Hello, I am interested in getting a teacher’s license online while I stay in Taiwan. (I already have a degree from Canada.) I wonder if anyone was able to do this? My goal is to teach in a public school.
I read a thread about Teach now program which interests me, but it is a thread from 2014:
I also read that the MOE doesn’t accept online degrees at all?
Any help would be appreciated!
The moe does not accept online degrees. If you get a degree while you’re also living and working in Taiwan, it will be obvious that you didn’t attend class in person. I’ve ranted on here before about a university refusing to accept my application because I didn’t provide evidence that I had “left” Taiwan during the dates of my undergrad. They would not accept “US citizen. Did not come to Taiwan until undergrad was complete”. I needed to prove I had been in the US when I said I was. The MOE can and probably will give you the same hassle.
As for buying a teachers license online, there are threads about it. If you don’t know what you’re doing in the classroom right now, however, be aware that teaching in the public schools are often you are tossed into a classroom with no support. Now, plenty of people will say that they learned nothing from their teacher ed program, so maybe it doesn’t matter to them/buying a certificate would have gotten them just as far. I will say that I learned everything I know about world language instruction because I had to do student teaching for a semester and I had really great mentors. They taught me how language should actually be taught so everyone in the class actually learns it (it’s basically called constant input and never expecting output until there has been enough input). I’ve never seen a public school classroom do that here because it’s still vocab + grammar patterns with limited input, even if there’s only English used and they use iPads and all sorts of tech to show off what they learned.
I’m not sure why the reply after mine says the MOE doesn’t accept online degrees… They most certainly do… Like nearly all things in Taiwan, perhaps it depends on which “official” you’re speaking to at that moment… I’ve also heard foreigners can’t get credit cards from Taiwan banks (I have 4)… Or a car loan without a Taiwanese guarantor (got one)… I don’t think it’s just luck… Add the fact that very few teachers have landed in Taiwan since the borders closed and the fact that I’m still getting emails from public school districts begging me to come back (I’m now at a private school) and it’s clear you can get a lot further than people think. And as for “buying licensure online”… I had to take the same PRAXIS exams as the teachers in USA (and I assure you that exam was no walk in the park) and never once was I questioned about the dates of my license even though I was clearly in Taiwan when that happened – do be aware that I needed video footage of my classroom teaching to attain licensure which some schools may not allow, but check into it before you commit to anything.
You always have a Taiwanese co-teacher. Quite often you closely work with your co-teacher to decide what to teach. I have never heard about a public school where you would teach on your own.
No you don’t. The contract quite explicitly says that the school is not obligated to give you a coteacher. I have had computer teachers and PE teachers as “coteachers”. For a few weeks one year I had the principal as a coteacher. All of them stood in the back and picked their noses while I did all the teaching. I have known FETs who never had a coteacher at all. Some of them wanted it that way. Becoming a public school teacher here is an absolute toss up. You can end up with three fantastic coteachers that speak English, you can have none at all, or you can have any variety in between.
You both got lucky and technically violated the terms of the contract then.
I think it depends on the city for this. In the contract for New Taipei City I’m pretty sure says that the foreign teachers must have a co-teacher unless otherwise approved by someone. From the other teachers I talked to in New Taipei they all have co-teachers as well.
All of my classes have a co-teacher. They range from English teachers, homeroom teachers, and directors. All of them can speak basic English. But some of the other teachers have said their co-teachers don’t speak any English.
Two years ago in one of my classes, my substitute co-teacher forgot to show up and I taught it without her. After class my director was upset I didn’t try calling her or another of my co-teachers. The substitute ended up getting in a little bit of trouble for forgetting and had to pay me around $300 for not showing up. I thought it was quite strange that she had to pay me.
I just went through my contract and it does say that I teach with a Taiwanese teacher who acts as a co-teacher /my 5 co-teachers are Taiwanese English teachers/.
Guess it varies by county/city. All my contracts explicitly said I could be asked to teach classes alone.
Perhaps that was a vote of confidence. 
Thanks for your reolies, everyone, I will probably get a teacher’s liscense through the Moreland university program, is there anyone here who has gone through it? Are there praxis exams in Kiaosiung?