m an American who has lived in Taiwan for 13+years. Bottom line, after I got the degree, the MOE would not recognize the MA therefore I could not get the full time job at a Taiwanese university. The MOE and the university would not recognize bushiban teaching or part time university teaching as work experience so that angle was not possible either.
I researched every angle I could think of before starting the UoP program including: UoP sales rep investigation through the Taiwan trade office in the US. I read How to be a Successful Online Student by Gilbert. (Great book, full of suggestions.) And my Taiwanese wife and I went to the MOE website of course. FYI the MOE English translations on their site are trumped by the Chinese which can be totally different and old. (IMO I consider the MOE to be one the main problems in Taiwanese education. Following US education without real research in Taiwan is asinine.)
One more thing, I went and researched this with the director of the univ department before I joined. She gave me the go ahead as well. When my application was refused, she took no responsibility. She left the next year. What I’m saying is when you work at a university here you don’t really work for the department, you work for the MOE. The MOE is the decision maker on hiring you for the position. The department directors change all the time. And there is lots of politics. Good luck getting a straight answer from the MOE.
So heads up.
In my 8+ years of teaching ESL at the university level at 2 universities, the best part of the job is working 9 months of the year and getting paid for 11. The 2 months off a year are nice as well. On the con side, the student motivation has declined significantly over the years. You can definitely earn more running your own kids classes.
After all is said and done, would you recommend getting the UoP MA? I’d be interested in hearing your opinion on this matter. You also said that you’ve been teaching at a University; is that part-time or did you eventually find a university that accepted the MA?
After all is said and done, would you recommend getting the UoP MA? I’d be interested in hearing your opinion on this matter. You also said that you’ve been teaching at a University; is that part-time or did you eventually find a university that accepted the MA?[/quote]
it has nothing to do with the university. you must meet MOE qualifications, otherwise you are shit outta luck.
without an MA, you can teach PT at a university with seven years teaching experience. way back, i had 6 years, 11 months and 1 week of experience when i applied. the school was fine with it and even had classes set up for me, but the MOE wouldn’t budge - i was three weeks short.
that’s how it goes.
On a slightly related note, does anyone have any tips on finding work at a university after you’ve gotten an MA?
Is it better to write directly to the universities inquiring about any vacancies, or do they advertise in the local papers and on websites such as Forumosa?
I’m checking out a couple of MA programs at NCKU; one in Linguistics and Literature. Part of me says go for the Lit degree, because I love literature and would really enjoy teaching it. The practical side of me however says, Go for the thing that is guaranteed to be useful – Linguistics. Of course there’s another part of me that says, go for both, but in all honesty two years is long enough.
At the MA level in Taiwan as a prospective teacher, I don’t think it would matter much which one you chose. That’s if your ultimate goal is to get a university job in Taiwan. You’ll find that the choices are not as broad as they were, say, 10 years ago. Nowadays even the schools waaay out in the middle of nowhere would like a Ph.D.
As far as continuing your education someday abroad, or getting a job outside of Taiwan as a teacher, I can’t speak for other places, but in the US it’s extremely difficult to even get an interview if you don’t have a Ph.D. – NO MATTER what the ad says! (I’m talking about community college and university positions). Be careful when choosing a school as many Taiwanese school MAs might not impress a foreign university if you decide to go on for a Ph.D later in life.
Long story short: it’s a requirement but don’t count on getting teaching jobs on the strength of your MA. There are too many Ph.Ds kicking around without jobs these days. But as a native speaker in Taiwan you’ve got one up on many so it’s not a totally lost cause. The trick is to get hired full time as adjunct positions don’t really do much for you financially.